1 Title: The Bible: The Embodiment of Divine Revelation Submitted by: Bobby Long Student ID: 1737-805 Date: Thursday, April 05, 2007 Introduction There are three aspects to “the Bible encompasses the divine revelation of God”. They are 1) The Bible, 2) Divine Revelation, and 3) God. The first two being true are dependent on the existence and veracity of the last; God. If God does not exist then the first two will be null and void. If God does exist, but is a liar, then, although the Bible may be divinely revealed by an existent God, it would hold no credibility as being truth. How do we know the Bible is God’s Word? What proof is there? Is any proof needed? These are some of the questions this essay will address. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1Pet 3:15 KJV). It should be the desire of every Christian to be ready for the questions and objections of the world regarding our faith. This task should be accepted with great enthusiasm since it is these most basic truths concerning the faith that will, one day, propel us into an eternity with Christ. The focus of this paper will be seven main categories: 1) The A Priori Argument – Proving our need for a reliable and infallible source of theological truth. 2) The Argument for Analogy – Relationships and ratios in the Bible. 3) The Argument for the Indestructibility of the Bible – Inability to exterminate the Bible. 4) The Argument for the Character of the Bible – Divine Revelation. 5) The Argument for the Influence of the Bible – Impact of the Bible. 6) The Argument for Fulfillment of Prophecy – A view of prophecy as it relates to prediction of the future as can only be revealed by God. 7) The Argument for the Ability of Scripture to Prove Scripture – Scriptural Continuity.
Transcript
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Title: The Bible: The Embodiment of Divine Revelation
Submitted by: Bobby Long
Student ID: 1737-805
Date: Thursday, April 05, 2007
Introduction
There are three aspects to “the Bible encompasses the divine revelation of God”. They are 1)
The Bible, 2) Divine Revelation, and 3) God. The first two being true are dependent on the
existence and veracity of the last; God. If God does not exist then the first two will be null
and void. If God does exist, but is a liar, then, although the Bible may be divinely revealed
by an existent God, it would hold no credibility as being truth.
How do we know the Bible is God’s Word? What proof is there? Is any proof needed?
These are some of the questions this essay will address. “But sanctify the Lord God in your
hearts; and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of
the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1Pet 3:15 KJV). It should be the desire of
every Christian to be ready for the questions and objections of the world regarding our faith.
This task should be accepted with great enthusiasm since it is these most basic truths
concerning the faith that will, one day, propel us into an eternity with Christ. The focus of
this paper will be seven main categories:
1) The A Priori Argument – Proving our need for a reliable and infallible source of
theological truth.
2) The Argument for Analogy – Relationships and ratios in the Bible.
3) The Argument for the Indestructibility of the Bible – Inability to exterminate the
Bible.
4) The Argument for the Character of the Bible – Divine Revelation.
5) The Argument for the Influence of the Bible – Impact of the Bible.
6) The Argument for Fulfillment of Prophecy – A view of prophecy as it relates to
prediction of the future as can only be revealed by God.
7) The Argument for the Ability of Scripture to Prove Scripture – Scriptural
Continuity.
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As these topics are expounded on, it is the hope of the author that the faith of the reader is
increased, their hope is stirred up, and most of all, that God is glorified.
The A Priori Argument
Why is it important to have a source of truth? Relativism says that whatever one sees as truth
is truth for that person. Some religions believe that there are many roads or paths to God.
Some say that Christ’s work on the cross was not complete in paying for all sin of every man.
Others believe that Christ was just a prophet and didn’t really die on the cross. Other
religions believe that we are not a product of intelligent design, but spontaneously generated.
The Bible declares itself to be absolute truth because it flows from the spirit of the one and
only God whose nature is absolute truth. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send
unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he
shall testify of me:”(Jhn. 15:26 KJV) Who or what is true? How can we know? What is the
process that we attain knowledge of any kind? Does genuine belief in something as true
make it true? The answer is no. One can genuinely believe and even die in defense of a lie.
This argument is well deserving of definition. A priori pertains to “knowledge, judgments,
and principles which are true without verification or testing. It is universally true.” 1 These
are truths that stand alone, independent of any experience regarding itself.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that
they are without excuse:” (Rom. 1:20 KJV)
If applied to the Bible as encompassing the divine revelation of God, this argument would
see no reason to doubt the Scripture or God because it regards both as universal truths,
needing no proof, nor any verification that such claims would ever come in question by any
moral agent. It is a necessary truth that, by definition, is beyond negation and will never
contradict itself. It is true in every aspect, in ever realm of reason, in every conceivable way.
Although this term is used in many arenas other than philosophy, how knowledge is acquired
is of concern here in relation to proving the need for a reliable, infallible source of truth.
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Gottfried Liebniz says that all knowledge can be classified in two groups. These groups are
those that spring from innate reason and those that come from fact. He writes,
“There are also two kinds of truths, those of reasoning and those of fact. Truths of
reasoning are necessary and their opposite is impossible: truths of fact are contingent
and their opposite is possible. When a truth is necessary, its reason can be found by
analysis, resolving it into more simple ideas and truths, until we come to those which
are primary. 2” (Leibniz, 1714)
If Liebnizs’ assumptions on epistemology are correct, and we then apply the a priori view to
scripture, it comes to reason that the human moral agent is born with an innate knowledge of
an omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent God. We have a priori knowledge of God. A
posteriori knowledge, or knowledge gained by facts or by experience, brings to light the
attributes, actions, and character of God. Attributes such as honesty, integrity, and
sovereignty are in concert with what is written of God in the Bible and what we know of God
innately.
