Why Believe The Bible?

By Kenneth R. Cooper

[Kenneth R. Cooper, M.A., D.D., Ph.D., author and lecturer, Biblical Faith Ministries, Abilene, Texas.]

When one speaks with regard to the Bible, what does he/she mean? The term Bible simply means “book” and is often used of any book considered to be an authority on a given subject. In other words, if a book tells one virtually all they need to know regarding a subject, it may be considered the “bible” on that subject (e.g. The Hunter’s Bible, The Fisherman’s Bible, or The Mechanic’s Bible). Why, then, is The Holy Bible considered a special book? What makes the Bible particularly distinct not only as a “religious” book but also as a guide for ethics, behavior, and life? Before explaining why Christians believe the Bible, it is necessary to answer a couple questions: (1) What is this nature of this book;? and, (2) What characteristics make it a unique book?

The Nature Of The Bible

The Bible is the Word of God; it does not just contain the Word of God; nor does it merely witness to the Word of God as neoorthodox theologians have taught. According to neoorthodoxy, “The Word is Jesus Christ; the Bible is a witness to the Word. Some parts of the Bible are better words about the Word than other parts, but all of it is merely a witness to the Word, Christ.”[1] Ryrie further noted that according to Karl Barth (the essential head of the neoorthodox movement), “the Bible cannot be the Word of God but can only become so when it overpowers us and gains the mastery over us.”[2] In reality, regardless of the neoorthodox attempt to diminish it, the Bible is the Word of God. In spite of what one may think or how the Bible affects them when it is read, it is the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God because God wrote it, whether or not one accepts this fact. For centuries, men have received the Bible as the written expression of God’s speaking His Word directly to humanity. Furthermore, men have recognized God’s personal self-disclosure to humanity in the Bible. Without the Bible, men could not know God or know anything in relation to God.

One knows other people as they reveal themselves by what they say and by what they do, or do not say or do; it is much the same way with God. Although God is spirit and is infinitely far and beyond man’s comprehension (cf. Job 11:7; 33:12-15; 37:5; Rom 11:33), He has revealed Himself to humanity in His Word. God has spoken and God has acted. As John R. W. Stott clearly stated, God “has taken the initiative in revelation, making known to mankind both His nature and His will. . . .’[3] For example, the Bible says, “. . . that which is known about God is evident within them [that is, in men]; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. . . .” (Rom 1:19-20, italics added).

“General revelation,” which is what the previously cited verse is addressing, is the revelation of God in nature. However, of course, this is not enough. Men need to know more regarding God, with regard to who He is, with regard to what kind of person He is, that is, His character and personality. God was pleased to give humanity such knowledge in what theologians have called “special revelation,” and that special revelation consists of the Word of God (the Bible). The knowledge is called special revelation because “it was made to a special people (Israel) through special messengers (prophets in the Old Testament and Apostles in the New).”[4] In special revelation, God speaks to humanity through the people who wrote the Bible. Special revelation will be addressed in the next section, which provides reasons for believing the Bible.

Reasons For Believing The Bible

The primary question, of course, is why should one believe the Bible? Herein are four reasons to consider.

First, The Bible’s Own Claims For Itself

The Bible claims to be the Word of God. Granted, in a court of law, men would not accept this testimony as sufficient by itself to prove anything. However, at the same time, in any court on earth, men would not deny any defendant the opportunity to testify in his own behalf. Although men would expect him to provide some corroboration for his testimony, they would allow the defendant to testify to the truth of his own defense.

What then is the testimony of the Bible? The Bible testifies that it is in fact the Word of God, or the revelation, the self-disclosure of God; it makes frequent claims in both the Old Testament and the New Testament to be the Word of God. Some examples from the Old Testament and the New Testament are provided.

The Old Testament

Gen 15:1	“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. . . .”
Exod 20:1	“Then God spoke all these words, saying. . . .”
1 Sam 15:10	“Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel ,saying. . . .”
Isa 38:4	“Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying. . . .”
Hag 1:1	“In the second year of Darius the king . . .the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying. . . .”

The phrase “the word of the Lord” occurs more than 150 times in the Old Testament so that eventually one has the idea that the Word of the Lord came to these men. God had something to say and He said it clearly and directly.

