April 25, 2007 David Cloud, wayoflife.org - In the final analysis, a man must accept that the Bible is the Word of God by faith, for "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6). At the same time, Bible faith is not a blind leap into the dark. It is confidence in a believable Record that God has given, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). The writers of the Bible explain to us that they were not delivering cunningly devised fables but an inspired record based on "many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3; 2 Pet. 1:16). Following are some of the objective, time-proven reasons why we can have complete confidence in the Bible:

1. CHRIST'S RESURRECTION PROVES THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD.

His resurrection was witnessed by hundreds of people (1 Cor. 15:5-7). Were they all lying? At times, the resurrected Christ was seen by many people at one time. They talked with him, touched him, walked with him, and ate with him. Before the resurrection, the apostles were fearful and were hiding from the authorities. After they saw the resurrected Christ with their own eyes, they became bold and fearless and were willing to lay down their lives for the Gospel. It took a powerful event to cause such a change in their lives.

2. THE BIBLE'S UNIQUE CONSTRUCTION PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.

The Bible was written by 40 different authors representing some 19 different occupations (shepherd, farmer, fisherman, tax collector, medical doctor, king, etc.) who lived during a great period of some 1,600 years. That is approximately 50 generations of men. The first 39 chapters were written in the Hebrew language over a period of about 1000 years. There was then a 400-year gap when no Scriptures were written. After that, the last 27 chapters of the Bible were written in the Greek language during a period covering roughly 50 years. The writers could not have collaborated, because they did not even live at the same time. The end product is one book that fits together perfectly and contains no contradictions or errors. There is nothing else like this in all of man's history.

3. THE CONFIDENCE AND SINCERITY OF THE BIBLE'S AUTHORS PROVE THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.

The Bible testifies that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2 Pe. 1:21), and an examination of the lives of the Bible's writers rings true to this testimony. These were serious men. They came from all walks of life. They were men of good reputation and sound mind. Many of them were viciously persecuted and killed for the testimony they held. They were not enriched by the prophecies they gave. Far from it; many were impoverished. The author of the first five books of the Bible chose to live a life of terrific hardship and struggle in the service of God as opposed to the millionaire's life he could have lived as the son of Pharaoh. Many Bible writers made similar choices. Their motivation certainly was not covetousness and worldly advantage. These were not perfect men, but they were holy men. They all claimed that God had put His hand upon them to speak His Word. The lives they lived, and the testimonies they held, and the deaths they died gave mighty evidence that they were telling the truth.

4. FULFILLED PROPHECY PROVES THE BIBLE TO BE THE WORD OF GOD.

The Bible contains a vast amount of prophecy, much of which has been fulfilled. The predictions are precise and detailed, and the fulfillment is exact. For example, compare 1 Ki. 13:2 with 2 Ki. 23:15,16; 1 Ki. 13:22 with 2 Ki. 23:17,18; 1 Ki. 21:19 with 1 Ki. 22:38; 1 Ki. 21:23 with 2 Ki. 9:36.

PROPHECIES PERTAINING TO JESUS CHRIST.

Jesus' entire life was prophesied before he came: His birthplace (Micah 5:2), virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), sinless life (Isa. 53:9), miracles (Isa. 35:5), wonderful speech (Isa. 50:4), rejection by the Jewish nation (Isaiah 53:2), crucifixion (Ps. 22:16), burial in a rich man's tomb (Is. 53:9), resurrection the third day (Ps. 16).

PROPHECIES OF ANCIENT NATIONS.

The Bible also contains prophecies about many ancient nations, including Babylon, Egypt, Medo-Persia, and Greece. Everything the Bible said about these nations has come true in every detail. Consider, for example, the prophecies about Tyre:

Tyre's doom is predicted in the twenty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel. A graphic picture is drawn of its siege and capture by Nebuchadnezzar (vv. 7-11). The powerful fleet of Tyre swept the sea, and prevented the complete investment of the city; but, after a siege of thirteen years, it was at last taken by the Chaldean army. With this part of the prophecy, however, we do not concern ourselves. ...

