Where Did the Bible Come From?

Eight Reasons to Believe that the Bible Came From God.

1.     The Bible writers Professed that their words came from God.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah testified that he wrote words given to him by God:  “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:9)

In Mark 12:36, Mark records Jesus’s assertion that Psalm 110 was inspired by God:  “For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

In the New Testament, Paul writes, “ All scripture is given by inspiration of God …” (2 Timothy 3:16). And Peter writes, “For the prophecy came not in old time (the Old Testament period) by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:21).

2.     The Personal experience of Christians testifies that the Bible is supernatural;

The experience of converts in the New Testament.  For example, the apostle Paul was converted to biblical Christianity while traveling for the purpose of persecuting Christians.  Having been converted to Christianity, he became perhaps the most fervent preacher of the Bible recorded in the New Testament – despite the severe persecution that he suffered throughout his evangelistic efforts.  

The personal experience of Christians today.  Countless individuals around the world today report that their lives have been transformed by the Bible. This is consistent with the biblical claim that “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, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The experience of Christians is also consistent with the biblical assertion that “…the word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

3. The Preservation of the Bible despite concerted attempts to eliminate it throughout history.  The preservation of God’s word is consistent with the biblical promise that God would preserve his words.

In Psalm 12:6-7, we read, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

In Matthew 5:18, Jesus states, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” And in Matthew 24:35, Jesus adds, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” 

4.     The Perfect internal consistency of the Bible testifies to its supernatural origin. 

Despite the fact that 40 different men wrote over 1,600 years – some of whom had no access to each other’s writing – the Bible is perfectly consistent with regard to doctrine, themes, places and dates.

5. The fulfillment of Bible Prophesy testifies to the supernatural original of the Bible. The Bible contain more than 1,800 detailed prophesies.  All of those prophesies have either already been fulfilled or relate to future events.

For example, the Old Testament prophet Daniel prophesied the major world powers, including the Medo-Persian Empire (539-331 BC), the Greek empire (331-146 BC) and the Roman empire (146 BC – AD 410).  Daniel wrote during the Babylonian Empire (605-539 BC), i.e. roughly 200 years prior to the Greek Empire and 400 years before the Roman Empire.

Also note that the Bible accurately predicted both the parentage of Christ (Gen. 3:15; Isa 7:14; Isa 11:1) and his place of his birth (Micah 5:2 vs. Matt 2:1).  And Daniel predicted the timing of the crucifixion of Christ.

Further, in Luke 9:22, Jesus prophesied both his death and resurrection: “…The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.”

6.     The archeological evidence for Bible People testifies to the truth of the Bible.

At least 53 people who are named in the Old Testament have been found referenced in archeological discoveries – including kings of Israel & Judah, Moab, Assyria, Babylonia and Persia.

The Hittites. At one time, skeptics used the Bible’s 25 references to an unknown Hittite people as proof that the Bible was a myth. However, beginning in the late 19th century, archeologists began uncovering evidence of a Hittite people. 

7.     The archeological evidence for Bible Places testifies to the truth of the Bible.

In addition to Jericho, biblical places such as Haran, Hazor, Dan, Megiddo, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Gezer, Gibeah, Beth Shemesh, Beth Shean, Beersheba, Lachish, and many other urban sites have been discovered and excavated.

In 2015, archeologists discovered ruins of a place in modern Jordan that fits the description of the city of Sodom.  They found ruins a city that was known for its acceptance of homosexuality. They found evidence of a prosperous city that grew large and then suddenly ceased to be inhabited (for more than 700 years).  They discovered a layer of ash together with markings that are consistent with burning. In addition, pottery shards display signs of exposure to extremely high temperatures.  (Source: Archaeologist Believes to Have Discovered Location of Biblical Sodom, But One Thing Remains a Mystery (2015), https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/51870/sodom-found-archaeological-evidence-proof-biblical-account-health-and-science/, accessed October 7, 2018)

8.     The universal tradition of Bible Passages testifies to the supernatural original of the Bible.

For example, many cultures around the world have a tradition of a global flood that appears to reflect the Genesis flood account. Archeologists have discovered evidence that the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Greeks all had a tradition of a catastrophic flood. Further, there is evidence that early Chinese people also had knowledge of specific details of the biblical flood account. The evidence includes the fact that the traditional Chinese symbol for boat consists of three elements: (1) the symbol for a vessel, (2) the symbol for the number eight and (3) the symbol for people. This is consistent with the Genesis account of eight people being saved from a flood in an ark — a vessel with eight people!