The New Testament

John 12:28	“Then a voice came out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.’”
Acts 13:46	Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. . . .
Eph 6:17	Take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
1 Thess 2:13	“. . . when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God. . . .”
1 Pet 1:23-25	“. . . for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. . . . And this is the word which was preached to you.”

In the New Testament, Paul summarized the revelation as follows: “These things [the things given by God] we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor 2:13). Not only were these things spoken by the prophets of the Old Testament and by the apostles in the New Testament, but they were also written in what is now the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul noted, “All Scripture is inspired by God,” and the word “Scripture” actually translates the Greek word for “writing” (γραφή, graphē), and thus refers to the things written in the original manuscripts. Although Paul referred to the Old Testament Scriptures in this verse, the testimony of the entire Bible clearly indicated that it applies to all Scripture, including the New Testament.

Indeed, in this verse in 2 Timothy, one finds the key testimony of the Bible to its truthfulness. The key word is “inspiration.” Christians usually understand this word as referring to something that influences a writer such that they produce a beautiful work of literature—a poem, a story, a play—or a beautiful piece of music, or a beautiful painting, etc. In secular literature, this influence goes by the name Muse. In the Bible, however, it goes by the name Holy Spirit. God Himself is the “Muse;” there is no other because no other qualifies. God is the “Muse” who does more than merely influence the biblical writers, as Paul clearly indicated to young Timothy. Paul stressed the nature of God’s influence with the word θεόπνευστος (theopneustos), which means “God-breathed.” The Scriptures were the result of God breathing out the words to the writers. In a real sense, the Scriptures are the “breath of God” in written form.

In the Old Testament, there is a similar testimony because the source of Scripture is the “mouth of God” from which He breathed out His message. The Psalmist said, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host” (Ps 33:6, italics added). The “breath of His mouth” is the Old Testament equivalent of “God breathed.” Erwin W. Lutzer summarized this well when he wrote, “Inspiration does not just mean that God approved of their writings, but that men actually wrote His words. His ideas became their ideas, and they accurately recorded what He wanted us to know.”[5]

Second, The Unity Of The Bible

The Bible is a unique book. When one systematizes many of the characteristics, they will discover how unique it is. Consider the following facts:

1. It consists of 66 books.
2. It was written over a period of approximately 1,600 years.
3. It was written in 3 languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
4. It was written by approximately 40 authors.
5. Its authors varied considerably in background and education:

Scholars	Moses, Saul of Tarsus (Paul)
Fishermen	Peter, James, John
Tax Collector	Levi (Matthew)
Priests	Jeremiah, Ezekiel
Itinerant Fig Picker	Amos
Shepherd	David, Moses
Statesman	Daniel
Courtier	Isaiah
Military Commanders	Joshua, David
Kings	David, Solomon
Sages	Job
Scribes	Ezra.

Nevertheless, all the authors had the same worldview: God’s; the same view of history: it is His story; and, the same view of God: He is the sovereign Creator and God. Moreover, they have developed a single theme from beginning to end, a theme that ties the Bible together into a unified whole despite the years and diversity of authorship. The neoorthodox may have had this one correct but only by the grace of God: Jesus Christ is the Word of God. John made that clear when he said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus Himself indicated that He is the theme that creates the unity of the Bible. According to Luke, when He walked with Cleopas and his fellow disciple on the road to Emmaus, “[B]eginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). The Bible is, therefore, God’s book giving God’s message to God’s people. Paul E. Little characterized Scripture as “God linking to humanity and humanity’s response. This thread is woven through every book from beginning to end.”[6] God communicated His thoughts to man and man responded by giving glory to God (1 Cor 10.31; 1 Pet 4:11), and this is the unified message of the Bible.

Third, The Evidence Of Archaeology

Christians do not believe the Bible because of archaeology, but archaeology offers evidence that strengthens faith in the Bible, perhaps because it does authenticate the biblical records. Therefore, as a matter of first importance, one must define what is archaeology. A simple definition describes archaeology as the branch of science interacting “with the material remains of human life in antiquity.”[7] In other words, archaeologists study pottery, jewelry, broken shards of unidentified objects, and other physical items, in addition to clay tablets and other ancient documents that expound the ancient world. Based on these physical items, archaeologists attempt to understand both the biblical text and the world that formed its context.

