Q13. Answer
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It is well known that a number of false gospels were written to try to frustrate the growth and spread of the true Gospel and the early church. Similar works are being written today. However, there are enough eye-witness testimonies in the Bible to satisfy any court of law regarding Jesus Christ:
- Peter: “We did not follow cleverly invented stores when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received honour and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying: ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.” (2 Peter 1:16-18)
- Peter: “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.” (Acts 2:32)
- John: “That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, and our hands have touched… We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard” (1 John 1:1,3)
- Paul: “So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus.. “ We have Paul’s own account of his dramatic encounter with Jesus and conversion on the road to Damascus. (Acts 26:9-18)
The fact is, the Bible is a coherent, complete, and divine work from cover to cover. It is the Word of God. Everything in the Bible stacks up. The Bible comes alive to the eyes and mind of a believer through the Holy Spirit. All the more remarkable for a volume of 66 books by diverse human authors, who wrote as they were each uniquely moved and inspired by the Holy Spirit. God has always presided over His Word and over what is contained in the Bible. Whatever men may say, God declares through the Bible that God’s Word is forever settled and established in heaven and will never pass away.
Consider:
- 66 books by over 40 authors over a period of 1,600 years, and yet they all agree. 40 plus authors over 1,600 years who lived in different centuries – some kings, some paupers, some Jews, some Gentiles, in differing occupations, writing in different locations that varied from palaces to dungeons… and they all agree. Imagine 40 blindfolded archers lined up 50 feet from a target taking aim and they all hit the bulls-eye.
- Over 300 prophecies of the coming of Christ. Eight examples are: born at Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, fulfilled in Matthew 2:1); preceded by a messenger (Isaiah 40:3/Matthew 3:1-2); enters Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9/Luke 19:35); betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9/Matthew 10:4); 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12/Matthew 26:15); the 30 pieces of silver thrown down in the temple (Zechariah 11:13/Matthew 27:5); silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7/Matthew 27:12-14); hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16/Luke 24:38-40).
- In his book Science Speaks, Peter Stoner writes that the chances of just 8 prophecies all being fulfilled in the life of one individual (yet there are over 300!) is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Piling this number of silver dollars over Texas would cover the whole state 2 feet deep; then mark one of these dollars with an “X,” send a person blindfolded as far and as long as he wants into this heap of dollars, and with just one try, he must pull out the silver dollar marked with an “X.”
There are three basic evidences for the authority of the Bible:
1) the Bible itself with its clear unified message;
2) fulfilled prophecy; and
3) the testimony of those who have been impacted by the Bible.
Each of the three areas affirms the Bible’s authority, but when all three are taken together, the evidence is overwhelming!
Ultimately, academicians and journalists on the outside are never going to see it from the inside, for Paul wrote: The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
And Jesus declared: “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3)