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Introduction: Why Trust the Bible?

It is a delight to be with you this morning. I am always delighted to be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day. I am here with most of my family, my wife, Bridget, and our seven youngest children are with me. We bring you greetings from Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida, where we have recently relocated and become members.

We spent almost the last decade in Lusaka in Zambia. We went there to help start the African Christian University. We’re supposed to be there for three to five years, but ended up being there almost 10. But we are back now and excited about the opportunity to help start the Founders Seminary in Cape Coral. Pray for us as we get started.

Our first semester starts on August 11th. I have the privilege of serving as the president of the new seminary, and it is a weighty responsibility, but an exciting one. So please keep us in mind, keep us in your prayers.

Today, I have a very specific message to give you, and that is why we choose to believe the Bible. That’s something that I’ve been talking about, preaching about, writing about for a very, very long time. It’s something that has really come to the forefront in the broader culture at large.

I don’t know if you know the name Wes Huff, but Wes Huff is an apologist. He’s a Canadian PhD student specializing in New Testament textual criticism. A while back, Wes got a call from a friend who was doing a podcast, and it was a last-minute thing where Wes was asked to come on and have a discussion, have a debate with another guy who was not famous, but he was well known in the biblical skepticism field.

He is a guy who talks about all these conspiracy theories and how there are Egyptian myths and ancient texts, and all these conspiracy theories about the Bible. So Wes agreed to go on his podcast, and it was really bad. The biblical skeptic was utterly exposed as the fraud that he is.

He goes all around the world talking to people about these things that supposedly undermine the authority of scripture. He said he was talking about this one example, this Sinai Bible that doesn’t even have the resurrection. So Wes Huff pulls that book off of his bookshelf. Again, Wes Huff, PhD student, is studying textual criticism.

He asks if the guy was talking about Codex Sinaiticus, and it was. Wes opens in the original written language and shows that what he says is not there is actually there. The guy’s like, okay, I’ll take your word for it. It’s a couple of hours of moments like these.

So much so that eventually Joe Rogan invites Wes Huff to come on the Joe Rogan show. Because the original podcast went viral. It was so embarrassing, and Joe Rogan was talking about how embarrassing it was. Joe Rogan, a well-known atheist, spends hours with West Huff talking about the Bible and textual criticism and all this sort of stuff.

Wes brought different things with him to show and give to Joe. Joe Rogan is going to church now, communicating with Wes Huff regularly about the Bible. Now he’s been on other podcasts to talk about this because of the phone call that he answered and was ready for. Essentially, he answered the question that we’re addressing here today.

I’m not saying that everybody needs to be a PhD-level textual critic. That’s not what we’re going to be doing here today. Today, I just want to help you be able to answer what I believe is the most important question for any Christian to answer. Let that sink in for a minute.

Now, as I say that, some of you are sitting there thinking, well, I don’t know if that’s the most important question. Fine. Some of you are thinking, I think the most important question would be, Who is Jesus? My most important question would be, What must I do to be saved? Or the most important question, fill in the blank, whatever it is that you say is the most important question. Let me ask you another question. Why do you believe what you believe about that? The answer is because it’s in the Bible.

Which means the more important question is, why do you believe the Bible? Because whatever else it is you think is an important question, your reason for it is going to be scriptural. So, at the end of the day, the most important question for you to be able to answer is, why do you believe the Bible?

 

Insufficient Answers to the Question

As we think about that, there are a couple of very popular answers to the question. One popular answer to the question, unfortunately, is, That’s how I was raised. I was raised in the church. I was raised as a Christian. I was raised, and I’ve always believed in the Bible. That’s how I was raised.

That’s an insufficient answer to the question. The older you get, the more you’ll understand how insufficient that is. Because the older you get, the more you’ll be confronted with things that you were raised to believe that weren’t true. There are so many wives’ tales and other things that you were raised to believe that weren’t true. So that’s an insufficient answer.