How has archaeology authenticated the Bible? The Hittites. The Hittites are a primary example because they are mentioned often in the Bible; and, in biblical times, they were prominent all over the land of Canaan.

Gen 23:10; 25:9	Abraham encountered Hittites in Canaan
Exod 33:2; 34:4	God promised Moses to drive the Hittites from the land of Canaan
Josh 9:1; 11:3	Joshua encountered Hittites in Canaan
1 Sam 26:6	David had difficulties with the Hittites
1 Kgs 9:20; 10:29	Hittites continued as a serious factor In Israel’s political life
Ezra 9:1	Ezra had problems with Hittites when returning from exile

Nevertheless, for centuries, only the Bible mentioned the Hittites. No other known ancient records referred to them. As a result, many questioned the historical accuracy of the Bible. In other ancient records, particularly Egyptian and Assyrian, the peoples of this group went by other names, such as Kheta and Hatti. As noted, however, there were Hittites all over Canaan. Is it possible they were not all the same group; it is not only possible, but also apparently actually the case. There were two groups of Hittites: “[T]hose who were indigenous to Canaan and those from outside Canaan.”[8] The term Hittite is used forty eight times in the Old Testament. Of these, according to Wood, forty-two references identify those indigenous to Canaan. The other six, therefore, identify those outside Canaan.

Those indigenous to Canaan were identified with names that are Semitic in nature, not Indo-European like those of Anatolia. McMahon identified this indigenous group as descendants of Heth who was a son of Canaan (Gen 10:15).[9] By the time of Abraham, this group of Hittites lived all over the hill country of Judah and particularly in Hebron.

The six references to Hittites outside Canaan pertain, according to Wood, “to the Indo-European Anatolian-Syrian Hittites of the second-first millennia BC.”[10] The Hittites beyond Canaan were of unknown origin and established an empire that lasted approximately five hundred years, from the early seventeenth century to the early twelfth century BC. Essentially, the empire achieved its status in the New Kingdom period, which was approximately 1400 BC. The New Kingdom endured until 1177 BC when it began to vanish and finally disintegrated until only a series of Neo-Hittite states remained; these lasted until the eighth century BC when the Assyrian empire absorbed them. The discovery of the Hittite empire by archaeologists contributed considerably to an understanding of biblical history and reinforced the understanding of biblical accuracy.

The discovery occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when archaeologists uncovered a collection of clay tablets at El Amarna in Egypt, containing a new Indo-European language. The tablets were part of the diplomatic correspondence of two Pharaohs, Akhenaten (1367-51 BC) and Amenophis III (1405-1367 BC). The language of these tablets was considered that of the King of Hatti and was identified as “Hittite.” Since the area of Asia Minor in which these “Hittites” lived was known as Anatolia, outside the biblical records these people were sometimes called Anatolians. However, they called themselves Nešites (or people of Neša, another name for Kaneš, a major city in Anatolia).[11] The name “Hittite” itself is “derived from the indigenous place name ḫatti, “used for the pre-Indo-European inhabitants of central Anatolia.”[12] The modern designation, on the other hand, is based upon the Hebrew ḥēt/ḥitti. In the old Assyrian texts, ḫatti is used as the geographical term for (central) Anatolia. . . .”[13] Houwink Ten Cate added that the Assyrian texts actually used ḫatti in a manner corresponding to the use of ḥēt/ḥitti in the later books of the Old Testament. Consequently, the Amarna tablets confirmed that the Bible’s designation of these peoples as Hittites was legitimate.

Another example of archaeological evidence consists of the story of Belshazzar, the Babylonian king for whom Daniel interpreted the handwriting on the wall. Until approximately one hundred years ago, scholars questioned the existence of such a king because they found no mention of him outside the Bible’s record. More than a dozen lists of Babylonian kings existed, but all named Nabonidus as the last king of Babylon. Early in the twentieth century, however, some cuneiform documents were found that contain the name of Belshazzar. The documents named him as the firstborn son of Nabonidus. They further indicated that Nabonidus made Belshazzar his co-regent. For example, one of them declared, “He entrusted a camp to his eldest, his first-born son; the troops of the land he sent with him. He freed his hand; he entrusted the kingship to him.”[14] When Babylon fell to the Persians, Nabonidus was in Arabia and the Persians spared his life. Belshazzar, on the other hand, was in Babylon; and he died the same night of the invasion (Dan 5:30).[15]

