March 24, 2025 • 21 mins
What makes the Bible different from every other book in history? When someone challenges the reliability of scripture, how do you respond? These questions lie at the heart of our Christian faith, yet many believers struggle to articulate what makes God's Word uniquely authoritative and trustworthy.
This episode explores three fundamental concepts that unlock our understanding of scripture's divine nature. Revelation shows us how God deliberately chose to make Himself known through the Bible. Inspiration explains the miraculous process by which God worked through human writers to create His perfect Word. Illumination reveals how the Holy Spirit helps us comprehend spiritual truth when we engage with scripture.
The Bible's reliability isn't based on blind faith but stands on remarkable evidence. With over 5,300 New Testament manuscripts—compared to just 10 copies of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars—the Bible's documentary support far exceeds any other ancient text. Ancient scribes followed elaborate protocols counting every letter to ensure perfect transmission. Forty-plus authors writing across 1,500 years maintained astonishing consistency while addressing controversial subjects—something no human editorial committee could achieve.
Most compelling is Jesus' own treatment of scripture. He quoted it as authoritative, called it the "Word of God," and affirmed its most contested narratives including Noah, Adam and Eve, and Jonah. For anyone who respects Jesus yet questions other portions of the Bible, His comprehensive endorsement poses a significant challenge.
Understanding biblical inspiration transforms how we approach life's decisions and challenges. As J.I. Packer noted, biblical authority means treating God's Word as having "decisive force for your life." When conflicts arise between scripture and cultural values, personal feelings, or popular opinion, the divine origin of the Bible means it always deserves the final word.
Join us as we explore why the Bible isn't just another religious text but God's perfect letter to humanity—a truth that changes everything about how we live.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey podcasters, welcome back to another edition
of Beyond Sunday.
Today I want to continue whatwe talked about last week.
If you don't remember, I'mgoing through the Foundations
class from Kay Warren and TomHolliday out of Saddleback.
I went through this years agoand it was incredible
information and I saw it on myshelf the other day and thought
you know what?
This would be great informationto get out to you.
(00:21):
This doesn't come from me, itcomes from them, but it is
incredible the way they reallydo lay the foundations of our
faith for us.
And so today I want to talkabout the Bible.
Suppose that you're sitting nextto a friend right now who's
never been to church.
The two of you stop for coffeeon your way home.
You start talking and having aconversation about faith, about
the Bible being a unique bookcontaining God's truth, and your
(00:43):
friend looks at you and saysI'm sure the Bible being a
unique book containing God'struth.
And your friend looks at youand says I'm sure the Bible is a
great book and I'm glad ithelps you, but how is it
different from any other greatbook?
I think a lot of people wouldhave a hard time answering that.
I think they would try, butthey've never really thought it
through.
Sometimes we view the Bible asa textbook or another great book
(01:06):
, but it is more than that.
It is a holy book.
It has the corner on truth foryour life.
Your friend has just raisedthree important questions and
these can be addressed byexamining three words.
To see the Bible for what itreally is, we must first
understand these three words.
The question how is the Bibledifferent from all really is?
We must first understand thesethree words.
The question how is the Bibledifferent from all other
(01:27):
religious books?
Is answered by the truth behindthe word revelation.
The question wasn't it writtenby people just like you and me?
Is answered by the truth behindthe word inspiration.
The comment that it's so hardto understand is addressed by
the truth behind the wordillumination.
So let's take a few minutes andunpack those words together
(01:49):
today.
Revelation.
Revelation means that God haschosen to reveal his nature and
his will to us through the Bible.
The Bible was written so thatGod could show us what he is
like and what he wants us to belike.
An understanding of God comessolely through His decision to
reveal Himself to us.
(02:09):
Ezekiel 38.23 says it this way.
And so I will show my greatnessand my holiness and I will make
myself known in the sight ofmany nations.
Then you will know that I amthe Lord.
What do you say to someone whotells you the Bible is no
different from any other book?
In this episode today we'regoing to look at four classic
(02:30):
ways that we know the Bible isfrom God and three reasons why
we know we have the right books.
The second word is inspiration.
Inspiration is the processthrough which God gave us the
Bible.
God worked in the hearts ofhuman writers to inspire them to
write down His words.
God's words, written throughthese people, are perfect,
infallible.
(02:50):
They're trustworthy.
2 Timothy 3.16 says allscripture is inspired by God and
is useful to teach us what istrue and to make us realize what
is wrong in our lives.
It corrects us when we arewrong and teaches us to do what
is right Again.
That's 2 Timothy 3, 16.
If what I read in the Bible areonly the ideas of men, I can
(03:11):
take it or leave it.
