Beth Yeshua Messianic Congregation

Beth Yeshua Messianic Congregation

Shabbat Service, Saturday November 30, 2012The Bible: Is There Proof that It is the Word of

God? http://www.bethyeshua-idaho.com/

Carl Sagan

Jewish- American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences, submitted:

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”

In This Observation he was correct.

Though many assume that Sagan was an atheist, in 1981 he said, “An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence…”

Wakin, Edward (May 1981). "God and Carl Sagan: Is the Cosmos Big Enough for Both of Them?". U.S. Catholic: 19–24. http://www.uscatholic.org. Retrieved 7 April 2012.

“Because God can be relegated to remote times and places and to ultimate causes, we would have to know a great deal more about the universe than we do now to be sure that no such God exists. To be certain of the existence of God and to be certain of the nonexistence of God seem to me to be the confident extremes in a subject so riddled with doubt and uncertainty as to inspire very little confidence indeed.”

So Saying, One Must Believe (or NOT) in God

On the Basis of Faith!

It Takes as Much or (in My Opinion) More Faith to Believe that there is NO God, than to

Believe IN the Existence of God!

That’s Why We Have Been Going Through the Hebrews 11

“Faith Hall of Fame Chapter”

Hebrews 11:1 Tells Us:1 Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. 2 It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old. 3 By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.

Sha’ul Writes In Romans Chapter 1:

18 What is revealed is God's anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; 19 because what is known about God is plain to them, since God has made it plain to them.

20 For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities - both his eternal power and his divine nature - have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse…

Is There Empirical Evidence That

There is a God?And

That the Bible is the Word of God?

With Regard to the Existence of God

Even Devout Scientists such as Carl Sagan, a Jew, would approach His Existence with skepticism.

The First Element of Faith:

Believing that God Exists6 And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist…

The Second Element of Faith:

That He is a Rewarder of those who seek Him Out

“…and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.”

The Third Element of a Biblical Saving Faith:

Living (Actions/Doing- Works) the Life of a Person who believes in the One,

True God!

Doing What He Says

Well, where do we find that Information out?

Of Course, in the Word of God!

So, What’s the True, Revealed Word of God?

With Regard to the Bible Being the Revealed Word of God…

• There are lots of “Scripture” out there that make the Same Claim!

What makes the Bible DIFFERENT and SOLELY

the True Word of God?

Some thirty-eight hundred times the Bible declares, “God said,” or “Thus says the Lord.”

The Bible Says it is the Word of God

2 Peter 1

20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

“…and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:15

Men Inspired (or Moved) by God

Wrote the Bible Scripture!

Inspiration – “In Breathed”

Vs Expiration – “Out Breathed”

When someone dies, we say that they “expired” or “breathed their

last”

“God breathed”

Inspiration establishes that the Bible is a divine product. In other words, Scripture is divinely inspired in that God actively worked through the process and had his hand in the outcome of what Scripture would say. Inspired Scripture is simply written revelation. "Scripture is not only man's word, but also, and equally God's word, spoken through man's lips or written with man's pen" (J.I. Packer, The Origin of the Bible, p. 31).

Plenary Verbal Inspiration

The word plenary means "full" or "complete". Therefore, plenary verbal inspiration asserts that God inspired the complete text(s) of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, including both historical and doctrinal details. The word verbal affirms the idea that inspiration extends to the very words the writers chose.

Regarding Inspiration:

1) The idea is not of mechanical dictation, or automatic writing, or any process which involved the suspending of the action of the human writer's mind.

http://www.theopedia.com/Inspiration_of_the_Bible

2) The fact that in inspiration God did not obliterate the personality, style, outlook, and cultural conditioning of his penmen does not mean that his control of them was imperfect, or that they inevitably distorted the truth they had been given to convey in the process of writing it down.


3) Inspiredness is not a quality attaching to corruptions that intrude in the course of the transmission of the text, but only to the text as originally produced by the inspired writers.


4) The inspiredness of the biblical writing is not to be equated with the inspiredness of great literature, not even when (as is often true) the biblical writing is in fact great literature. The biblical idea of inspiration relates not to the literary quality of what is written, but to its character as divine revelation in writing.


Is that a Valid Argument to Prove that it IS the Word of God?

So, The Bible Says it is the Word of God

Bible Believers Accused of Circular Reasoning

Is that a valid argument?

In a court of law, the accused has the right to testify on his own behalf.

BUT That testimony MUST be considered in the light of ALL the evidence.

We have to consider the evidence, both external and internal, which support the claims of the Bible.

Does the Evidence Support the Bible’s Claim to be the True Word

of God?

Internal and External Evidences

There are both internal and external evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word. The internal evidences are those things within the Bible that testify of its divine origin.