More, however, was predicted. After describing the vengeance which the king of Babylon will inflict, the prophecy proceeds: "And THEY shall lay thy stones, and thy timber, and thy dust in the midst of the waters" (verse 12). Let the change of person be noted. Having spoken of what Nebuchadnezzar will do, it is added, "And they shall," etc., as if others were to be joined with him in the work of destruction. Light is thrown upon this distinction in the third and fourth verses. God will cause many nations to come up against Tyre, "as the sea causes his waves to come up" (v. 3). Shock will succeed shock, till she is utterly desolate; "and they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock" (v. 4).

Previous to the fall of their ancient city, the Tyrians had removed the bulk of their treasure to an island in their possession, half a mile from the shore. Taught now by bitter experience, they resolved to trust themselves no more within walls, which had not round them the defense of a watery girdle. Tyre was mistress of the sea, and could defend herself there. The old city was therefore deserted, and no attempt was made to rebuild it after the Babylonia army had retired. So far the prophecy had been fulfilled, but only so far. Tyre was overthrown and spoiled; the noise of her songs had ceased; the sound of her harps was no more heard (v. 13); the great and joyous city was abased and desolate. But the ruins still stood. The words which declared that the stones and the timber should be cast into the sea, and the very dust be scraped from the city's site, had not been fulfilled; and it seemed most improbable that they ever would be. What could the words mean? Nebuchadnezzar had taken a full vengeance, but he had never thought of this. Even in his case, furious though he might be at the long-continued resistance, it would have been the very frenzy of revenge. Who then would be found to wreak such unheard of vengeance upon the unoffending ruins?

More than 240 years rolled on, and there was no answer. For two and a half centuries those words of Scripture seemed a vain menace. Then the fame of Alexander's swift and all-conquering career sent a thrill of alarm through the East. The Tyrian ambassadors, who hastened to meet him, were favourably received. It seemed as if this storm cloud were about to pass harmlessly over them, but suddenly the conqueror expressed a desire to worship within their city. They knew only too well what that request meant. Alexander would not enter alone; and, once there, those who came as worshipers would remain as masters. The Tyrians resolved to abide the issue of war, rather than tamely hand over their city to the Macedonian king. Alexander's army marched to the seashore, and there, with half a mile of blue waters between them and it, stood the city they had come to attack. How could it be taken? Alexander's plan was speedily formed. He determined to construct a solid causeway through the sea, over which his forces might advance to the assault. And now this word, which had waited so long, was at last LITERALLY FULFILLED.

The walls, and the towers, and the ruined houses, and palaces, and temples, of the ancient city were pulled down, and the stones and the timber of Tyre were laid "in the midst of the water." Her mounds of ruins were cleared away; and so great was the demand for material in this vast undertaking, that the very dust seems to have been scraped from the site and laid in the sea. Though centuries had passed after the word was spoken, and had seen no fulfillment, it was not forgotten; and the event declared that it was His word whose judgments, though they may linger long, come surely, and fall at last with resistless might.

I have dwelt upon this instance simply as an example of the kind of evidence we are able to bring forward. Indubitable though the prophecy is, I press for no conclusion from its fulfillment. It is of the utmost importance, in this inquiry, to place it beyond the possibility of doubt that we are dealing with veritable prophecies, and that the prediction is separated from the event by such an interval as must exclude the possibility of human foresight. It could be proved satisfactorily to most minds that the book of Ezekiel was in existence long before the time of Alexander; but still doubt might creep in. The suggestion might be made that this particular prediction was added, or amended, by a later hand.

We shall therefore limit the present inquiry to those prophecies, regarding whose pre-existence to the events of which they speak, there can, in no mind, be any doubt whatever. I enter into no argument as to the age of the O.T. Scriptures. I ask no admission to be made in regard to the antiquity of any one of the prophetical books.

