Why I Believe in the Bible

For one of my classes, I was asked to write a paper discussing why I believe in the Bible. I was challenged to think regarding what exactly I believed about it and more specifically why I believed that. It was difficult to fit it all into one page and articulate my reasons in a clear and concise way. Anyways, here it is:

I believe that the modern translations of the Bible are authoritative for all matters of faith and practice. It is the final authority for Christians. I believe that the words of Scripture originated from God, not man and thus I believe it to be accurate in everything it records. It is historically reliable, internally consistent, it answers many of life’s deepest questions, and finally it provides the most reasonable (albeit miraculous) explanation for the empty tomb of Jesus.

I believe the Bible because it is the inspired word of God. It is reliable and truthful because it did not come from man, but from God; and God does not lie. The words of Scripture come from the mind of God through the hand of man. This means that while the human authors were writing in their individual styles and vernacular, they were writing exactly what God by his Spirit was intending. Because I believed God inspired and oversaw the writing of the biblical autographs, I believe the modern translations to be authoritative and accurate for my life.

I also trust the Bible because it accurately tells me what the original authors wrote. The 39 books of Old Testament (and what was written in them) were agreed upon by many different people and groups; radically conservative Jewish cults, ancient Hebrew commentaries, early Christian converts (and their opponents), later Jewish historians and rabbis, and even Jesus himself all agreed on what books belong in the Old Testament and the very words that were in those books. I doubt that there can be such widespread agreement by such a diverse crowd across hundreds of years without the Old Testament being true. Furthermore, the New Testament was being copied for hundreds of years across 5 different cities in the Mediterranean. The copies produced were abundant and widespread. The Bible was being spread like wildfire. There is a high amount of doubt in my mind that one man or people would have been able to quench this fire. The sources for the New Testament are (and were) too diverse in both time and location for any one person for people group to realistically manipulate ALL the sources available to us. The Biblical canon could not have been altered; too many people from too many religious traditions across too many miles and over too many years knew too much. So I believe it too.

The Bible is internally consistent. This strengthens my belief because it was written over thousands of years by over 40 authors in three different languages. The 40+ people who wrote the Bible came from all sorts of different trades; prophets, kings, fisherman, businessmen, doctors, etc. Additionally, the Bible is written in many different literary genres styles; it contains narrative, poetry, discourse, prophecies, parables, travel plans, letters, etc. Despite all of these differences and nuances within the Bible, it remains consistent in teaching us about a Holy God who fervently and passionately rescues people from sin and death. The story of salvation is simply too complex to come together by mere coincidence.

Another reason I believe in the Bible is because it provides reason for the world around me. It answers some of life’s biggest questions: is there a God? What is this God like? Where do people come from? Where are we going? What happens after we die, if anything? Why are we here? Why is there hurt and pain in the world? What can we do to fix the hurt and pain? The Bible gives reasonable answers to each of these questions and helps me make sense of the world around me. In my experience it has been truthful in answering these deeper questions. If I were to reject the Bible, I would have to account for the world around me by some other means, and I cannot think of any other reasonable explanations.

Last, but certainly not least, I am not convinced by any other hypothesis for the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. While it may sound fantastic (as in – it sounds like a fantasy), the biblical account of the resurrection is the most likely explanation for the absence of Jesus’ body. It was not stolen, hidden or burned. Archaeology cannot find his body and science cannot explain his resurrection. Jesus did die, was buried, and was raised again. I can think of no other explanation that would account for such things as the large stone being rolled away from the entrance of the tomb, the complete oversight of the Roman guards, the unprecedented courage of the disciples, and the conversion of Saul the Pharisee to Paul the Apostle. If the biblical account of the resurrection is valid (and I believe it is), I am forced to ask why it happened. I believe it is because Jesus Christ is, as the Bible teaches, the Son of God, the promised Christ-Messiah, and the atonement for my sin. Therefore, since the Bible, more than any account, adequately explains the resurrection along with its reason and effects, I hold it to be trustworthy. If the Bible can explain the most significant event in history, I accept its teaching in everything else.