Another answer that people often give is, I tried it and it worked for me. A very popular answer, especially today. Where experience is everything. I tried it and it worked for me. It changed my life. It’s only slightly better, but not sufficient. How many people in this world have tried things other than the Bible and had their lives changed? Many, many, many people.

One story I love is the story of a young man who lived in the Boston area. His father was killed with his sister, and this young man got into all kinds of trouble. Eventually, he ended up in Harlem, New York. He was a gangster, a hustler, and was arrested, went to prison. He became a drug addict and a drug dealer.

So he’s in prison, and in prison he meets some people who begin to tell him about this Messiah. He doesn’t want to have anything to do with it until one night, in his cell, he is visited by the Messiah. He goes and talks to the people who’ve been trying to tell him about this. And his life has changed, utterly transformed. He becomes a model prisoner.

He gets out early, he continues to live a transformed life, and personally opens dozens of houses of worship. He tried this Messiah and it worked for him. His name is Malcolm X. His messiah was the honorable Elijah Muhammad. He’s the founder of the cultic group the Nation of Islam.

So if we’re satisfied with, ‘I tried it and it worked for me’, even Malcolm X eventually came to realize that Elijah Muhammad was not the Messiah, that he was completely wrong. He shouted it from the rooftops, and eventually, the Nation of Islam assassinated him. So the fact that you try something and your life is changed because you tried it doesn’t make it true. So we gotta have a better answer.

 

Sufficiently Answering the Question

I’m going to give you an answer, and I’ll spend the rest of our time teaching you this answer from a passage of scripture. Some of you may already know this answer. Somebody asks why you choose to read the Bible. Instead of saying, that’s how I was raised, or I tried it and it works for me, I prefer to answer, I choose to believe the Bible because it’s a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.

They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. We are going to go through this step by step, and more importantly, we’ll go through it line by line, verse by verse.

Because it’s not necessarily my answer. This is just my succinct communication of Peter’s answer in 2 Peter, chapter 1. I’m just abbreviating and consolidating Peter’s answer. Second Peter, chapter one, beginning verse 16. And there we read:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God and as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

This is our answer. By the way, it’s very important at the outset to say this, we don’t give this answer because it’s some sort of spiritual judo move that will make any and everybody submit and say Now I believe. That is not the way that this works. What’s interesting is, we talked about Wes Huff and his encounter, and while there are some people like Rogan who are now exploring more and going to church and talking a lot more about these things, and we hope will come to faith, the guy whom he obliterated, he’s even more entrenched.

In fact, he came at two o’clock in the morning with a cease and desist order after that podcast, demanding that the guy whose podcast it was not publish. He did not want the world to see him. He did not say, You know what, I was wrong. The facts are on your side. He didn’t. Because at the end of the day, look at verse 19 again:

“We have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

That’s what it takes for people to believe, for the day to dawn and the morning star to rise in their hearts, for Christ to make them alive. So I don’t give you this answer because somehow it’s the magic bullet that will make any and everyone believe there is no such thing. I give you this answer because it is incumbent upon us to know what we believe and why we believe. It is incumbent upon us to be able to answer anyone who asks us the reason for the hope that is in us. We believe that God uses his word, and so if we’re going to answer, we should give one that is scriptural.

I’ve had many an opportunity to walk through this passage of scripture with people because it goes a little something like this: we’re talking about whatever the subject is, I’ll say what I believe on the subject. You pick any subject, the subject of the day. I will say, when the Bible says this and the Bible says that, it never fails. People would say that works for you. But not everybody believes in the Bible; that’s your faith that works for you.

I’ll get an opportunity to share with them why I choose to believe the Bible. It’s a reliable collection of historical doctrines written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. Therefore, supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies claim that the writings are divine rather than human in origin. Again, that is not my answer; it actually comes from a passage of Scripture. Then we get to talk about this passage of scripture. So let’s look at it in turn.