We shall come down to a time later than any that has been named for their origin, and our argument shall stand or fall by the prophecies which have been fulfilled since then. Everyone is satisfied that all the Books of the O.T. were in existence before the time of our Lord. It is also known, that since that time, the O.T. has been in a twofold custody.

It has been in the hands of both the Jews and Christians, between whom there could be no collusion. There is therefore absolute certainty that the prophecies are as old as the coming of Christ, and that, as they existed then, we possess them now. If then we take only such predictions as have been fulfilled at, or since, the beginning of the Christian era, every doubt will be removed and every cavil prevented in regard to the interval between the prophecy and the event; and within these limits we shall confine our present argument.

We have spoken of Tyre. There is one part of the prophecy which falls within the limits we have now set ourselves. We read Eze. 26:13,14: "I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard . . . Thou shalt be BUILT NO MORE."

This sentence of the divine judgment stands as a challenge to all time. It has been unanswered, save by the silence of generations. It is unanswered still. Palae-Tyrus, the continental Tyre, which was captured by Nebuchadnezzar, and the ruins of which were cleared away by Alexander, has NEVER BEEN REBUILT. The site remains today without even a mound to mark it, and has to be determined solely by the notices in ancient writers which give its distance from the island Tyre (John Urquhart, The Wonders of Prophecy).

The statistician Peter Stoner, using the principle of probability, assigns this prophecy a one-in-seventy-five million chance of fulfillment. The modern city of Sur is located near the ancient city of Tyre, but Tyre itself has indeed never been rebuilt.

PROPHECIES ABOUT ISRAEL

The continued existence of Israel is one of history's most amazing stories, and it was prophesied in Scripture in great detail.

It was prophesied by Moses and recorded in the book of Deuteronomy about 4,000 years ago. God warned that if Israel broke His law she would be "plucked from off the land" and scattered "among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other" (Deut. 28:63-64). There the Jews would "find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life" (Deut. 28:65-66). This is a perfect description of Israel's history from the first century until now. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman armies under Titus and then in 135 A.D. Jerusalem was plowed under on the orders of Emperor Hadrian in response of the Jewish rebellion led by Bar Kochbar. The Jewish people were scattered to the ends of the earth and found no rest. They were hated by the Muslims and hounded and persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe for a thousand years. Hitler's regime tried to destroy them. Giving preference to the Arabs, England tried to keep them from returning to their land after World War II. They are the object of hatred until this very day. Most of the world is opposed to Israel and reporting in secular publications about the Middle East crisis is generally slanted against her.

But Bible prophecy also foretold that Israel would be brought back into her land and that she would remain a nation even after all of this, and that is exactly what happened in 1948. Never in the history of the world has a race of people been scattered throughout the world and persecuted for 2,000 years and then come back together as a nation.

Bible prophecy said Israel would first return to the land in a position of unbelief and that afterwards she would be converted. The amazing prophecy in Ezekiel 37:1-14 describes Israel's restoration in two stages. She is described as a valley of bones that are resurrected.

"Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you and ye shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezek. 37:4-6).

In verses 11-14, Ezekiel states that this vision pertains to the restoration of Israel to her land and to her repentance toward God. Thus Israel will be restored in two stages: First the bones are given sinews and flesh, and second, God breaths upon these dead bones and they live. The first part of this prophecy has been fulfilled. Israel has been back in her land as a nation since 1948, but she is there in unbelief and spiritual death. She continues to reject her Messiah, Jesus Christ. She has no temple and no true worship.

But she is back in the land just as the Bible prophesied. In 1800 there were only 6,000 Jews in Palestine, but by 2000 there were over 5,000,000. In 1918 only 7% of the population of the land was made up of Jews, but by 2000 57% were Jews and only 43% Arabs (John Ecob, Amillennialism Weighed and Found Wanting, Herald of Hope, p. 44-45).

