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DOES THE BIBLE TELL THE TRUTH? - New Testament
Christianity is based on historical events while other religions are based on ethical teachings. The early Church is also historical. Latest research supports the events that are recorded in 'Acts of the Apostles' and the letters by Paul called the Epistles.
Critics have seen that if the New Testament is historically true they can't say anything against Christianity so they have worked flat out to show it is not true historically.
If the New Testament can be clearly shown to be true then all the silly or misinformed ideas which we read in some books and even novels can be knocked on the head and shown for what they are: ideas by the enemy to take away your interest in searching for God.
So be prepared: here come some amazing truths about the New Testament.
1. The Truth of the Documents
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For almost 2000 years the New Testament documents have made a tremendous impact on world history.
There are over 5000 handwritten manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament and over 15000 in other languages. No other ancient book has so many old copies. |
These 20 000 copies have been checked thoroughly and compared to find any copying errors. Those found have made no change to the truth of the books.
There are also many thousands of manuscripts from early Christian writers which include quotes from the New Testament dating back to AD 90.
Modern critics don't know what they are talking about but decent scholars who bother to dig up the evidence, like W.F. Albright, have said that every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between 40 and 80 AD.
2. Inside Information
There are plenty of words in each book which show that it was written by the author who said he wrote it. For example, Paul talks about his stoning at Lystra and Peter talks about seeing Jesus in a cloud on a mountain with two prophets.
3. Archeology
Digging up evidence has always supported the New Testament. For example, the towns in the book of Acts were real towns that have ruins you can walk on today. The pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the paralysed man has been uncovered.
4. Character of writers
Some critics have tried to talk us out of trusting the New Testament by doubting the character of the writers. But they forget that the disciples and Paul were martyred for their writings and their trust in Jesus.
Who would do this if they were phonies?
Also the miracles they talked about happened in public, e.g. feeding the 5000. If they were lying they would be laughed out of town.
Some of them were learned scholars. Paul and Luke were top men in their jobs as theologian and doctor. The others were known as very practical and careful in their work.
5. Character of Jesus
If Jesus was a liar or a lunatic no one would believe Him. After a while they would find out and leave Him. But His disciples were with Him constantly for three years. They left their jobs to be with Him. They saw Him show His love to everyone who came to Him for help. He healed them and even raised some from the dead. If they did not see this with their own eyes they would not have written it down.
They did leave Him at His trial but this is more evidence Jesus did what He said He would do because He predicted His death and resurrection. The fact that they all came back to Him shows they really did see Him risen from the dead.
It is not good enough to just call Jesus a great teacher and do some of the things He wants us to do.
Jesus rose again so that we could have a new life with Him as our Master.
John 10:10, Jesus: " The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness."
Revelation 3:20, Jesus: "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the
door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends."
6. Baptism and Lord's Supper
| Jesus commanded every Christian to be baptized (immersed in water to show you are now dead to your old life and alive in Jesus) and to take bread and wine regularly to remember His death.
Historical records show that the Church has done this in some way through the centuries. |
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How could baptism and the Lord's Supper have started
centuries after Jesus rose again and went to heaven? Jesus commanded it and it has been obeyed since then. Any books about Jesus which did not agree with this were rejected by the early Church. |
7. History backs up the New Testament words of Jesus.
In John 8:12 Jesus said He IS the Light of the world not was the light of the world. History shows this is true. Jesus is still the light of the world and His teachings are the basis of laws and behavior. Some of the world's most famous books, paintings and music have been about what Jesus is about - love God with everything you've got and love everyone around you.
In Matthew 24:35, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away but My words will not pass away."
How can a homeless wanderer in country Israel make such a claim unless He is God Himself on earth!
Today we see His words have been heard and read and loved and obeyed by more people in more nations than those of any other man who ever lived.
In John12:32-33, Jesus said, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Me."John notes that this was how He prophesied how He would die.
| How can a horrible monstrous nailing to a cross draw people to Him?
History has revealed the cross has drawn more people than anything else. Even some godless people have crosses around their necks and on their graves! |
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In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not be able to beat it. "This has obviously happened through the centuries. Whatever the enemy throws against it the true Church has thrived.
Of course there are plenty of phony churches doing a lot of damage but the true Church, showing the love of Jesus to all who call upon Him, has never been so strong in places like Africa and South America (for example, Christians who come back from Africa say they learned more from Christians there than they gave to them).
