Why are Christians so certain that the Bible really is from God?

Question

How do Christians know that it wasn't just written by men who said it was the word of God? Obviously God doesn't pop into everyone's living room and talk. It's just ministers or priests telling people that it's the word of God. And people believe that.

So, Bible Believers, where is your proof that the Bible really is the word of God? And don't tell me that you're right JUST BECAUSE, or that I'm stupid for not believeing in the Bible, because that will only prove that you're insecure and really don't know how to respond to my question.

Answer 1

because we believe, thats what belief is.

Answer 2

This is the most studied subject on this planet. The Scriptures have been the object of serious scholarly examination for more that 1600 years. Serious devout holy men have devoted their entire lives to this study. Once you see the whole history behind it, and learn the meaning of the text, you come to a place where you seriously doubt it can be a fake.
And, no-you are not necessarily stupid for not believing it. There are millions of very learned men who do not believe it, and they are certainly not stupid. I just believe they have not taken a real serious look at it.
My proof (to me) lies in the fact of all the criticism that the Bible has withstood over the centuries, the fact that it remains the best selling book in human history for several hundred years now, and the profound change it has on a persons life who reads it, believes it, and applies it to their lives. There is no denying it is a powerful book.

Answer 3

I am a Christian, I have been Baptized, and I am certain that the Bible was written by man. It is a collection of several books (scrolls) from several authors. Much of the Bible comes from 2nd and 3rd-hand accounts of happenings. Most of the Old Testament is from stories passed down through the past several thousand years.

It's a book, written by man. It has the things in it that men at the time wanted to say. It has things deliberately left out of it that didn't help the cause of the Church at the time.

Is it "THE WORD OF GOD", and "THE TRUTH"...of course not.

And if you need proof of that, look at the Vatican and its Biblical scholors and the countless other Biblical scholars which still debate to this day the meaning of the Bible and what should and should not be included.

Answer 4

.

I assume this is a sincere question, and not haterbaiting.

There are many reasons, perhaps you will find some in your answers. Here is the 'personal' one. Records exist proving the existence of these books at various different times throughout history. You should take an ancient history course. You will see that the first document they always base "pre-history" on is The Bible. So, if nothing else, it has age and longevity on its side.

Now, given this age and longevity, perhaps you could study it. What you would find (if you were honest) is that the vision of God is unified and consistent from beginning to end. God's personality comes through again and again, and that personality is the same. No set of divergent mortal writers, scribbling in such a wide range of times and centuries, could 'create' such a unified vision of a 'fictional' character. If you've ever written anything, and ever collaborated, you would know - from a creative standpoint - that this is a simple truth.

So, if you study The Bible, you will see God in it, and its the same God, again and again.

But this is very tough for you, isn't it? Because, to actually understand and research the truth of The Bible, you would have to open yourself to the existence of God, and He intruding on your life. And that, brother, is a fearful thing.

You are at a crossroads. Good luck.

.

Answer 5

The proof you might be looking for can be found in the 3rd century at the Council of Carthage (and others). Before they could prove the bible to be inspired, they first had to prove the Church.

The Bible is initially approached as any other ancient work. It is not, at first, presumed to be inspired. From textual criticism we are able to conclude that we have a text the accuracy of which is more certain than the accuracy of any other ancient work.
Next we take a look at what the Bible, considered merely as a history, tells us, focusing particularly on the New Testament, and more specifically the Gospels.

We examine the account contained therein of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Using what is in the Gospels themselves and what we find in extra-biblical writings from the early centuries,

We then take that and together with what we know of human nature (and what we can otherwise, from natural reason alone, know of divine nature), we conclude that either Jesus was just what he claimed to be—God—or he was crazy. Those are your only two options.

Further, Christ said he would found a Church. Both the Bible (still taken as merely a historical book, not yet as an inspired one) and other ancient works attest to the fact that Christ established a Church with the rudiments of what we see in the Catholic Church today—papacy, hierarchy, priesthood, sacraments, teaching authority, and, as a consequence of the last, infallibility.
Christ’s Church, to do what he said it would do, had to have the character of doctrinal infallibility.

