How do we know that the Bible is the word of God?

Question

I know that a lot of people don't think that it is but i would like to know why Christians say that it is. Al we have to go is the word of other humans.
I have not read the Bible.

Answer 1

Wow. I'm going to answer this sincerely, but its going to be lengthy.
The Bible is a compilation of books considered by scholars to be Canon.
Canonicity is determined by God. A book is not inspired because men made it canonical; it is canonical because God inspired it. It is not the antiquity, authenticity or even religious value that makes a book canonical or authoritative. On the contrary, a book is valuable because it is canonical, and not canonical because it is or was considered valuable. Inspiration determines canonization, and confusion at this point not only dulls the edge of authority but it mistakes the effect (a cannonical book) with the cause (inspiration of God). Canonicity is DETERMINED or estsblished authoritatively by God; it is merely DISCOVERED by man.

HOW did man discover or become aware of what God had done? How did the church fathers know when they had come upon a canonical book? There were 5 basic principles that were used in order to DISCOVER the books which God had DETERMINED to be canonical. It is instructive to look at these principles individually in their actual historical operation.

1) IS IT AUTHORITATIVE? This is perhaps the first and most important question that was asked by the fathers. Does this or that book speak with authority? Can it be said of this book as it was of Jesus, "And they were astonished at his teaching, for the taught them as one that had authority" (Mark 1:22)? Does this book come with a divine "Thus saith the Lord"? Does it have a self-vindicating authority that commands attention as it communicates?

2) IS IT PROPHETIC? The next question to be asked was: Was this book written by a man of God? It seemed reasonable that THE WORD OF GOD INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD would not be given through anyone other than a MAN OF GOD (II Peter 1:20; Hebrews 1:1). Thus, a book was judged as to whether or not it was genuinely written by the stated author who was a spokesman in the mainstream of redemptive revelation, either a prophet (whether in the Old or New Testament times) or an apostle.

3) IS IT AUTHENTIC? This question of the Fathers asked, "Does the book tell the TRUTH about God, man, etc., as it is already known by previous revelation?" And is it a record of facts as they actually occurred? Obviously, a book cannot contradict known truth and still be truly God's.

4) IS IT DYNAMIC? Another question was asked by the fathers, although sometimes only implicitly: Does the book come with the POWER of God? They believed the Word of God was "living and active" (Hebrews 4:12), and consequently ought to have a transforming force for edification (II Timothy 3:16) and evangelization (I Peter 1:23). If the obeyed message of a book did not effect its stated goal, if it did not have the power to change a life, then God was apparently not behind its message. A MESSAGE of God would certainly be backed by the MIGHT of God.

5) WAS IT RECEIVED? The capstone of the questions was: Has this book been ACCEPTED generally by the PEOPLE of God? Compared to modern standards, transportation was slow and communication was poor during the first centuries of the Christian era. Thus, the full canonical lists were not universally agreed upon in any official way for a few centuries. This meant that when final decision was made and, in many cases even long before that, the collection and listing of books was being done by people to whom the book was not originally directed. So they necesssarily had to depend upon testimony, circulation, and usage, and the above mentioned four principles in order to make a final decision about the acceptance of the given books.
In a sense, then, the acceptance of a book by the church councils of later centuries is not a srong indepent witness to the canonicity of that book. It is rather a confirmation, and does serve the obvious purpose of MAKING FINAL the decision and availability of the books. After all, if the latter Fathers had not collected and DISSEMINATED the books, what good would be accomplished by the fact that the earlier Fathers had ACCEPTED them? The continuation of the canonical books necessitated not only their COLLECTION and RECOGNITION, but also their TRANSMISSION to subsequent generations.

Answer 2

No other book has been translated into so many languages. The Bible can now be read, in its entirety or in part, in more than 1,800 different tongues. The American Bible Society reports that it is now accessible to 98 percent of the population of our planet.
The Bible tells us:
“All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”—2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
In harmony with the claim that it is God’s word, not man’s, the Bible answers questions that only God can answer. It explains, for example, why human governments have not been able to bring lasting peace, how humans can find the deepest satisfaction in life, and what the future holds for the earth and mankind upon it. Now, as a thinking person, you must have wondered about these and similar questions many times. Why not at least consider the possibility that the Bible is God’s Word and thus uniquely able to give authoritative answers?

