Is the Bible the Word of God?

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Is The Bible The Word Of God:

A best seller for 500 years with copies available in over 400 languages, the Bible is certainly the most preeminent book in world history. If reliance is any measure of reliability, then inarguably the Bible is the most reliable book ever written. However, within the Bible is the most audacious claim: that it is not the product of man, but the inspired word of God. Such a claim cannot be made unsubstantiated.

For as long as the Bible has existed, this claim of divine inspiration has been attacked by countless scholars. A notable challenger to this claim was Voltaire, who predicted that within a hundred years of his death the only place one would find a Bible would be in a museum. However, within 50 years of Voltaire’s death in 1778 his house and his own printing press were used to print Bibles. Today, Voltaire is consigned to museums while the Bible enjoys more popularity than ever.

While the preeminence of the Bible and its perseverance through countless attacks is certainly remarkable, it does little to prove the Bible is the word of God. To address this issue, we need to evaluate the claims made by those who oppose the divine inspiration claim. Popular areas of concern include:

• The integrity of the Bible – Do we have an accurate copy of the Bible?
• The consistency of the Bible – Does the Bible contradict itself?
• The accuracy of the Bible – Does the Bible conflict with history and science?

The integrity of the Bible:

A popular question presented by those who doubt the divinity of the Bible is: Do we have an accurate copy of the Bible? This question suggest the possibility of mistakes being made as a result of repeated copying and translating of the Bible.

A good demonstration of this type of error can be found in the game “Telephone.” In this game, several people sit in a large circle. One person whispers something into the ear of the person next to them. This person then whispers what they heard into the ear of the next person in the circle. The message is whispered from one person to the next until it makes its way around the circle and back to the first person. Inevitably, by the time the message makes its way around the circle, it has changed considerably. A message which began as: I went scuba diving last week, might evolve into: My aunt Bubba is a fat geek.

While this is an amusing analogy, it hardly parallels to reality. In the game “Telephone” the message is never confirmed by the recipient. When Biblical scholars translated the Bible, they took great measure to ensure the copy was accurate. They counted words, and even letters, to ensure the copy did not contain any errors. Further, once a section was completed, someone else would compare the copy to the original to ensure they were identical.

Secondly, in the game “Telephone,” the message is passed from person to person, not people to people. When the Bible is copied and translated, it is done so by multiple, independent groups. In other words, dozens, if not hundreds, of churches and Biblical scholars are copying and translating the Bible independent of one another. Further, the Bibles were typically released to an audience already familiar with the content. If one translation or copy contained an error, it would be quickly identified.

To continue the analogy of “Telephone,” this would be analogous to screaming the message from one person to the next instead of whispering. No matter how large the circle may be, the message is unlikely to change considerably. This expected consistency is exactly what is demonstrated in the Bible. In fact, the vast majority of critical scholars agree the translations and copies of the Bible are reliable.

Reliability can be measured in consistency with ancient manuscripts. Today’s copy of Homer’s Iliad is supported by 643 ancient manuscripts. The consistency between today’s copy and the 643 manuscripts lead nearly all scholars to believe we have an accurate copy of Homer’s Iliad. The Bible, on the other hand, is supported by 25,000 ancient manuscripts. If the integrity of Homer’s Iliad can be considered unquestionable, then certainly the integrity of the Bible is unquestionable.

This conclusion was put to the test in 1947 when 800 manuscripts were discovered in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea. These manuscripts were dated between 150 B.C. and 68 A.D. and belonged to a Jewish Sect called the Essenes. Almost immediately, scholars began analyzing Isaiah 53, believing the passage may have been mistranslated by Christians in an attempt to make the passage prophetic of Christ.

However, when today’s copy of Isaiah 53 was compared to the 2000 year-old manuscript, they were found to be nearly identical. Of the 166 words in Isaiah 53, only 17 letters were different. 10 letters were the result of spelling, and did not affect the passage in any way. Four letters were the result of writing style, and also did not affect the passage. The last three letters were the word “light” (אור) and also had no real affect upon the meaning of the passage.

The consistency of the Bible:

A common point of objection to the divinity of the Bible is the apparent lack of consistency. While this objection is typically made by the laymen, and not scholars, it is a common objection. Therefore, it deserves some attention.

Because It would be unreasonable to evaluate every alleged contradiction, we will focus on some of the more popular ones:

Below are some common alleged biblical contradictions:

Biblical Contradiction

1) God is or is not happy with his creation:

Genesis 1:31: “God saw all that he made, and it was
very good.”

Genesis 6:6: “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”

We should first point out both passages were written by the same person. It seems unbelievable that the author would not notice such a contradiction. Secondly, a lot happens between Genesis 1 and 6. Most importantly, the fall of man. While God knew man was going to fall, this does not mean God should not be disappointed when man does fall. God’s original creation sited in Genesis 1:31 was unsoiled by the corruption of Man. God was pleased with this unsoiled world. However, the fall of man grieved God.

2) Is God omnipotent or not?:

Jeremiah 32:27: “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

Judges 1:19: “The LORD was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had iron chariots.”

This is a case where the reader is trying to make the Bible contradict. If this passage were to be read carefully one would see it was not God who was unable to “drive the people from the plains” it was Judah. God being “with the men of Judah” does not imply the men of Judah are omnipotent.

