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There's No Other Book Like The Bible !
The Bible has been attacked and criticized more than any other book in history. The Romans burned it, the government banned it from the masses during the middle ages, atheists ridicule it. The Bible could only have survived these attacks due to divine preservation.
Maybe you have heard statements like The Bible is full of contradictions , or Science disproved the Bible a long time ago, and you have found yourself following the crowd having never read the Bible for yourself.
We would like to set the record straight and present overwhelming evidence that the Bible is indeed the inspired WORD OF GOD.
Why would God have a word ?
Looking at God's creation, we can see that all intelligent beings desire to communicate. People spend hours every day on the phone, sending emails and writing letters. God being the ultimate intelligence would also desire to communicate with man, whom he made in his image for the purpose of fellowship.
Why would God use writing ?
Messages which are communicated verbally from generation to generation are more likely to become distorted over time, whereas the written word is more likely to preserve the accuracy of the original message.
Paper and ink are relatively cheap.
The message can be read over and over again until it is understood, unlike verbal communication which can be quickly forgotten.
The written word continues to speak long after the human messenger is dead.
Throughout the ages the written word has been the best means of mass circulation. As God has made salvation available to the whole world we would expect God to cause his word to be circulated as widely as possible. The Bible has been translated into the languages of most of the world's population. No book on earth can compare to the Bible's worldwide circulation
Millions of people buy newspapers and magazines every day, and our character, attitudes and opinions are largely determined by what we read,. Consider how the printed page has effected your life.
Also manufacturers usually provide a manual with their product. The manual gives us the answers we need about how the product is constructed, how to enjoy all the available functions of the product to their fullest potential, and how to avoid damaging the product and getting as many years use as possible.
Why the Bible ?
The Bible is God's manual for life. It answers mankinds deepest spiritual questions such as who am I ?, where did I come from ?, what is my purpose for being here ? and where will I go when I die ? The Bible tells us why human nature is the way it is. It tells us about God himself, the history of the human race, future events, salvation and judgment to come, and how God requires us to live.
These are the very issues we would expect God to tell us about, and no other book can provide the logical, intelligent answers that the Bible gives. The Bible can be seen to be unique when compared to the worlds greatest literature. The Bible is God's revelation to mankind.
During the period from 1947 to 1956 hundreds of manuscripts were found in caves near the Dead Sea in Israel. These have come to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Among the manuscripts was a complete scroll of the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. Up to that time skeptics had said that we could not have an accurate translation of the Bible due to the thousands of years of copying. They believed that changes from the originals must have occurred over thousands of years of copying. The scroll of Isaiah was dated at around 125 years before Christ but amazingly it matched perfectly with the Authorized King James version of the Bible which we have today.
Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words . . . . . . Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
There is more manuscript evidence to support the Bible than any ten pieces of ancient literature combined.
Caesar's Gallic war - 10 copies
Livy's Roman history - 20 copies
Works by Cornelius Tacitus the Roman historian 10 copies
Natural history by Pliny Secundus 7 copies
There are nearly 25,000 copies of portions or all of the New Testament and 100 scrolls from the Old Testament.
Most of the copies of ancient literature are at least 700 years after the time of the original, and yet we do not hear about their authenticity and accuracy being questioned.
The Bible's record is far superior. Copies of portions of the New Testament have been dated at much less than 100 years after the time of the original. Around 99% of the manuscripts agree with the Authorized King James Bible.
Dr Gail Riplinger says
There has been a remarkable recent discovery which made front page news in The Times of London (Dec. 24, 1994). The oldest remains of any New Testament manuscript were discovered. Using a high magnification device and the epifluorescent confocal laser scanning technique, the small fragment was dated A.D. 66. Close examination shows that it contains the King James Bible's reading from Matt. 26:22, hekastos auton,every one of them.
It proves wrong the reading in the NIV, NASB, and all new versions which are based on the Critical Greek text which reads, heis hekastos, each one or one after the other. (Dr Gail Riplinger The Language of the King James Bible, page xv)
The Bible identifies itself to be the Divinely inspired word of God in many passages of scripture.
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The Prophets, Apostles, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself believed the Bible to be the word of God.
It is self evident when reading the Bible that it speaks with all of the authority and power of God himself, unlike any other book.
God promised to preserve his word from generation to generation, and we can be sure that the Authorized King James version of the Bible is God's word for us today
Psalm 12:6-7 The words of the Lord are pure words . . . . . . Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
The unity of the Bible testifies of it's divine origin. The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by over 40 authors over a period of about 1,600 years (Moses 1,500 B.C to John 100 A.D).
Their backgrounds range from Kings, Shepherds, Fishermen, a Tax collector, a Doctor, a Rabbi and many more.
It was written from 3 different continents (Europe, Asia and Africa), in 2 major languages (Hebrew and Greek).
It deals with a multitude of controversial subjects and different styles of literature including Prophecy, Poetry, Biographies, Law and History.
Despite all of these complex factors, these 66 books read as one unified whole ie The Bible exalts one God and has one continuous theme, namely the salvation of mankind through our LORD JESUS CHRIST
If we were to give 5 people from one country, having one language, one controversial subject to write about, they would never totally agree. This is one more piece of evidence that points to the Bible's divine origin.
Archeologist, Nelson Glueck stated In all of my archeological investigation I have never found one artifact of antiquity that contradicts any statement of the word of God.
Archeology has continually proven the historical accuracy of both the Old and New Testaments, The Bible is often used to locate lost cities and wells in the middle east.
The evidence is overwhelming that the geological features around the world are the result of a world wide flood.
There are over 270 flood legends and historical records from around the world confirming Noah and the flood.
The record from Hawaii says Long after the death of Kuniuhonna, the first man, the world became a wicked, terrible place to live. There was one good man left; his name was Nu-u.
He made a great canoe with a house on it and filled it with animals. The waters came up over all the earth and killed all the people. Only Nu-u and his family were saved. (Duane T. Gish Ph.D. Dinosaurs by Design page 74)
Dr Duane Gish Ph.D. states One ancient Chinese classic called the Hihking tells the story of Fuhi, whom the Chinese consider to be the father of their civilization. This history records that Fuhi, his wife, three sons, and three daughters escaped a great flood. He and his family were the only people left alive on earth. After the great flood they repopulated the world. An ancient temple in China has a wall painting that shows Fuhi's boat in the raging waters. Dolphins are swimming around the boat and a dove with an olive branch in it's beak is flying toward it.
(Duane T. Gish Ph.D. Dinosaurs by Design page 74)
It is also interesting to note that in Chinese calligraphy the word for boat is made up of three symbols, eight + person + vessel, confirming the Genesis acount of eight people being saved in the ark. Genesis 7:13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them into the ark;
For more Evidence PROVING that the BIBLE is GOD's Word click Here