Why believe the Bible is from God?

[McCulloch]

The words of Scripture are self attesting. They cannot be "proved" to be Gods words by appeal to any higher authority. There is no higher authority. When one has the highest or absolute authority such as the Word of God, it would be subordinating the authority of Scripture to the thing to which we appeal to prove it to be Gods Word. If we ultimately appeal to human reason, or to logic, or to historical accuracy, or to scientific truth, as the authority by which Scripture is shown to be Gods Words, then we have assumed the thing to which we appealed to be a higher authority than Gods words and one that is more true or more reliable.

The question for debate: If you believe that the Bible has been given to humanity by God, why do you believe that? How is it that you came to such a conclusion? Are the reasons you have for such belief valid reasons?

[otseng]

In order to answer these questions we must look at both the internal and external evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word.

Please note that it is against the rules to not cite the source for extensive quotes.

8. Extensive quotes from another source (particularly other websites) should state the source to avoid plagarism.

The source of the material was found here.

[McCulloch]

In order to answer these questions we must look at both the internal and external evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word. The internal evidences are those things internal to the Bible itself that testify of its divine origin. One of the first internal evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in its unity. Even though it is really sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1500 years, by more that 40 authors (who came from many walks of life), the Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words as God moved men in such a way that they recorded His very words.

This unity is apparent only to those who first accept the premise that the Bible is God's word. I have read Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Genesis, Jeremiah, Matthew, Romans, James and Revelation and I have failed to be awed by the alleged unity. But the apologist you quote from missed the point. Even if it were true that the the Bible had such unity, it is not evidence that it is the word of God. It would only be evidence that the writer of each successive layer had read and analyzed the previous layers well.

Another of the internal evidences that indicate the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in the detailed prophecies contained within its pages. The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophecies relating to the future of individual nations including Israel, to the future of certain cities, to the future of mankind, and to the coming of one who would be the Messiah, the Savior of not only Israel, but all who would believe in Him. Unlike the prophecies found in other religious books or those done by Nostradamus, the biblical prophecies are extremely detailed and have never failed to come true. There are over three hundred prophecies concerning Jesus Christ in the Old Testament alone. Not only was it foretold where He would be born and what family He would come from, but also how He would die and that He would rise again on the third day. There simply is no logical way to explain the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible other than by divine origin. There is no other religious book with the extent or type of predictive prophecy that the Bible has.

When read in context, you might notice that some of the Hebrew prophesies were not intended to be applied to the Messiah. The only reason why you can state that the biblical prophesies have never failed to come true is that any of the prophesies that have not come true, you arbitrarily apply to a future event. I, for one, am not convinced by allegations of fulfilled prophesies made by writers who's express purpose is to promote a new religion, writing biographies of the mythical founder of their religion, decades after his death.

A third internal evidence of the divine origin of the Bible is seen in its unique authority and power. While this evidence is more subjective than the first two internal evidences, it is no less a very powerful testimony of the divine origin of the Bible. The Bible has a unique authority that is unlike any other book ever written. This authority and power are best seen in the way countless lives have been transformed by reading the Bible. Drug addicts have been cured by it, homosexuals have been set free by it, derelicts and deadbeats have been transformed by it, hardened criminals reformed by it, sinners are rebuked by it, and hate has been turned to love by reading it. The Bible does possess a dynamic and transforming power that is only possible because it is truly God’s Word.

Here I have to agree with you. This evidence is certainly quite subjective.

Besides the internal evidence that the Bible is truly God’s Word there are also external evidences that indicate the Bible is truly the Word of God. One of those evidences is the historicity of the Bible. Because the Bible details historical events its truthfulness and accuracy is subject to verification like any other historical documentation. Through both archaeological evidences and other written documents, the historical accounts of the Bible have been proven time and time again to be accurate and true. In fact all the archaeological and manuscript evidence supporting the Bible makes it the best documented book from the ancient world. The fact that the Bible accurately and truthfully records historically verifiable events is a great indication of its truthfulness when dealing with religious subjects and doctrines and helps substantiate its claim that it is the very Word of God.

