Articles of interest
Is the Bible true?
And can you prove it?
IS THE BIBLE TRUE? Are the Old Testament and the New Testament true?
We have to say there is more evidence for the historicity of the New Testament than for the existence of Roman general Julius Caesar, yet no one doubts the facts surrounding Caesar. Early Christian writers did not dispute the Bible, and not one fact in it has been indisputably proved wrong.
Skeptics sometimes ask: “How can you believe the Bible when you can't prove that it is true?”
Well, how could you prove that there was a great fire in London in 1666? Or that Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo? Or that it was Michelangelo who painted the Sistine Chapel?
How can you even prove that news items you read or heard about today are true?
The fact is, we can't prove that one-off events down through history happened at all. Maybe the person who told us about the events was mistaken. Maybe he or she was inaccurate, or was hallucinating, or didn't have all the facts, or was simply a liar.
Even if we are eyewitnesses to something, it is difficult to prove to others that the information we are telling them is exactly the way it happened. The world's law courts and jails throb with stories of guilty people being acquitted and innocent people being convicted because one side was more persuasive than the other (and persuasive doesn't mean accurate). Sometimes the courts convict people wrongly, and sometimes the penalty is death.
We take things on trust
We take most things on trust because we believe the words of those who were there — eyewitnesses. Or we take the word of people who say they obtained the information from eyewitnesses.
No-one doubts the existence of Julius Caesar, yet there is less evidence for his existence than for the historicity of the New Testament. There are probably 5000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in Greek, and at least 15,000 more in other languages. Nothing like this abundance exists for any other historical writing, and although it is not proof, it is a good indication that the Bible is true.
It should be noted too that many of the early Christian writers quoted profusely from the New Testament. Some of these writers lived very close to the time that the books of the New Testament were written, and would surely have refuted them if there was doubt about their authenticity. This is a good indication that the New Testament is true.
No one has refuted the Book of Acts
This is especially so regarding the many historical details in the Bible's Book of Acts. Specific places, people, and events are mentioned throughout this amazing historical account of the early church, and yet there is no record of anyone refuting anything in the book. The eyewitnesses seem totally reliable.
Even more interestingly, not one major fact mentioned in the Bible has been indisputably proved to be untrue. There are people who won't accept what the Bible says, but that is no better proof than people who believe it.
There are many thousands of highly qualified scientists who believe that the Bible's account of creation is more in harmony with true science than is the theory of evolution.
And there have been countless scholars — historians, archaeologists, theologians, and others — who have come to believe that those who wrote the Bible were truly writing the Word of God. Some skeptics have set out to prove that Christ'a resurrection didn't happen but have changed their minds after investigation.
The Word of God is true. You can trust both the Old and New Testaments.