 

A Reliable Collection of Historical Documents

First, a reliable collection of historical documents. Verse 16:

“We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

We did not follow cleverly devised myths. Oftentimes, that’s what we’re accused of. We’re accused of following cleverly devised myths. These things are made up. These are just stories that have been passed down. In fact, these stories that have been passed down are not even reliable stories. We’ve often encountered people who will say that basically what we hold in our hands is a translation of a translation of a translation of a translation. Of course, so much has been lost as a result of that.

Or you’ll hear people say that it’s like a game of Telephone. Or the name it used to be called by, Chinese Whispers. Listen, people still do this in college lecture halls in order to supposedly undermine the authenticity of the Bible. You whisper into the ear of one person, and then that person whispers into the next person’s ear, and so forth. Then, at the end, we get to the final person and ask, What did you hear? He says something that is not exactly what I whispered to the first person.

That game is used as an example of why it is that we don’t have a reliable collection of historical documents. By the way, it is a collection of historical documents. Unlike many supposed holy books out there, our book is not written by a single individual. Our book is written by a collection of individuals. We have a reliable collection. It’s not just one book. It’s 66 books. There are over 40 authors. It’s written in three different languages. Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.

It’s written on three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Again, over 40 authors, a period of over 1600 years. That’s how this collection came to be. It’s a reliable collection of historical documents. So of course, it’s a collection. Nobody’s arguing now, but it’s a reliable collection. That’s what people are arguing against because of this game of telephone, this game of Chinese whispers that gets us the Bible.

Well, there are a couple of things wrong with that analogy. Here’s problem number one. I read for you from the ESV, the English Standard Version. Now, in order for that analogy to apply, the ESV would have to be a translation of earlier translations. So let’s say the ESV is a translation of the NASB, and then the NASB would have to be a translation of an earlier version.

Let’s say that goes back to the New King James, and the New King James would have to be a translation of the King James, and King James has to be a translation of the Geneva Bible, and so on and so forth all the way back. But you see, the problem is it doesn’t work that way. The translators of the ESV didn’t go back to earlier translations. They went back to the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic documents themselves.

So now here’s what the game of Chinese whispers looks like. I say something into his ear, and then I say something into her ear, the same thing. All the way down, I say something into each individual ear, all the way to the last person. Everybody heard it from me. That’s how Bible translation goes. People who use this argument are ignorant, evil, or both, because that’s not the way the Bible is translated.

Ah, but wait. We don’t have the originals. This is true. We don’t have the originals. For example, we have books in schools about Julius Caesar. What they know about Julius Caesar probably comes from Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. We have somewhere between 5 and 10 partial manuscripts, the earliest ones written a thousand years after Julius Caesar, dead and gone.

You’re probably talking about Aristotle. Eventually, kids who go to school will learn things about Aristotle, maybe from Aristotle’s Poetics. Again, we have fewer than a dozen copies of Aristotle’s Poetics, the earliest ones. 1400 years after Aristotle. Definitely, these folks would be reading Homer’s Iliad, but nobody’s going to tell them that the earliest copies we have are 2100 years after the original.

Nobody questions them, because when it comes to ancient literature, that’s not all that crazy. 900 years, 1400 years, even 2000 years. When it comes to the Bible, for example, the New Testament, we have somewhere between five and six thousand manuscripts or portions of manuscripts in the New Testament. The earliest dated document is called P52. By the way, one of the things that West Huff gave to Joe Rogan was a facsimile of P52. This fragment that we have. It’s about a generation after the death of the apostles who penned them.

That’s from John’s Gospel. John was the longest-surviving of the apostles. So, within decades of his death, we can go and look at a fragment of the Gospel that he wrote. Again, nobody’s questioning Caesar, Aristotle, Homer. 900 years, 1400 years, 2000 years between writing and what we can put our hands on. Why on earth will we question the authenticity of documents?

We can put our hands on copies that are as early as the lifetime of eyewitnesses. We have a reliable collection of historical documents. Well, some people say, I get that, but what happened was, there were monks, and these monks were the ones who created these writings that we have. They created these writings long after all of that was actually done.