We know there is a God. Our continued examination of historical timelines, prophecy,
cultural practices, and other evidence either validates or dismisses source material used to
make claims or observations concerning God. To support and validate this natural
knowledge of God, we look to the Bible a posteriori. I have never seen God, but I know He
exists because the Bible says He does. The Bible is true because of validating facts and
evidences that has never been contradicted. If the Bible is true, then it is the Word of God, if
it is the word of God, then it will be 100% accurate.
Christianity believes that the Bible is the source document for inerrant and infallible truth.
This belief arises not only from the a priori knowledge of God, but also, from the a
posteriori arguments that will be presented in the balance of this document. The remainder
of this essay will shift some of the proof from strictly a priori to a combination of the two.
To rest a belief and faith solely on an a priori argument is not sound. The validity of the
Bible as the source document for an infallible truth is two fold. The Bible says, “Then said
I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it is] written of me,” (Psa 40:7 KJV)
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In the same manner, to rest solely on our interpretation of facts and experience is also in
error. The human ability to process experiences can deceive us. “And GOD saw that the
wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart [was] only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5 KJV). Two people can experience the same
event and come out with two interpretations of that event. Vincent Cheung writes,
“So, although I affirm that Scripture is indeed logically undeniable, when I use
"undeniable" in the context of discussing man's innate knowledge, the emphasis then
is not on the logical undeniability of Scripture, but that some core biblical premises
cannot be denied in practice despite the unbelievers' claim to the contrary. Thus, we
refer to man's innate knowledge not to prove Scripture (rather, it is Scripture that
proves the innate knowledge), but only to explain why we can communicate with
unbelievers and how to properly relate to them. In other words, when we are speaking
of the innate knowledge of God, we are considering the strategic aspect of
apologetics, and not the strictly rational aspect. That the Scripture is logically
undeniable is demonstrated by engaging the contents of Scripture itself, and not man's
innate knowledge.”3 (Cheung, 2005)
Moving to the term “divine revelation”; The term holds both premises of a priori and a
posteriori. The “revelation” or the revealing of God as it is continually and forever justified
by the canon of scripture known as the Bible, upholds and solidifies our belief and faith in
God and our knowledge of God relating to His attributes and character.
“To the class of truths that need proof belong those of divine revelation. All truths
known to man are divinely revealed to him in some sense, but I here speak of truths
revealed to man by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Bible announces many self-
evident truths, and many truths of demonstration. These may or might be known, at
least many of them, irrespective of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But the class of
truths of which I here speak, rest wholly upon the testimony of God, and are truths of
pure inspiration. Some of these truths are above reason, in the sense that the reason
can, à priori, neither affirm nor deny them.4” (Finney, 1851)
Examples of a truth that is above reason would be that of redemption, and that of free will
and the sovereignty of God. God’s plan of redemption is far outside the scope of human
reason. The process God chose to bring man back to a right relationship with Him would
cost Him His life. To allow the sacrifice of the innocent to atone for the guilty is not within
the capacity of the human intellect to comprehend. The truth of free will and the sovereignty
of God portrayed in scripture is another that is outside the scope of human reason. We must
take God’s testimony that these two teachings are not at odds with one another but, work in
harmony.
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The Bible is infallible because God cannot fail. The Bible is without error because God is
without error. We know God cannot fail and He is without error because the self-
authenticating nature of the Bible says those things about God. The revelation by someone
or something reflects the character of that revealed. In this case, God’s character and
attributes must be exhibited perfectly in anything that supposes to be His revelation. If error
and fallacy is found, then logic says it is not a revelation of God.
The Christian system takes biblical infallibility, or the proposition, "The Bible is the
word of God," as its self-authenticating first principle. By self-authenticating, I do not
mean that the Bible verifies itself in our experience (although it does), since if it is by
our experience that the Bible proves to be true, it would not be self-authenticating.
Neither am I referring to the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit that the Bible is true,
although this happens to those chosen by God for salvation. Rather, I mean that the
content of the Bible verifies itself; it needs not appeal to any premises external to
itself. From this first principle of biblical infallibility, the rest of the system follows
by necessity through valid deductions. Since the first principle verifies itself to be
true, any propositions validly deduced from it is also true. Since biblical revelation
condemns all other systems of thought, and whatever it says is true, the Christian faith
is therefore the only true system of thought, by which every proposition is evaluated
and made intelligible.5 (Cheung 2001)
In contrast, philosopher John Locke forwards the idea that knowledge is only written on the
board by pen of experience. Our mind is a kind of blank blackboard that reflects every
experience we have. He says that,
“Knowledge then seems to me to be nothing but the perception of the connexion of
and agreement, or disagreement and repugnancy of any of our ideas. In this alone it
consists. Where this perception is, there is knowledge, and where it is not, there,
though we may fancy, guess, or believe, yet we always come short of knowledge.”6
(Locke, 1689)
One thing is certain, whether the mind is a blank slate and all knowledge is a posteriori as
John Locke proposes, or whether knowledge is all a priori, or a combination of the two, one
thing stands. The children’s nursery rhyme speaks volumes when we sing, Jesus loves me
this I know, for the Bible tells me so. “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book [it
is] written of me,” (Psa 40:7 KJV) God saw fit to give us both truths that are verified by other
sciences such as archeology and history, and wants us to get lost in the infinity of His ways.
