Biblical Accuracy
By Ron Smith
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”-Psalm 138:2
The verse quoted above is the foundational truth for all that will proceed and is crucial to the "Born Again" believer who has unwavering faith in the authority of God’s Word. This verse declares that God "hast magnified His word above all thy name." Thus if there is a God (that will be assumed in this article) He has spoken, and since He has spoken we as creatures must listen. If God’s Word is proved untrue, it must be by its own words declared fallacious.
"The Bible is the Word of God, because it claims to be the Word of God."[1]That, said my philosophy professor, is a perfect example of circular reasoning. Christians simply assume the point they wish to prove."[2]
This example is worth some consideration, after all, Lutzer’s professor has seemingly made a correct statement. Lutzer and others use the following example as proof to why we take the word of others as matter of fact until the evidence either exonerates or condemns a man.
"In a court of law the defendant is allowed to defend himself. He is permitted to defend his integrity, to give reasons why his version of events is correct. He should have more to say than simply, “I’m innocent.” He most be given the opportunity of showing that his report is consistent, worthy of belief. Cross-examination should either confirm or deny his version of the story."[3]
So we ask you the juror, to weigh the evidence. First we will cover what the Bible declares about itself, secondly we will look at the historical reasons to believe the Bible; thirdly we will look at the prophetic reason to believe the Bible. What we are presenting here can of course be added to. But we feel this page will carry enough weight to give a clear answer as to why the Word of God can be trusted.
As the great book titled by Josh McDowell declares “Evidence demands a Verdict!” You again are the juror and before you, we will lay a book that has been honored by it enemies as well as its lovers. Our hope is that you will not only come to believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but also that you might choose to live by it’s divine authorship that has changed the lives of millions.
EXHIBIT #1
What Does The Bible Claim For Itself?
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." -II Timothy 3:16-17
This is one of the clearest statements in the Scriptures about its divine origins. The Greek word for “inspiration” means to ‘breath out.’ In other words God "breathed out" what was the result of holy divine scripture.
"Breath" in the Old Covenant gives us the same ideas as our II Timothy verse. For example:
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." -Psalm.33:6
"The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." -Job 33:4
"And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." -Genesis 2:7
The same God who breathed life into the universe is the same God who breathed life into His Holy Word. So we see from these few versus that Gods Breath, is in the very Words the Born again believer claims as the Word of God.
EXHIBIT #2
What Does The Old Testament Claim For Itself?
Here we will look at a few of the claims of the men who wrote the Old Testament. We see that the writers copiously recorded divine authorship with statements like; the Lord said, thus say the lord, the word of the lord or it’s equivalent.
In fact the phrase "The Lord said" is recorded over thousand times in the Old Testament. A few examples are as follows:
"And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."-Genesis 2:18
"And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said." -Exodus 7:22
"And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel."-Amos 7:15
As you can tell from these few examples, the Lorddoes indeed speak. We can see that He speaks in many different ways, to many different people at different times. Let’s look at a few more ways the Lord speaks to man in the Bible.
"And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." - Exodus 20:1-2
"And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live" - Deuteronomy 8:3
"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me." - Isaiah 1:2
"The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that [were] in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign." - Jeremiah 1:1-2
Looking into the New Testament (which we will expound more on “Evidence #3)scriptures continue to echo the prophetic power that the men of the Old Testament were given through the Holy spirit One example is:
"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."- II Peter 1:21
According to Deuteronomy 18:20-22 A prophet shall not speak of his own, and if a does he shall be stoned. Repeatedly in the Old Testament we can see the phrase "I will put my Words in his (the prophets) mouth." This according to Lutzer accounts for the many instances of the prophets speaking in the first person. Examples of first person prophetic utterances are found in II Samuel 7:10, 12, I Kings 20:13 and II Chronicles 12:5 only to mention a few.
Finally, the Old Testament repeatedly claims to be the Word of God and thus will endure and remain pure forever A couple examples for this claim are as follows:
"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven." -Psalm 119:89
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”-Isaiah 40:8
This is the Old Testament claim for itself, thus if you are an honest juror, you must be compelled to ask more questions, for the authors of the OT have given their testimony and it has all been consistent.
Not only does the Old Testament claim inspiration for itself, but that claim is overwhelmingly supported by the New Testament use of the Old Testament. A careful examination of the New Testament writings reveals that the whole OT is substantiated in its claim to authenticity and authority by NT references to sections and books of the Old Testament.[4]
There are several words that the New Testament writers used to show their attitude toward the Old Testament writings. Some of these words/phrases are as follows:
[5]
Now let’s examine few of these examples and see what the New Testament writers have to say about the Old Testament. First we will look at the word “Scripture(s)” This word occurs some fifty times, in the New Testament and in most cases it refers unmistakably to the Old Testament as a whole.[6] The following is a sample of the usage of this word in the New Testament:
"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures.." -Matthew 21:42.
"But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? 56 But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." -Matthew 26:54,56
"And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?" -Mark 12:24
"I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled" -Mark 14:49.