Don't look at the work of the enemy. Look at what Jesus is doing.
In Acts 1:8 Jesus predicted that His disciples would tell about Him all over the earth. That seemed impossible then but it is happening today.
Many more prophetic claims of Christ would be insane coming from anyone else but all His predictions have come true. If you can find any which haven't please tell us. We have studied every word carefully. Everything Jesus says is true.
As He says: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to God except through Me."John 14:6
DOES THE BIBLE TELL THE TRUTH? - OLD TESTAMENT
How can we be sure the Old Testament is telling the truth?
Many critics say it is nothing more than a collection of myths and legends or exaggerated stories handed down by generations of Jewish families. This may sound possible but it is idle speculation. In this Post- modern age where truth is ignored and opinion is most highly respected, your are surrounded by deadly distractions and wild ideas which suit human nature but have nothing to do with God and the real world. So you are faced with a choice - search for God and the truth or believe a lie.
Here comes the truth. Are you ready? Pray first even if you are not sure about God yet. He rewards all those who search for Him and are fair dinkum about it. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
1. Do the 39 books tell the same truth?
The 39 books of the Old Testament today are the same books that Jesus and the Jews in His day used as we can see in the New Testament. They were the books written about by non-Christian historians like Josephus.
For example, Jesus talked about the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms which predicted He would come (Luke 24:44).
2. Are the words reliable?
The text which Jews and Christians accept is the Masoritic text. The Masorites were Jewish copiers who collected the ancient manuscripts and compared them. They wrote any differences in the margins. There were only 1200, which averages at less than one per page of the Hebrew printed Bible and these were only minor copying errors.
| The Septuagint version is a translation into the Greek language around 280 BC.
The Latin Vulgate was translated by Jerome in about AD 400. The Syriac version was translated about AD 200. None of these versions have any important differences. |
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The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in 1946, and other scrolls have shown that the Old Testament has not changed over the years.
At the time of discovery of these scrolls there were many critics who said the Jews must have made up stories and exaggerated them over the years because they don't believe God can perform miracles like parting the Red Sea and flattening the walls of Jericho. |
These critics now have egg on their faces.
The critics also claimed that writing was not invented in ancient history. But archeologists in the 1940s onwards have found thousands of stone tablets in underground libraries like Ninevah and Nuzi which contain alphabetic cuneiform and Hebrew writings from the days of Moses onwards.
Critics also claim miracles and prophecies in the Old Testament are impossible because they don't believe in the God of the Bible. But archeologists have found writings which date back to the time when these prophecies were made. More egg on the critics.
3. Does geography and history support the Old Testament?
Critics choose to assume the Old Testament is false unless there is overwhelming evidence which forces them to change their minds.
For example, they did not believe the Old Testament was telling the truth about the existence of the Hittites, the Horites, the Edomites, etc. only because other ancient history books did not mention them. The archeologists' spades have silenced them and many documentaries have been made about these places, e.g. Petra the capital of the Edomites.
The Old Testament has shown itself to be accurate every time.
The names of kings listed in the Old Testament during the Old Testament times have been shown accurate by recent discoveries in Iraq and Syria. A Palestinian archeologist, Dr Nelson Glueck, explored the whole land of Israel and found the Bible to be amazingly reliable at all points. He often used the Old Testament text to lead him to new discoveries.
4. Does Jesus accept the Old Testament as the truth?
Jesus quotes the Old Testament always as the true words of God.
For example, He said "The Scripture cannot be broken"(John 10:35) and "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one title of the law to fail "(Luke 16:17).
He accepted Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (Luke 24:27; John 5:46-47), Isaiah as the author of Isaiah (Matthew 13:14), and Daniel as the author of Daniel (Matthew 24:15).
He accepted the historicity of Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4-5) and the events in Genesis including the creation (Mark 10:6) and the Flood (Matthew:37-39).
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Jesus had no trouble believing the Old Testament miracles
including the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:29) and Jonah's deliverance from the whale (Matthew 12:39-40) |
How dare modern critics, some of whom are behind pulpits, dare to question the Old Testament when Jesus accepted it.
It is now up to you to accept what Jesus accepted. Don't go for those doubting scholars who want to water down the Bible.
God will only accept fulltime believers.