Did Judas hang himself or jump from a cliff?:

Matthew 27:5: “So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”

Acts 1:18: “With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. “

This is a very commonly pointed out contradiction and there are a few possibilities. Some say Judas tried to hang himself and failed (Matthew does not say he died from hanging, only he went to hang himself). He then jumped off the cliff. Others say Judas hanged himself by jumping off a cliff with rope around his neck. Either the rope or tree limb broke, causing his body to fall down a cliff. Though the passages do not say the same thing, they do not contradict.

4) Was Christ crucified on the 3rd or 6th hour?:

Mark 15:25: “It was the third hour when they crucified him.”

John 19:14-15: “It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.
‘Here is your king,’ Pilate said to the Jews.
But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!’
‘Shall I crucify your king?’ Pilate asked.
‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the chief priests answered.”

John is using Roman Time. The 6th hour in Roman Time is 6AM. Mark is using Jewish Time. The 3rd hour in Jewish time is 9AM. Roman Time began at midnight while Jewish Time began at sunrise (6AM). Using the information from both passages we can see Jesus was judged by Pilate at 6AM and was crucified at 9AM.

5) Did Peter denied Jesus after the rooster crowed once or twice?:

Matthew 26:34: Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times”

Luke 22:34: Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me”

John 13:38: Jesus answered him “Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times”

Mark 14:30: “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times”

Again, this alleged contradiction is frequently cited. However, a contradiction does not exist. Mark said the rooster would not crow twice, everyone else only mentions the rooster crowing. Matthew, Luke and John do not state the rooster will only crow once. It should be mentioned that the term “rooster crow” is referring to the morning. They are saying Peter will deny Jesus three times before morning.

While these passages may appear to contradict at first glance, even a cursory examination will reveal consistency within the Bible. Considering the Bible was compiled by 40 different authors over the course of 1500 years, the Bible is remarkably consistent.

The accuracy of the Bible:

The final objection made by skeptic to the divinity of the Bible is its alleged inaccuracies. A common practice of historians, anthropologists and archaeologists is to identify claims and events found within the Bible to demonstrate its inaccuracies. However, time and time again, these alleged inaccuracies are found to be fallacious.

Compiling a complete list of alleged inaccuracies that were later found to be accurate would be an impossibly time consuming task. Instead, we will list some of the more notable examples:

Below is a list of claims and events found within the Bible that were at one time alleged to be incorrect and later found to be accurate:

The early domestication of Camels:

For many years the scientific community rejected the idea of domesticated camels as early as the time of Abraham (Abram). However, archaeologists have since discovered paintings of domesticated camels on the walls of the temple of Hatshepsut dating to the time of Abraham.

The discovery of the Tower of Babel:

For centuries, the scientific community dismissed the story of the Tower of Babel as a myth. According to the Bible, a society living near Babylon attempted to build a tower tall enough to reach the gods. God was so offended by this that he disrupted their progress by plaguing them with many languages, or babel. Archaeologists eventually discovered a fragment of a clay tablet in Babylon which describes a temple atop a ziggurat (a tall tower) that “offended the gods.” Their progress was interrupted by “speech made strange.”

Written language prior to 1400 B.C.:

Many archaeologists dismissed Moses’ authorship of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) because they believed written language did not exist at the time of Moses. However, they have since discovered examples of written language within Babylon dating to the time of Moses.

The fallen wall of Jericho:

Archaeologists were initially skeptical of the existence of Jericho, let alone the Biblical story of the fall of the wall of Jericho. However, archaeologists have since discovered the city. Along with the city, archaeologists found one of the walls of the city had fallen outward, away from the city.

The existence of iron prior to the Iron Age:

Archaeologists criticized the Bible for claiming Tubal-Cain forged tools out of “bronze and iron,” claiming Iron was not used until the Iron Age at around 1200 B.C. However, archaeologists have since discovered iron weapons near Bagdad dating to at least 2700 B.C.

The existence of Belshazzar:

Initially, critics claimed Belshazzar, a King of Babylon mentioned in the Bible, was a fictional character. Archaeologists have since discovered the Nadunidus Chronicles. In it contains the name of Belshazzar and describes him as a “leader of Babylon.”

The existence of Edom:

The nation of Edom mentioned in Obadiah was once thought to be historically inaccurate. Archaeologists argued Edom did not exist until at least the 8th century B.C. However, archaeologists have since discovered ruins that date Edom to at least the 10th century B.C., the time indicated in the book of Obadiah.

The existence of King David:

Many archaeologists once claimed King David was a mythical character. However, in 1933 fragments from a stone monument was found at Tel Dan which identifies King David and the “House of David.” The monument was erected in honor of a battle sited in 1 Kings 15:20 between King Asa and Israel. This battle was also once believed to be a myth.

While the historical accuracy of the Bible is still questioned by many today, the number of alleged inaccuracies decreases with the continued advancements in archaeology. In fact, never has an archaeological discovery discredited the Biblical account:

“It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical description has often led to amazing discoveries.”

Dr. Nelson Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, (New York: Farrar, Strous and Cudahy, 1959), 136.

Conclusion: Is the Bible the word of God

While it is difficult to prove the divine inspiration of the Bible, it is easy to discredit alleged proof that the Bible is not the word of God. Thousands of people, over the course of thousands of years, have done their best to discredit the claim that the Bible is the inspired word of God, with little effectiveness.

The integrity, consistency and accuracy of the Bible is undoubtedly remarkable. It is difficult to believe a book with such integrity and influence can be the word of Man. For this reason, many conclude the Bible can only be the result of divine inspiration.

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