Without using "faith" as an answer, how do you know the Bible is God's word?

Question

When we ask people to prove there is a God without resorting to faith (a belief without testable evidence), they sometimes resort to "cause the bibles says so." So please offer the testable evidence do you have that God dictated the Bible. Obviously "cause the Bible says so" is non-responsive. Mere say so is not evidence.

Hush - You're making an argument from popularity. Homer's poetry has been popular longer than the Bible has existed. Same for the Analects of the Buddha and many Avestan holy books still in use in Iran, India, etc. I think your answer reflects cultural chauvinism or perhaps simple unawareness. I doubt you would insist the popularity of the Quran means it is God's word.

Quantrill - nothing is more rare than sense. You are simply appealing to your attitude toward it which is completely different for someone raised in a different religious culture. Common sense is not evidence in any court.

tebone - A moslem will make the same claim for the Quran and it is just as untestable unless you can call God to appear as a witness that he has shown you anything. In a non-religious context we assume people who say they communicate withinvisble beings are disturbed. We make exceptions for religious claims because they are culturally protected. But anyone can claim god did this or god did that and noen can offer any proof. You have gone from "cause the Bible says so" to "cause Tebone says so." Appeals to your own authority on the matter are not evidence unless you can !) prove theire is a God and 2) prove that God is in direct communication with you.

And tribblemacher is doing the same. Your mere say so and your theistic interpreation of random events in your life, which a theist of a different religion could likewise say is proof their god is true and yours false.

Okay jean has the right idea in appealing to fulfilled prophecy. But which ones, how fulfilled, and is this merely a matter of favorable interpretation of very vague and nebulous prophecies for which even Christians have a thousand interpretations?

Titlewin - you need to read more broadly. The earliest Avestan religions, even before Zoroaster, had concepts of a dualistic universe where evidoers go to a place of punishment and torment, all before there was such a thing as a Jew, let alone a Christian. Familiarize yourself with Zoroastrianism first, but many religions had the notion of hell before the Jews, who had no such notion until they brought it back with them from Babylon.

Licia - Thanks for the Stroebel reference. I think he and even Josh McDowell, (Stroebel lite) are worthwhile reading for theists and atheists alike. A couple of things: arguments for a creator do not establish a particular version of creator, let alone that the creator dictated the Bible, which is the focus of my question. Moreover, as a New Testament academic myself, I concur there is no argument about the manuscripts, which Stroebel spends a lot of time on. I accept the Bible is largely today as it was when collected with well known exceptions. What I think neither Stroebel nor McDowell establish are the supernatural claims of revelation which are no different in character nor in unfounded claims of prophetic fulfilment than those made for the Quran.

Andy r - Since the Book of Daniel was written during the Maccabean revolt as a political tract around 187 BCE you can hardly use it's listing of older historical events as prophecies fulfilled.

Harley Moma - Let's assume for the sake of argument that your interpretation of events in your life indeed reflect the attention of the creator of the entire cosmos in the mundane everday events of a single human life, specifically yours (wish I were that interesting). You next assume what I am asking for evidenc of, that the Bble was written by that same God. Your question, "why would a Holy God write a false bible" assumes the Bible is written by God and not men. How do you know Holy God didn't write the Tao Te Ching and the Bible was written by humans? What is the evidence that this particular book is not merely inpired by, but dictated by God?

Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 - Neither Psalm 22 nor the suffering servant passage says that it is referring to the Messiah. Most Rabbinic commentators say, the suffering servant described in Isaiah chapter 53 is actually the Jewish people as sometimes Isaiah mentions groups of people as if they were one person

Hosea 11:1 the Hosea passage clearly is talking about a historical event and therefore the passage clearly is not a prophecy.

For detailed response to the claims of Messianci fulfilment I refer those interested to the Jews for Jusaism site:
http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/faq136.html

Zubeyde - It grieves me to see the Islamic world, once a beacon of scholarship, medicine, art, mathematics, reduced to the kind of polemics and slanders I see it reduced to today. Modern scholars have access to thousands of New Testament fragments dating to possibly as early as the the 1st century CE, certainly as early as the 2nd century and fewer than a handful of scribal errors have been identified. You can certainly assert that the Christian books are false, wrong, what have you. But the assertion that they are of recent origin is simply an outright lie. And I assure you that the apologetics of Islam would not serve you better if I asked the same question of you regarding the Quran. An archangel dictated in a cave with no wtinesses? What simple-minded person believes such things on one man's say so?

DougL - Your mere assertions make nothing so, and these assertions have been made and refuted for centuries as you clearly know. You prefer your interpretation to someone else's, fine. But that is a matter of opinion, not evidence. Where in the Old Testament does it say the Messiah will be named Yeshua? Does it? But the rational question is why God would go to the trouble of embedding "1000 propehcies" on which even Christians do not agree instead of just quit hiding and through a display of unmistakable cosmic power and direct communication with humanity confirm Jesus' identity? Bluntly, all this hidden meaning stuff is silly and highly fallible if he really wants everyone saved. Why not just undamn Adam and Eve, children by any standard, for taking a cookie without permission when he knew they would anyway? I certainly wouldn't curse my children for their curiosity. Why all this atonement business? Your vague and indeterminent prophetic fulfillment claims are so much camel-swallowing

Answer 1

Good question. So many prophecies in the old testament, that were fulfilled in the new testament.

The time prophecies of Dan 8v14 and 9v24-27, and using the key scriptures (prophetic day=a year) in unlocking these time prophecies like Eze 4v6, Numbers 14v34.

