The Bible is a cohesive book produced by many writers over a long period of time. Approximately approximately forty authors wrote it over a span of about 1600 years. That is a period of about forty generations. It was written in three languages on three continents including Europe, Asia and Africa. They wrote it in a variety of locations such as, in the wilderness, in a dungeon, in a palace, in prison, in exile, and at the author's home. Kings, peasants, doctors, fishermen, tax collectors, scholars, and others recorded its words. They wrote in times of war, peace, poverty, prosperity, freedom and slavery. Some were at the heights of joy when they wrote; others were in the depths of despair. They wrote about a widely diverse range of subjects and doctrines. And yet, in spite of all of the diversities written here, it is in complete harmonious agreement.

These are some statistics of the King James Version. It contains 66 books, 1189 chapters, 1170 verses, 774,746 words, 3,222,432 letters, and 3,348,140 characters. Again, I reiterate, it was written by approximately 40 authors over a period of 1,600 years or 40 generations.

Let me quote from some of the seminary work I have done. This quote repeats some of what is already written here.

"The Bible consists of sixty-six books written over a period of fifteen hundred years by forty different writers. These men did not know each other because they were many times separated by many years or even centuries, even millennia. They could not get together and collaborate to produce such a cohesive work. They did not fabricate it. These writers came from many different walks of life and classes of society. Some were poor, some rich, some powerful, some weak. Some were prophets, some historians, some poets, some very wise, and some not as wise. Some were kings, some lowly subjects. Some were respected; some were reviled. They came from all classes, cultures, and experiences.

"Yet they are in complete agreement. The Bible is a cohesive, relevant, and up to date collection of writings. The Author of the Bible is Almighty God. It is His letter to us, His people. It is a complex living organism whose elements are interlocked, interwoven, and interdependent. God used men who had different personalities and different writing styles. But even so, the Bible is complete, organized, unified, and consistent.

"The Bible has one overriding theme and that is Jesus Christ. Christ and the salvation of man are thematic in every book. Christ can be seen in each and every book from Genesis to Revelation. For example, in Genesis He is the One that bruises the head of the serpent. In Joshua, He is the Captain of the LORD's hosts. In Psalms, He is the Anointed Prophet and the Priest on the order of Melchisedek. In Isaiah, he is the Suffering Servant. In Malachi He is the Messenger of the Covenant. The Gospels tell of his birth, ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. The Epistles of Paul tell us how to live in Christ. In the Revelation He is the Victorious King of kings and Lord of lords.

"There are many prophesies in the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus. Psalm 22 tells us about His hands and feet being pierced, about the soldiers casting lots for His clothing, and about His being reviled on the cross. Jesus actually quotes from Psalm 22 on the cross. Isaiah tells us how he would be wounded for our transgressions. That prophecy was fulfilled when He was scourged, beaten, and crucified. Micah tells us that He was to be born in Bethlehem, which He was. These are a few of the many examples of Old Testament Prophesies being fulfilled by Christ. The Bible is about Christ. The unity of the Bible is unassailable."

The Bible itself speaks to its own authenticity:

Psalms 12:6-7, "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. {7} Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever." Read more about these verses.

The entire Psalm 119 is dedicated to the word of God. It is too long to reproduce here. Read it for yourself.

1 Corinthians 2:13-14 "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. {14} But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: {17} That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

2 Peter 1:20-21 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. {21} For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

Fulfilled prophecy is proof of the veracity of the Bible. For example, in Psalm 22 we see the very words that Christ cried out upon the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The Psalm goes on to predict that those who saw Jesus on the cross would shake their heads and say, "He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." The Psalm told of His extreme thirst, "…my tongue cleaveth to my jaws". Of the soldiers involved in the crucifixion, Psalm 22 says, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." It also predicted several other things. Each and every prediction made by David in Psalm 22 came true when Christ was crucified. David wrote Psalm 22 around 1000 years before Christ was crucified.

The prophet Malachi foretold of the coming of John the Baptist several hundred years before the fact: Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts."

Zechariah, another Old Testament Prophet told of the day when Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."

Of course there are hundreds of other prophecies in the Bible fulfilled in letter and deed, exactly according to the prophecy. Daniel predicted the Persian, Greek, and Roman empires. He foretold of the rise of Alexander's generals after Alexander died at a young age. He told of the coming Maccabean revolt that freed Israel from Antiochus' rule and tyranny. The Bible tells of the destruction of Tyre in exactly the way it happened. The history of Alexander's causeway is well know and its ruins still exist to this day. I could write many pages of fulfilled prophecy.

Many of the stories of the Bible have been proven by archaeology. The two most well know are the city of Ur, from which Abraham's family came, and the walls of Jericho. Two well-known and highly respected archaeologists dug at those sites, proving what the Bible said to be true. Let me quote from the study, " Is Jesus The Only Way To Heaven?

"I say that it is a personal choice whether or not to believe in the Bible. There are many voices out there with things to say about the Bible. Some, like me, believe it is the inspired words of God without any error. That is, it was written by men inspired of God and they wrote precisely in every detail what God wanted them to write. There are those who say that the Bible is good literature and that it is worthy of examination because it is good literature. But they reject the idea that it is God's words. Some say the Bible is a book of mythology and not of God. Some also say it is a work of history—the history of the Israelites. Others say that it is simply the superstitions of the Israelite peoples and cannot be trusted to be accurate. There are some, claiming to be people of God, who say that God's words are to be found in the Bible, yet it is not without error. And some religious types say it contains the words of God but not every word is from God. There are many other ideas about the Bible floating around, but these are the most prevalent ones.

"Those voices are all striving for your attention. The bottom line is still that it is your choice. If you choose to believe that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant words of God, then you will understand that Jesus is the only way. If you reject that it is God's words, then you have no basis to believe that Jesus is the only way.