"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." -Luke 24:27
"And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" -Luke 24:32
"Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" -John 5:39
"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." -Acts 17:11
Now to the phrase "It is Written:"
"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." -Matthew 4:10
"And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought." -Mark 9:12
"(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)" -Luke 2:23
"It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." -John 6:45
"For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take." -Acts 1:20
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." -Romans 1:17
The information above was originally recorded hundreds of years ago and yet the testimonies of the apostles and prophets seems to remain consistent. We must come to the conclusion that either they are completely out of their mind or there must be truth in the their testimonies concerning God’s eternal truth.
This will conclude for you, the juror, the evidence that the Old Testament has for itself.
EXHIBIT #3
What Does The New Testament Claim for Itself?
Now that we have briefly looked at the conclusive evidence for the inspiration of the Old Testament, we now turn our attention to the New Testament. As you being the juror, we will now seek to prove to you that the New Testament as well as the Old Testament has a consolidated and pure testimony to its authenticity. Though the Scriptural support is not as exhaustive as the Old (39 books OT compared to the 27books of NT), you will again be faced with the testimony of several different men. We will show you that what they wrote was indeed the Word of God. We will first look at the Testimony of Jesus and His Apostles. After that is complete, we will look to the early church fathers for additonal proof.
We will start off by giving three distinct times that God the Father speaks in the NT about God the Son: We see it first at His baptism.
"...and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased." -Luke 3:22
Another example is at the transfiguration.
"...and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." -Matthew 17:5
And thirdly we see this happening at the crucifixion.
" "Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." -John 12:28
Now we turn to New Testament writer, Paul. we can see that he gives authorship of letters to the Lord God.
"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant." -I Cor. 14:37-38
"For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. -I Thess. 2:13
"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." -I Thess 4:15
Peter gives his letters the same authority as well.
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." -I Peter 1:23-25
Peter also confirms Paul's letters giving them the divine authorship that Paul claimed they possessed.
"And account [that] the longsuffering of our Lord [is] salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." -II Peter 3:15-16
We also look to John the revelator to support our case. John claimed to be a porphetic mouthpice for God as well.
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book." -Revelation 22:18-19
We now have substantial evidence to support the writings in the gospel of Mathew, where it states:
"But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." -Matthew 18:6
Which is supported again by the Old Testament, which states:"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death." -Deuteronomy 17:6
Granted our Deuteronomy verse is dealing with death; but what better verse to employ. If what these NT writers were writing is indeed false, then what they have written is worthy of death. But the fact remains, that a reliable testimony concerning what they have written is a lie, is still absent from biblical theology.
EXHIBIT #4
Inspired By The Holy Spirit
We have shown by only a few scriptures that these men believed what they were writing was indeed holy scripture. What proof could they offer for this claim? The only proof they would have is if they were directed and moved by the Holy Spirit to write these things and were given the power to do so. The following is an extensive quote from "A General Introduction to the Bible" By Geisler and Nix.[7]
"Jesus Himself didn’t commit any of His teaching to writing, but on several occasions during His earthly ministry He promised that the Apostles would be directed by the Holy Spirit in the utterance and propagation of His teaching."
The following are two examples given by Geisler and Nix...
1. Guidance In Preaching
Jesus promised the guidance of the Holy Spirit in what the Apostles would speak of Him. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will give them the words they needed to preach the kingdom of Heaven.
"And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:19-20 “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." -Matthew 10:7
"And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and [unto] magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." -Luke 12:11-12
In the Olivet Discourse Jesus reiterated the same promise.
But when they shall lead [you], and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost." - Mark 13:11
After the last supper Jesus elaborated on this promise.
"But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” and 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." -John 14:26
The great commission provides the same promise.
"And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." -Luke 24:47-49
In the gospel of Matthew the same commission is recorded in these words:
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." - Matthew 28:19-20
2. Guidance In Teaching
According to Matthew’s account of the Great Commission, what the Apostles taught would indeed be guided by the Holy Spirit.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." -Matthew 28:19-20
The promise of the Holy Spirit would bring “all things” to their remembrance and would lead them into all truth.
"But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." -John 14:26
"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." -John 16:13
A very practical manifestation of this teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit through the apostles in that the first church continued in "the apostles’ teaching" Acts 2:42. Apostolic preaching (Acts 2,4 and 10) and teaching (2:42; 6:4) are the foundation stones of the early church. It is in this sense that the church was "built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone" (Eph. 2:20). That is, the church is built upon their teaching, which, as Jesus repeatedly promised was a result of the ministry of the Holy Spirit through them.
Formally stated, this argument takes the following form:
-Whatever the apostles taught was Spirit-directed.
-The New Testament (In light of the Old Testament) is what the apostles taught.
-Therefore, the New Testament is Spirit-directed teaching
We have now examined what the New Testament writers have said about themselves and how Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles’ in their teaching and preaching. It is now time for you the juror, to now go into your chambers and based solely at this time to decide based on the scriptural evidence provided, thus far to come to the conclusion that at the least the New and Old testaments internally prove that they are the Word of God.
Notes
________________________________________________
[1]Seven reasons you can trust the Bible Erwin W. Lutzer pg. 35
[2]Ibid.
[3]Ibid. pg. 36
[4]"A General Introduction to the Bible" by Geisler and Nix pg. 77
[5]"A General Introduction to the Bible" by Geisler and Nix pgs. 77-81
[6]"You can trust the Bible" by Lutzer pgs. 41-42
[7]"A General Introduction To the Bible" by Geisler and Nix pg 89