We have thus taken purely historical material and concluded that a Church exists, namely, the Catholic Church, which is divinely protected against teaching doctrinal error. Now we are at the last premise of the argument.

This Catholic Church tells us the
(2)Bible is inspired, and we can take the Church’s word for it precisely because the
(1)Church is infallible.

Only after having been told by a properly constituted authority—
(1)that is, one established by God to assure us of the truth concerning matters of faith—
(2)that the Bible is inspired can we reasonably begin to use it as an inspired book.

Dizzy? This SUMMARY of a summary of a summary should clarify:
1) On the first level we argue to the reliability of the Bible insofar as it is history.
2) From that we conclude that an infallible Church was founded.
3) And then we take the word of that infallible Church that the Bible is inspired.
4) This is not a circular argument because the final conclusion (the Bible is inspired) is not simply a restatement of its initial finding (the Bible is historically reliable),
5) and its initial finding (the Bible is historically reliable) is in no way based on the final conclusion (the Bible is inspired).
What I have demonstrated is that without the existence of the Church, we could never know whether the Bible is inspired.

clarification: by "historically reliable" I don't mean the bible is a list of historical facts as we see history books today. They did not write like that 2000 years ago. They were more concerned with painting historical portraits than listing historical accounts, and some Christians and anti-Christians are very confused on this point.

Answer 6

Because it talked about things that the people of that day didn't know about The laws in Deuteronomy about hygeine is so far ahead of its time that we are only now learning about germs.
It said that god sits above the circle of the earth people in those days believe the earth was flat. It also said that God hangs the earth upon nothing.
Read the march of world powers in Daniel. It describes the powers and what they were like as if he was there. The last or down to our day said that this power would be mixed with the off spring of man kind yet they wouldn't be sticking together. Showing racial problems. Described them as a duel world power with a like nation. they are a duel world power with UK>
It also said that was the last power. In the days of those kings the God of heaven would set up a kingdom that would never be brought to ruin. or turned over to any other nation. Everything else he said was so accurate. I believe that is accurate to.
The USA will only go down at the hands of God's Kingdom.
There will not be a world power after this one.
That is what he said. Revelation showed that false relgion or all religion would be destroyed in the time of the end.
That looks more like a real posibility every day.

Answer 7

i believe that the bible was written by the twelve disciples, but is truly from the word of God. Why would these eleven people out of twleve who wrote the bible die for a lie? Anyway, i also believe the bible because if you look around at how perfectly set up this Earth is, it can't be coincidence. Also, it says in the bible that Moses split the Red Sea. We have recently found out that the Red Sea splits by itself every now and then (God timed it perfectly so when Moses came the sea split). I could go on saying about how the world is a sphere, how the universe is exanding, etc etc. How could someone make these facts up when they weren't even concieved possible until recently?

Answer 8

Fulfilled prophesy, history, scientific evidence, the witness of God's holy spirit which he gives to everyone who loves him, and which allows them to recieve the truth. The witness from Jesus.

There are verses in the Bible writtne way before man hadf any knowledge of things, like the earth being round...

Isaiah 40:22: "22 There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth, the dwellers in which are as grasshoppers, the One who is stretching out the heavens just as a fine gauze, who spreads them out like a tent in which to dwell,"

Job 26: 7 & 10: "He is stretching out the north over the empty place,
Hanging the earth upon nothing;
10 He has described a circle upon the face of the waters,
To where light ends in darkness.

Those verses were written about 700 years before Jesus was born, and many more years before man discovered that the earth was not flat and that is is suspended in the air by gravitational force. However, God knew these things.

Isaiah 46: 8-11: "“Remember this, that YOU people may muster up courage. Lay it to heart, YOU transgressors. 9 Remember the first things of a long time ago, that I am the Divine One and there is no other God, nor anyone like me; 10 the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done; the One saying, ‘My own counsel will stand, and everything that is my delight I shall do’; 11 the One calling from the sunrising a bird of prey, from a distant land the man to execute my counsel. I have even spoken [it]; I shall also bring it in. I have formed [it], I shall also do it."