Ok, so we had these overzealous monks who deceived the world. Here’s what they would have to do. These overzealous monks would have to collect 6,000 manuscripts and portions of manuscripts, change them all the exact same way, not show their ink work, not get caught, and never give up the conspiracy.

But there’s another level and layer to their problem, because within the first and second century, remember Jesus said that we were to go and preach this gospel to all people. The problem is that people groups speak different languages. So within the first century and a half, we have the Bible translated into Syriac, Coptic, and Latin, for example. So now these overzealous monks, they’re not dumb people. They realize that if they change the Greek manuscript, there are also Syriac, Coptic, and Latin copies of the Greek manuscript. The Syriac, Coptic, and Latin copies are going to say something that your forgeries don’t.

So now you’ve got to collect not only all 6,000 Greek manuscripts, but you’ve got to collect all the Syriac, Coptic, and Latin manuscripts. You’ve got to change those, and remember the lies you told in Greek, you’ve got to get all those back to where you stole them from. Don’t get caught. Don’t show your ink work, and never give up your conspiracy.

There’s another layer of the problem. The early Church Fathers preached and wrote commentaries on the New Testament. How thoroughly did they preach and write commentary on the New Testament? So much so, the New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger has argued that if all we had were the writings of the early Church Fathers, we would be able to reproduce the entire New Testament, save 11 verses.

So now our overzealous monks, 6,000 Greek manuscripts, all the Syriac, Coptic, and Latin translations of the Greek manuscripts, all of the writings of the early Church fathers, and their conspiracy have to last several hundred years. It takes more faith to believe that than it does to believe that we have a reliable collection of historical documents.

 

Written by Eyewitnesses

Not only do you have a reliable collection of historical documents, but we have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses. Let’s look at the next part of this verse 16:

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.”

Remember, this is Peter. The sword in the ear. I’ll never deny you. Who do you say that I am? Bid me to come to you. Walking on water. This is Peter. He says, but we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. Not only that, but listen, for example, this is how Luke begins his gospel. Luke, chapter 1, beginning verse 1:

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things which you have been taught.”

First John, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. Listen to this:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life.”

In case you didn’t get his emphasis in verse one. Listen to verse two:

“The life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.”

In case he wasn’t clear in verses 1 or 2. Listen to verse 3:

“That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses. By people who were there, by people who saw, by people who touched, by people who hurt directly. It sets the Bible apart.

 

During the Lifetime of Other Eyewitnesses

Not only do we have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses, but they were also written during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. Let’s put that piece together. We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. Look with me at 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 1, Paul writes:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believe in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, (that’s Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

That phrase, ‘most of whom are still alive’, what that means when you do the math, is that during the time that First Corinthians was written, there were over 300 eyewitnesses to the resurrection still alive. Which means that the claim is falsifiable. That sounds like a bad thing. Actually, it’s the best of things. The claim is actually falsifiable.

What that means is you can go and check it out. You put a witness up on the stand, and the witness says, This is what happened, this is where I was. What’s the first question you would ask? Can anybody here verify? If your answer is no, it’s not very strong evidence. If your answer is yes, there were 300 people that you can go ask right now. Here are their names.

That’s the strongest testimony possible. Falsifiable evidence. Not, I was in a cave by myself, and this is what came to me. Not, I found these magic glasses. In the case of Mormonism, the angel Moroni came. It was just me and the angel of Moroni, and the magic glasses. It’s not falsified. This claim is.

We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. It was falsified.

 

Reporting of Supernatural Events

So far, all we’ve got is a good history book. We need something beyond just a good history book. Look at verse 17:

“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was born to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”, we ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.”

That’s the Mount of Transfiguration. That’s when Jesus is transfigured and Moses and Elijah show up, and Peter says, We just need to camp out right here. We need to build something right here. This moment needs to be commemorated. Of course, Jesus says no. If you go to the site today, the Catholic Church has done exactly what Jesus said not to do and built a monument there. But I digress.