During the Great Tribulation God will grant repentance unto Israel and will breathe spiritual life into her and she will live.

The continued existence of Israel is a great miracle and an irrefutable evidence of the divine inspiration of the Bible.

5. THE BIBLE'S FACTUALNESS PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.

Everything the Bible says is true and factual. The Bible says man is a sinner, and that is not difficult to confirm. The Bible is not a scientific manual, but it is scientifically accurate, even from its earliest pages, which were written thousands of years ago. Following are some examples, beginning with statements from the pages of Job, probably the oldest book in the Bible and written at least 3,500 years ago. The late scientist Henry Morris said: "These references are modern in perspective, with never a hint of the mythical exaggerations and errors characteristic of other ancient writings ... perhaps of even greater significance is the fact that in a 4000-year-old book filled with numerous references to natural phenomena, there are no scientific mistakes or fallacies" (The Remarkable Record of Job).

a. Job says the earth is hung upon nothing (Job 26:7). This is obvious to our modern generation, as we have seen the actual pictures of the earth hanging in space, but to previous generations it was not obvious and there were many commonly-believed myths about the earth riding on the back of Atlas or a turtle or elephant, etc.

b. Job says the air has weight ("the weight for the winds," Job 28:25). It was not until the 17th century that Galileo discovered that atmosphere has weight, and the modern science of aerodynamics is based on this fact. Further, the weight of air is important in function of the earth's weather. "The study of air flows and their relation to the weight of the air has been developed into the science of aerodynamics, eventually becoming the basis of all modern aerospace developments. ... The 'weight of the winds' controls the worldwide air mass movements that transport the waters evaporated from the oceans inland over the continents" (Morris).

c. Job describes the amazing balance of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (Job 28:24-25). "We now know that the global weights of air and water must be in critical relationship to each other, and to the earth as a whole, to maintain life on earth. ... Planet earth is uniquely designed for life, and its atmosphere and hydrosphere are the most important components of that design. If the weights of either air or water were much different than they are, life as we know it could not survive" (Morris).

d. Job describes the amazing process of cloud formation and rain making. First, he describes how that water can be transported in the air when water weighs more than air (Job 36:27-28). "Water is converted by solar energy into the vapor state. Since water vapor is lighter than air, the winds can first elevate, then transport the water from the oceans to the lands where it is needed. There, under the right conditions, the vapor can condense around dust particles, salt particles, or other nuclei of condensation. When this happens, clouds are formed. Water vapor is invisible, whereas clouds are aggregations of liquid water droplets" (Morris). Job also describes how the clouds can stay aloft, how they can be balanced in the sky (Job 37:16) and how water can be bound up in a cloud and not rent (Job 26:8). The answer is in Job 36:27, "For he maketh small the drops of water...." "The water droplets are indeed very small, and their weight is sustained by the drag force of the uprushing winds, as the air is pushed skyward due to temperature decrease with elevation" (Morris). Next, Job describes how the clouds are finally rent so that rain comes forth ("by watering he wearieth the thick cloud," Job 37:11). "That is, the water droplets coalesce to form larger and larger drops, which finally become so large that their weight is greater than the drag forces of the uprushing atmospheric turbulence, causing them to fall to the ground as rain or snow" (Morris). Finally, Job describes the role that lightning plays in the creation of rain ("he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder," Job 28:26; "a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause it to rain on the earth," Job 38:25-26). "These violent electrical current, in some complex energy exchange not yet fully understood, cause the small water droplets to bind together with others to form larger drops. Finally, this remarkable series of events delivers the rain to the thirsty ground" (Morris).

e. Job describes the rotation of the earth that produces the night and day sequences (Job 38:12-14). "Job suggests not only that the earth was suspended in space but also that it rotates about its north-projecting axis. Though figurative language, this reflects a true physical process. God is pictured as taking hold of the two ends of the earth's axis and turning it as if it were a clay cylinder receiving an impression from a seal. The seal toward which the earth is turned, however, is not a metallic pattern. Rather, it is the 'dayspring,' evidently the sun fixed in its place. The welcome light of the morning dispels the formlessness of the earth's surface when shrouded in darkness and unveils the beauties of the earth's structure and verdure" (Morris).