But once I'm convinced that Godsaid these words, what I read
takes on a new authority.
It should be life-changing.
It should be something that wehold so tightly to.
The third word we talked aboutis illumination.
Illumination is the HolySpirit's work of bringing light
to the words of the Bible as weread them.
Illumination is the means bywhich we understand the Bible,
(03:37):
luke 24, 45 says.
Then he opened their minds sothey could understand.
I had a unique call with myniece the other day.
She doesn't call much, but shetexted and said Uncle Nick,
could you talk for a few minutes?
And so I reached out to her and, beyond any pleasantries or how
are you doing?
She said I need help readingthe Bible.
I don't understand everything Iread, I don't know where to
(03:58):
start, and just a litany oflists.
That, honestly, was the samelist that most people give over
time as they're looking at theBible, whether new believers or
seasoned believers, just tryingto dig in and not finding their
way.
And so I decided to sit downand write a book, and I've got
the book about half writtensince last week, just pouring
through this idea of how do youstudy the Bible.
(04:20):
More on that later.
I want you to listen to thewords expressed by Chuck
Swindoll.
He said if I could have onlyone wish for God's people, it
would be that all of us wouldreturn to the Word of God that
we would realize that His bookhas the answers.
The Bible is the authority, thefinal resting place of our
(04:41):
cares, worries, griefs,tragedies, sorrows and surprises
.
It is the final answer to ourquestions, our search.
That's the goal of this studyand the one that we'll do next
week.
Not only that each of us wouldhave a new love for and
commitment to the Bible'sanswers, but we would share that
love for God's Word with others.
How do we know the Bible camefrom God?
(05:03):
You may be asking yourself.
If the Bible shows us who Godreally is, how do I know I can
trust it?
Every Christian needs tounderstand four classic proofs
of the reliability of the Bible.
These proofs answer thequestions we hear from others
and that you may be askingyourself.
First, the external evidencesays the Bible is a historical
(05:25):
book.
The number of manuscript copiesand the short length of time
between the original manuscriptsand our first copies of the New
Testament.
Norman Geisler I had a class byhim in seminary.
Not by him, but we studied oneof his theology books he writes
for the New Testament.
The evidence is overwhelming.
There are 5,366 manuscripts tocompare and draw information
(05:48):
from, and some of these datefrom the 2nd or 3rd centuries.
To put that in perspective,there are only 643 copies of
Homer's Iliad, and that is themost famous book of ancient
Greece.
No one doubts the existence ofJulius Caesar's Gallic Wars, but
we only have 10 copies of it,and the earliest of those were
made 1,000 years after it waswritten.
(06:09):
To have such an abundance ofcopies of the New Testament from
dates within 70 years aftertheir writing is absolutely
amazing.
Why didn't God allow us to havethe original rather than
relying on a number of copies?
One possibility would be thatwe would worship that old
document Rather than reading itand following his living word.
(06:31):
It would be put in glasssomewhere and we would just
celebrate its existence.
By the way, it's important tounderstand that Bibles are
translated from these originalcopies, which were written in
Hebrew, aramaic and Greek.
Many people have the idea thatthe Bible has been passed down
from language to language overthe centuries and thus may have
been changed many times, andthat's just not true.
(06:53):
When a Bible translation isdone, the translator goes back
to the early manuscripts in theoriginal languages.
Now a note here there are a lotof translations, and some of
those stick closer to theoriginal than others, and so you
need to do your homework whenyou pick a translation of the
Bible that you're studying, oryou need to at least know how
(07:13):
reliable it is.
There are some translations,like the New Living Translation,
that is a great read.
It is simpler for most people,but it is not a close
translation.
It is a loose translation, sowhile it's great to use as a
study, it shouldn't be yourprimary.
Now, the extreme care withwhich scriptures were copied is
(07:37):
pretty amazing.
The earliest Jewish scribes theOld Testament copiers, if you
will.
They followed a strict code toensure accuracy in their copies.
Here are a few of the rulesthey followed meticulously Each
scroll must contain a specifiednumber of columns, all equal
throughout the entire book.
The length of each column mustnot be less than 48 lines or
(07:58):
more than 60 lines.
Each column's breadth must beexactly 30 letters.
The copyist must use aspecially prepared black ink.
They must not copy from memory.
You got to remember that theystudied scripture, they
memorized scripture, but whenthey were copying the scriptures
down, they were not allowed todo it from memory.
The space between everyconsonant must be the size of a
(08:20):
thread.
The copyist must sit in fullJewish dress.
Later, scribes added otherrequirements that they could
only copy letter by letter, notword by word.
They were trying to make sureit was perfect in the copying.
They counted the number oftimes each letter of the
alphabet incurred in each bookand if it came out wrong they
threw the whole scroll away andstarted over.
