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Is the Bible Reliable? — Bible Authenticity

March 24, 2017 BibleAuthenticity

Is the Bible reliable? Does it contain myths, or are the stories true? Did the writers simply write down stories they had heard from other people, or did they experience the things firsthand that they wrote about?

The Bible is not made up of cleverly devised fables or myths. “We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:16 NAB). Many of the Bible writers were actually eyewitnesses of their written accounts. “But we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16 NAB; see also 1 Peter 5:1) Eyewitnesses also handed down their accounts to others who carefully researched these things. (Luke 1:1-3) Still others studied and pondered. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-10) But none came from human will. (2 Peter 1:21) read more

Jesus’ Resurrection – Scriptural Evidence

March 21, 2017 BibleAuthenticity

Is there any evidence for the resurrection? — Is there any evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus?

What scriptural evidence do we have about the resurrection of Jesus? What did people living in the first century think about reports of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Are there clues in the Bible as to whether the story is true or not? Let’s examine some Bible verses to find out.

Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:54-60; John 19:38-42– Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, prominent members of the Jewish ruling council, would have been well known in Jerusalem, as well as to Pilate. This could not be fiction, since this could easily be refuted, if false. read more

Jesus’ Resurrection – Four Lines of Evidence

March 15, 2017 BibleAuthenticity

Is there any evidence of Jesus’ resurrection?

“We have confirmation of the words of the prophets” (2 Peter 1:19 NJB)

Is the story of Jesus’ resurrection true? If so, how can we be sure? Let’s begin by examining four lines of evidence: that Jesus was really dead, his tomb was found empty, he then appeared to many witnesses, and finally, eyewitness accounts of encounters with the resurrected Jesus.

1. Jesus was really dead.

a. Publicly executed before A large crowd. (Matthew 27:39-44; Matthew 27:54-56; Mark 15:29-32; Mark 15:40-41; Lk 23:26-32; Luke 23:35-38; Luke 23:47-49; John 19:19-26) read more

Divergent Details of Jesus’ Trial and Execution – Contradictions?

February 24, 2017 BibleAuthenticity

Titles of the Gospels — Are the divergent details in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John regarding Jesus’ trial and execution contradictions, or evidence of authenticity?

All of the gospels tell the same basic story of Jesus’ trial, execution and resurrection, but with divergent details. Are these divergent details contradictions? No. These divergent details give strong evidence the gospel writers are telling the truth, rather than copying from a single fictional account, or writing new fiction, in which the details are harmonized, or smoothed out

Below are some of the divergent, but true, details about the crucifixion of Jesus:

Barrabas

Was described as:

· Matthew 27:16 – notorious, “well-known” (NIV) read more

Charred En-Gedi Scroll Manuscript is One of Oldest of the Torah

September 22, 2016 BibleAuthenticity

Has the Bible has been changed? Through many hundreds of years of hand-copying worn-out scrolls, the Bible did not change. The En-Gedi scroll, discovered in 1970, and featured in the article above, is just one of many proofs of this fact.

WHAT IS THIS SCROLL?

The En-Gedi Scroll contains verses from the beginning of the Biblical Book of Leviticus, specifically Leviticus 1:1-9 and Leviticus 2:1-11.

Found in 1970 inside the Holy Ark of an ancient synagogue at En Gedi, Israel, but left unread for decades because it was badly burned and charred into a fragile lump. Advanced 3D scanning and virtual unwrapping technology successfully read the text without physically opening it. read more

What Did Peter and Jude View As Scripture?

February 26, 2016 BibleAuthenticity

Some Christians today believe only the actual spoken words of Jesus to be divinely inspired and to be taken as the authoritative word of God, and other Bible writings, including the Old Testament (OT), to be merely the words of humans.. Is this the way the early Christians viewed things? What did Peter and Jude view as scripture?

PETER’S VIEW

Below, we will examine the Apostle Peter’s view of the OT and also his view on his fellow apostle Paul’s writings:

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21) Peter viewed God as the source of Scripture, including the Old Testament. God is infallible, so His word is also. read more

Jesus Believed the Old Testament the Infallible Word of God

January 26, 2016 BibleAuthenticity

Some modern Christians, and virtually all non-Christians, believe the Old Testament (OT) was simply the word of humans and is fallible. However, Jesus Christ Himself believed the Old Testament to be the infallible word of God. Below, we will use scriptural quotations followed by comments to show why this is true:

“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (John 5:45-47) The revelation God gave Moses is inseparable from the revelation God was giving through Jesus. read more

Paul–The Old Testament, Luke, and the Old Covenant

December 30, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

Skeptics and some modern Christians believe the Old Testament (OT) was simply the word of man and is fallible. However, the Apostle Paul viewed the Old Testament as the infallible word of God. How did Paul view the Old Testament, Luke and the Old Covenant? Below, we will use scriptural quotations followed, by comments to show why this is true:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Paul affirms God’s active involvement in the writing of Scripture through his holy Spirit, including the Old Testament, an involvement so powerful and pervasive that what is written is the infallible and authoritative word of God.

Paul’s View of Luke’s Writings and the Old Testament read more

The Cyrus Cylinder and Bible Prophecy

August 5, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

What is the significance of the Cyrus Cylinder as it relates to the Bible, and prophecies recorded in the Bible?

“Yahweh says this: When the seventy years granted to Babylon are over, I shall intervene on your behalf and fulfill my favorable promise to you by bringing you back to this place . . . Yahweh declares: I shall bring you back to the place from which I exiled you”—Jeremiah 29:10,14 NJB

God had had his prophet Jeremiah, in chapters 25 and 29, to foretell that the Jews would be released from Babylonian captivity after 70 years, and be allowed to return to their homeland. Yahweh’s prophet Isaiah foretold 200 years in advance that God would use Cyrus to release the Jews from Babylonian captivity and enable them to rebuild Jerusalem and their Temple: read more

The Lachish Reliefs Prove the Bible True

August 3, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

The Lachish reliefs prove the Bible true. Why? How?

“In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king king of Assyrian all the fortified towns of Judah and captured them. Then Hezekiah king of sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish, ‘I have been at fault. Call off the attack, and I will submit to whatever you impose on me.’ The king of Assyria exacted three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold from Hezekiah king of Judah, and gave him all the silver in the Temple of Yahweh, and in the palace treasury. At which time Hezekiah stripped the facing from the leaves and jambs of the Temple of Yahweh, which an earlier king had put on, and gave it to the king of Assyria”—2 Kings 18:13-15 NJB read more