How do you know the Bible is true?

Answer 1

You don't.

You can take it on faith if you wish,

but there is little external evidence to show that it is more than a collection of stories made up by people.

AnswerA stack of books have been written on this gigantic subject. The answers would fall into a number of broad categories:

Firstly, the Bible claims to be the word of God, not just once or twice, but thousands of times.

Secondly, hundreds of very specific prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter, both about Christ and other events. Some of these were written hundreds of years before the events they describe.

Thirdly, in most cases the Bible was written by persons who were direct eyewitnesses to the events they describe. The tendency of many scholars towards the end of the 19th Century was to regard the New Testament as unreliable because written well into the 2nd Century AD and thus not by eyewitnesses. Re-examination, together with actual archaeological discoveries has led to a constant revision of this to the point that even a liberal scholar like J.A.T. Robinson regarded it all as having been written prior to AD70. Some, unfortunately, still refer to this outdated scholarship as if current, but the actual evidence points to contemporaneity, which is what many of the authors claim..

Fourthly, in relation to many historical events and geographical features the Bible has repeatedly been proven correct and the skeptics wrong. Together with much scientific evidence that supports the Bible, this adds to the picture of reliability, although strictly speaking one can never prove matters of faith and the meaning which the Bible gives to events. Where something is in doubt, it is quite reasonable where an author has repeatedly been found to be stunningly accurate to give them the 'benefit of the doubt' as actual evidence may surface later.

Fifthly the Bible has stood the test of time as a truly remarkable book with a surprising unity considering the long time-frame over which it was written and the diversity in authorship. It has also withstood attacks from those who oppose its message.

Sixthly, millions of lives have been changed for the better through reading this book. This cannot be accounted merely through the moral teachings of the book of Proverbs or Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount etc. It attests to the power of God behind it, which is quite different from the external observances of what people call 'religion'. The change is inside a person and brings a change of heart and mind. Testimonies of persons being genuinely saved today abound, not just in the USA but all around the world. I am one of them.

Seventhly, lives have even been changed by the attitude of those who oppose the Bible. C. S. Lewis (once an Atheist) testified that it was the actions and attitude of evolutionary opponents who turned him towards the truth of the message of the Bible. Many skeptics and opponents have turned from this to the truth of the Bible when they honestly examined the actual evidence.

In one sense though, many easily dismiss the Bible because they listen to arguments that are easily made. There is a tendency for statements made in the Bible to be quoted out of context so that they are made to say what they do not say, which makes it easy to knock them down. To quote the Bible profusely does not prove that one understands it or is quoting it correctly.

Many scholars are brought to bear with their arguments which have presuppositions which are anti-Bible. In particular, there is a tendency for arguments from the nineteenth century (as mentioned above) which have been long disproved, to be quoted as if they were fact still today. Persons are certainly free to oppose the Bible and to disagree with its contents and claims. But we must examine the accuracy and currency of the argumentation.

Seventhly although there are probably many more, the Bible shows man and life the way it is, 'warts and all' and so does not contain mythological elements found in many other works. C.S. Lewis, himself a noted author commented on this. 'If he (the biblical critic) tells me that something in a Gospel is legend or romance, I want to know how many legends and romances he has read, how well his palate is trained in detecting them by the flavour; not how many years he has spent on that Gospel... I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, myths, all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this.'

C.S. Lewis, Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature, Cambridge University.

Answer

You just have to have faith and forgiveness to others and pray and ask God.

Answer

When I first began studying the Bible... really studying it, I didn't know. I just "believed" that it COULD be true. A childhood of mainstream Christian upbringing only left me with serious doubts about the trinity of Jesus, and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny... they seemed inseparable in my youth.

The main difference was that Santa and Bunny never wrote a book. So, the mysterious Jesus maintained a certain "edge" over the other two, which stayed in the back of my mind for years before I actually studied His Book.

So, when I began to study the Bible, I didn't know if it was true.

The key to eventually "knowing" that it's True is in the ATTITUDE of the one studying it GOING IN! I prayed, before starting, with the wide-eyed innocence and trust of a child, for God to "open my mind and heart" to His (reputedly) "inspired" Word... that He might reveal His Truth to me.

Casually reading the Bible once in a while won't cause you to "know" the Bible is true.

The Pharisees of Jesus' day were REARED in the scriptures and technically quite knowledgeable of them. But when the WORD... the Author of their scriptures walked the earth... they didn't KNOW Him.

"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." (John 1:10)

Because the world approaches God's Word, the Bible. with THE WRONG ATTITUDE... it can't KNOW its Truth.

The only way to know the Truth of the Bible, first, is for God to be calling to you. You probably won't even pick the book up if He doesn't. God will reveal Himself to those with the right attitude toward His Word - child-like innocence and trust, that, at the very least, it COULD be true.

Some people read the Bible "knowing it's a book of ancient fables and Jewish beddie-bye stories" and read it with a rebellious heart, seeking to find any and all the flaws they can find in uninspired and sometimes apparently contradictory translations... always seeking to prove the Bible "wrong."

"...to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and TREMBLETH AT MY WORD." (Isa.66:2)

It takes a "trembling, humble, trusting" heart applied to the Bible... or you will never "know" its Truth. And you can't quit on it.

"...If ye continue in My Word, THEN are ye My disciples indeed; and YE SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE." (John 8:31-32)

Only God can reveal His Truth to the reader of His Word... if the trusting reader WANTS to know the Truth. If the reader simply "CHOOSES" to believe what God's Word says.

Truth is always the Truth, whether anyone believes it or not. Such is the nature of the Bible - "Thy Word is Truth" (John 17:17).

You can't "know" the Bible is True unless you read it in "faith" and "believe" what it says. You can't "know" the Bible is True unless you "continue" in it... diligently... and trustingly.

I started studying the Bible with what small grain of "faith" God granted me... and I chose to give it the benefit of my doubts. I just read it, studied it, poured over it, tore passages apart and put them back together (only to have them fit), became fascinated with prophecy - saw history prove prophecy - witness modern events fulfilling prophecy, discovered its 66 books by Holy Spirit-inspired writers separated sometimes by generations come together with miraculous harmony.

Until I no longer "believe" what the Bible says is True. I now "KNOW" it's True.

-- another answer --

We don't - and cannot - know this in the same way that we "know" the result of a sports match we attended, or the way we "know" that elephants are not native to Europe.

We only "accept" that what others tell us about the bible is accurate.

Leaders of non-Christian, and other non-Abrahamic faiths - would dispute the truth of the Bible.

Answer

First, we have the words of St Paul that, at the very least, some parts of the Bible are not absolutely true; he says, in 1 Corinthians 7:6, 'But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment'. That is, it is his deliberated view, but not an instruction from God. If this is true of one statement in the bible, it makes all the others worthy of examination. How many times does he, and do other authors, put forward their personal opinions and beliefs without specifically informing us?

Second, the bible contradicts itself in so many places that not all of it can be true.

Third (and most importantly), before you can decide anything about the truth of the bible, you must know what TRUTH is. Most people's definition of 'truth' doesn't stand up to a minute's investigation, and so their views on what is, or isn't, true isn't worth doodley-squat.