This is the Mount of Transfiguration. This is the very voice of God speaking from Heaven; this is a supernatural event. This is not a superhuman event. Superhuman events, that’s Sports Center Highlights. This is a supernatural event. Again, we’re separating from just history here. We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, and they report supernatural events.

The woman with the issue of blood, the man with the withered hand, the storm that is still, walking on water, water into wine, and of course, the miracle to end all miracles. Friday dead, Sunday risen. Now the stakes are higher. You see, if we believe the first part of this, we could say, absolutely, the Bible’s a good history book. But once we recognize that this good history book reports supernatural events, we have to cross the Rubicon. Now we have to say, this is not just history. It’s not just supernatural events. It’s supernatural events that fulfill prophecy. Verse 19:

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

We have the prophetic word fully confirmed. So now we have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place and fulfillment of specific prophecies, not just general prophecies. Now we can go back. We could go to Isaiah 53. Written 700 or so years before Jesus was born.

But you know, you may say that’s not far enough. 700 years, not good enough. Jesus, being the suffering servant, we have to go back further. Fine, let’s go back further. Let’s go back a thousand years before Jesus was born. Let’s go back to what you refer to as Psalm 22. But remember, the Bible didn’t have chapters and verses until very recently. The last several hundred years. The Psalms would not have been known by their number. Psalm 22, for most of its history, was not titled Psalm 22.

It was titled by its first line. The first line is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Does that sound familiar? It ought to, because that’s what Jesus cries out while he’s on the cross. So Jesus is hanging on the cross, and he calls out the name of a song. Now, if you are within earshot and you hear him call out the name of a song, it would be as though you’re at an execution and the person being executed says, Pass me not, O gentle Savior.

Number one, you know he’s referring to a hymn. But secondly, you also know the next line. If I say, Pass me not, O gentle Savior, what do you think? Hear my humble cry, while not this hour calling, do not pass me by, because you know it. So now, Psalm number 22. Jesus is being crucified. He cries out the title of Psalm 22. He says, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The next line, Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Go down to Psalm 22, verse 6:

“I’m a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him.”

It’s exactly what’s being said to Jesus while he’s being crucified. Verse 12:

“Many bulls encompass me; Strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like ravening and roaring lion. I’m poured out like water and all my bones are out of joint.”

Why? Because you’re nailed to a Roman cross.

“My heart is like wax.”

Interesting. Pierced in his side, thrusting upwardly, punctured the pericardium. Blood and water rush out.

“It is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws.”

Almost like you would say, I thirst.

“You lay me in the dust of death. Dogs encompass me.”

That’s a reference to Gentiles.

“A company of evildoers encircles me; one on the right, one on the left. They have pierced my hands, my feet.”

By the way, not everyone who was crucified was pierced in the hands and feet. You can be crucified by being tied to a cross and take days to die because you die by asphyxiation.

“I can count all my bones.”

Why is that significant? Well, Jesus was crucified just before a high holy day. He couldn’t hang on the cross during that high holy day, so he had to be dead. One of the ways to hasten his death would have been to break his legs so that he couldn’t hold himself up and slow his asphyxiation. But when they came to him, he had already breathed his last, so that he didn’t have to break his legs. Which is why the psalmist can say:

“I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots.”

This was written a thousand years before Jesus was crucified by someone who never saw the crucifixion. Because Roman crucifixion had not yet been invented, we had the prophetic word more fully confirmed.

 

Divine Rather Than Human in Origin

We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies. Finally, they report that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. Look at 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 20:

“Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Hundreds of times we find the phrase ‘and the Lord said’, ‘and the Lord spoke to’, ‘thus says the Lord’. Hundreds of times. These writers purport to be speaking the words of God himself. They claim that God is the source of this, that God is the ultimate author of this.