A similar case concerns Sargon, the King of Assyria, mentioned in Isaiah 20:1 in connection with his capture of the Philistine town of Ashdod. Again, until the advent of modern archaeology, the name Sargon was an enigma, occurring nowhere outside the Bible and only in this one passage in the Bible. However, in 1843, archaeologists discovered Sargon’s palace at Khorsabad. The French consular agent at Mogul, Paul Émile Botta “discovered the palace of Sargon II [at Khorsabad]. Sargon had made his capital successively at Ashur, Calah and Nineveh and then finally here at this place. He called the new capital after himself, Dur-Sharrukin or Sargonburg, but eventually the ruin was ascribed to a Sassinid hero, Chosroes, and called Khorsabad, ‘town of Chosroes.’”[16] With the recovery of the palace, archaeologists found royal annals and various other records of the reign of Sargon (722-05 BC), suddenly making him one of the best known of Assyrian kings. In one of the annals, so-called “Display Inscription,” discovered at Khorsabad, Sargon addressed a connection with Samaria. In this inscription, he said, “I besieged and captured Samaria, carrying off 27,290 of the people who dwelt therein.”[17]

The examples provided herein are just a couple illustrations of how archaeology provides evidence that reflects the authenticity of the biblical record. Christians should believe the Bible because it is the Word of God. The evidence of archaeology, however, indicates that the Bible provided an accurate historical record of the events it narrates.[18] In addition, archaeology “gives local color, indicating that the background is authentic,” and archaeology “provides additional facts” with regard to names and places recorded in the Bible, thus providing a better understanding of the context of the Bible itself.[19]

Finally, The Evidence Of Fulfilled Prophecy

The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies, many which have not even yet been fulfilled. Conversely, it contains many that have been fulfilled; and these fulfilled prophecies sustain belief in the Bible. According to John F. Walvoord:

The revelation of prophecy in Scripture serves as an important evidence that the Scriptures are accurate in their interpretation of the future. Because approximately half of the prophecies of the Bible have already been fulfilled in a literal way, it gives a proper intellectual basis for assuming that the prophecy yet to be fulfilled will likewise have a literal fulfillment. At the same time it justifies the conclusion that the Bible is inspired of the Holy Spirit and that prophecy which goes far beyond any scheme of man is instead a revelation by God of that which is certain to come to pass.[20]

The evidence of fulfilled prophecy is perhaps the best reason of all others for believing the Bible, because 100% of the predictions that have been fulfilled have been fulfilled accurately.

Many prophecies are noted as prophecies after the fact, but are nevertheless valid prophecies. For example, in Hosea 11:1, the prophet looked not to the future but to the exodus from Egypt when he said, “When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.” However, the Holy Spirit led Matthew to see this statement as a prophecy concerning Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God. Quoting Hosea, Matthew declared, “So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON” (Matt 2:14-15).

However, the real evidence of fulfilled prophecy lies in those prophecies that more directly look to the future, that is, those prophecies that appear more explicitly prophetic. A couple of examples will clarify this.

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting” (Mic 5:2).

The Mican verse is clearly Messianic, that is, it predicts the coming of Israel’s Messiah, but it also predicts the geographical location of His birth. Micah identified the place as Bethlehem Ephrathah because in the land of Canaan there were two Bethlehems, one in the north in the land of the tribe of Zebulun (Josh 19:15), “located 7 mi. (11km.) NW of Nazareth on the edge of the Oak Forest.”[21] The second Bethlehem lay in the south, which was Bethlehem Ephrathah according to Ruth 4:11b. The southern Bethlehem was “a town located on the edge of the desert of Judah, 5 mi. (8 km.) S of Jerusalem, 2500 ft. (760 m.) above sea level, situated on a rocky spur of the mountains of Judah just off the main road to Hebron and Egypt.”[22] The people blessed Ruth and Boaz with these words, “may you achieve wealth in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem,” indicating that the two names referred to the same place.

When the wise men came from the East to Jerusalem, they sought the one born king of the Jews. They had learned of this Messiah in their land and apparently had discerned when He would be born, and they wanted to see Him. When they inquired in Jerusalem concerning the place of His birth, the priests and scribes there responded, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet. . . .” (Matt 2:5-6) (and here they quoted Mic 5:2). Not just in Bethlehem, but in the Bethlehem that was in Judah, Bethlehem Ephrathah. When they went to this Bethlehem, the wise men found Jesus there.