Did I forget to point out that this argument is fallacious? Scroll up and you will notice that I did not.

Another external evidence that the Bible is truly God’s Word is the integrity of the human authors. As mentioned earlier, God used men from many walks of life to record His Words to us. In studying the lives of these men, there is no good reason to believe that they were not honest and sincere men. Examining their lives and the fact that they were willing to die (often excruciating deaths) for what they believed in, it quickly becomes clear that these ordinary yet honest men truly believed that God had spoken to them. The men who wrote the New Testament and many hundreds of other believers (1 Corinthians 15:6) knew the truth of their message because they had seen and spent time with Jesus Christ after He had risen from the dead. The transformation of seeing the Risen Christ had a tremendous impact on these men. They went from hiding in fear, to being willing to die for the message God had revealed to them. Their lives and deaths testify to the fact that the Bible truly is God’s Word.

This is the argument from sincerity, I suppose. If history teaches nothing else, humans can be at times sincerely wrong.

A final external evidence that the Bible is truly God’s Word is the indestructibility of the Bible. Because of its importance and its claim to be the very word of God, the Bible has suffered more vicious attacks and attempts to destroy it than any other book in history. From early Roman Emperors like Diocletian, through communist dictators and on to modern day atheists and agnostics, the Bible has withstood and outlasted all of its attackers and is still the most widely published book in the world today.

Argumentum ad Populum

Throughout time, skeptics have regarded the Bible as mythological, but archeology has established it as historical.

As is Homer and Marco Polo.

Opponents have attacked its teaching as primitive and outdated, but its moral and legal concepts and teachings have had a positive influence on societies and cultures throughout the world.

You might notice how many fundamental principles of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights are diametrically opposed to Biblical morality.

It continues to be attacked by science, psychology, and political movements and yet remains just as true and relevant today as it was when it was first written.

It remains just as true. Yes, indeed. The truth about the age of the earth, the cause of disease and other things that the Bible writers were wrong about has not changed. We just know now that they were wrong. The Bible is less relevant to society than it used to be.

[...] After all, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31). After looking at the evidence one can say without a doubt that “Yes the Bible is truly God’s Word.”

He also said to an early first century audience that, "There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."

[Cathar1950]

At least you staying on topic Mack.

Here is Bikers answer.

http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... hp?p=99166

Biker wrote every word and meant every word. The Bible always tells the truth about everything it talks about, every time. One who wants to know ultimate, authoritative, superior, truth, reads and studies, and correctly understands the Bible. The words of Scripture are self attesting. They cannot be "proved" to be Gods words by appeal to any higher authority. For if an appeal to some higher authority (say, historical accuracy or logical consistency) were used to prove that the Bible is Gods Word, then the Bible itself would not be our highest or absolute authority: it would be subordinate in authority to the thing to which we appealed to prove it to be Gods Word. If we ultimately appeal to human reason, or to logic, or to historical accuracy, or to scientific truth, as the authority by which Scripture is shown to be Gods words, then we have assumed the thing to which we appealed to be a higher authority than Gods words and one that is more true or more reliable. And the Bible is the more authoritive, the truth. So the statement such as "science proves the Bible is wrong" is a sham.
So the statement is actually more 1st century than 19th century.

Biker

[QED]

I'm dreadfully lost when it comes to arguments about the bible. Someone remind me why we have an "Old testament" and a "New testament". Why, if it was the actual word of God, did it need revising?

[Jose]

With all due respect, my friend Christian1234, I suggest that similar claims can be, and have been made by the proponents of other religions. To make my point, in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, I suggest that we might just tweak your post of Sun Feb 25, 2007 2:16 am just a little bit, and suddenly it supports Scientology instead. We could tweak it differently and support Islam. Different tweaking would make it a Hindu approbation.

Herewith, then, is how we might tweak what you wrote, just a bit:

In order to answer these questions we must look at both the internal and external evidences that Dianetics is truly God’s Word. The internal evidences are those things internal to Dianetics itself that testify of its divine origin. Its story is entirely consistent; Dianetics remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words as God moved L. Ron Hubbard in such a way that he recorded His very words.