First Internal Evidence = UnityOne of the first internal evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in its unity. Even though it is really sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1500 years, by more than 40 authors who came from many walks of life, the Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-God-Word.html

Some were kings, some peasants, still others were philosophers, fishermen, physicians, statesmen, scholars, poets, and farmers. They lived in a variety of cultures, in different experiences and often were quite different in their make up.

This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words which God moved men to record.


Yet there is a Unity Throughout the Entire Book!

Regardless of this diversity, as one book, it is:

… bound together by historical sequence, type and antitype, prophecy and fulfillment, and by the anticipation, presentation, realization, and exaltation of the most perfect Person who ever walked on earth and whose glories are manifest in heaven…

Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol 1, Kregel, Grand Rapids, 1947-48, p. 52.

Second Internal Evidence= Fulfilled Prophecy

The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophecies relating to the future of individual nations including Israel, certain cities, and mankind. Other prophecies concern the coming of One who would be the Messiah, the Savior of all who would believe in Him. Unlike the prophecies found in other religious books or those by men such as Nostradamus, biblical prophecies are extremely detailed.


There are over three hundred prophecies concerning Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Not only was it foretold where He would be born and His lineage, but also how He would die and that He would rise again. There simply is no logical way to explain the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible other than by divine origin. There is no other religious book with the extent or type of predictive prophecy that the Bible contains.


Throughout Scripture, hundreds of prophecies were made by Old Testament writers concerning the Messiah, the future kingdom on earth, the restoration of Israel as a nation, and their return to their Promised Land. In the New Testament also many predictions are made of events to come. As Scripture unfolds, about half of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, but others, following the same pattern of literal fulfillment, are subject to fulfillment in the future.

Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Abridged Edition, Walvoord, Campbell, Zuck, p. 53.

The perfect precision of prophecy extending to such details as the place of Christ’s birth, the character of His execution, the very words He would speak on the cross testify to the absolute accuracy of the Word of God. In Scripture, prophecy is just as accurate as history.

Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Abridged Edition, Walvoord, Campbell, Zuck, p. 53.

Third Internal Evidence = The Bible’s revelation of God

The Bible’s revelation of God is unique among all the religious writings of either antiquity or of more modern times. While the Bible is a very ethical book, it never divorces its code of morality from a personal relationship with the God of the Bible, teaching that God’s laws are not meant to hinder joy and pleasure, but to enhance man’s capacity to know and love God and people. Morality is to be a product of knowing and loving the God of the Bible.

Fourth Internal Evidence = The nature, condition, and cure for man’s

sinOnly the Bible describes man’s condition in sin as it really is and demonstrates the impossibility for man to deal with his sin and sinfulness apart from God’s grace solution in the person and death of His Son. Every other religion in the world, past and present, has man seeking to obtain his own salvation or gain God’s favor by some form of human works or religious activity. Only the Bible presents a solution for man’s sin that is truly life changing, when properly embraced and believed.

Fifth Internal Evidence = The ethics and Morals of the Bible

The ethics and morals of the Bible cover all areas of human conduct from the home, the husband/wife relationships, parent/child relationships, to human conduct in society as with employers and employees, neighbors and enemies, and the state and its citizens. It covers morals on all levels as well as business, economic, and social spheres.

But as mentioned previously, the ethics and morals of the Bible are unique in that they are always related to one’s belief in the existence of God and one’s relationship with Him; in this way, the motives themselves are judged. Ethics and morals are never simply a matter of outward conformity to the moral standards of Scripture as other religions or religious books do. The emphasis of the Bible is “search me O God, and know my heart.”

Sixth Internal Evidence = The Bible as Revelation Beyond Human

ComprehensionThe extent of Bible revelation is beyond human comprehension. Like a telescope, the Bible reaches beyond the stars and penetrates the heights of heaven and the depths of hell. Like a microscope, it discovers the minutest details of God’s plans and purposes as well as the hidden secrets of the human heart. Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, Abridged Edition, Walvoord, Campbell, Zuck, p. 51.

The Bible deals as freely with things unknown as it does with the known. It can speak with complete freedom and assurance about situations and events outside the realm of human experience.

Chafer’s Systematic Theology, pp. 22-36, or the Abridged Edition of Chafer’s Theology by Walvoord, Zuck, and Campbell, pp. 48-55.

The Bible knows no limits to the infinite knowledge of God who guided its writers. It permits its readers to gaze on events in eternity past as well as in eternity future. The comprehension of divine revelation is utterly beyond the capacity of even the most brilliant men unaided by the Spirit of God.


Other unique features of the Bible that give evidence of its divine origin are its types and antitypes, its nature as unique literature, its scientific accuracy when compared to true science, its enduring freshness, and its power to change lives.


External Evidences

There are also external evidences that indicate the Bible is truly the Word of God.


First External Evidence = The Historicity of the Bible

Because the Bible details historical events, its truthfulness and accuracy are subject to verification like any other historical document. Through both archaeological evidences and other writings, the historical accounts of the Bible have been proven time and time again to be accurate and true.