Fulfilled prophesy: 200 years before it happened: Cyrus (Isaiah 44:27-45:2), destruction of Babylon (Isaiah 13:19; 14:22,23);

destruction of Jerusalem, rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem,

Jesus Christ's coming to earth
Isaiah chapter 53, (about 700 years before the birth of Jesus)...

There are many prophesies concerning the birth and life and death of Jesus, and then there are the prophesies that are yet to come, but which are being fulfilled everyday as we get near to the end of this system of things.

Answer 9

Good question!
I think the answers here speak for themselves, both for and against. It is obvious that belief or the lack therof can both be justified. None of these answers however proove anything.
Our lives are moldable and our beliefs can change our lives, regardless of the origin of those beliefs, and the non believers can't proove that the Bible was inspired by God.(everyone knows God did not write the Bible)

Answer 10

I question the Bible. listed the following are a number of my questions: Why is one sin worth limitless wrath yet one good paintings is basically no longer worth diddly squat? Why did God tutor mercy to the lads who crucified Jesus yet he killed a guy who basically withheld some money? He also killed men only for making relaxing of yet another guy for being bald? Why ought to finite sins be paid for with limitless wrath? The Christians say because a finite sin adverse to a limiteless God calls for limitless wrath. My question is why? If a guy steals one cent from a monetary employer with 100 trillion income it, does he owe 100 trillion funds again? Why did God make men depraved for his or her judgment? I have lots extra questions.

Answer 11

Cool, I like your honesty.

The Bible is considered "The inspired word of God that works through man" That is to say that God inspired people to write it as such. As for proof and evidence in the Bible there is plenty, however, it may not appeal to you in such a perception as demanding proof. God is subtle sometimes and He is a person. He requires little and forgives much. All he asks is for a humble man to ask, and it shall be given...,but he resists the proud because they are offensive to Him. It's kind of like if you demand something from your parents...they probably don't accept that type of behaviour or if your child demanded something from you...you probably would not accept that type of behaviour.

Faith is a Gift, Faith is more powerful than we can imagine, but we (me too) have not trained our minds to the point where we can walk on water, yet! Potential!

Anywho, as for proof that you want you will find that every book in the Bible, over thousands of years, points to Christ Jesus in Prophecies and symbolism. An example is Genesis 3:15 the first prophecy of Christ right after the fall of man. Something like you will strike his heal, but HE will crush your head (speaking of Satan the serpent and Jesus Crucifixion and reserection), and many others throughout the old testament like "He was broken, so that we may be healed" I think there hundreds of prophecies if not thousands. If you really want to know go to a Christian book store and ask for the type of study Bible that illustrates the different types of Christ in each book or the prophecies. They don't cost that much and with a concordance you will be able to find just about anything written in the Bible that you would like to investigate.

Anyways, this will all seem like nonsense to a man that is not regenerated in spirit and in mind. It takes kindness from God to bring a man to repentence, a mystery. The important thing is to ask God for a chance to see...in humility as a child and He will not turn you away. Once you come to a place of receiving Him into your life, you will grow through water and fire. He will give you more than you can ever imagine...He showed me things that are supernatural in wonders and Great mysteries revealed. Study His words and walk close He is not far...He will speak to you and you will hear and see, but in this world there are many evils, some apparent and some trickery and schemes and lies from the devil.

Satans most noteable lies are:

Lies Truth

you are not good enough to be a Christian; No one is, especially, the great men of the Bible, They give everyone hope.

The Christian life is boring, anything but the truth. We may not indulge in sins, but getting into the spirit of God makes Hawaii look like south central LA.

And many others, once you receive Christ you will see the true nature of Satan...if you are friends with him he needs not attack (he already owns you), but when you turn your back on the dark kingdom he is very pronounced and takes great effort to cause misery and pain. But he is allowed only what God gives him for a period of time usually to teach us something.

Anywho, God Bless I hope that you come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and that your genuineness will be revealed, for all who ask shall be given, all who seek shall find, all who knock the door shall be opened.