(08:42):
They knew the middle letter ofthe Pentateuch, the first five
books of the Old Testament andthe middle letter of the entire
Old Testament.
After copying a scroll, theycounted forward and backward
from this metal letter.
If the number of letters didnot match what they knew to be
correct, they destroyed thescroll and they started over.
This isn't like retyping onyour keyboard and trying again.
(09:02):
They are literally handwritingand starting over.
The second the internal evidencesays a Bible.
The internal evidence says theBible is a unique book.
Internal evidence is theevidence that you see in the
Bible itself.
If you studied archaeology orhistory, you could see the
reliability of the Bible just byreading it.
Look with me at just two of theways we can see from the pages
(09:26):
of the Bible that is trustworthyand unique.
First off, the majority of theBible is from eyewitness
accounts.
We all know the value of aneyewitness account.
When I was in college, I workedat a bank, and the first bank I
worked at was in a shady partof town and so we had constant
training on.
If somebody came to your tellerand they walked away, you'd get
(09:50):
quizzed on.
How tall was that person?
What did that person look like?
What were features on them,which is not really reassuring
when you're working a job at abank.
They're basically telling youyou're going to get robbed at
some point, so make sure you canidentify people.
And, truth be told, I was notgreat at it, but when we talk
about eyewitness accounts, weall know the value of those.
When a prosecutor can call uponsomeone who saw what happened,
(10:13):
the prosecution has a greaterchance of winning a conviction.
One piece of evidence thathistorians look for in assessing
the reliability of any documentis the number of generations
that passed on a story beforethe story was written down.
In other words, is theinformation first-hand or
second-hand?
The events of the Bible wereprimarily recorded in the
generation in which they wereexperienced, by those who
(10:34):
experienced them.
The Bible is filled witheyewitness accounts.
The second thing is the amazingagreement and consistency
throughout the Bible.
Josh McDowell writes he saidthat the Bible was written over
a period of about 1500 years invarious places stretching for
all the way from Babylon to Rome.
The human authors included over40 persons from various
(10:55):
stations of life kings, peasants, poets, herdsmen, fishermen,
scientists, farmers, priests,pastors, tent makers and
governors.
It was written in a wilderness,a dungeon, inside palaces and
prisons, on lonely islands, andin military battles.
Yet it speaks with agreementand reliability on hundreds of
controversial subjects.
Yet it tells one story frombeginning to end God's salvation
(11:19):
of man through Jesus Christ.
No person could have possiblyconceived of or written such a
work, meaning it could only comefrom Christ.
The third thing we look at isthe personal evidence that says
the Bible is a powerful book.
The Bible is the world'sbest-selling book.
Most people know that it wasone of the first major books to
(11:41):
be published on a press theBible and in whole or in part,
has been translated into morethan 3,000 languages.
Millions of lives have beenchanged through the truth in the
Bible.
Remember personal testimony isjust one of the four proofs that
the Bible is God's book.
The fourth Jesus said the Biblecame from God.
(12:02):
Have you ever heard someone sayI trust what Jesus said, but
not the rest of the Bible.
Jesus himself spoke withconfidence about the rest of the
Bible.
If we trust what Jesus said, wehave no choice but to trust all
the Bible.
Jesus recognized the Spirit asthe author.
Matthew, chapter 22,.
He says why?
Then Jesus asked did the Spiritinspire David to call him Lord?
(12:23):
David said the Lord said to myLord, sit here at my right side
until I put your enemies underyour feet.
Jesus, quoting from what Davidwrote in Psalms, recognizes that
the Spirit inspired David'swords.
Secondly, jesus quoted theBible as authority In.
Secondly, jesus quoted theBible as authority In Matthew
22,.
Jesus told the Sadducees thatnot knowing the Scriptures was
(12:44):
the reason they lived in errorwithout knowing God's power.
Jesus replied you are in errorbecause you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God.
That's Matthew 22, verse 29.
In Luke 11, jesus clearly tellsus that God's Word is not just
history or poetry.
It is to be obeyed, he said.
Blessed, rather, are those whohear the word of God and obey it
(13:07):
.
Thirdly, jesus proclaimed itsuniqueness.
Jesus reminded us that theBible stands above all other
books and all other writings.
In fact, he told us that theBible stands above all that we
see, even in the physicaluniverse.
Matthew 5.18,.
I tell you the truth untilheaven and earth disappear, not
the smallest letter, not theleast stroke of a pen will by
(13:28):
any means disappear from the law.
Until everything is.
John 10.35,.
Scripture is always true.
Fourthly, jesus called it theWord of God.
Mark 7.13,.
