How do we know that the Bible is true? Many people doubt that the Bible is completely true and reliable. They assume that it was written by men who were not perfect. Or that it contradicts itself. Or that it can’t be reliable after being copied over so many years. But as we’ll see, God’s word is dependable and true. And we can trust it with our lives and our eternity.
The Bible is True because of God’s Character
Where would we be today without having the Bible? We wouldn’t know who God is from His Word? We wouldn’t be able to know what He has done for us or His love for us. We’d be walking around life blind and with no purpose. But God gave us His Word so that we can know who He, what He has done, and what He expects of us. If it isn’t true, then we have no purpose in our existence. But because God gave us His word, it shows us that He wants to know us and is evidence of the reliability of the Bible.
We can also see that the Bible is true because God is true. He never twists truth or lies. When God says something we can trust it because that is part of God’s perfect nature. We can trust the truth’s in God’s Word because God never changes. James 1:17 says that with God there is
“no variation or shadow due to change.” We should be so thankful that God isn’t fickle or moody but constant throughout all of history. And because He doesn’t change we can trust that His Word doesn’t change. Because God can be trusted, His Word can be trusted.
The Bible is True because of its Witnesses
Many of the writers of the Bible were first hand witnesses of what they wrote about. They saw with their own eyes the events they recorded. Even in the modern day court system eye witnesses are trusted because they actually saw the events. In 1 John 1:1-3 John writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” John saw Jesus and is telling us about Jesus.
The writers of the Bible also said that they were speaking and recording God’s Word. The message of the Bible wasn’t something made up by the human mind. It was given by God to man through His inspiration. Some people argue that God’s word was fabricated to manipulate people to do what they wanted. But if we look at the lives of its writers it is obvious that they weren’t writing for their benefit. In fact the opposite happened. They were mistreated, outcast, and persecuted. They didn’t make money from writing the Bible, many were very poor. So there was no financial motivation. Many died not truly understanding what exactly they had written, but did it for our benefit, not theirs (1 Peter 1:12).
The Bible is True because its Promises have been Fulfilled
The Bible has proven itself true because it is true. Throughout Scripture prophecies were given thousands of years before they actually came true. And of those prophecies, all that have taken place have been accurate. There are almost 2,500 prophecies found in Scripture and 2,000 of them have been fulfilled perfectly. The remaining prophecies are yet to come. It has been said that the chances of this accuracy is so unlikely that it would be like filling the state of Texas with silver dollar coins a foot deep, writing an x on one of them, and then randomly selecting that one silver dollar.
In addition, archeology has not found any examples of the Scriptures being inaccurate. And because the Scriptures are true, it will never find inconsistencies in the future.
So how do we know the Bible is true? We can see that God is true and loving, that the authors were faithful, and that the Bible has always been trustworthy. As we can see, God’s Word is trustworthy and true. We can place our hope in its words both for this life and the next.