Inspired Evidence

INTRODUCTION

There are many religious books in the world—all religions have a book or “sacred” writings which guide them, and upon which they rely.

Then there is the Bible.

The Bible is here, and it has been here for literally thousands of years. That it is an ancient and highly regarded book, no one can deny.  But is it written by intelligence higher and greater than man?  How did the Bible get here? How did it come to be?  That is the question at issue. Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that it is a revelation of the mind and will of the Creator Himself, that it was written by inspiration of God and is, therefore, without mistake or error (inerrant and infallible).

If we begin with the premise that there is a God (see the previous study on Evidence for the Existence of God), then consider the following concerning the feasibility that God could have revealed Himself to mankind:

1.    It is possible.  If there is a God, it is, of course, possible for Him to make Himself known to man, to communicate with His creation.
2.    It is probable.  Granted the goodness and wisdom of God, if it is possible for God to reveal Himself to man, it is probable to think He would do so.
3.    It is credible.  Granted that special Divine revelation is possible and probable, it is credible to believe that such has, in fact, been given.
4.    It is necessary.  The imperfections and limitations of man’s knowledge and wisdom call for the perfect light of infallible, Divine revelation.

Consider this study in outline form:  we shall consider evidence for the inspiration of the Bible under two parts—direct evidence and indirect evidence.

DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR THE BIBLE’S INSPIRATION

A.    THE CLAIMS OF THE BIBLE ITSELF.  The Bible directly, expressly, and clearly claims to be the Word of God in numerous places (see, for example, such passages as 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 2:9-13).  More than 2,000 times in the Bible the claim is made that the words spoken are the words of revelation from God Himself.  Is this true, or not?  It cannot be both. If the Bible is not Scripture, then its claims are false; if the Bible is Scripture, then it demands our attention, reverence, and obedience.

B.  THE CLAIMS OF JESUS CHRIST.  Jesus believed the Scriptures to be the Word of God.
In Matthew 4, three times Jesus said, “It is written,” and quoted from the Old Testament Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16; 10:20).  In John 10:35, Jesus said “…and the scripture cannot be broken.”  Numerous other times, Jesus quoted from previously written Scripture and described what He quoted as the Word of God.  One cannot accept Jesus as Savior and Lord and reject what He said about the inspiration, infallibility, and authority of Scripture!  If Scripture is not the Word of God, then Jesus lied or was deceived, and one guilty of deliberate fabrication or capable of such deception cannot be Lord of all!

C.  THE CLAIMS OF CHRIST’S APOSTLES.  Christ’s apostles—those chosen men who faithfully and sacrificially followed Him, passing on His teaching to all mankind—claimed to be speaking by inspiration and revelation from God.

Consider some examples from Paul:
“But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.  For I neither receive it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). “If any man think himself a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:3-5).

Consider some examples from Peter:
“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” (2 Peter 3:16). Peter here is speaking about the writings of a fellow-apostle, Paul, and notice that Peter calls Paul’s writing “scripture.”

The apostles claimed to be speaking, preaching, teaching, and writing that which came by direct revelation from God, the commandments of the Lord, and that what they wrote was scripture!  This was, in fact, exactly what Jesus had promised them, that the Holy Spirit would guide them into remembrance of what Jesus said, and into all truth (John 14:25-26; 16:12-13).  Jesus and these followers either told the truth, or they did not!

D.  THE CLAIMS OF OTHERS IN THE BIBLE
Numerous times in the Bible the writers and speakers claimed to be speaking forth from God Himself.

Consider the following examples:  Moses (Exodus 20:22; 24:3-4); Joshua (Joshua 1:1); Samuel (1 Samuel 3:4-14); David (2 Samuel 23:1-2); Isaiah (Isaiah 51:16); Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:9); Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:2; 3:27); Daniel (Daniel 9:20-22); Hosea (Hosea 1:1); Joel (Joel 1:1); Amos (Amos 1:1-3); Obadiah (Obadiah 1:1); Jonah (Jonah 1:1); Micah (Micah 1:1); Nahum (Nahum 1:1); Habakkuk (Habakkuk 1:1); Zephaniah (Zephaniah 1:1); Haggai (Haggai 1:3); Zechariah (Zechariah 1:1-3); Malachi (Malachi 1:1).

There was no ambiguity, confusion, or doubt from these men regarding the source of their message:  they plainly claimed that what they spoke and wrote came directly to them from God.  Were these men deceivers or deceived, or were they in fact telling the truth?

CONCLUSION TO PART 1

The evidence is clear and compelling:  the Bible directly and unequivocally claims to be a message given directly from God Himself.

If there is a God, this is no difficult matter.  If there is a God, He could easily and readily communicate His mind and will to His creation, and He could cause that message to be faithfully recorded and accurately preserved.  If there is a God, not only could He do this, we would expect Him to—we would not suppose that God would leave us uninformed concerning His will, and directionless concerning our actions.  Therefore, “Thus saith the Lord” is to be anticipated if there is a God!

One must deal with the fact that the writers of the Bible specifically stated their writings came by revelation from God.  For the believer, this is no difficulty at all.  On the other hand, if one does not believe in God, then he must explain how the Bible came to be.  If it is not from God, then who wrote it?  And if it is not from God, why did all the writers claim it was?  Were they all mistaken, or were they deliberate liars?

In our next article, we shall consider some other very powerful evidences that the Bible is from God.  Stay tuned.

By John Brown