Does The Bible Prove God?

Biblegems #261

  

Question: Isn’t using the Bible to prove the existence of God circular reasoning—like trying to prove Harry Potter really exists because he is in a book that says he’s real?

At first glance this sounds like a reasonable argument. However, the analogy of the Bible and God to the Harry Potter novels is unfortunate. The novels are works of fiction. The Bible and its human authors claim to represent communication directly from the living God. There is no analogy.

A better analogy to God and the Bible would be an email or text. In that case, the “document” claims to be from a certain individual that corresponds to the number or email address of the sender. Is it circular reasoning to assume that the sender exists because the communication claims the sender exists and has indeed sent the document? No: it is common sense.

The Bible makes certain claims about itself or, more accurately, God makes certain claims in the Bible as His Word to mankind. For example, speaking of the Bible, the apostle Peter wrote:

         2Pet. 1:21  For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, the apostle Paul described all Scripture as “inspired,” an English word that translates a Greek phrase that literally means “God-breathed”:

         2Tim. 3:16  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

More than 3,800 times throughout the Bible the claim is made that it is “the Lord” who is communicating His word through specific individuals. The Old Testament prophet Amos describes hearing from God as being so compelling he can’t help but tell it to others:

         Amos 2:8  The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken—who can but prophesy?

Jeremiah tried to keep God’s word to himself because it was often painful:

         Jer. 20:9  But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

          

Like a text or email sent through a device, the Bible claims to be a communication from God sent through human intermediaries. The Bible does not attempt to prove God; rather, the existence of God is assumed, even as the existence of the sender of a text or email is assumed. God reveals Himself in the Scriptures as more than just a being that exists—even more than our Creator; He reveals Himself to be personal and deeply interested in us as the objects of His love:

         Ps. 8:3-6  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet…

The Bible: Word Of God Or Man?

Biblegems #149

Question: How can the entire Bible be demonstrated to be the Word of God, especially when so many people were involved in composing it over many centuries?

The Bible can be demonstrated to be the divinely inspired Word of God on several levels, and the evidence is far too voluminous to catalogue here in 500 words or less. So I can only give a brief summary that I hope will whet your appetite for more.

The Bible Is Unique. It is the only book ever written over a span of 1600 years, composed by over 40 people from practically every walk of life who lived in dramatically different environments on three different continents, writing in three different languages. It tells one story: the story of God’s redemption of mankind, while at the same time addressing hundreds of controversial subjects from one harmonious point of view from Genesis to Revelation.

The Bible is the only book containing a large volume of prophecies by several individuals over several centuries which accurately foretell—hundreds of years beforehand— events related to Israel and specific cities and nations of the world. Add to that the numerous prophecies that accurately foretold the manner of Jesus’ birth, birthplace, his ministry of miracles, his teaching style of parables, his betrayal by a friend for 30 pieces of silver, his manner of death and burial. A statistical study of just 48 of these prophecies concluded: “We find that the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10¹⁵⁷.” [i] 

The Bible’s Own Claims.

The prophecies fulfilled in Jesus are far beyond the realm of accident or coincidence. When you add to this the huge number of other prophecies fulfilled throughout history, the statistical probability of them coming to pass by chance becomes ludicrous. No wonder the human authors of the Bible understood that they were acting as God’s spokesmen, passing on His revelation of Himself and His plan for the universe through human language in written form.  As the apostle Peter put it:

         2Pet. 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The Old Testament prophet Hosea knew that he was communicating a message from God to his Jewish culture through his native Hebrew language:

         Hos. 1:1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel  …

The human authors of the Bible understood that they were not being used as dictation devices by God, but that there was a willing partnership as God transferred His thoughts to humanity through the personalities, styles, languages and cultures of individuals He chose for that purpose. These individuals were “inspired” by God to communicate His Word. “Inspired” is an English translation of a Greek word that means “God-breathed.” It beautifully describes the non-mechanical way God spoke through human beings to convey His Word:

         2Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…

        

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[i]  Peter Stoner, quoted by Josh McDowell. Evidence That Demands A Verdict. 1972, pg. 175

Who Named The Books of The Bible?

Biblegems #53

Who decided what the names of the books in the Bible would be and how did they come up with them? I know the Bible is God breathed and Holy Spirit Inspired, but did God actually name the books as well or did the writers of each book name it due to the main plot and/or character?

The answer to this is almost as varied as the Bible itself. There are, of course, 66 books in the Bible, and each of these fall into broad categories, such as History, Poetry, Biography, Prophecy, Wisdom Literature and Letters. To some extent, these categories help establish the title of a particular book.

For example, letters by their very design to not typically have a title. So Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth or Rome quickly became known by their destination, i.e., Corinthians and Romans. Likewise, personal letters to Timothy or Titus, which were also shared with the churches these men pastored, became known by the names of their recipients.

Some N.T. letters, however, were written with the intent that they be read by several churches in a region, rather than one specific church or person. These became commonly known by the name of their author: 1 & 2 Peter, James, 1,2,3 John, etc.

Other books, especially of the Old Testament, derive their title from the opening word or words of the book. Again, these were not originally “titled” as books are today. “Genesis,” for instance, comes from the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for “beginning” in the first verse. But it was not always known by that name. Ancient Jews used to refer to the first book of the Bible as “The Book of the Creation of the World.”

The prophetic books of the Old Testament are commonly recognized by their authors: Isaiah, Daniel, Amos, etc. Other books, such as “Judges” of the Old Testament and “The Acts of the Apostles” in the New Testament received their names as popular descriptions of what they were about.

“Revelation,” also sometimes referred to as ”The Apocalypse,” gets it name from the opening line, “The revelation of Jesus Christ…,” or in Greek, Apokalupsis. 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Samuel were originally one book in the Hebrew and were entitled “Samuel” by the Massorites, based on 1 Samuel 28:2 and following.

The Massorites were Jewish scholars who replaced the Scribes we are familiar with in the New Testament. Their task was to accurately reproduce the Scriptures, preserving them for future generations. Our English Bibles take their form from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the LXX), which divided Kings and Samuel.

The list goes on, but these examples show how most Bible book names are not actually part of Scripture itself, but are commonly recognized terms for distinguishing one Bible book from another. Like chapter and verse numbers, which were added to Scripture as a study aid, Bible book titles are not themselves inspired, but they are very helpful.