Thus you nullify the Word ofGod by your tradition that you
have handed down, and you domany things like that.
And you do many things likethat.
(13:54):
Fifth, jesus believed thatpeople and places in the Bible
were real.
He believed in the prophets.
We see that in Matthew 22, 40,24, 15.
He believed in Noah.
We see that in Luke 17, 26.
He believed in Adam and Eve.
We see that in Matthew 19, 4.
He believed in Sodom andGomorrah.
We see that in Matthew 10, 15.
He believed in Jonah.
We see that in Matthew 12, 40.
It's interesting that theselast four Noah, adam and Eve,
(14:15):
sodom, gomorrah and Jonah arefound in the portions of the
Bible most often attacked asfables or just good stories by
those who distrust itshistorical reliability.
The very parts of the Bible thatare doubted today are affirmed
by the words of Jesus himself.
John MacArthur writes that theBible is the only completely
trustworthy source of knowledgeabout God.
Man can't learn all he needs toknow about God from human
(14:39):
reason, philosophy or evenexperience.
God alone is the source ofknowledge about himself, and he
has chosen to reveal himself inthe Bible and in no other book.
So how do we know that we havethe right books?
This is a question that I getperiodically, as people look at
the books of the Bible and knowabout the Council of Nicaea and
(15:01):
that they put all these bookstogether.
First off, it's the testimony ofthe Bible, right?
Jesus recognized the OldTestament canon, the word canon
referring to the list of booksthat are accepted as scripture.
Jesus said in Luke 24, this iswhat I told you while I was
still with you.
Everything must be fulfilledthat is written about me in the
law of Moses, the prophets andthe Psalms.
When Jesus mentions the law,the prophets and the Psalms,
(15:24):
he's affirming all three majordivisions of the Old Testament.
Peter recognized part of theNew Testament canon.
Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3.16,.
Some things in Paul's lettersare hard to understand.
Can I get an amen Talking aboutRomans?
Right, some things in Paul'sletters are hard to understand
and people who are ignorant andweak in faith explain these
things falsely.
They also falsely explain theother scriptures, but they are
(15:47):
destroying themselves by doingthis.
Paul also recognized the equalinspiration of the Old and New
Testament in a single verse 1Timothy 5.18.
For the scripture says do notmuzzle the ox while it is
treading out the grain, and theworker deserves his wages.
What does it mean when we saythe Bible is inspired?
(16:08):
What does it mean when we saythe Bible is inspired?
Inspiration means that God wrotethe Bible through people 2
Peter 1.21,.
No prophecy ever came from whata person wanted to say, but
people led by the Holy Spirit,spoke words from God.
The details of how God inspiredthe Bible are a matter of great
debate and conjecture.
One thing is obvious as youread the Bible he didn't use
(16:28):
people as robots.
You can clearly see people'spersonalities and their passions
in what they wrote.
God created a perfect Biblethrough real people.
He moved them internally tocreate a word that will last
forever.
Inspiration means that the HolySpirit is the author.
Look at Acts, chapter 1, verse16.
The scripture had to befulfilled, which the Holy Spirit
(16:49):
spoke long ago through themouth of David, acts 28.25.
The Holy Spirit spoke the truthto their forefathers when he
said through Isaiah, the prophet, ezekiel 11.5.
Then the Spirit of the Lordcame upon me and he told me to
say who wrote the Bible?
God did, but he worked throughpeople, but ultimately he is the
Bible.
God did, but he worked throughpeople, but ultimately he is the
(17:09):
author.
The fact that God created aperfect book through so many
imperfect people is one of thegreatest miracles.
Now, two important words tounderstand.
First is verbal.
God inspired the words, notjust the ideas.
We see that in Matthew 5, 18,22, chapter 22, verses 43
through 44.
(17:29):
Jesus based his argument on thesingle word Lord.
But the other word is not justverbal plenary.
God inspired all, not just part2, timothy 3, 16.
It says in Psalms 18, 30, asfor God, his way is perfect.
The word of the Lord isflawless.
He is a shield for all who takerefuge in him.
(17:52):
Inspiration means that God'sword is to be our final
authority, psalm 119,.
How can a young person staypure?
The answer by obeying your word.
Psalm 33, 4,.
For the word of the Lord holdstrue and we can trust everything
he does.
Understanding inspirationincreases my confidence in the
Bible.
(18:12):
The truth behind inspiration isthat I can trust his word above
my feelings.
I can trust his word above myvalues.
I can trust his word above myopinions.
I can trust his word above whatculture says.
Ji Packer defines authority aswhen you treat his word as
having decisive force for yourlife.
