Can We Trust the Bible

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Can We Trust the Bible?
Some think that the Bible is like any other Holy
book But the truth is that no other collection
of books or writings is as nearly significant,
profoundly influential, and has endured thousands
of years in transcription and translationagainst
much hostility.
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The Bible is Unique.

• Some think the Bible is just another collection
  of myths, stories, and make believe. Many say it
  is a book of propaganda, false teachings, and
  lies. The scientific community claims it is
  nothing more than the memories, folklore, and
  fables, of old men from nomadic tribes of long
  ago. There are many detractors, many skeptics,
  and many persecutors many who deny its
  truthfulness, its touch with reality, and its
  application for today.
• That is an unwise choice to believe these
  thingsin light of ones salvation and destiny.

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The Truth

• The truth is, however no other Book, or
  collection of writings,
• is as nearly significant, profoundly
  influential, and endured
• over the centuries, with periods of all out
  persecution, and
• remains 98 intact from the original
  manuscripts. (As
• opposed to more than 10 corruption with other
  books!)
• The truth is, that only predetermined bias
  (choosing to be
• against it), only ignorance, only
  misinformation, would ever
• keep someone from realizing that no man, or
  series of
• human beings could have put this together.
• There is simply nothing to compare it with,
  nothing that
• comes close to the depth, the width, the
  height, and the
• breath of this Book (Collection of books).

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Two Verses that testify to the Bibles authority

• God, who at various times and in various ways
  spoke in time past to the fathers by the
  prophets has in these last days spoken to us by
  His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all
  things, through whom also He made the worlds.
  Hebrews 11,2
• All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
  and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
  correction, for instruction in righteousness
  that the man of God may complete, thoroughly
  equipped for every good work. II Tim. 316,17

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LET S LOOK AT SOME (20) FACTS

• 1) It was written over a 2,200 year span starting
  over 4000 years ago with Moses about 2000 BC.
• 2) It was written over 40 generations. (Sometimes
  a second generation may have collaborated on a
  work.)
• 3) It was written by 40 authors from every walk
  of life Kings, peasants, philosophers,
  fisherman, poets, statesman, scholars, political
  leaders, a doctor, a rabbi, a military general, a
  prime minister...
• 4) It was written in different places the
  wilderness, dungeon, prison, palace, shepherds
  field, in a cave, on an island, on a mountain, on
  a military campaign, while on tour...
• 5) It was written at different times war, peace,
  triumph, defeat, in exile, in glory, at home,
  during persecution, in distress, in victory, with
  visions, dreams...
• 6) It was written on different materials
  scrolls, parchments, stone, paper, papyrus,
  vellum, pottery, wax clay tablets, leather, by
  hand and the finger of God...
• 7) It was written on three continents Asia,
  Europe, and Africa.

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• 8) It was written in three major languages
  Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic.
• 9) It was translated into over 1200 languages of
  the earth in whole or in part.
• 10) Subject matter includes hundreds of
  controversial issues with a unique harmony and
  consistency unmatched by any other writer or
  writers Dealing with History, science, common
  sense, wisdom, poetry, prophecy, law, moral
  absolutes, transgression, religious worship,
  service, justice, morality, death, life, peace,
  war, marriage, divorce, oppression, evil,
  freedom, money, friendship, relationships,
  purpose, vanity, eternal life, redemption,
  blessings curses, people, nations, races,
  gentile, Jews, Greeks, heresy, lies, truth,
  passion, sex, murder, good news, the Messiah, the
  church, etc...
• 11) In publication in 1966 over 80,000,000
  copies in one year alone. Over the centuries no
  other book has known anything like the constant
  circulation and publication of the Bible. The
  numbers of printed Bibles must be staggering!
• 12) This publication and circulation has been
  accomplished under intense times of persecution
  from the Roman Emperors to present day Communism.
  Man has tried to burn it, cut it, ban it, outlaw
  it, censor it, otherwise tried to destroy it...