Answer 3

Critique by hear say--that is not scientific--the Bible is a book of faith--it starts out with a Theistic proposition. You accept that by Faith and continue from that point. Faith is a generalized acceptance from Philosophy of Christian Religion. There are thousands of people who believe by Faith. The Bible is the accepted authority of Faith. The Library of Congress recognizes the Bible as the authority of most Faith based Religions. If you go to the legal section of the Library you will find thousands of Bible related books used in Court trials. The Major Universities (private schools such as
PRINCETON--HARVARD--YALE--DUKE-- to list four that have degrees in the Bible ranging from a BS MS BA MA PHD --These schools are prestigious and expensive--They recognize the Bible as the word of God. They have recognized the Bible for a long time. So you see many things make the Bible real but for most people the truth of the Bible is from within.

Answer 4

This could take more than yahoo for me to explain. I'll start with the fact that where it says word it should actually say plan. It is the Greek word logos meaning "something said including the thoughts" by implication "a topic or subject of discourse" also "reasoning with the mental faculties and motive" It is translated from the Hebrew word dabar which means the revealed will of YHWH, the plan and purpose for mankind. This according to Thayers Lexicon and The Interpreters Dictionary of The Bible. Proper names included it would be in the book of Yahchanan ben Zabdyah (those names actually have meaning unlike john) chapter 1 verses 1-4 In the beggining was the plan of Yahweh, and the plan was with Yahweh, and the plan was Yahweh's. The same was in the beggining with Yahweh. All things were done according to it and without it nothing was done that was done. In this plan was life and that life was the light to mankind. Also, properly put verse 14 says "According to this plan flesh was created; and dwelling among us, and we beholding his glory the glory of the begotten son of the only Father, full of honor and truth. edit: Where Terry says Collossians 1:16 the word through is actually to say "on account of him" As to his rant about Revelations 3:14, yes it says first. What he didn't tell you is that many sources say that the word perfected is left out. So it properly says ..."the first perfected of Yahweh.", which means he was the first man to be perfect, not he wass there in the beggining with Yahweh and His plan.

Answer 5

Let's start at the most basic element: The desire to find God.

Without that, there is no understanding that will help you.

I am telling you the truth, without God drawing you to Him there is no effort that anyone can have to understand the Bible and recieve salvation.

So it would be futile for me to tell you to read the Bible if you didn't WANT to know God in the first place.

So nevermind what many of the other Christians tell you. God decides who He wants and who He doesn't want.

So ask yourself this, " Do I want to know God?"

If not, then don't waste your time. If the answer is "Yes!" then read the Bible, but also learn that you must trust in Him in order to be saved. He gave His Son, and whoever believes in Jesus will be saved.

Answer 6

There is no proof at all - it is merely assumed that some holy chaps wrote the scriptures - much as the local play writers did for theater. There is no scientific evidence to claim that they are exactlty true - even star alignments are a no-go - let alone finding three wise geezers from arabia to camel it through the desert follwing a bright light in the sky - they musta been loony! and We have to listen to them? Because they say so? Er, dumb, dumb and dumberrrrrer. Join the dots and be realistic - the chance of intro-fertalisation 2000 years ago is pretty neat huh? Is that forward look or what? There's a cuckoo in the best of families!
If Jesus had blood then he can be traced either by dna or any other patterns - though, the tough guys say - its a no go area its best to believe in the unbelievable even if it is wrong to do so!

Answer 7

I have read the bible ... what we do know is that it was written by 40 men over a period of 1,500 years or more .. Buddha wrote his book by his own hand under a maple tree .. Jesus did not write the bible .. sc

please see video below ... please read the bible and you will find these things are true.

If you think the bible is correct .. you are so wrong ... please read the old testimate before you talk .. Read Mathew 18 .. it encourages people to do self amputation and mutilation ... and much more .. sc

Answer 8

The Bible is the best reference guide that we have. God knows what is in it, and he also knows wheather he put those words there or not. So the only thing we can do is try to do the BEST that we know to do and leave the rest to him.

God bless from Texas <><

P.S. Please pick it (the bible) up and start in the New testament and read it. It really is remarkable just for it`s writings. God will open your eyes and ears to the meanings as you go along.

Answer 9

I have studied the bible and there is no evidence any where that it is the word of God, it is the word of men and we know that man can and do stretch their stories sometime, I believe it's simply a book that is a fantastic story but not vary credible.

Answer 10

The bible is the best source of common sense rules for behavior in the form of the ten commandments.

Read them sometime and imagine what the world would be like if everyone made their best effort to follow the direction given in the commandments.

Don't be troubled by who wrote the bible.