|
There
have been hundreds of books written on the subject of
the evidences of the divine inspiration of the Bible,
and these evidences are many and varied. Most people
today, unfortunately, have not read any of these books.
In
fact, few have even read the Bible itself! Thus, many
people tend to go along with the popular delusion that
the Bible is full of mistakes and is no longer relevant
to our modern world. Nevertheless the Bible writers
claimed repeatedly that they were transmitting the very
Word of God, infallible and authoritative in the highest
degree.
This
is an amazing thing for any writer to say, and if the
forty or so men who wrote the Scriptures were wrong
in these claims, then they must have been lying, or
insane, or both. But, on the other hand, if the greatest
and most influential book of the ages, containing the
most beautiful literature and the most perfect moral
code ever devised, was written by deceiving fanatics,
then what hope is there for ever finding meaning and
purpose in this world?
If
one will seriously investigate these Biblical evidences,
he will find that their claims of divine inspiration
(stated over 3,000 times, in various ways) were amply
justified.
Fulfilled
Prophecies
The remarkable evidence of fulfilled prophecy is just
one case in point. Hundreds of Bible prophecies have
been fulfilled, specifically and meticulously, often
long after the prophetic writer had passed away. For
example, Daniel the prophet predicted in about 538 BC
(Daniel 9:24-27) that Christ would come as Israel's
promised Savior and Prince 483 years after the Persian
emperor would give the Jews authority to rebuild Jerusalem,
which was then in ruins. This was clearly and definitely
fulfilled, hundreds of years later.
There
are extensive prophecies dealing with individual nations
and cities and with the course of history in general,
all of which have been literally fulfilled. More
than 300 prophecies were fulfilled by Christ Himself
at His first coming. Other prophecies deal with
the spread of Christianity, as well as various false
religions, and many other subjects. There is no other
book, ancient or modern, like this. The vague, and usually
erroneous, prophecies of people like Jeanne Dixon, Nostradamus,
Edgar Cayce, and others like them are not in the same
category at all, and neither are other religious books
such as the Koran, the Confucian Analects, and similar
religious writings.
Only
the Bible manifests this remarkable prophetic evidence,
and it does so on such a tremendous scale as to render
completely absurd any explanation other than divine
revelation.
Unique Historical Accuracy
The
historical accuracy of the Scriptures is likewise in
a class by itself, far superior to the written records
of Egypt, Assyria, and other early nations. Archeological
confirmations of the Biblical record have been almost
innumerable in the last century.
Dr.
Nelson Glueck, probably the greatest modern authority
on Israeli archeology, has said: "No archeological discovery
has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of
archeological findings have been made which confirm
in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements
in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation
of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."
Scientific
Accuracy
Another
striking evidence of divine inspiration is found in
the fact that many of the principles of modern science
were recorded as facts of nature in the Bible long before
scientist confirmed them experimentally.
A sampling of these would include: Roundness of the
earth (Isaiah 40:22) Almost infinite extent of the sidereal
universe (Isaiah 55:9) Law of conservation of mass and
energy (II Peter 3:7) Hydrologic cycle (Ecclesiastes
1:7) Vast number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22) Law of increasing
entropy (Psalm 102:25-27) Paramount importance of blood
in life processes (Leviticus 17:11) Atmospheric circulation
(Ecclesiastes 1:6) Gravitational field (Job 26:7) and
many others.
These are not stated in the technical jargon of modern
science, of course, but in terms of the basic world
of man's everyday experience; nevertheless, they are
completely in accord with the most modern scientific
facts.
It is significant also that no real mistake has ever
been demonstrated in the Bible -- in science, in history,
or in any other subject. Many have been claimed, of
course, but conservative Bible scholars have always
been able to work out reasonable solutions to all such
problems.
|