"Let me try to influence you. First a philosophical point of view. If there really is a God who created everything including you and me, then would he not have provided a way for us to know Him? If there is not a God, then this is a moot point. But the statistics show that the vast, vast majority of people believe that there is a God. Even the agnostics acknowledge that God may exist. Many atheists really secretly believe in God. I know. I was a professing atheist. But I always knew in some corner of my mind that I was being dishonest to myself. There was always the knowledge of God in my subconscious.

"So, if there is a God, and the great majority of us believe there is, then why would we hesitate to believe that He has spoken to us? And if he has spoken to us, then the Bible is the most likely place He did so. Why?

"The answer to that question has spawned volumes. But let me quickly outline a few areas of proof that the Bible is indeed God's Word.

"1. The historicity of the Bible. As archaeology has progressed in the last three centuries (19^th, 20^th, and 21^st) it has proven over and over that the accounts in the Bible are historically accurate. Let me give two brief examples. 1.) The Bible tells us that Abraham came from the city of Ur. Ur was considered to be a myth for centuries. Then in the early part of the 20^th Century, Sir Leonard Woolley of the British Museum and his staff of archaeologists unearthed the city of Ur, proving its existence. Prior to the expedition directed by Woolley, another British Museum archaeologist named J.E. Taylor began to dig at the site of Ur. It is now an accepted fact that Ur was a real historical city in the trans-Euphrates area, which is the location in which the Bible places it. 2.) The Biblical story of Jericho (about the walls falling) was also considered to be a myth. Yet in the 1950's, Dame Kathleen Kenyon, an extraordinary archaeologist named Honorary Director of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem proved that the walls of Jericho collapsed just as the Bible says. Here is a quote from her excavation report: "The destruction was complete. Walls and floors were blackened or reddened by fire, and every room was filled with fallen bricks, timbers, and household utensils; in most rooms the fallen debris was heavily burnt." There are numerous other examples of archaeology proving the accuracy of the Bible.

"2. The unity of the Bible. The Bible consists of sixty-six books written over a period of fifteen hundred years by forty different writers. These men did not know each other because they were many times separated by many years; even centuries; even millennia. They could not get together and collaborate to produce such a cohesive work. They did not fabricate it. These writers came from many different walks of life and classes of society. Some were poor, some rich, some powerful, some weak. Some were prophets, some historians, some poets, some farmers, some very wise, and some not as wise. Some were kings, some lowly subjects. Some were respected; some were reviled. They came from all classes, cultures, and experiences. Yet they are in complete agreement. The Bible is a cohesive, relevant, and up to date collection of writings. The Author of the Bible is Almighty God. It is His letter to us, His people. It is a complex living organism whose elements are interlocked, interwoven, and interdependent. God used men who had different personalities and different writing styles. But even so, the Bible is complete, organized, unified, and consistent.

"3. Fulfilled Prophecy. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament fulfilled by Jesus. Psalm 22 tells us about His hands and feet being pierced, about the soldiers casting lots for His clothing, and about His being reviled on the cross. Jesus actually quotes from Psalm 22 on the cross. David wrote Psalm 22 almost 1000 years before Christ was crucified. Isaiah tells us how he would be wounded for our transgressions. That prophecy was fulfilled when He was scourged, beaten, and crucified. Micah tells us that He was to be born in Bethlehem, which He was. Daniel wrote his prophecy around 500 years before Christ was born. Daniel predicted the birth of Christ to the exact year. He said that the Messiah would be born 483 years after Cyrus decreed the rebuilding of Jerusalem. That is precisely when Christ was born. He predicted the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD. Daniel accurately predicted Alexander's conquest of the world and how his generals split up his empire among themselves. He predicted how Antiochus Epiphanes would come in and fight against Jerusalem and desecrate the altar of God. His most awesome prophecy was that the four major world empires would rise and fall. He predicted Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Every prediction that Daniel made came true with the exception of those that are scheduled for future fulfillment. The Bible has a 100% accuracy rate on prophecies coming true. This fact alone should sway any doubter.

"4. The scientific accuracy of the Bible. Solomon said that the earth is a globe: Proverbs 8:27 "When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:" Isaiah 40:22 "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:" Job said that the earth hangs in space: Job 26:7 "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing." Solomon affirmed the hydrology of the earth: Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. {7} All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." When Job said that the morning stars sang together, he was scientifically accurate. When sensors are aimed at stars, it has been found that the light they emit can be turned into sound. The sound is musical. And when different stars are checked, it is found that the sounds they make all harmonize!*"

If, after reading these things you do not believe that the Bible is the true and inspired words of God, there is little more I can do to persuade you. Again it is your choice. If you choose not to believe that the Bible is God's Word, then I have no argument to prove to you that the Bible is really the Word of God.

There are plenty of unbelievers who would explain away all of these things mentioned here (though there are too many things here for all to be coincidences). They just do not wish to acknowledge God for fear that He would convict them in their hearts of sin. That might cramp their style. But as Joshua said, "as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

èThis work is undertaken in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
èCopyright © 1998-2007, The Bible Church. All Rights Reserved. Contents may be distributed but not sold.
èThe Bible Church has the right to present its ideas and opinions in this format. We have NOT made any covenant with the Federal Government, such as a nonprofit agreement or tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3), and according to the First Amendment of the Constitution we have the right to free speech, including political speech, and freedom of religion.
èThe content of this study (with the exception of any scripture or quote) is the sole production of Pastor Mark Oaks and is subject to change as the pastor grows and learns.
èNumbers following Greek or Hebrew words are Strong’s Numbers. Hebrew numbers are in normal type style (1234) and Greek numbers are in Italic style (1234).

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