(18:34):
That means whenever there's aconflict between what the Bible
says and the way I feel, or whatI've been taught, or the
opinions of others, or whatseems reasonable or what culture
is doing.
Whenever I have a difference ofopinion with the Bible for any
reason, the Bible is alwaysright.
I want to encourage you to takesome of what we talked about
(18:55):
today, to take some of thesetruths about the Bible, to take
some of these words that we'vestudied today and allow them to
permeate your heart.
Spend some time thinking aboutthe evidence that the Bible
exists, how we know where theBible came from.
Think about illumination andinspiration and revelation.
Allow this week to be a momentof you really understanding why
(19:17):
we believe the Bible and why ithas such authority in our lives.
I hope that this week's episodeis encouraging to you.
I hope you step away from thepodcast today and have more
respect for the Word of God andmore excitement to understand
that you are reading a letterfrom God Himself to you.
I hope you have an incredibleweek.
(19:39):
Until next time, keep walkingin the Word of God.
Hey podcasters, welcome back to another edition
of Beyond Sunday.
Today I want to continue whatwe talked about last week.
If you don't remember, I'mgoing through the Foundations
class from Kay Warren and TomHolliday out of Saddleback.
I went through this years agoand it was incredible
information and I saw it on myshelf the other day and thought
you know what?
This would be great informationto get out to you.
(00:21):
This doesn't come from me, itcomes from them, but it is
incredible the way they reallydo lay the foundations of our
faith for us.
And so today I want to talkabout the Bible.
Suppose that you're sitting nextto a friend right now who's
never been to church.
The two of you stop for coffeeon your way home.
You start talking and having aconversation about faith, about
the Bible being a unique bookcontaining God's truth, and your
(00:43):
friend looks at you and saysI'm sure the Bible being a
unique book containing God'struth.
And your friend looks at youand says I'm sure the Bible is a
great book and I'm glad ithelps you, but how is it
different from any other greatbook?
I think a lot of people wouldhave a hard time answering that.
I think they would try, butthey've never really thought it
through.
Sometimes we view the Bible asa textbook or another great book
(01:06):
, but it is more than that.
It is a holy book.
It has the corner on truth foryour life.
Your friend has just raisedthree important questions and
these can be addressed byexamining three words.
To see the Bible for what itreally is, we must first
understand these three words.
The question how is the Bibledifferent from all really is?
We must first understand thesethree words.
The question how is the Bibledifferent from all other
(01:27):
religious books?
Is answered by the truth behindthe word revelation.
The question wasn't it writtenby people just like you and me?
Is answered by the truth behindthe word inspiration.
The comment that it's so hardto understand is addressed by
the truth behind the wordillumination.
So let's take a few minutes andunpack those words together
(01:49):
today.
Revelation.
Revelation means that God haschosen to reveal his nature and
his will to us through the Bible.
The Bible was written so thatGod could show us what he is
like and what he wants us to belike.
An understanding of God comessolely through His decision to
reveal Himself to us.
(02:09):
Ezekiel 38.23 says it this way.
And so I will show my greatnessand my holiness and I will make
myself known in the sight ofmany nations.
Then you will know that I amthe Lord.
What do you say to someone whotells you the Bible is no
different from any other book?
In this episode today we'regoing to look at four classic
(02:30):
ways that we know the Bible isfrom God and three reasons why
we know we have the right books.
The second word is inspiration.
Inspiration is the processthrough which God gave us the
Bible.
God worked in the hearts ofhuman writers to inspire them to
write down His words.
God's words, written throughthese people, are perfect,
infallible.
(02:50):
They're trustworthy.
2 Timothy 3.16 says allscripture is inspired by God and
is useful to teach us what istrue and to make us realize what
is wrong in our lives.
It corrects us when we arewrong and teaches us to do what
is right Again.
That's 2 Timothy 3, 16.
If what I read in the Bible areonly the ideas of men, I can
(03:11):
take it or leave it.
But once I'm convinced that Godsaid these words, what I read
takes on a new authority.
It should be life-changing.
It should be something that wehold so tightly to.
The third word we talked aboutis illumination.
Illumination is the HolySpirit's work of bringing light
to the words of the Bible as weread them.
Illumination is the means bywhich we understand the Bible,
(03:37):
luke 24, 45 says.
Then he opened their minds sothey could understand.
I had a unique call with myniece the other day.
She doesn't call much, but shetexted and said Uncle Nick,
could you talk for a few minutes?
And so I reached out to her and, beyond any pleasantries or how
are you doing?
She said I need help readingthe Bible.
I don't understand everything Iread, I don't know where to
(03:58):
start, and just a litany oflists.
That, honestly, was the samelist that most people give over
time as they're looking at theBible, whether new believers or
seasoned believers, just tryingto dig in and not finding their
way.
