IS THE BIBLE TRUE?

The Bible isn't like any other book ... the claims of the Bible are unlike any other claims ... that's because it's not a human book! God calls His Word Living.

Because the Bible is so powerful, it is often misused to capture people's hearts. Many Eastern philosophies quote regularly from the Bible. Cults also steal bites out of the Bible to use for their own purposes and to justify the lies they tell. When fragments of Scripture are taken out of context and twisted around, they are powerful enough to mislead people's hearts and minds. Imagine what the whole Word, properly used under God's divine inspiration, can do!

Some Credentials

Mark Twain said, "It's not the things I don't understand in the Bible that bother me, it's the things I do understand!" This accurate insight exposes the real reason many people are afraid to study the Bible. They're afraid they might meet the Author, and they know they're not ready for that.

The Bible doesn't attempt to defend its inspiration. But here is an interesting thing: Genesis opens with the words, "God said" nine times in the first chapter. The statement, "Thus says the Lord" appears 23 times in the last Old Testament book, Malachi. So you have "God says" from Genesis to Malachi. "The Lord spoke" appears 560 times in the first five books of the Bible and at least 3,800 times in the whole of the Old Testament! Isaiah claims at least 40 times that his message came directly from the Lord; Ezekiel, 60 times; and Jeremiah, 100 times!

In the mid- 1700's, Voltaire, one of the most influential writers of his day, held a copy of the Bible in his hand and stated that within 100 years from his time, Christianity would be "swept from existence and pass into history." What's hilarious is that merely 50 years after Voltaire's death, the Geneva Bible Society used his house and printing press to print and distribute thousands of Bibles!

The Bible: Your Science Book

The Bible is scientifically accurate because both science and Scripture have the same Author! Science only mimics or reveals what nature has already been doing for thousands of years. And who created nature? The Bible says, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth"(Isaiah 40:28 KJV).

Argument Melts Down

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.(2 Pet 3:10 KJV). This very verse was used by scientists in the late 1800's to prove that the Bible could not have been divinely inspired. They thought, "How could there be a fire big enough to burn the whole world?" They also called the Apostle Peter, who wrote that inspired claim, a "silly fisherman!"

Today science has finally caught up to what God spoke through Peter almost 2,000 years ago. We now realize that an atomic reaction could actually melt the basic building blocks of matter itself. That "silly" fisherman, Peter, had the wisdom of an atomic physicist!

Lots of Lucky Guesses?

If there's one thing the Bible dares to do that no other book in the world does, it is to accurately predict the future. God arranges the events of history to bring about predictions laid down before the foundation of the world. The outline of these predictions, or prophecies, is revealed in the Bible.

There are about 3,856 verses directly or indirectly concerned with prophecy in Scripture. God's challenge to the world is "Prove Me now-I am the Lord ... I will speak, and the word that I speak shall come to pass" (see Jeremiah 28:9; Ezekiel 12:25; 24:14). Mormons, Buddhists and Muslims have their own sacred writings, but the element of proven prophecy is absent in them. The destruction of Tyre, the invasion of Jerusalem, the fall of Babylon and Rome-each event was accurately predicted in the Bible and later fulfilled to the smallest detail.

In the person of Jesus alone we see over 300 prophecies fulfilled. The odds that these would all coincide by accident in one person are laughable. By the laws of chance, the conservative odds of even just 48 of those 300 prophecies being fulfilled by one man are ten to the 157th power. (That's a 1 followed by 157 zeros!!!) Let me give you an idea of the immensity of this number.

We'll take a very small object-an electron. (Electrons are so small that if you lined them up, it would take 2 1/2 quadrillion of them to equal one inch.) Now let's go back to our figure of 10¹⁵⁷. If you tried to put this many electrons into a big pile, it would be 10,000,000,000 times larger than the universe as we know it- which scientists calculate to be 6,000,000,000 light-years across. (A light-year is the distance that light will travel in one year, moving at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.)

Now, take out just one electron and color it red. Stir it back into this pile for a hundred thou- sand years with all the others. Then blindfold a man and send him in to pick the red electron out-the first time! Impossible? Those are the same odds that one Man could fulfill just 48 of the 300 prophecies about the Messiah ... if it were only an accident. And Jesus fulfilled every one!

No Other Conclusion

You can test this book any way you like, and nothing is even in the same category. It's not just a book-it is God who has spoken in history, and that's why He says that His word is "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword" (Heb 4:12 KJV)! All 66 books of the Holy Scriptures bear God's divine seal. No other work of man in any language even faintly resembles the intricate structure and design of the Bible. The fact remains-only an Infinite Mind could have devised this Book of books.

The Bible is a book with a universal message for all people. It is the only volume in which child and scholar may find equal delight. Its simple, life-related principles can work in any country, transcending barriers of culture and race to bring peace, love, joy, and forgiveness to its readers. Only the Bible can make bad people good inside, transforming the rebel into the saint. The greatest proof of the Bible is the difference its message can make in your life. Just as simple as Studying to shew yourself approved (2 Tim. 2:15) you will come to know how God will reveal His truth to you through the Bible's pages? God will meet you in a living demonstration of His reality and power.

Not only is the Bible reliable and true, its whole theme centers around God's message of redemption. In the beginning of history, the human race wandered away from God (Genesis 1-2). The Bible reveals God's desire and plan to bring us back to Himself. His program hinges on the all-encompassing work of His Son, Jesus Christ-whose death on the cross paves the way back to God for all of us.

You can find your way to God by taking the following steps,

1) Acknowledge that you have sinned and fallen short of God's standards.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"; (Rom 3:23 KJV)
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". (Rom 6:23 KJV)

2) Believe that Jesus Christ, who was God in human flesh, died for your sins and was resurrected.

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". (Rom 5:8 KJV)
"how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3-4 KJV)

3) You may express your belief through Faith on what Christ did at Calvary plus Nothing.


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