Atheists and accusers seem to think our faith is a blind faith without any evidence. It is difficult for them to believe the Bible’s claims, since much of it cannot be tested through physical science and exists beyond our daily experience. In addition, the Bible records unnatural happenings like “Jonah and the big fish” and “Daniel and the lion’s den.” Yet, I do not believe the Bible simply because someone told me to do so. I have looked at the evidence. The accuser may interpret the evidence as insubstantial or not important, but I see the same evidence as reaffirming my faith in God’s Word.

   The Bible was recorded by man, but the content didn’t originate with man. As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This verse tells us that the holy writings arrived from God. We call the Bible “God’s Word” because they are the words God wanted man to write down. The Bible is truly an amazing book. Written by at least forty different authors over a period of (give or take) 1,500 years, the Bible has harmony that is unexplainable outside of divine inspiration.

   The Bible’s use of the term “inspiration” is not the same as we commonly use it today. An author may take a walk in the woods to get inspiration for his next book. A musician may feel inspired to write a song. An influential person in your life may have inspired you to follow in their footsteps. Today, we use inspiration to apply to something that influences us, but the Bible word means “God-breathed.” The Bible claims to be the very breath of God. This is all the child of faith needs to be convinced of the Bible’s accuracy and relevance. However, the accusers aren’t going to accept this as evidence. They will point to the book of Mormon and the Koran making similar claims, so I will briefly lay out some of the internal evidences for you to consider.    

 Reliability of the Content

   The books of the Bible were not written by a secret society that met in a secret lair somewhere to record facts. Most of it was verifiable Information dealing with circumstances anyone could personally fact check. The authors were not like Mohammad or Joseph Smith, where the information was revealed to only them in a closed door meeting in a language only they could understand. Most of the events of the Bible were done in public (Matthew 21:8). The words were spoken to crowds (Matthew 13:2). They were not trying to hide anything; they wanted people to know the information and where it originated. As a result, skeptics believed (Matthew 15:39), believers doubted until proof was given (John 20:24-28), and enemies created false stories to keep people from the truth (Matthew 28:11-15). Miracles were performed in front of large audiences (Matthew 15:31). Jesus didn’t go into hiding after His resurrection. Paul says He appeared to five hundred people at once (1 Corinthians 15:6), most of whom were still alive when Paul wrote those words. If they didn’t believe Paul, they could go ask them personally. The Bible was all written so that people living at the time could verify the evidence. 

   The historical character of the Bible also proves its trustworthiness. It is not Greek mythology, tall tales, or Grimm’s fairy tales. The Bible records historical events and is not vague in its historical detail. Any recorded event could have been debunked very easily when written in real time. It is the difference between writing the book on the current president versus George Washington. It is much easier to verify the facts on the current president; in contrast, you could probably slip a few erroneous details into a book about George Washington, because it is much more difficult to verify information for ourselves. The Bible was written in real-time, which means the people living could easily stand up and cry out, “liar!” The Apostles, or whoever was writing, would instantly lose credibility. 

   Fulfilled prophecies also endorse the truthfulness of the Bible. This point is a little trickier today, because we live in the unprophesied Dispensation of Grace. However, we can look at the claims of the Old Testament and see they were accurately fulfilled. While modern day fortune-tellers predict events in a general way, the Bible records very specific prophecies. This should not surprise us. As God said of Himself in Isaiah 46:9-10, “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 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.” One of the facts about a sovereign, all-knowing God is that He knows what is going to happen, tells us what will happen, and then it happens.

   The Bible is also unique in that it presents people as helpless and immoral. There is a reason most movies have a happy ending — it is what people want to experience. We love the story of a billionaire who loses his parents and fights for justice. We are captivated by the tale of the awkward, clumsy teenager who gets powers and uses them to help people. We love the cowboy that saves the damsel from the bad guy. We get all gushy over the girl who finds love with the perfect man. There is no hero among humans in the Bible. The circumstances are bleak, but no one could do anything about it. God had to save us. Psalms 14:2-3 declares, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

    No man writing a book, not to mention over forty men, would write a book that presents all human beings in such a negative light. Meanwhile, our society tells us to believe in ourselves, for we have the power within each and every one of us to solve our problems. Only the Bible presents people in their full depravity. Praise the Lord, “…when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Thank God that He took action to save us from our bleak existence. You are not saved by your behavior, but by trusting that God was gracious in sending His Son to take your punishment on the cross and that He rose again to give you new life. Have you trusted in Him? Or, are you still listening to the accusers?

  The Most Important Evidence

   I have not taken the time in this article to consider external evidences regarding inspiration, but the proof is abundant. Take, for example, the copyists of the Scriptures; they were a group of scribes who believed every word of Scripture was of divine authority and took meticulous care to make sure the words they recorded were accurate. While I could point to the number of on-hand manuscripts far surpassing any other writing of antiquity, or the relatively short time span between manuscript copies, or the lack of honest contradictions, I want to focus the remainder of my space on the most important evidence of the Bible being God’s Word.

   While I know the accusers will claim this is inadmissible as evidence, the most important and convincing evidence is the lasting contributions and changed lives that are a result of the truth of the Bible. We will look at contributions Christians have made to society in another chapter, but new life in Christ is evidence enough that the Bible is the power of God unto salvation. 

   As evidence for this point, I point to the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Some in Corinth had been questioning Paul’s position and authority as an apostle. Paul is writing to confirm his apostleship. In his defense, he writes, “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:10).  We are living proof of the life-giving and life-altering power of the truth of the Gospel of the Grace of God. The very fact that we are saved, secure, and citizens of Heaven bears out the reliability of the Bible.

   In order to convince the doubters of His apostleship, in the very next verse (3:11), Paul specifically points to the indwelling Holy Spirit who would authenticate to the believers in Corinth that what Paul was writing was true. Romans 8:16 states matter-of-factly, “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” The Holy Spirit indwelling each believer is evidence that we belong to God. I possess the Holy Spirit, or more accurately, the Holy Spirit possesses me. This is the main reason that I have no doubts that what God’s Word, the Bible, says is true.

   Accuser, I empathize with your unwillingness to accept this as evidence. Since the Bible is true, so is 1 Corinthians 2:14. It reads, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The natural man (that is you) cannot understand spiritual things, because he (you) are without the Holy Spirit. One receives the Holy Spirit upon believing the good news of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14), and you haven’t trusted in the message of Jesus Christ yet. I am not asking for your blind faith. I am begging you to take an honest reassessment about what you have heard about the Bible. It makes all the difference in the world, including eternity.