And so I decided to sit downand write a book, and I've got
the book about half writtensince last week, just pouring
through this idea of how do youstudy the Bible.
(04:20):
More on that later.
I want you to listen to thewords expressed by Chuck
Swindoll.
He said if I could have onlyone wish for God's people, it
would be that all of us wouldreturn to the Word of God that
we would realize that His bookhas the answers.
The Bible is the authority, thefinal resting place of our
(04:41):
cares, worries, griefs,tragedies, sorrows and surprises
.
It is the final answer to ourquestions, our search.
That's the goal of this studyand the one that we'll do next
week.
Not only that each of us wouldhave a new love for and
commitment to the Bible'sanswers, but we would share that
love for God's Word with others.
How do we know the Bible camefrom God?
(05:03):
You may be asking yourself.
If the Bible shows us who Godreally is, how do I know I can
trust it?
Every Christian needs tounderstand four classic proofs
of the reliability of the Bible.
These proofs answer thequestions we hear from others
and that you may be askingyourself.
First, the external evidencesays the Bible is a historical
(05:25):
book.
The number of manuscript copiesand the short length of time
between the original manuscriptsand our first copies of the New
Testament.
Norman Geisler I had a class byhim in seminary.
Not by him, but we studied oneof his theology books he writes
for the New Testament.
The evidence is overwhelming.
There are 5,366 manuscripts tocompare and draw information
(05:48):
from, and some of these datefrom the 2nd or 3rd centuries.
To put that in perspective,there are only 643 copies of
Homer's Iliad, and that is themost famous book of ancient
Greece.
No one doubts the existence ofJulius Caesar's Gallic Wars, but
we only have 10 copies of it,and the earliest of those were
made 1,000 years after it waswritten.
(06:09):
To have such an abundance ofcopies of the New Testament from
dates within 70 years aftertheir writing is absolutely
amazing.
Why didn't God allow us to havethe original rather than
relying on a number of copies?
One possibility would be thatwe would worship that old
document Rather than reading itand following his living word.
(06:31):
It would be put in glasssomewhere and we would just
celebrate its existence.
By the way, it's important tounderstand that Bibles are
translated from these originalcopies, which were written in
Hebrew, aramaic and Greek.
Many people have the idea thatthe Bible has been passed down
from language to language overthe centuries and thus may have
been changed many times, andthat's just not true.
(06:53):
When a Bible translation isdone, the translator goes back
to the early manuscripts in theoriginal languages.
Now a note here there are a lotof translations, and some of
those stick closer to theoriginal than others, and so you
need to do your homework whenyou pick a translation of the
Bible that you're studying, oryou need to at least know how
(07:13):
reliable it is.
There are some translations,like the New Living Translation,
that is a great read.
It is simpler for most people,but it is not a close
translation.
It is a loose translation, sowhile it's great to use as a
study, it shouldn't be yourprimary.
Now, the extreme care withwhich scriptures were copied is
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pretty amazing.
The earliest Jewish scribes theOld Testament copiers, if you
will.
They followed a strict code toensure accuracy in their copies.
Here are a few of the rulesthey followed meticulously Each
scroll must contain a specifiednumber of columns, all equal
throughout the entire book.
The length of each column mustnot be less than 48 lines or
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more than 60 lines.
Each column's breadth must beexactly 30 letters.
The copyist must use aspecially prepared black ink.
They must not copy from memory.
You got to remember that theystudied scripture, they
memorized scripture, but whenthey were copying the scriptures
down, they were not allowed todo it from memory.
The space between everyconsonant must be the size of a
(08:20):
thread.
The copyist must sit in fullJewish dress.
Later, scribes added otherrequirements that they could
only copy letter by letter, notword by word.
They were trying to make sureit was perfect in the copying.
They counted the number oftimes each letter of the
alphabet incurred in each bookand if it came out wrong they
threw the whole scroll away andstarted over.
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They knew the middle letter ofthe Pentateuch, the first five
books of the Old Testament andthe middle letter of the entire
Old Testament.
After copying a scroll, theycounted forward and backward
from this metal letter.
If the number of letters didnot match what they knew to be
correct, they destroyed thescroll and they started over.
This isn't like retyping onyour keyboard and trying again.
(09:02):
They are literally handwritingand starting over.
The second the internal evidencesays a Bible.
The internal evidence says theBible is a unique book.
Internal evidence is theevidence that you see in the
Bible itself.
If you studied archaeology orhistory, you could see the
reliability of the Bible just byreading it.
Look with me at just two of theways we can see from the pages
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of the Bible that is trustworthyand unique.
First off, the majority of theBible is from eyewitness
accounts.