In fact, all the archaeological and manuscript evidence supporting the Bible makes it the best-documented book from the ancient world. The fact that the Bible accurately and truthfully records historically verifiable events is a great indication of its truthfulness when dealing with religious subjects and doctrines and helps substantiate its claim to be the very Word of God.


Over the years… …there have been many criticisms leveled against the Bible concerning its historical reliability. These criticisms are usually based on a lack of evidence from outside sources to confirm the Biblical record. Since the Bible is a religious book, many scholars take the position that it is biased and cannot be trusted unless we have corroborating evidence from extra-Biblical sources.

http://christiananswers.net/q-abr/abr-a008.html

In other words,

…the Bible is guilty until proven innocent, and a lack of outside evidence places the Biblical account in doubt.


This standard is far different from that applied to other ancient documents, even though many, if not most, have a religious element. They are considered to be accurate, unless there is evidence to show that they are not. Although it is not possible to verify every incident in the Bible, the discoveries of archaeology since the mid-1800s have demonstrated the reliability and plausibility of the Bible narrative.


Here are some examples:The discovery of the Ebla archive in northern Syria in the 1970s has shown the Biblical writings concerning the Patriarchs to be viable. Documents written on clay tablets from around 2300 B.C. demonstrate that personal and place names in the Patriarchal accounts are genuine.


The name “Canaan” was in use in Ebla, a name critics once said was not used at that time and was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the Bible. The word tehom (“the deep”) in Genesis 1:2 was said to be a late word demonstrating the late writing of the creation story.


“Tehom” was part of the vocabulary at Ebla, in use some 800 years before Moses. Ancient customs reflected in the stories of the Patriarchs have also been found in clay tablets from Nuzi and Mari.


The Hittites

The Hittites were once thought to be a Biblical legend, until their capital and records were discovered at Bogazkoy, Turkey.


Solomon’s Wealth

Many thought the Biblical references to Solomon's wealth were greatly exaggerated. Recovered records from the past show that wealth in antiquity was concentrated with the king and Solomon's prosperity was entirely feasible.


SargonIt was once claimed there was no Assyrian king named Sargon as recorded in Isaiah 20:1, because this name was not known in any other record. Then, Sargon's palace was discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event mentioned in Isaiah 20, his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the palace walls. What is more, fragments of a stela memorializing the victory were found at Ashdod itself.


Belshazzar, king of BabylonAnother king who was in doubt was Belshazzar, king of Babylon, named in Daniel 5. The last king of Babylon was Nabonidus according to recorded history. Tablets were found showing that Belshazzar was Nabonidus' son who served as coregent in Babylon.


Thus, Belshazzar could offer to make Daniel “third highest ruler in the kingdom” (Dan. 5:16) for reading the handwriting on the wall, the highest available position.


Here we see the “eye-witness” nature of the Biblical record, as is so often brought out by the discoveries of archaeology.


Second External Evidence = the Integrity of its Human Authors

As mentioned earlier, God used men from many walks of life to record His words. In studying the lives of these men, we find them to be honest and sincere. The fact that they were willing to die often excruciating deaths for what they believed testifies that these ordinary yet honest men truly believed God had spoken to them.


The men who wrote the New Testament and many hundreds of other believers (1 Corinthians 15:6) knew the truth of their message because they had seen and spent time with Jesus Christ after He had risen from the dead. Seeing the risen Christ had a tremendous impact on them. They went from hiding in fear to being willing to die for the message God had revealed to them. Their lives and deaths testify to the fact that the Bible truly is God’s Word.


A Final External Evidence = the Indestructibility of the Bible.

Because of its importance and its claim to be the very Word of God, the Bible has suffered more vicious attacks and attempts to destroy it than any other book in history. From early Roman Emperors like Diocletian, through communist dictators and on to modern-day atheists and agnostics, the Bible has withstood and outlasted all of its attackers and is still today the most widely published book in the world.


Throughout time, skeptics have regarded the Bible as mythological, but archeology has confirmed it as historical. Opponents have attacked its teaching as primitive and outdated, but its moral and legal concepts and teachings have had a positive influence on societies and cultures throughout the world.


It continues to be attacked by pseudo-science, psychology, and political movements, yet it remains just as true and relevant today as it was when it was first written. It is a book that has transformed countless lives and cultures throughout the last 2000 years.


No matter how its opponents try to attack, destroy, or discredit it, the Bible remains; its veracity and impact on lives is unmistakable. The accuracy which has been preserved despite every attempt to corrupt, attack, or destroy it is clear testimony to the fact that the Bible is truly God’s Word and is supernaturally protected by Him. It should not surprise us that, no matter how the Bible is attacked, it always comes out unchanged and unscathed.


Mark 13:31

After all, Yeshua said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” After looking at the evidence, one can say without a doubt that, yes, the Bible is truly God’s Word.