Articles, Bible Questions and Discipleship Guides

C.S. Lewis beautifully characterized the Christian faith when he wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” 

The Bible isn’t just something you believe to be true; it is the sunlight— the worldview—through which you see everything else. 

The way we interact with others, the way we speak, the way we vote, the way we worship are all influenced by our belief in God and our reliance on His Word. Indeed, the Bible is no less important to our lives than the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe. 

That’s why we are troubled when the world around us does not accept the Bible as a guide for all of life. We wonder how the world can refuse the wisdom of this book. 

If we attempt to explain Old Testament prophecies which predicted the coming of Jesus the Messiah, the skeptics will reject the evidence from history. If we point to the people in the Bible who are also recorded in secular histories, like David and Nebuchadnezzar, critics will argue that biblical authors used real places and real people to help deceive people with stories they created about a fictional person named Jesus. 

I’ve spent my fair share of time engaged in these kinds of discussions. Let me share with you a couple lessons I’ve learned from these conversations. 

THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH FACTS OR LOGICAL ARGUMENTS TO CONVINCE SOMEONE THE BIBLE IS TRUE IF THEY DON’T WANT TO BELIEVE. 

Beloved, no one has ever been debated into God’s family. No person on earth has been argued into salvation. 

Jesus made this exact point to His disciples on a subject that we covered last month in Heart to Heart: the reality of hell. Jesus tells the story of a rich man who dies and goes to Hades—the Old Testament word for hell—where he is suffering greatly. He asks Father Abraham to send Lazarus, a poor man on earth who is now living in the glory of God and the presence of Abraham, to his brothers to tell them about hell so they will not suffer the same fate. 

Abraham reminds him that his brothers have access to biblical documents—Moses and the prophets. The rich man argues that if someone came back from the dead, their testimony would be more effective in convincing his unbelieving brothers. But Abraham says, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Luke 16:19-31). 

In other words, someone rising from the dead, explaining the reality of God’s judgment and the truth about salvation through Christ would not be enough proof for someone who doesn’t want to believe. 

Unbelievers will not end up in hell one day because they lacked information, but because they defied the evidence. Even witnessing a miracle will not change their mind, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. 

THE WORD OF GOD IS SUFFICIENT TO PROVE ITS OWN EXISTENCE, BUT HISTORY SUPPORTS THIS TRUTH. 

Skeptics will often point to the lack of external evidence to prove that various parts of the Bible are untrue. But we are living in a time when extensive archaeological studies are taking place throughout Israel and the rest of the ancient world. Every time the archeologist’s spade uncovers something from antiquity, it supports the biblical record. 

For example, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls validated the careful copy methods of Old Testament Scripture. Some of the scrolls were more than 2,200 years old—attesting to the unchanging truths of God’s Word. 

Did you know that until 1993, there was no extra-biblical evidence to prove that King David was a real person? The critics loved to point out that missing “evidence.” But then, Tel Dan was discovered, excavated, and an inscription was found that read “the House of David.” That inscription made headline news because it dated back to 733 B.C.—giving evidence of David’s reign. 

Another Bible-confirming fact is the plethora of legends that support the authority of God’s Word. For instance, the global flood is detailed in tribal legends that sound incredibly similar to the flood of Noah’s generation. The Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh describes a giant flood that covered planet earth. 

A Mexican legend talks about a man who saved himself, his family, and some animals by floating on a raft. As the waters began to subside, he sent a vulture out to find land. When the vulture didn’t return, he sent out a hummingbird, which came back carrying a branch with green leaves on it. 

In Alaska, the legend is told of an ancestor who was warned in a dream that a flood would destroy the earth. So, he built a raft on which he saved himself, his family, and all kinds of animals. 

The Hawaiians repeat the legend of a man named Nu-u who built a canoe to escape a mighty flood, filling his canoe with plants and animals. 

These legends simply reflect the truth we find in Genesis 6-9: that the flood was real and it did impact the whole earth. Every group of people would include some version of it in their history. 

Beloved, you can be confident in God’s Word. 

You can share with those who are willing to listen, and receptive to learn, how the Bible has been carefully preserved by God for thousands of years so that we can read the truth God wants us to know—and trust.