Another of the internal evidences that indicate Dianetics is truly God’s Word is seen in the detailed prophecies, descriptions, and explanations contained within its pages. Dianetics contains hundreds of detailed prophecies relating to the future of individual nations, individual people, and even the fate of Heaven itself. Not only was it foretold that Heaven's reprogramming center will ultimately fail, but it is described how those who die can escape reprogramming and continue their lives. There simply is no logical way to explain the exquisite detail in Dianetics other than by divine origin. There is no other religious book with the extent or type of predictive prophecy that Dianetics has.

A third internal evidence of the divine origin of Dianetics is seen in its unique authority and power. While this evidence is more subjective than the first two internal evidences, it is no less a very powerful testimony of the divine origin of Dianetics. Dianetics has a unique authority that is unlike any other book ever written. This authority and power are best seen in the way countless lives have been transformed by reading Dianetics. Drug addicts have been cured by it, homosexuals have been set free by it, derelicts and deadbeats have been transformed by it, hardened criminals reformed by it, sinners are rebuked by it, and hate has been turned to love by reading it. Dianetics does possess a dynamic and transforming power that is only possible because it is truly God’s Word.



Besides the internal evidence that Dianetics is truly God’s Word there are also external evidences that indicate Dianetics is truly the Word of God. One of those evidences is the historicity of Dianetics. Because Dianetics details historical events its truthfulness and accuracy is subject to verification like any other historical documentation. Through both archaeological evidences and other written documents, the historical accounts of Dianetics have been proven time and time again to be accurate and true. In fact all the archaeological and manuscript evidence supporting Dianetics makes it one of the best documented books in the world. The fact that Dianetics accurately and truthfully records historically verifiable events is a great indication of its truthfulness when dealing with religious subjects and doctrines and helps substantiate its claim that it is the very Word of God.

Another external evidence that Dianetics is truly God’s Word is the integrity of the human author. God carefully chose L. Ron Hubbard to record His Words to us. In studying the life of this man, there is no good reason to believe that he was not honest and sincere. Examining his life and the fact that he was willing to reveal to others the remarkable Truths he had discovered, it quickly becomes clear that this ordinary yet honest man truly believed that God had spoken to him.

A final external evidence that Dianetics is truly God’s Word is the indestructibility of Dianetics. Because of its importance and its evidence that it is the very word of God, Dianetics has suffered more vicious attacks and attempts to destroy it than any other book in recent memory. From its humble beginnings with just a few followers, with legal challenges and lawsuits that tried to stifle it, Dianetics has withstood and outlasted all of its attackers and continues to attract more followers throughout the world today.

Since its beginning, skeptics have regarded Dianetics as mythological, but its very success has established it as historical. Opponents have attacked its teaching as primitive and outdated, but its moral and legal concepts and teachings have had a positive influence on societies and cultures throughout the world. It continues to be attacked by science, psychology, and political movements and yet remains just as true and relevant today as it was when it was first written. It is a book that has transformed countless lives and cultures throughout the years. No matter how its opponents try to attack, destroy, or discredit it, Dianetics remains just as strong, just a true, and just as relevant after the attacks as it was before. The accuracy which has been preserved despite every attempt to ridicule, corrupt, attack, or destroy it, is clear testimony to the fact that Dianetics is truly God’s Word. It should not surprise us that no matter how Dianetics is attacked, it always comes out unchanged and unscathed. After all, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away” (Mark 13:31), and God allowed L. Ron Hubbard access to Heaven in the beginning, at its heyday, and after it had ceased to function. After looking at the evidence one can say without a doubt that “Yes Dianetics is truly God’s Word.”

Pretty silly, huh? Imagine thinking of Dianetics that way. Yet, its followers do, indeed, think quite highly of it. I suggest that we should always be quite skeptical about any book or story that purports to tell us The Truth about things that are inherently unknowable. One should be especially skeptical when Those Who Know just happen to end up in positions of power over us lesser men (and usually much greater power over women).