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The Argument for Analogy
The Bible contains sixty-six books, penned by more than forty authors over sixteen hundred
years. Yet, when these book are analyzed, we see an integrated design that points to one
source; The Holy Spirit of God. Of my favorite authors Chuck Missler says that the
fingerprints of God are all over the Bible.
“Throughout the Bible we find the fingerprints of a supernatural message system.
Numerous design features in the Biblical text defy coincidence and demonstrate that
the Bible is an integrated message system.”7 (Missler)
As this section is a part of an overall theme of supporting the premise that the Bible is the
encompassment of divine revelation, we must keep at the forefront of our topics; God and
His revelation to us in the form of the Bible. Much could be said concerning the parables as
they pertain to the Kingdom of God and humanity. Volumes have been written concerning
the structural symbols of such as the Temple, or the Tabernacle, and their symbolism.
However, in the interest of brevity, this part will deal with a select number of analogous
passages that are not intended to be a foundation of doctrine, but validate the canon of
scripture as truly divine revelation.
The online encyclopedia Encarta defines an analogy as,
“…the name of an inductive form of argument which asserts that if two or more
entities are similar in one or more respects, then a probability exists that they will be
similar in other respects. 8
Analogy is common place in the scripture. The two entities being compared in this essay are
one and the same; God and the Word of God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Jh 1:1. KJV) God then went one step further
and shows us what the Word looks like in human form and gave us the embodiment of
Himself and His Word in Jesus Christ. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.”(Jh 1:14. KJV) The Bible not only declares that it was given by God the Father, to
humanity, but that we beheld the living Word of God in Jesus Christ.
I have heard that the Rabbis have a saying that when the Messiah comes, He will not only
interpret the meaning of scripture, but He will interpret the very spaces between the Words.
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“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.”(Mat 5:18 KJV) A Jot is the smallest of all Hebrew
letters and a tittle is a little horn on a letter. In other words, Jesus was saying that
EVERYTHING in the Bible is important and speaks of Himself.
Some of the more broad analogies found in scripture compare Christ to Scripture or what is
called the incarnation model, and Christ to Adam. Christ to Scripture is analogous in the way
Christ is both human and divine. Christ cannot be separated. He was 100% human and
100% divine. Diminishing either is a tragedy and heresy. The scripture also is revealed to
man by God, the Holy Spirit then inspired man to write the revelation down, and the Holy
Spirit illumines the scripture to man. The nature of scripture therefore has a miraculous
divine character yet was written within the vocabulary boundaries of the writer giving it the
human touch.
Another way theologians analogize Christ is His comparison to Adam. By one man, sin
entered the world to plagued mankind; by one man’s righteousness all can find justification.
As Adam fell, Christ was lifted up. As the sin of Adam led to spiritual death, the
righteousness of Christ leads to spiritual life.
Other analogies are not as apparent. The Bible is written in a way that mirrors the attention
to detail of God. In Genesis 5, we have the genealogy of Adam to Noah. In this one
analogous comparison between the attributes of God and the writings of the Bible, we can
glean that:
• God is all knowing,
• Outside of time and space,
• Loves His creation,
• God became flesh,
• The nature of sin,
• The effects of sin on man, and
• God is in control.
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The names in order are, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah,
Lamech, and Noah. Now let us examine the meaning of each of these root words;
• Adam – Man9
• Seth – Appointed10
• Enosh – Mortal11
• Kenan – Sorrow or dirge12
• Mahalalel – Blessed God13
• Jared – Shall come down14
• Enoch – Teaching, to train15
• Methuselah – (Muth & shalach) his death shall bring16
• Lamech – Suggests Desparing (where we get the term “lament”)17
• Noah – Comfort or rest18
When the meanings of the words are put together, we have a very interesting sentence.
Words in brackets were added for ease of reading:
Man [is] appointed mortal sorrow, [but the] blessed God, shall come down, teaching,
his death shall bring, [the] despairing comfort or rest.19
Here we have an outline of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the genealogy from Adam to Noah.
God’s plan of redemption was not a hap-hazard reaction to man’s folly. Man’s propensity to
sin did not take God by surprise. This is just one of many examples that God is outside the
constraints of time and can see the beginning from the end. The volume of the Book is
written of Jesus indeed.
God does not deal in approximations. An analogy given by Holy Spirit is exactly right or our
assumptions are not right. The story of Noah can be used as an analogy of the exactness of
God. In the following passage, we find that God is telling us that the ark rested and a new
beginning was instituted for man. “And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.” (Gen 8:4 KJV) The
significance of analogy appears when compared to another historical event that takes place a
thousand years later.
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The seventh month in the Genesis calendar becomes the first month in the religious Jewish
calendar when God told Moses, “This month [shall be] unto you the beginning of months: it
[shall be] the first month of the year to you.”(Exd 12:2 KJV) This, of course is speaking of
the preparation for Passover. On the tenth day, the families picked a spotless lamb, and kept
it in their house for inspection. “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the
tenth [day] of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of
[their] fathers, a lamb for an house:” (Exo 12:3 KJV) On the fourteenth day of the first
month, they were to kill it at sundown. “And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of
the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening.” (Exo 12:6 KJV)
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the tenth of Nissan. This event is commonly called the
Triumphant Entry. He was “in the house” being inspected until the fourteenth day when He
was then crucified. This is analogous of the inspection that an Israelite family would give of
the sacrificial lamb. What ties the story of Noah and the crucifixion together is the day of the
resurrection. Jesus said that, just as Jonah was in the earth three days and three nights, He
would be in earth three days and three nights. According to His words, three days after the
fourteenth would be the seventeenth. On the Genesis calendar, Jesus would have walked out
of the tomb representing our new life in Christ, on the very day that Noah walked out of the
ark representing our new life on earth.20 God wanted us to know the exact month and day of
these events not only for historical reference but to validate Biblical authorship to God by
divine revelation.
