Why do I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that the
Bible is the Word of God?
The steps that make logical sense to me, start without a presumption that the
Bible is the word of God. Rather, the reliability of the Bible is examined
as a historical source. It testifies to a man named Jesus who claimed to be
sent from God, to be God, and to speak the words of God. The internal evidence
in the Bible and the external evidence are enough to make me believe that it
is more credible to believe Jesus' claims about himself than to disbelieve
(even with the stakes as high as they are). From Jesus, I learn about God,
the validity of the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) as the Word of God and
the necessity of following the teachings of his Apostles as speakers and writers
of the Word of God (the New Testament).
This logic is broken down into the following series of assertions, with the
evidences to their truth enumerated.
- The Bible has been accurately preserved and transmitted since
it was written
- Over 3000 ancient copies and fragments agree on 98% of the
Bible with no central doctrinal tenets threatened by the remainder
- Ancient text families and ancient translations demonstrate
the accuracy of transmission and attest to a very early source
date
- Rare uncertainties in the text are footnoted
- The Bible has been accurately translated
- Modern Bibles are direct translations from the original languages
by committees of scholars from many churches to remove sectarian
bias
- Multiple translations exist to confirm the accuracy of translation
of any particular translation
- Rare uncertainties in translation are footnoted
- The Bible represents an accurate historical account of people,
events, and statements
- Written by eyewitnesses or their companions who gave their
lives for the facts they saw and heard
- Written by men for whom truth was a primary virtue
- Correllation with externally verifiable facts demonstrate
the authors' attention to accuracy and detail
- Jesus is the Son of God
- He claimed to be the Son of God
- He predicted he would rise from the dead and he did
- He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy
- He performed unprecedented and undeniable miracles
- His teaching was and is amazing
- He changed the lives of the people he was around
- His teaching continues to change people's lives today like
nothing else can
- The Old Testament is the Word of God
- Jesus said it is the Word of God and that its authors spoke
by the Holy Spirit
- Jesus treated it as completely authoritative and the standard
for his life and teaching
- Jesus described his own person and mission as the fulfillment
of predictions in the Old Testament
- Jesus quoted from over half the books in the Old Testament
- Jesus accepted the existing Old Testament canon without hesitation
- Jesus never criticized the leaders of the Jews for having
the wrong Bible, but for not understanding it, not practicing
it, or substituting human teachings or traditions in its place
- The New Testament is the Word of God
- Jesus gave authority to his Apostles and said that they would
speak by the Holy Spirit with authority. Therefore, the Apostles'
teaching is an authoritative guide for the church in life and
doctrine.
- The New Testament writers were all Apostles or close companions
of the Apostles
- The New Testament writers wrote with authority, expecting
their instructions to be obeyed, and claiming their documents
and the documents of the other Apostles were Scripture (same as
the Old Testament)
- The unity of the church that God commands is only possible
if their is an external standard.