A second example comes from Isaiah 9. The prophet focused attention on the land of Naphtali and of Zebulun, land that later became known as Galilee. Both tribal lands were seriously distressed and covered with gloom. They suffered the judgment of God so that the land had a bad reputation for centuries to come. Indeed, by the time of Christ, one could still ask, as did Nathanael in John 1:46, “Can anything good thing come out of Nazareth [Galilee]?”

Yet referring to both Naphtali and Zebulun, the prophet Isaiah said,

The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them. (Isa 9:2)

The Light of the world shined on the land of Naphtali and the land of Zebulun when Messiah came there to live and to be reared in the little town of Nazareth. Isaiah prophesied the “Light” and that prophecy was fulfilled when Joseph and Mary returned to their home in Nazareth. Can any good thing come from Nazareth? Yes. Yes. Yes. The Light of the world came from Nazareth in fulfillment of an eight hundred year old prophecy.

The prophecies of Micah and Isaiah represent many fulfilled prophecies that by their very fulfillment testify to the authenticity of the Bible as the Word of God; and, thereby provide yet another reason to believe it.[23]

Conclusion

Here then are four testimonies that answer the question, why believe the Bible?

1. The Bible’s Own Claim for Itself;
2. The Unity of the Bible;
3. The Evidence of Archaeology; and,
4. The Evidence of Fulfilled Prophecy.

The first and the fourth are perhaps the most significant and the most valuable, but they all support the truth and the validity of the Bible as the Word of God. In the light of these evidences, therefore, why not believe the Bible?

Notes

1. Charles C. Ryrie, Neo-Orthodoxy (Chicago: Moody Press, 1956) 46.
2. Ibid. 46-47. Ryrie referred here to Barth’s Church Dogmatics.
3. John R. W. Stott, Basic Christianity, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971) 11.
4. Ibid. 13.
5. Erwin W. Lutzer, Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1998) 38.
6. Paul E. Little, Know Why You Believe, 4th ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000) 76.
7. William Sanford LaSor, “Archaeology,” in The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 4 vols., ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979) 1:235.
8. Bryant G. Wood, “Hittites and Hethites: A Proposed Solution to an Etymological Conundrum,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54 (June 2011): 241. Wood listed approximately a half dozen sources that discuss these two groups, among them Oliver R. Gurney, The Hittites (New York: Penguin Books, 1990) and Harry A.Hoffner Jr., “Hittites,” in Peoples in the Old Testament World, eds. Alfred J. Hoerth, Gerald L. Mattingly, and Edwin M. Yamauchi (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994) 152-53.
9. Gregory McMahon, “Hittites in the Old Testament,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols., ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992) 3:233.
10. Wood, “Hittites and Hethites,” 244.
11. Gregory McMahon, “The History of the Hittites,” Biblical Archaeologist 52 (June—September 1989): 65.
12. Ibid.
13. Philo J. Houwink Ten Cate, “Hittite History,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, 3:219.
14. Quoted in Jack Finegan, Light from the Ancient Past (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946) 189, italics added.
15. Ibid. 190-91.
16. Ibid. 174-75.
17. Quoted in ibid. 175.
18. Clifford Wilson, “Does Archaeology Support the Bible?” [article online] (Answers in Genesis, 24 January 2008, accessed 7 August 2011) available from http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/does-archaeology-support-the-bible.
19. Ibid.
20. John F. Walvoord, Every Prophecy of the Bible (Colorado Springs: Chariot Victor, 1990, 1999) 10-11.
21. E. W. G. Masterman and K. G. Jung, “Bethlehem,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1:473.
22. Ibid. 472.
23. For a thorough discussion of fulfilled prophecy, see Walvoord, Every Prophecy of the Bible. The reader can also gain a comprehensive study of predictive prophecy in J. Barton Payne, Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy: The Complete Guide to Scriptural Predictions and Their Fulfillment (New York: Harper & Row, 1973). For a list of prophecies concerning Christ and His life and ministry, in addition to references with regard to their fulfillment, see Charles C. Ryrie, The Ryrie Study Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1976, 1978) 1986-89.