In the prophecies of Daniel, the commandment to restore Jerusalem happened in 457 B.C. see Ezra 6,7,8 which repesented the starting point for the day for year prophecy,

The prophecies in Dan pinpointed the exact year of Christ annointing.

That he would be cut -off 3.5 years after his mission began, that the gospel would then include the gentiles after first seven years of going only to the house of Israel. 27 a.d - 30.5 ad - 34 ad

In 34 a.d Paul was given the spirit to carry the word to the house of Israel and the gentiles.


These prophecies being fulfilled in JESUS and the disciples are like finding a needle in a haystack, nothing short a miracle from God.

Answer 2

You can take a look throughout history and know that the bible is GOD's word. It's apparent that the scriptures were warnings of what the world was to become. Nothing that is going on today is anything new. It's been forseen and fortold. You only need to read the bible and read your history books. If you aren't absolutely sure GOD is real by the comparison, then something is wrong with your heart. Thank you and may GOD bless.

Answer 3

Most of the bibles in the world include the word of 4 false gods each of whom made up a false religion with which to enslave people after their death.
There is a historical account, new science book, words of the Creator printed 1881, for people who have learned from the false bibles and are ready for theCreator's truth and it is refreshing. You will recognize the truth, and a lot of it is in the Creator's own words.

Answer 4

There are well over a thousand Messianic biblical antetypes and prophecies contained in the writings of the old testament, from Genesis to Zechariah, that pertain specifically and uniquely to Jesus Christ.

Many of them were written over 2000 years before Jesus walked the earth, some, just a few hundred years before, but all were written well in advance, and set down by a diverse and widely scattered group of writers.

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection fulfilled all of them, and the bulk of the prophecies were fulfilled in the few days before and after his crucifixion.

The link you provide that is skeptical of the Christian understanding of Isaiah is par for the course, when it comes to modern Jewish biblical criticism, and even if it was correct, which it is not, it would make little difference, as there are still a thousand more unrefuted examples remaining.

They couldn't even accept Jesus when he met them face to face, and personally pointed out his specfic fulfillment of all the prophecies. Why would they accept him now?

Those who understand, know that the entire Bible ... all of it ... is really about Jesus Christ.

The old testament described Jesus, both directly and indirectly, how and when he would come, how he could be clearly identified, and exactly what he would accomplish.

The gospels chronicle Christ's actual words and deeds, in a way that various peoples and ethnic groups can easily understand.

The epistles explain how Christ's actions, teachings, and example might be applied to the lives of ordinary men, for the purpose of their salvation.

The Book of Revelation ties everything together, explaining how all the events of human history will finally play out, bringing about the definitive end of evil, and ushering in a new and perfect age, with all things restored and made new again, courtesy of the saving work of Jesus Christ.

No loose ends. No actual inconsistencies (merely perceived ones). All from a collection of ancient books written over thousands of years, by writers who rarely even knew each other.

And we haven't even mentioned the miraculous and supernatural history of the Church, how it spread so quickly thorughout the world, how it forever changed human history, and acted to preserve human civilization itself, after the fall of the Roman empire.

The Church, coupled with the Bible, in the light of 2000 years of authentic world history, provides ample evidence that should be acceptable even to honest skeptics, for the supernatural character of both.

Answer 5

This is how I would answer it.

If I were a god and I wanted people to worship me, I would cause to be written a book that contained stories of people who got it all right the first time. I would lay it out, step by step. I would answer every stinking question I could think of so there would be no mysteries. There would be no ambiguities. I would not include any of the 'mistakes'.

That's how I know it really is God's word. He wants us to question Him, He wants us to search Him out. He wants us to know, flaws and all, that He loves us and He will use us if we let Him.

Why do you think we get to hear about Jonah's disobedience, Noah getting drunk and naked, Samson's murders, Mary Magdalene's demonic possession, Peter's betrayal, Paul's destruction of the Christians? Because God knows us and loves us anyways. He knows we're going to rebel, screw up, lie, cheat, steal, commit adultery, etc. He doesn't care about what happened 'before'. He only knows what He can make of us 'after'. And that's a waaaaaaay greater thing than we can ever make of ourselves.

God caused to be written everything, warts and all. That's how I know it really is God's Word. As people, we tend to dwell on the negative. But what about dwelling on everything that is positive in His word? We need to think on that more.

Have a great day!

Answer 6

Check out Lee Strobel's "The Case for a Creator." It's a book by a journalist that was a former atheist. He set out to find factual proof that God did not exist and the Bible was faulty. He ended up convincing himself otherwise and became a Christian. It has objective scientific evidence to back it up for skeptics, not personal experiences that are purely subjective. I hope that can help you.

Answer 7

If the Bible is God's word, he is a moron at best, for there are many contradictions and scientific errors in it, eg Judas died both by hanging and by falling, Both God and Devil inspired David's census, pi is 3, the sky is a dome a few miles overhead that will roll up like a scroll someday while stars fall from it, there was a world flood, etc, etc, etc! I could hardly believe such childish tales when I was age 7.

Answer 8

God has changed my life and I see him in everyday experiences. Why would a holy God write a false Bible?

Answer 9

There is great wisdom in the Bible, a wisdom that can talk to people of today, even if it was written a long time ago, therefore one has a right to think that it is inspired by God.

Answer 10

Faith is the only way anyone can accept any religious dogma like the bible. As for longevity, the Hindu Mahabharata is about 2000 years older than the bible. Just because a old book of myth has been around for a long time doesn't mean it's true, it just means it's old.