We all know the value of aneyewitness account.
When I was in college, I workedat a bank, and the first bank I
worked at was in a shady partof town and so we had constant
training on.
If somebody came to your tellerand they walked away, you'd get
(09:50):
quizzed on.
How tall was that person?
What did that person look like?
What were features on them,which is not really reassuring
when you're working a job at abank.
They're basically telling youyou're going to get robbed at
some point, so make sure you canidentify people.
And, truth be told, I was notgreat at it, but when we talk
about eyewitness accounts, weall know the value of those.
When a prosecutor can call uponsomeone who saw what happened,
(10:13):
the prosecution has a greaterchance of winning a conviction.
One piece of evidence thathistorians look for in assessing
the reliability of any documentis the number of generations
that passed on a story beforethe story was written down.
In other words, is theinformation first-hand or
second-hand?
The events of the Bible wereprimarily recorded in the
generation in which they wereexperienced, by those who
(10:34):
experienced them.
The Bible is filled witheyewitness accounts.
The second thing is the amazingagreement and consistency
throughout the Bible.
Josh McDowell writes he saidthat the Bible was written over
a period of about 1500 years invarious places stretching for
all the way from Babylon to Rome.
The human authors included over40 persons from various
(10:55):
stations of life kings, peasants, poets, herdsmen, fishermen,
scientists, farmers, priests,pastors, tent makers and
governors.
It was written in a wilderness,a dungeon, inside palaces and
prisons, on lonely islands, andin military battles.
Yet it speaks with agreementand reliability on hundreds of
controversial subjects.
Yet it tells one story frombeginning to end God's salvation
(11:19):
of man through Jesus Christ.
No person could have possiblyconceived of or written such a
work, meaning it could only comefrom Christ.
The third thing we look at isthe personal evidence that says
the Bible is a powerful book.
The Bible is the world'sbest-selling book.
Most people know that it wasone of the first major books to
(11:41):
be published on a press theBible and in whole or in part,
has been translated into morethan 3,000 languages.
Millions of lives have beenchanged through the truth in the
Bible.
Remember personal testimony isjust one of the four proofs that
the Bible is God's book.
The fourth Jesus said the Biblecame from God.
(12:02):
Have you ever heard someone sayI trust what Jesus said, but
not the rest of the Bible.
Jesus himself spoke withconfidence about the rest of the
Bible.
If we trust what Jesus said, wehave no choice but to trust all
the Bible.
Jesus recognized the Spirit asthe author.
Matthew, chapter 22,.
He says why?
Then Jesus asked did the Spiritinspire David to call him Lord?
(12:23):
David said the Lord said to myLord, sit here at my right side
until I put your enemies underyour feet.
Jesus, quoting from what Davidwrote in Psalms, recognizes that
the Spirit inspired David'swords.
Secondly, jesus quoted theBible as authority In.
Secondly, jesus quoted theBible as authority In Matthew
22,.
Jesus told the Sadducees thatnot knowing the Scriptures was
(12:44):
the reason they lived in errorwithout knowing God's power.
Jesus replied you are in errorbecause you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God.
That's Matthew 22, verse 29.
In Luke 11, jesus clearly tellsus that God's Word is not just
history or poetry.
It is to be obeyed, he said.
Blessed, rather, are those whohear the word of God and obey it
(13:07):
.
Thirdly, jesus proclaimed itsuniqueness.
Jesus reminded us that theBible stands above all other
books and all other writings.
In fact, he told us that theBible stands above all that we
see, even in the physicaluniverse.
Matthew 5.18,.
I tell you the truth untilheaven and earth disappear, not
the smallest letter, not theleast stroke of a pen will by
(13:28):
any means disappear from the law.
Until everything is.
John 10.35,.
Scripture is always true.
Fourthly, jesus called it theWord of God.
Mark 7.13,.
Thus you nullify the Word ofGod by your tradition that you
have handed down, and you domany things like that.
And you do many things likethat.
(13:54):
Fifth, jesus believed thatpeople and places in the Bible
were real.
He believed in the prophets.
We see that in Matthew 22, 40,24, 15.
He believed in Noah.
We see that in Luke 17, 26.
He believed in Adam and Eve.
We see that in Matthew 19, 4.
He believed in Sodom andGomorrah.
We see that in Matthew 10, 15.
He believed in Jonah.
We see that in Matthew 12, 40.
It's interesting that theselast four Noah, adam and Eve,
(14:15):
sodom, gomorrah and Jonah arefound in the portions of the
Bible most often attacked asfables or just good stories by
those who distrust itshistorical reliability.
The very parts of the Bible thatare doubted today are affirmed
by the words of Jesus himself.
