How do I know it is real? Part 2

This is the second installment of "How do I know it's real?".

This is an excerpt from our Wednesday night youth gathering.

Evidence #2 – There is Unity in the Bible

*Did you know 40 men wrote the Bible over 1500 years time?

These writers included Amos ( a farmer), a doctor (Luke), ministers such as Ezra and James, political leaders (David, Solomon), political prisoners (Daniel, John), a musician (Asaph), a fisherman (Peter), and a tax collector (Matthew).

Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and he grew up in Egypt, became a fugitive, worked herding livestock, and eventually led a nation.

Paul, who wrote 13 books of the New Testament, professionally trained in religion, in theology, philosophy, and before he trusted Jesus as Savior was a professional hunter of Christians.

The Bible writers came from all sorts of economic backgrounds all sorts of careers and lifestyles; some were educated and some not so educated.

So you take all these different writers with different points of view, different backgrounds and yet the Bible contains a unified and consistent message.  The agreement in all 66 books strongly argues in favor that the Bible gets its origin from God in heaven.

 Here is your big Bible knowledge tid bit for the night.

 The Canon of Scriptures  is the collection of documents that make up the Bible.  There were some canonicity tests for the books of the Bible. 

Authorship (who wrote it)

Acceptance by the Church (remember these early Christians were eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ and the disciples.)

Acceptance by church leaders – some of the church leaders actually walked and lived with Jesus Christ

Spiritual Value – was the content of the book useful for helping Christians grow.

During the early church era there were some books that didn’t pass the canonicity tests and so the church rejected them.

 

Evidence #3 – Archeology evidence

The past couple centuries the science of archeology has advanced our knowledge of the people, places and culture of Bible times.

Read 2 Kings 9 & 10

Example:  This is cool.  King Jehu was an early king of Israel found in 2 Kings 9-10.

An obelisk was discovered in 1846 with information about Israel’s defeat and capture by an Assyrian king.  Up until this discovery the only evidence of King Jehu’s existence was found in the Old Testament.  Many discoveries have meshed perfectly with the Bible.

 

Evidence #4 – The Bible has fulfilled prophecy

Now some of you might say, “every religion has had prophecies so what makes the prophecies of the Bible any different?”

The answer is very simple; the Bible’s prophecies have been fulfilled, they actually happened as the Bible said they would.  The other religions have nothing but unfulfilled prophecies.

Sometime between AD 30-32 Jesus predicted that the Jewish temple would be reduced to nothing but rubble.  Now the Jews of the day thought that was impossibility.  The Jewish leaders thought of this an unthinkable occurrence.  There was no way their massive temple would be destroyed.  Yet in AD 70 the temple was totally destroyed.

In the book Isaiah written more than 700 years before the birth of Christ predicted that Jews would return to Israel.  At one point the skeptics pointed to this prophecy as on that wasn’t fulfilled but since Israel became a nation once again in 1948 there has been a steady increase of Jews returning to Israel.

These are just a couple examples of fulfilled prophecy.

Why Inspiration Matters?

If the Bible is God’ Word and what it says was true when it was written, it is still true today and will be true tomorrow and forever.  In the most crucial issues of life—I’m talking about subjects like God, human nature, right and wrong, sin, forgiveness, death and eternity—you can’t afford to guess what is true.  Your life now and in eternity, depends on whether or not what you believe is, in fact, true. 

Nearly 500 years ago the great reformer Martin Luther gave us his take on God’s Word:

“In the Bible God speaks.  The Scriptures are His word.  To hear or read the Scriptures in nothing else that to hear God Himself.”

Parent/Teen Discussion Questions:

Have you ever thought there were some discrepancies, contradictions, or mistakes in the Bible?

If your son or daughter say “yes” ask what they think is the contradiction or mistake?

If he or she comes up with one and you know the answer or explanation please spend some time helping them understand.  If it is one that stumps you please write it down and say, “That’s a great question, let me see if I can find the answer to that one because I don’t know the answer off the top of my head.”

Better yet, spend some time digging in some commentaries or study Bibles together searching for an explanation. 

*information in italics is taken from Alex McFarland's book Stand.