Before we leave Noah, it is interesting to see God’s mercy, grace, judgment, and His
salvation in this story. Noah preached repentance for hundreds of years prior to the flood
showing God’s mercy to an unrepentant people. The Bible says that Noah found grace in the
sight of God. This illustrates that Noah, as upright and perfect in generations as he was, still
needed the grace of God. Noah was told to go in the Ark seven days prior to the actual
judgment of God. This teaches us that we need to have faith and trust in God when the sun is
shining, when the rain is falling, and when life threatening events are upon us. God will not
always deliver us from the storm, but He will always take us safely through the storm. As
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Noah and his family were safe in the Ark, we are safe in Jesus. God shut the door. This
illustrates the security of the believer found only in Jesus. Once the door was shut, the door
was shut. No one could have gotten in (or out) if they had wanted to. One would have to
question why someone would want to leave in the first place. Finally, all the religious
speculation was over when the rain started to fall. As those in the days of Noah found out,
taking about the sermons or philosophizing over when the rain would fall would not save
them from the judgment. Only those that had faith enough to be found in the Ark, when God
shut the door, would be saved. God’s mercy finds the faithful.
God takes the parallels and analogies in scripture seriously. When the children of Israel were
in the desert, and Moses was instructed to strike the rock for water, this was indicative of the
rejection of the Jewish people toward the living water or Jesus Christ. The second time Israel
was in need of water, Moses was instructed to speak to the rock. Instead of doing what God
said, he struck the rock again. Water still flowed, but for this act of disobedience, Moses was
prohibited from entering the promise land. Why?
Moses was instructed to speak to the rock or request the water to come. This is a picture of
the second coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation period. This second coming will
occur when the Jewish nation rejects the anti-Christ and calls out for Jesus to come again to
put an end to the tribulation period. If Moses would have followed God’s command and
spoke to the rock, it would have been a striking example of Jesus coming forth at the request
of His people. When Israel acknowledges Christ as the Messiah, and calls on the “Rock” for
salvation, the Lord will hear their cry and deliver them.
Time and time again, we see the Bible using events to accentuate God’s attributes. A vivid
analogy of God’s mercy and grace can be taken from the burning bush. What captured
Moses’ attention wasn’t that the bush was on fire, but that it, which was believed to be an
acacia thorn bush, was not consumed. Fire is analogous of God’s judgment. The thorn bush
would parallel the curse on the earth and mankind. Though the fire engulfed the bush, it was
not consumed. From this, we learn that although we are in the midst of the curse, God’s
mercy and grace is the only thing that can keep us from being destroyed and consumed.
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The willingness of Abraham to offer his son Isaac’s life and the securing of Isaac’s bride is
more that just a story of the faithful. In an examination of the scripture we can make several
observations.
1) The first time the word “love” is used in scripture is when God instructs Abraham to
take his only son whom he loved on the hill and sacrifice him.
2) Abraham was given instruction to offer Isaac three days prior to the actual sacrifice.
3) The offering place was atop a mountain named Akedah, later named Golgotha.21
4) Isaac was not mentioned as one of those that returned down from the hill. Moreover,
Isaac is not mentioned again until Abraham’s un-named servant, who is believed to
be Eliezer, returns with Isaac’s Gentile bride.
The parallels to God pour from this story. The first time “love” is used in the Bible refers to
a father’s love toward an only begotten son that would be sacrificed. In time, God would
sacrifice His one and only Son on the same mountain. When God gave Abraham the
command to kill his son, in Abraham’s eyes, Isaac was already dead. This is a symbol of
Jesus in the grave three days before the resurrection. After the angel stopped Abraham, he
named the place “Jehovah-Jireh”, or in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. Abraham is a
type of the Father, Isaac is a type of the Son, and Eliezer is a type of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t it
interesting that after the sacrifice, Isaac is not mentioned again until he is reunited with a
Gentile bride that his Father sent an un-named servant to go choose. We are the Gentile
bride, chosen by the Holy Spirit, sent by God for His Son, Jesus Christ. That should make
the Christian turn cart-wheels and shout glory to God! We see God’s love in Abraham’s love
of Isaac and the care in which God chooses the bride for His Son. We also see that as the
bride of Christ, we are chosen, but we must also accept the invitation.
The Argument for the Indestructibility of the Bible
From the very first words coming from Satan’s mouth in Genesis 3: 1-6, we see an endeavor
to corrupt the Word of God. On through History, time and time again, attempts have been
made to literally destroy the scripture. The Word itself declares that it will survive.
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“For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not
depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD
that hath mercy on thee.” (Isa. 54:10 KJV)
In 2 Chronicles 33, King Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord, set up idol worship,
paganism, and some believe, tried to destroy the book of the law. This can be inferred from
the next chapter in verse 14 where Hilkiah finds the book of the law in the Temple. It was as
if they had found lost treasure. When Josiah read the words of the Law he rent his clothes
because he knew the wrath that was poured out due to generations past.