So again, the first half of this, it’s easy to nod our heads and say, absolutely, because we’re just saying it’s not only good history, it’s great history. It’s a greater history than anything else in the ancient world. Things that we readily accept without question. Yes. Reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. Yes.

Second half of this, they report supernatural events. Well, I don’t believe in the supernatural. You’ve got a problem because you’ve already acknowledged that this is not just good history. It’s the best ancient history that the world has ever seen. The best ancient history that the world has ever seen reports supernatural events. It doesn’t only report supernatural events,
It reports supernatural events that happen in fulfillment of specific prophecies, not general prophecies.

These people claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin, that this is the word of God. You’ve got to do something with that. You have to do something with the fact that this is the very book that teaches us the origins of man. Man’s sin problem, man’s guilt before a holy God, the justice of God that is going to come against man’s sin, and God’s provision through the person and work of Christ so that man might find forgiveness and eternal life in him. That’s what we find in this book. That’s what we find in this reliable collection of historical documents.

Then some people say, I get all that. But I’m just more of a man of science. Unless you can prove it to me scientifically. I have to admit that when people say that, I have to hold back my enthusiasm because that one excites me a lot. Oh, you’re a man of science. You want me to prove it to you scientifically using the scientific method.

Ironically, you would call yourself a man of science and know nothing about the scientific method. So then you know that in order to employ the scientific method, something has to be observable, measurable, and repeatable. Which means you don’t use the scientific method on historical events because those events are not observable, measurable, and repeatable.

You use the evidentiary method like you would in a courtroom. What would that look like? That would look like you calling witnesses, collecting testimony. What would strong testimony in a courtroom look like? Maybe if you could find witnesses who wrote in three different languages, who wrote on three different continents, and there were like 40 of them from all walks of life, most of whom never met each other, and they wrote over a period of 1600 years, and all confirmed the same truth.

Maybe that would be a strong case to put on in a courtroom, because at the end of the day, it would lead us to say, I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies, and they claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. And, oh, by the way, I tried. It worked for me.

 

Conclusion: We Can Trust the Bible

See, the claims of Christ are not just mythology. God didn’t just send us a myth and a story to be passed down. No, he sent His Son. In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, born of a virgin, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who are under the law. Christ lived his life in public, performed his miracles in public, taught His Gospel in public, was crucified in public, died and was buried, and then resurrected and was seen in public for 40 days after his resurrection. It was all public.

Then God was gracious enough to record it for us, to preserve it for us. That’s why Luke says to Theophilus, I write this for you, most excellent Theophilus. Not so that you might have blind faith, but so that you might have certainty concerning the things you’ve been taught. So when I say, place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, turn from your sin and trust in Christ, I’m not saying close your eyes and hope real hard that this myth is true.

I’m saying we have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They’re the ones who report these supernatural events, like the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies. They’re the ones who claim that this is the word of God.

So it is God who says to you, Repent and believe. Trust in Christ alone for your salvation. He is your only hope. My prayer is that the day would dawn and the morning star would rise in your heart, that God would remove the scales from your eyes and that you would believe that The Lord Jesus Christ is who the Bible says that he is, and that you not only can, but must trust him for the pardon of your sins.

Let’s pray.

Gracious God, our heavenly Father, we bow before you in humility and gratitude. Humbled by your majesty, in awe of your greatness, and grateful for your goodness and your kindness and your mercy toward us. Thank you for providing and preserving for us your word.

I thank you that you speak to us clearly and consistently through those things that you have preserved for us. Grant by your grace that we might not only believe the historical veracity of these things, but that we might come to understand the significance of the supernatural reality.

And above all else, that we might come to know and trust the Lord Jesus Christ in the pardon of our sins. Thank you that you have not left us to wander aimlessly in the dark, but that you have revealed yourself to us. And you’ve done so clearly and publicly. Grant us faith to continue to believe, for we ask these things in Christ’s name and for his sake. Amen.