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13) Despite this ferocious onslaught of
destructive forces, over the years no other
Book has ignited so many things sermons,
books, journals, discussions orations, magazines,
news accounts, works of art, artifacts,
sculptures, volumes of encyclopedias,
dictionaries, commentaries handbooks, hymnals,
etc...No other book has evoked so huge amount
of literature in the history of manor ever
will...Jesus, who never wrote a book in his life
inspired more writings than probably all the
other books in the world combined! 14) IN ITS
RELIABILITY OF TRANSMISSION We have 5,300 known
Greek Mss. 10,000 Latin 9,300 other early
versions with parts or portions of copies
numbering nearly 24,000. In comparison, the
closest secular document is Iliad by Homer
with only 643 mss today. Scholars are nearly
embarrassed by the amount of material from
which to work. NOTE The earliest dates of these
copies range from 25 years to 300 years after the
original. Compared to the closest secular
documents is over 1,000 years after the original
piece.
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• 15) TEXTUAL ACCURACY It has been calculated, and
  most scholars agree, that 98.33 of today's Bible
  is exactly like the original. The 2 making up
  some spelling variations, or style, or scribal
  lines none of which affect, subject matter,
  doctrine, teaching, or proof...Compared to as
  much as 10 major deviations of secular work.
• 16) Textual accuracy is substantiated by various
  translations. These translations, (Latin, Greek,
  Hebrew, Aramaic, and the over 1200 over
  languages) can be reconstructed to become
  witnesses to the same origin.
• 17) Writings of the early Church Fathers They so
  widely quoted the scriptures of both the Old and
  New Testaments that it has been said that if the
  Bibles of all the world were to be lost, up to
  90 of the entire New Testament could be
  reproduced from them.

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• 18) The Dead Sea Scrolls which have been out of
  circulation since 100 years or so before Christ
  Attest to the accuracy of most of the Old
  Testament. Not all of the Old Testament books
  were found.
• 19) The Messoretic textual transcription Scribes
  counted the letters, counted the center letter of
  line, and of the whole book. Once they were done
  with a copy it was considered to be equal to
  original, due to detailed method of transcribing.
  They considered it Holy work, on Holy
  Scriptures...
• Sir Frederic Kenyon put it, that The Christian
  can take the whole Bible in his hand and say
  without fear or hesitation that he holds in it
  the true Word of God, handed down without
  essential loss from generation to generation
  throughout the centuries.

Sir Frederic George Kenyon was a British
paleographer, biblical and classical scholar.
Educated at Oxford , He was the director of the
British Museum. He was also the president of the
British Academy from 1917 to 1921. In 1920, he
was appointed president of the British School of
Archaeology in Jerusalem.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in Israel in
caves hidden and out of public use for over 2,000
years.
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• 20) Furthermore, the Bible has another witness to
  its uniqueness and accuracy that is the
  Confirmation of Archeology. Over 2500 sites,
  events, cities, and places have been found. Tens
  of thousands of people, peoples, nations,
  kingdoms and tribes have been verified.

(Halley's Bible Handbook, New Revised Edition is
an excellent source to validate these discoveries
in archeology.) Nelson Gluck, a renown Jewish
archaeologist, has said there has never been a
single archaeological find that has ever
controverted a Biblical claim.
Archeologists use the Bible to locate sites!
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Sir William Ramsey

• Sir William Ramsay was one of the most skilled
  archaeologists of his day He had rejected much of
  the written New Testament account and was
  determined to prove it false based on other
  writings of the day that contradicted the Bible.

Sir William Ramsay The Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1904
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• He set out to prove the historian Luke wrong,
  hoping to confirm what many archaeologists had
  once thoughtthat the Bible was full of errors.
• Ramsay believed that the books of Luke and Acts
  had actually been written in about AD.150 and
  therefore did not bear the authenticity that a
  first-century document would have. His
  archaeological journeys took him to 32 countries,
  cities, and 9 islands.
• After some 15 years of intensive study he
  concluded, Luke is a historian of the first
  rankthis author should be placed along with the
  very greatest of historians.
• Ramsay himself is regarded as one of the greatest
  archaeologists of all time.