In scripture, we find several places where scrolls were burned and destroyed. Jeremiah had
declared judgment from the Lord. Jehoiakim was furious and retaliated against the Word by
cutting it to pieces and burning it.
“And it came to pass, [that] when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with
the penknife, and cast [it] into the fire that [was] on the hearth, until all the roll was
consumed in the fire that [was] on the hearth.” (Jer. 36:23 KJV)
Although the scripture was burned, Jeremiah re-wrote another at the command of the Lord.
Jehoiakim paid a heavy price for doing evil in the sight of the Lord which included burning
the words of the Lord. A blood curse was pronounced against his house. This would be
significant due to the fact that Jehoiakim was in the line of Judah whose line the Messiah
would come. The remedy is put forth in the genealogies of Jesus found in Luke and
Matthew.
As the end of the third century came to a close, the Roman Emperor Gallerias was succeeded
by a ruthless tyrant named Valerius Diocletian. Diocletian tortured Christians relentless. His
cruelty is unparalleled in history. In March of 303 AD, Diocletian ordered the following
edict against the Church. The Historian, Eusebius writes the following passages:
“It was in the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in the month Dystrus, called
March by the Romans,[N] when the feast of the Saviour's passion was near at hand,
that royal edicts were published everywhere, commanding that the churches be
leveled to the ground and the Scriptures be destroyed by fire,”22 (Eusebius)
“All these things were fulfilled in us, when we saw with our own eyes the houses of
prayer thrown down to the very foundations, and the Divine and Sacred Scriptures
committed to the flames in the midst of the market-places, and the shepherds of the
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churches basely hidden here and there, and some of them captured ignominiously,
and mocked by their enemies.”23 (Eusebius)
It was Diocletian’s intent to exterminate Christians from the face of the earth and every thing
that went along with it, including scripture. The Emperor took a satanic pride in his work as
Clark writes:
“Moreover, after a couple of years of these persecutions, he became so arrogant that
he claimed to have exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth. He
even erected a monument over the ashes of burned Bibles with the inscription:
Extincto Nomine Christianorum—‘Extinct is the name of Christians.’ He also
fashioned a medal with the engraving, ‘The Christian religion is destroyed and the
worship of the gods Restored.’”24 (Clark)
When Diocletian died, a new order was seen when Constantine took the Throne in 306AD.
On the battlefield, Constantine believed he saw a cross that was sent by God. Later, in a
dream, he felt that God had shown him a similar cross and told him to conquer in this
symbol. The Christian church went from direct attempts at eradication to privileged, when
Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD.
With Constantine not only wanting to tolerate Christianity but to propel it to prominence, the
Church exploded. This bred a different kind of problem. As persecution purified the church,
acceptance as the religion of the Emperor now contaminated the church with those that saw
membership a vital part of their career.25 The government was now paying the salaries of
some of the Bishops. The Church began to take on a new face of hierarchy that led
eventually to power hungry Popes and ambitious monarchs that ruled the people with a hand
sometimes heavier than that of the Roman Empire.
Early reformers began to question the validity of the false doctrines of the Roman Catholic
Church. Early reformers were burned at the stake, threatened, and scripture was burned. The
paragraphs below show just how adamant the Roman Catholic Church was in regard to
keeping the Word of God out of the hands of the common person.
“We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or
New Testament; unless anyone from motive of devotion should wish to have the
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Psalter or the Breviary for divine offices or the hours of the blessed Virgin; but we
most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books.”26
"No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Romance
language, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop
within eight days after promulgation of this decree, so that they may be burned lest,
be he a cleric or a layman, he be suspected until he is cleared of all suspicion."27
“To snatch away from the hands of Christians the New Testament, or to hold it closed
against them by taking away from them the means of understanding it, is to close for
them the mouth of Christ.”28
Emperors have made their threats, still the Bible stands. Popes have had councils, issued
edicts, papal bulls of all sorts, yet nothing had prevented the Bible from withstanding attempt
after attempt of destruction by the most powerful leaders of their time. God’s Word has
proven true and is indestructible.
The Argument for the Character of the Bible
Absolute Truth; If character is to be an argument for the divine revelation of the Bible, then
the character of the divine must mirror the character of that which it revealed. Therefore, the
Bible not only should be, but must be, an absolute representation of the character of God.
The character of God can be represented as holy, pure, and true. Reason says that God, as
an absolute being, will reflect absolute truth. This means free of error or contradiction. This
section will briefly deal with three primary areas: 1) validity of old and new testaments, 2)
truth revealed by archeological evidence, and 3) truth in science.
Contemporary critics of the scripture today take issue with the Bible simply because we no
longer have the original autographs. Human errors, slips of the pen, and even deliberate
attempts to alter the text, have been a few of the main arguments against the character of the
Bible. A closer examination reveals something totally different. The continuity and
character of the Bible we have today can be attributed to the scribes and the Massoretes and
ultimately to God. Scribes were professional copiers. There were no printing presses or any
way to produce replicas of any text other than hand writing. The rules for copying scrolls
were extreme. But then, how else would one entrusted with furthering the scripture treat the
very word of God. "How do ye say, ... the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain
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made he it; the pen of scribes is in vain" (Jeremiah 8:8). Here are some of the rules of the
scribe when copying scripture:
(1) The parchment must be made from the skin of clean animals; must be prepared by
a Jew only, and the skins must be fastened together by strings taken from clean
animals.
