EA Essential - engaging young people with biblical truth

Response

There are all sorts of different reasons why someone might not trust the Bible, for example, doubts about its authenticity; not liking what it teaches; not knowing what it actually says; and misinformation about how it was put together.

So when it comes to answering the question, “Why should I trust the Bible?” we may need to respond differently, depending on where the questioner is coming from. Fortunately, there are a number of reasons why we can trust the Bible…

A reason from the Bible
The Bible itself makes an astonishing claim to its trustworthiness – 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking and correcting in righteousness.”(NIV) The Bible claims that it contains no less than the very words of God.

Of course, when people point out that this is a circular argument – the Bible is trustworthy because the Bible says it’s trustworthy – there is a sense in which they are right, although just because it’s circular doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. For instance, imagine a young child, who has met the queen, talking about it to a friend in the playground.

Child A: “How do you know it was the queen?”

Child B: “Because I asked her and she said she was the queen, and she should know, because she’s the queen.”

The argument is circular, but it is still true. After all, if the Bible really is the Word of God, then you’d expect it to say so somewhere, wouldn’t you?

Also, the Bible writers are very clear that they are writing true, historically accurate accounts. Luke, like other New Testament writers, states this explicitly – Luke 1:1-4 “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”(NIV)

A reason from Jesus
Another very good reason why we can trust the Bible is because Jesus did. The gospel accounts of Jesus’ life are full of examples of him referring to the Scriptures. For instance, when Jesus is resisting temptation from the devil he quotes scripture – Matthew 4:4 “Jesus answered, “It is written: ’Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’.””

If Jesus trusted the Bible then we probably can as well.

A reason from Historical Literature
There are a number of different writers from the ancient world like Plato, Julius Caesar, Plato, Josephus and Tacitus (some of whom even mention Jesus and the early church) who claim to be writing accurate history.

In assessing the historical accuracy of these contemporary works, there are three questions which historians will ask: How close to the event was the account actually written down? How many early copies of the historical manuscript are there? Does the account contain verifiable historical facts?

The Bible stands up extremely well under this sort of questioning – the different books of the New Testament were written between 10 and 70 years after the death of Jesus, which is a very short time in historical terms. Also, there are over 24,000 early manuscript copies or portions of the New Testament in existence. Finally, the Bible is full of verifiable historical facts – names, places, dates, kings, wars etc – none of which have been conclusively proven to be false.

A reason from Human Experience
The final reason why we can and should trust the Bible is because it proves itself to be trustworthy in our experience. The Bible is full of promises of the blessings that it will bring to those who read it and trust it – new life, growth, fruitfulness, assurance, understanding etc. Sometimes, like testing a rope bridge, we’ll only know for sure if it’s trustworthy if we try it and see!

Further Reading

The Lion Handbook to the Bible - David and Pat Alexander (Editors)

Is the New Testament History? - Paul Barnett

Understanding the Bible – John Stott

FAQ Disclaimer:

FAQ responses are designed to promote clear biblical thinking about subjects that are often difficult and confusing. The responses are all considered to be compatible with the Evangelical Alliance’s basis of faith but beyond that should not be assumed to represent the Evangelical Alliance’s ‘official standpoint’ on any particular doctrine or issue.