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Archaeologists in the nineteenth century thought
the Bible was full of errors. Some popular
misconceptions that Ramsay helped correct are as
follows

• Critics thought that there was no Roman census as
  indicated in Luke 21
• Ramsey discovered there was a Roman census
  every 14 years
• beginning with Emperor Augustus.
• Critics thought that Quirinius was not governor
  of Syria at the time of Jesus birth as indicated
  in Luke 22.
• Ramsey discovered that Quirinius was governor
  of Syria in about 7 b.c.
• Critics thought that people did not have to
  return to their ancestral home as indicated in
  Luke 23.
• Ramsey discovered that people did have to
  return to their home city verified by an ancient
  Egyptian papyrus giving directions for conducting
  a census.
• Critics questioned the existence of the treasurer
  of the city of Corinth, Erastus (Romans 1623).
• Ramsey discovered a city pavement in Corinth
  bearing the inscription Erastus, curator of
  public buildings, laid this pavement at his own
  expense.
• Critics thought that Lukes reference to Gallio
  as proconsul of Achaia was wrong (Acts 1812).
• Ramsey discovered the Delphi inscription, which
  reads, As Lucius
• Junius Gallio, my friend and
  proconsul of Achaia...

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• Time and time again Ramsays search to find
  evidence that Lukes writing was in error turned
  up evidence that it was, in fact, accurate.
• As a result, Ramsay eventually converted to
  Christianity His archaeological research added
  strong support for the authenticity of the Bible.
• His story is repeated over and over again. Modern
  day examples would be skeptic Josh McDowell the
  author of Evidence that Demands a Verdict Ralph
  O Muncaster, A Skeptics Search For God Lee
  Strobel, The Case for Christ

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• 21) Intermingled with Archeology and History, the
  Prophetic Word again testifies to the uniqueness
  of scripture. No other book has ever predicted
  the coming of its central figure, like the Bible
  did with Jesus Christ. No other book predicted
  the history of the world, and the many events in
  between. A quick study of prophecy and history
  will affirm anyones faith, shake anyones
  skepticism, and show forth the uniqueness of the
  Bible.

In all there are as many as 456 specific
prophecies concerning the Christ in His first
coming! Some prophecies are repeated by different
prophets...
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Blaise Pascal in regards to the Messiah

• If one man alone had made a book of predictions
  about Jesus Christ, as to the time and the
  manner, and Jesus Christ had come in conformity
  to these prophesies, this fact would have
  infinite weight. But there is much more here.
  Here is a succession of men during four thousand
  years, who, consequently and without variation,
  come, one after another, to foretell this same
  event.

Legacy -Pascal's law (an important principle of
hydrostatics), and as mentioned above, Pascal's
triangle and Pascal's wager still bear his
name. -Pascal's development of probability theory
was his most influential contribution to
mathematics. Originally applied to gambling,
today it is extremely important in economics,
especially in actuarial science.
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• THESE UNIQUE FACTS AND TESTIMONY ARE TRUE BECAUSE
  GOD IS THE BIBLES AUTHOR, INSPIRER, WATCHDOG,
  TRANSMITTER TRANSLATOR, AND KEEPER...
• Now, it has been said, That one can be a
  Christian who believes in God, but doesnt
  necessarily believe the Bible is inspired, or
  that the Bible is God's Word, or merely that it
  contains Gods Word in part...ONE IS NOT TRUSTING
  GOD IF ONE DOESNT TRUST GODS WORD IN THE
  BIBLE...
• This information was gleaned from Josh McDowell's
  Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Vol. I, Chapter
  on Is the Bible Reliable?

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The Principle of INERRANCY!

• This is the conviction that the Bible IS the Word
  of God and is inerrant from the very first verse
  to the last (In the original languages of Hebrew,
  Greek Aramaic).
• Is there evidence for such an outstanding claim?

Accurate from the First Verse to the Last...
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Two Proofs!

• There are two significant and irrefutable proofs
  that God has given to us to know that He inspired
  the writings of the Bible and the Prophecy of the
  Prophets
• Go to the icon for Two Proofs on this DVD to find
  out more