(2) Each column must have no less than 48 nor more than 60 lines. The entire copy
must be first lined.
(3) The ink must be of no other color than black, and it must be prepared according
to a special recipe.
(4) No word nor letter could be written from memory; the scribe must have an
authentic copy before him, and he must read and pronounce aloud each word before
writing it.
(5) He must reverently wipe his pen each time before writing the word for "God"
[which is Elohim] and he must wash his whole body before writing the name
"Jehovah" [which is translated "LORD" in our KING JAMES BIBLE] lest the Holy
Name be contaminated.
(6) Strict rules were given concerning forms of the letters, spaces between letters,
words, and sections, the use of the pen, the color of the parchment, etc.
(7) The revision of a roll must be made within 30 days after the work was finished;
otherwise it was worthless. ONE MISTAKE ON A SHEET CONDEMNED THE
SHEET; IF THREE MISTAKES WERE FOUND ON ANY PAGE, THE ENTIRE
MANUSCRIPT WAS CONDEMNED.
(8) Every word and every letter was counted, and IF A LETTER WERE OMITTED,
AN EXTRA LETTER INSERTED, OR IF ONE LETTER TOUCHED ANOTHER,
THE MANUSCRIPT WAS CONDEMNED AND DESTROYED AT ONCE." 29
The Jewish Massoretes get their name from the Hebrew word massorah, or tradition. Due to
the demand for scripture, they formed guilds of textual experts. In order to keep the textual
continuity of the scripture, they developed ingenious ways to mark the scripture as they
reproduced the text in order to explain, or clarify a meaning. No text was altered, however, if
explanation was needed, the word was marked and explained in the margins. There work
was extremely important due to the dispersing of the people after the destruction of the
temple in 70AD. 30 These texts, sometimes denoted as MT or the Massoretic Text, became
the foundation of the Bible we have today.
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Manuscript evidence for the accuracy of the Old Testament (OT) is unshakable. Until 1947,
the oldest manuscripts relating to the OT were from the year 900AD. Impressive as this was,
something extraordinary happened. Scrolls were found in the caves of Qumran that dated
back to approximately 150 - 200 BC. These are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The
importance of this lies in the comparison of what was found from 150 - 200 BC and what
was possessed that dated 1000 years later. The accuracy is astonishing.
An example of the preciseness in copy is the comparison of Isaiah. The earliest copy of
Isaiah prior to the Dead Sea Scrolls dated to 980AD. When compared to the Dead Sea copy,
the error rate was less that 5%. The majority of variations was unremarkable and carried no
weighed theologically or interpretively. The New Testament (NT) is even more profound in
the surety of the text. Dr. Ron Rhodes points out that,
“.. in addition to the many thousands of New Testament manuscripts, there are over
86,000 quotations of the New Testament in the early church fathers. There are also
New Testament quotations in thousands of early church Lectionaries (worship
books).
There are enough quotations from the early church fathers that even if we did not
have a single copy of the Bible, scholars could still reconstruct all but 11 verses of the
entire New Testament from material written within 150 to 200 years from the time of
Christ.”31
The following chart shows categorically that the New Testament is more accurate than any
other ancient manuscript.
Author2 Date
Written Earliest Copy
Approximate Time Span
between original & copy
Number of
Copies
Accuracy of
Copies
Lucretius died 55 or 53 B.C. 1100 yrs 2 ----
Pliny 61-113 A.D. 850 A.D. 750 yrs 7 ----
Plato 427-347 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 yrs 7 ----
Demosthenes 4th Cent. B.C. 1100 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----
Herodotus 480-425 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----
Suetonius 75-160 A.D. 950 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----
Thucydides 460-400 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----
Euripides 480-406 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1300 yrs 9 ----
Aristophanes 450-385 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 10 ----
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Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 10 ----
Livy 59 BC-AD 17 ---- ??? 20 ----
Tacitus circa 100 A.D. 1100 A.D. 1000 yrs 20 ----
Aristotle 384-322 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1400 49 ----
Sophocles 496-406 B.C. 1000 A.D. 1400 yrs 193 ----
Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95%
New
Testament
1st Cent. A.D. (50-
100 A.D.
2nd Cent. A.D.
(c. 130 A.D. f.) less than 100 years 5600 99.5%
This table was taken from wwww.carm.com32
With a support base of over 24,000 manuscripts having a 99.5% accuracy rate, the deniability
of the accuracy of the New Testament is absurd to say the least.
With the legitimacy of the Old and New Testaments well established in the accuracy of the
text, we move now to archeological evidence as continued support for the truth of scripture in
verification of cities, people, and geography in the Bible.
"I may fairly claim to have entered on this investigation without prejudice in favor of
the conclusion which I shall now seek to justify to the reader. On the contrary, I
began with a mind unfavorable to it...but more recently I found myself brought into
contact with the Book of Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities, and
society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne upon me that in various details the
narrative showed marvelous truth. In fact, beginning with a fixed idea that the work
was essentially a second century composition, and never relying on its evidence as
trustworthy for first century conditions, I gradually came to find it a useful ally in
some obscure and difficult investigations."33 (Ramsey 1951)
There has been no archeological dig that has ever uncovered any finding that has disagreed
with the coinage, geography, or societies found in the Bible. Even those people once thought
to be myth or legend, have been validated by archeological findings. The Hittites, King
David, and Pilate are some of these that once thought to belong only to the pages of scripture,
but now have been revealed as true. Nelson Gluek writes:
“It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted
a single biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which
confirm in clear or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible.34(Gluek, 1960)
The list of evidences is quite overwhelming. Ranging from the Tower of Babel, the Exodus,
the listing of Kings, in correct chronological order, the walls of Jericho, and on and on it
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goes. Again, this is not something to base one’s doctrine or theology. It is just evidence of
the authenticity of the scripture.
