Central Assembly
The Case for Truth: Why Should I Believe the Bible?
Dr. Jim Bradford | May 22-23, 2021
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http://www.centralassembly.org/connectBut what evidence is there that the Bible is trustworthy?
M-A-P-S
(Christian Research Institute)
(Christian Research Institute)
Manuscripts . . .
Professors Kreeft and Tacelli, Boston College . . .
“The manuscripts that we have, in addition to being old, are also mutually reinforcing and consistent. There are very few discrepancies and no really important ones. And all later discoveries of manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, have confirmed rather than refuted previously existing manuscripts in every important case. There is simply no other ancient text in nearly as good a shape.
”Dr. Peter Flint, Dead Sea Scrolls researcher . . .
“The biblical Dead Seas Scrolls are up to 1,250 years older than the traditional Hebrew Bible, the Masoretic text. We have been using a one-thousand-year-old manuscript to make our Bibles. We’ve now got scrolls going back to 250 BC. ...Our conclusion is simply this--the scrolls confirm the accuracy of the biblical text by 99 percent.”
Josh McDowell, Christian apologist . . .
“I believe that there is more evidence for the reliability of the New Testament than for any other ten pieces of classical literature put together.”
Professors Kreeft and Tacelli, Boston College . . .
“The manuscripts that we have, in addition to being old, are also mutually reinforcing and consistent. There are very few discrepancies and no really important ones. And all later discoveries of manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, have confirmed rather than refuted previously existing manuscripts in every important case. There is simply no other ancient text in nearly as good a shape.
”Dr. Peter Flint, Dead Sea Scrolls researcher . . .
“The biblical Dead Seas Scrolls are up to 1,250 years older than the traditional Hebrew Bible, the Masoretic text. We have been using a one-thousand-year-old manuscript to make our Bibles. We’ve now got scrolls going back to 250 BC. ...Our conclusion is simply this--the scrolls confirm the accuracy of the biblical text by 99 percent.”
Josh McDowell, Christian apologist . . .
“I believe that there is more evidence for the reliability of the New Testament than for any other ten pieces of classical literature put together.”
Archaeology . . .
Dr. Gregory Boyd, Letters From a Skeptic (1974) . . .
“It [the Bible] has...time and time again proven itself to be archaeologically accurate. Even Time magazine (Dec. 1974), in an article about Bible archaeology, stated that ‘the Bible is often surprisingly accurate in historical particulars, more so than earlier generations of scholars ever suspected.’”
Professor Walter C. Kaiser, NIV Archaeological Study Bible (Zondervan, 2005) . . .
“No previous generation has witnessed so high a degree of collaboration of Biblical events, persons and historical settings as we have during the past century of ongoing, successful archaeological exploration. The quantity, quality and relevancy of the artifacts and epigraphical materials impinging upon the story of the Bible from the ancient Near East have been so staggering that few have been able to incorporate them into one place.”
Dr. Gregory Boyd, Letters From a Skeptic (1974) . . .
“It [the Bible] has...time and time again proven itself to be archaeologically accurate. Even Time magazine (Dec. 1974), in an article about Bible archaeology, stated that ‘the Bible is often surprisingly accurate in historical particulars, more so than earlier generations of scholars ever suspected.’”
Professor Walter C. Kaiser, NIV Archaeological Study Bible (Zondervan, 2005) . . .
“No previous generation has witnessed so high a degree of collaboration of Biblical events, persons and historical settings as we have during the past century of ongoing, successful archaeological exploration. The quantity, quality and relevancy of the artifacts and epigraphical materials impinging upon the story of the Bible from the ancient Near East have been so staggering that few have been able to incorporate them into one place.”
Prophecy . . .
2 Peter 1:20-21
20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
* Prophecies about cities
* Prophecies about world empires
* Prophecies about the Messiah (Jesus)
* Prophecies about end times
2 Peter 1:20-21
20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
* Prophecies about cities
* Prophecies about world empires
* Prophecies about the Messiah (Jesus)
* Prophecies about end times
Statistics . . .
Hank Hannegraf, Defense of the Faith . . .
“It is statistically preposterous that any or all of the Bible’s specific, detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or deliberate deceit.”
* The Bible consists of 66 books written over 1600 years by 40 authors in 3 languages
*Yet its message is consistent: “The God who created us has acted to rescue us”
Hank Hannegraf, Defense of the Faith . . .
“It is statistically preposterous that any or all of the Bible’s specific, detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or deliberate deceit.”
* The Bible consists of 66 books written over 1600 years by 40 authors in 3 languages
*Yet its message is consistent: “The God who created us has acted to rescue us”
Spirit . . .
John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Acts 2:33
Exalted to the right hand of God, he [Jesus] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Acts 2:33
Exalted to the right hand of God, he [Jesus] has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.