John MacArthur writes that theBible is the only completely
trustworthy source of knowledgeabout God.
Man can't learn all he needs toknow about God from human
(14:39):
reason, philosophy or evenexperience.
God alone is the source ofknowledge about himself, and he
has chosen to reveal himself inthe Bible and in no other book.
So how do we know that we havethe right books?
This is a question that I getperiodically, as people look at
the books of the Bible and knowabout the Council of Nicaea and
(15:01):
that they put all these bookstogether.
First off, it's the testimony ofthe Bible, right?
Jesus recognized the OldTestament canon, the word canon
referring to the list of booksthat are accepted as scripture.
Jesus said in Luke 24, this iswhat I told you while I was
still with you.
Everything must be fulfilledthat is written about me in the
law of Moses, the prophets andthe Psalms.
When Jesus mentions the law,the prophets and the Psalms,
(15:24):
he's affirming all three majordivisions of the Old Testament.
Peter recognized part of theNew Testament canon.
Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3.16,.
Some things in Paul's lettersare hard to understand.
Can I get an amen Talking aboutRomans?
Right, some things in Paul'sletters are hard to understand
and people who are ignorant andweak in faith explain these
things falsely.
They also falsely explain theother scriptures, but they are
(15:47):
destroying themselves by doingthis.
Paul also recognized the equalinspiration of the Old and New
Testament in a single verse 1Timothy 5.18.
For the scripture says do notmuzzle the ox while it is
treading out the grain, and theworker deserves his wages.
What does it mean when we saythe Bible is inspired?
(16:08):
What does it mean when we saythe Bible is inspired?
Inspiration means that God wrotethe Bible through people 2
Peter 1.21,.
No prophecy ever came from whata person wanted to say, but
people led by the Holy Spirit,spoke words from God.
The details of how God inspiredthe Bible are a matter of great
debate and conjecture.
One thing is obvious as youread the Bible he didn't use
(16:28):
people as robots.
You can clearly see people'spersonalities and their passions
in what they wrote.
God created a perfect Biblethrough real people.
He moved them internally tocreate a word that will last
forever.
Inspiration means that the HolySpirit is the author.
Look at Acts, chapter 1, verse16.
The scripture had to befulfilled, which the Holy Spirit
(16:49):
spoke long ago through themouth of David, acts 28.25.
The Holy Spirit spoke the truthto their forefathers when he
said through Isaiah, the prophet, ezekiel 11.5.
Then the Spirit of the Lordcame upon me and he told me to
say who wrote the Bible?
God did, but he worked throughpeople, but ultimately he is the
Bible.
God did, but he worked throughpeople, but ultimately he is the
(17:09):
author.
The fact that God created aperfect book through so many
imperfect people is one of thegreatest miracles.
Now, two important words tounderstand.
First is verbal.
God inspired the words, notjust the ideas.
We see that in Matthew 5, 18,22, chapter 22, verses 43
through 44.
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Jesus based his argument on thesingle word Lord.
But the other word is not justverbal plenary.
God inspired all, not just part2, timothy 3, 16.
It says in Psalms 18, 30, asfor God, his way is perfect.
The word of the Lord isflawless.
He is a shield for all who takerefuge in him.
(17:52):
Inspiration means that God'sword is to be our final
authority, psalm 119,.
How can a young person staypure?
The answer by obeying your word.
Psalm 33, 4,.
For the word of the Lord holdstrue and we can trust everything
he does.
Understanding inspirationincreases my confidence in the
Bible.
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The truth behind inspiration isthat I can trust his word above
my feelings.
I can trust his word above myvalues.
I can trust his word above myopinions.
I can trust his word above whatculture says.
Ji Packer defines authority aswhen you treat his word as
having decisive force for yourlife.
(18:34):
That means whenever there's aconflict between what the Bible
says and the way I feel, or whatI've been taught, or the
opinions of others, or whatseems reasonable or what culture
is doing.
Whenever I have a difference ofopinion with the Bible for any
reason, the Bible is alwaysright.
I want to encourage you to takesome of what we talked about
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today, to take some of thesetruths about the Bible, to take
some of these words that we'vestudied today and allow them to
permeate your heart.
Spend some time thinking aboutthe evidence that the Bible
exists, how we know where theBible came from.
Think about illumination andinspiration and revelation.
Allow this week to be a momentof you really understanding why
(19:17):
we believe the Bible and why ithas such authority in our lives.
I hope that this week's episodeis encouraging to you.
I hope you step away from thepodcast today and have more
respect for the Word of God andmore excitement to understand
that you are reading a letterfrom God Himself to you.
I hope you have an incredibleweek.
(19:39):
Until next time, keep walkingin the Word of God.
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