The Bible and science have always seemed to be at odds. This can’t be farther from the
truth. What is at odds isn’t the Bible and science, but the presupposed hypothesis of those
that have disregarded the Bible and have removed it from even the slightest possibility of
consideration. There are several instances where the Bible has confirmed scientific fact long
before science “discovered” it. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth.”(Gen 1:1). It should be noted that we have the five elements of science, as proposed
by the British philosopher Herbert Spencer, listed in the first verse of the Bible. "In the
beginning [time] God [force] created [action] the heavens [space] and the earth [matter]"35
The laws that govern our universe are seen in scripture as well. Simply stated, the first two
laws of thermodynamic are:
1) Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, and
2) The universe and everything in it tend to go from a state of order to disorder unless
energy is applied from an outside source.
These two principles are well established in scripture. Paul writes in his letter to the
Collosians;
”For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
things were created by him, and for him:”(Col 1:16)
In Gensis 2:1, we read, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of
them.” The word “finished” gives the sense of total completion, never to be done again.
When God created the universe and all matter in it, there would never be anymore made.
The second law says that we are all wearing out. The universe and everything in it will one
day find itself in a state of disorder.
“Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens
shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they
that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my
righteousness shall not be abolished.”(Isa 51:6)
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We can see this in everyday life. We have to constantly add energy to postpone the disorder
that plagues this world. From the cosmic decay of the universe to the cleaning of my garage,
all things are going downhill and there is nothing that can stop it save the redeeming of the
universe by the Creator God Himself.
Other recent Biblical facts that are supported by scientific evidence are:
Science Bible
The earth is suspended in space. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place,
[and] hangeth the earth upon nothing. (Job 26:7
KJV)
The Water Cycle All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not
full; unto the place from whence the rivers
come, thither they return again (Ecc 1:7 KJV)
The Earth is round [It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,
and the inhabitants thereof [are] as
grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as
a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to
dwell in: (Isa. 40:22 KJV)
The Bible also speaks to radio waves, dinosaurs, biology, fossils, and oceanography and
other disciplines. As science attempts to explain the world around us, the Bible has been
supported time and time again by their findings. When science and the Bible seem to be
contradictory, we can rest assured that it is science that should reconsider its position or be
“willingly ignorant” of the scripture, or dumb on purpose. Christians need not fear science
for true science can only be explained in the context and boundaries of scripture.
The Argument for the Influence of the Bible
The Bible has been used as a textbook in the early colonial days. It has been a best seller
since the records have been kept. It has fueled revolutions, inspired kings, and is the
foundation of the American legal system. Images of Biblical figures have been painted,
sculpted, and written about in the most noted of locations and in classical literature. No other
book has had more influence over history and society as a whole as the Bible. Arthur Pink
states that:
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“The Bible has done more for the emancipation and civilization of the heathen than
all the forces which the human arm can wield, put together. Someone has said, “Draw
a line around the nations which have the Bible and you will then have divided
between barbarism and civilization, between thrift and poverty, between selfishness
and charity, between oppression and freedom, between life and the shadow of death.”
Even Darwin had to concede the miraculous element in the triumphs of the
missionaries of the cross.”36
The United States of America is undeniably the most powerful nation on the face of the
planet. Although we have seemingly displaced our nation from the Christian ideals that our
fathers died for, we can see in the opening statements of our Constitution that God is the
underlying justification of the separation from Britain.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”37
The writings of Shakespeare are littered with numerous references to Biblical passages.
Dozen’s of books have been written to compare and contrast his writings and the scriptural
overtones that are evident in his comedies.
“More than any other single study, Shaheen's trilogy supplies the evidence to confirm
Peter Milward's conclusion that the "deepest inspiration in Shakespeare's plays is both
religious and Christian (1973,274). Shakespeare texts-though secular in orientation
(see Frye 19-42)2 -are "charged with religious overtones, largely in virtue of their
frequent, though unobtrusive, Biblical references (Milward 87).”38
In the early 1500’s, it was the desire to get back to Biblical truth that fueled the Reformation.
In the 1700’s, America’s freedom was born as a response to religious tyranny. In the 1800’s,
missionaries made great strides in changing entire civilizations with the preaching of the
gospel. Billy Sunday, C.H. Spurgeon, and Dwight L. Moody had tremendous impact in this
time period. In the 1900’s we see the gospel changing the world one life at a time through
the evangelistic efforts of Billy Graham and Chuck Smith. Writer and thinker A.W. Tozer
produced works such as The Pursuit of God. Para-church organizations such as Focus on the
Family, American Family Association, Back to the Bible, and others rally tremendous
Christian influence on Senate and House votes. The influence of the Bible can be seen in
virtually every part of life. However, for anyone who has been changed by the message of
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the Bible, each says the greatest influence the Bible has ever had, is the change it has made
the individual’s soul.
