I don't proclaim to be an expert on this subject and I'm sure many of our readers will have something to add on, which they may do in the comments section. But here is a preliminary look at the topic to get us all started.
Firstly, there are a few ways that Christians use to confirm that the Bible is the inspired word of God. I shall try to touch each of these elements briefly.
Scientific foreknowledge
The Bible contains numerous instances that present scientific facts before they were known. I list only a few here.
- Astronomy - The earth is a sphere.
Isaiah 40:22 writes: 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. Here, the word circle is translated from the Greek khug, meaning spherical. Remember, the people at that time thought the earth was square. This shows foreknowledge before its time. - Oceanography - The perfect ratio for seaworthiness.
In Genesis 6:15, God gives a perfect ratio for a sturdy and seaworthy vessel. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. The ration of 30:5:3 was discovered to be perfect for a ship in 1844. - Medicine - Blood clotting.
God's infinite wisdom requested, in Genesis 17:12, that he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. Notice God's exact instruction that a child be circumcised on the eighth day. Till today, this medical instruction is still followed by all institutions of health whether they believe in God or not. The reason for this is that on the eighth day, vitamin K levels are at their highest point they will ever be in a person's life - as much as two to three percent higher than usual. Vitamin K being essential for blood clotting, this shows knowledge that man never boasted till many centuries later.
Archaeological evidences
There are too many of these to list so I will only list a very small sample. However, it is important to remember that there are probably many stronger archaeological evidences of Biblical truth. Only, it is not possible to uncover them because proper archaeological work is forbidden in the Holy City.
- In the book of Joshua and Judges, it describes that the Israelites settled in the hill country. Later excavation has found settlements in these very same hill country. We know that these cities were inhabited by the Israelites because while pork bones have been found in the garbage dumps of most cities, the hill cities contained no pork bones. Remember that under the Law of Moses, the Israelites were not allowed to consumer pork. They were only allowed to eat animals that chewed the cud and had cloven feet (Leviticus 11:3).
- A temple from Old Testament times was found in Jerusalem in 1984. There, they found a silver pomegranate with a Hebrew inscription saying it belonged to the temple of Jehovah.
- In 1993 and 1994, inscriptions were found written by Hazael, King of Damsacus, describing Azakiah, king of the house of David. The inscriptions also described other Biblical kings.
- In the 1980s, a tiny silver scroll was found in Jerusalem dated 700 B.C. The scroll contained a blessing from the book of Numbers, chapter 26. This shows us that the word of God has been around for many years.
- All Biblical descriptions of the Holy Land have been confirmed by archaeology.
Fulfilment of prophecies
The Old Testament portion of the Bible is filled with prophecies and it is often amazing to see how accurately these prophecies are fulfilled centuries after they were made.
- Destruction of Tyre
Ezekiel 26:1-14 predicts that many nations would come up against the city of Tyre (verse 3), that it would be levelled (verse 4), utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar (verses 7-8), that it would be cast into the sea (verse 12) and fishermen would cast their nets in the area (verse 5). Each of these prophecies came true to the letter and are verifiable by historical accounts. - Naming an important person before he was born
Isaiah 44:28 reads: That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Here, the Bible predicts that a man named Cyrus will build up Jerusalem and lay the foundations of its temple. About 100 years later, Cyrus was born and indeed he did do all this. In fact, the Bible's prediction is so accurate that Cyrus was involved in nothing more than laying the foundations of the temple. - Prophecies about Jesus
There are about 334 prophecies about Jesus and each and every one of them came true. Some of them include his birth of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), the time of his ministry (Daniel 9:24-27), the price paid for him (Zechariah 11:12-13), his crucifixion (Psalms 22) and that he was called a criminal (Isaiah 53:12). There are people who believe that Christ made it a point in His life to go about fulfilling these prophecies. But how could he have determined the place of his birth or his burial?
Unity of the scriptures
The Bible contains 66 books written by more than 40 different authors, all from different walks of life. The books were written over a period of two millenia. Yet the Bible is consistent and coherent throughout. How else could this have been possible if it wasn't inspired by a higher power?
Scriptural proof
Finally, the Bible itself claims to be inspired by God. In a court of law, we allow a person to give his or her own testimony. So, is it not fair that we allow the Bible to testify for itself?
In 2 Timothy 3:16, the Bible states: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Another verse, John 17:17 says: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Conclusion
I sincerely hope that this piece will strengthen the faith of all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as it did mine. And I hope that if you are a reader who is not a Christian, this will prompt you to find out more. If you are looking for direction, do drop us an e-mail at this address: sparks dot admin at gmail dot com.
Thanks for reading.