The Argument for Fulfillment of Prophecy
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times [the
things] that are not [yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure:” (Isa 46:10 KJV)
Out of all the sections in this essay, this one is the most fulfilling (pardon the pun). The
greatest evidence that the scripture is true and faithful is in its perfection in prediction of
future events. This section will review two biblical predictions and list, in table form,
several others.
“The most conservative of critics, and the most daring assailants of God’s Word are
compelled to acknowledge that all the Books of the Old Testament were written
hundreds of years before the incarnation of our Lord, hence, the actual and accurate
fulfillment of these prophecies can only be explained on the hypothesis that
“Prophecy came not at any time by the will of men: but holy men of God, spake,
moved by the Holy Ghost.”39
The demise of the city of Tyre as described in Ezekiel 26 is a common reference to fulfilled
prophecy. In this passage, Ezekiel vividly predicts not only that Tyer will fall, but gives
details regarding the use of Tyer and the condition after the destruction. Note the comparison
between the scriptural text and that of historical data by Phillip Myer. Here is the prophecy
in Ezekiel.
“And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also
scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.(Eze. 26:4 KJV)
“And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and
they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay
thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.” (Eze. 26.12 KJV)
“And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be [a place] to spread nets upon; thou
shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.” (Eze. 26:14)
Here is Phillip Myer’s account:
"Alexander the Great reduced Tyre to ruins in 332 BC. Tyre recovered in a measure
from this blow, but never regained the place she had previously held in the world.
The larger part of the site of the once great city is now as bare as the top of a rock -- a
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place where the fishermen that still frequent the spot spread their nets to dry"
(Meyer)40
One of the most relentless proofs of Biblical accuracy in foretelling future events is found in
the book of Daniel. It is an extraordinary book of prophecy. The events in Daniel have led
many critics to believe that it must have been written after 160 BC due to the startling
accuracy of the predictions. However, not only was Daniel found in Qumran as part of the
Dead Sea Scrolls dating back to 200 BC, Josephus explains that when Alexander the Great
came to Jerusalem in the fall of 332 BC, after defeating Tyer, he was presented with the book
of Daniel.
“And when the Book of Daniel was showed him wherein Daniel declared that one of
the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was
the person intended. And as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the
present; but the next day he called them to him, and bid them ask what favors they
pleased of him; whereupon the high priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of
their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year.”41(Josephus)
Further evidence that Daniel was written prior to the events, lie in the prediction in chapter 9.
This prophecy deals with the Messiah and his return to Jerusalem – five hundred years prior
to the birth of Jesus.
“Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in
troublous times.” (Dan 9:25 KJV)
The Babylonian calendar year is 360 days. This is used because Daniel wrote this while in
captivity under the Babylonians. A week of years is equal to seven years each having 360
day in a year. Sixty-nine weeks of years would equate to 173,880 days or (69 x 7 x 360).
This would be the number of days that would pass from the time the decree is made to
rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah would appear. This decree went out on March 14th, 445
BC, from Artaxerxes Longimanus. 173,880 days later, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a
donkey fulfilling this prophecy to the exact day.
Other prophecies were fulfilled by His subsequent death on the cross and resurrection from
the dead, thus solidifying the claim that God authenticates His authorship by telling us the
end from the beginning.
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**The above table was taken from http://www.allabouttruth.org42
The statistical probability that Jesus would fulfill just seven of the hundreds of prophecies
that were written of him, are outlined in the insert above. The denial of the divine
revelation as seen in the ability of scripture to accurately and categorically predict future
events is statistically absurd.
The Argument for Scripture to Prove Scripture
This final section concerning the argument for the Bible as the divine revelation of scripture
will deal with how the Bible proves itself. This collection of sixty-six books, penned by over
forty authors, over thousands of years is unique not only in analogy, indestructibility,
character, influence, and fulfilled prophecy, but also in its integrated message or continuity of
teaching.
“The Bible must be taken as a whole. It's all or nothing. Disregarding certain portions
of scripture in favor of others cannot be done unless the Bible is not what it claims to
be – the revealed Word of God.”43
To adequately exemplify the continuity of the Bible, we will look at two examples; the
continuity found in the teaching of the trinity, and salvation by grace.
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The doctrine of the Trinity is the Biblical teaching that the one true God exists in three
separate “persons”. They are the essence of God revealed in the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. It is true that the word, “Trinity” is not in the Bible. However, neither is
omniscient, but we use this term to describe an attribute of God. The same is true in the use
of the Trinity to describe an attribute of God. “The word Trinity is used in an effort to define
the fullness of the Godhead both in terms of His unity and diversity.”44
In a review of scripture as a whole, we can see this idea promoted throughout the Bible. A
good analogy would be the dimension of time. Time exists in past, present, and future, yet it
is all time. The establishment that God is one God can be found in the Old Testament and
the New.
”I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me:”(Isaiah 45:5 KJV)
“Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I [am]
the first, and I [am] the last; and beside me [there is] no God.” (Isaiah 44:6 KJV)
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3 KJV)
“But to us [there is but] one God, the Father, of whom [are] all things, and we in him;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him.” (I Cor 8:6 KJV)
The following table outlines passages in the Bible where God is God, yet He is performing as
all three persons of the Trinity.
Father Son Holy Spirit
Called God Phil. 1:2 John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9 Acts 5:3-4
Creator Isaiah 64:8 John 1:3; Col. 1:15-17 Job 33:4, 26:13
Resurrects 1 Thess. 1:10 John 2:19, 10:17 Rom. 8:11
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