f. Job describes the springs of the sea (Job 38:16). Man had no way to know about the fresh-water springs on the ocean floor by firsthand observation until modern times. Modern science has discovered that there are thousands of underwater springs that add millions of metric tons of water into the oceans each year. Job's knowledge of science is far, far beyond his time.

g. Job understands that light has a way and that darkness has a place (Job 38:19). "That is, light is not to be located in a certain place or situation. Neither does it simply appear, or disappear, instantaneously. Light is traveling! It dwells in a 'way,' always on the way to someplace else. Though usually traveling in waves, sometimes it seems to move as a stream of particles, but it is always moving. When light stops, there is darkness. Thus, darkness is static, staying in place; but light is dynamic, dwelling in a way" (Morris).

h. The Bible describes the parting of light (Job 38:24). It was not until the 17th century that it was discovered that light passing through a prism is separated into seven colors. Further, "This may refer not only to the visible light spectrum (red to violet) but also to all the physical systems developed around the basic entity of light" (Henry Morris).

i. The Bible says that the light creates wind (Job 38:24), but it is only in recent times that modern weather science has discovered that wind is created as the sun heats up the surface of the earth, causing the hot air to rise and cooler air to fall, creating weather systems.

j. Job describes the amazing hydrological cycle (evaporation, atmospheric circulation, condensation, precipitation, run-off) (Job 38:25-30). The process of evaporation and condensation was not discovered until the 17th century and not well understood until the 20th.

k. The Bible says plants and animals reproduce after their kind (Gen. 1). This is in perfect harmony with everything that can be observed and tested by modern science. There is great variety within kinds, all sorts of different roses and trees and frogs and dogs, but there is no reproduction between kinds, between roses and trees or frogs and dogs.

l. The Bible says the heavens cannot be measured and the stars are without number (Gen. 22:17; Jer. 31:37). Before the invention of the telescope, man could see only a few hundred stars at the most. Yet today we know that the stars are innumerable and that space is seemingly infinite. There are 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone. In 1999, observations by NASA astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope, suggested that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. The most up-to-date star count was announced in July 2003 as 70 sextillion observable stars (70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). The team of scientists that produced this figure included Simon Driver of the Australian National University, Dr. Jochen Liske from the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Dr. Nicholas Cross of Johns Hopkins University, Professor Warrick Couch from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and Dr. David Lemon from St. Andrews University. The study, which is considered 10 times more accurate than previous ones, was a part of the world's largest galaxy survey, the Two-Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey. The team did not physically count the stars. Instead they used some of the world's most powerful telescopes to count all of the galaxies in one region of the universe and then to estimate how many stars each galaxy contained by measuring its brightness. They then extrapolated these figures out to the whole universe visible through telescopes. This massive figure, of course, probably covers only a tiny percentage of the actual stars.

m. The Bible says the life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). This was not understood until very recent times. Even in the 19th century, doctors were using "blood letting" as a healing method, to expurgate the alleged "bad blood." George Washington, America's first president, died because of this bogus practice. Modern medicine has learned what the Bible has taught all along, that the life of the flesh is in the blood.

n. The Bible describes the circuit of the winds in Ecclesiastes 1:6, but this was not discovered until modern times. "As the land in the equator heats up, it causes the hot air to rise. In the upper atmosphere, the air flows away from the equator. Cooler air will move along to replace it. This produces six major wind belts around the world" (Y.T. Wee, The Soul-Winner's Handy Guide).

o. The Bible says the earth is a circle (Isaiah 40:22). In past centuries many have believed that the earth is flat, but the Scriptures have always been scientifically accurate in this matter.

p. The Bible says there are paths in the sea (Is. 43:16). Since the 19th century the ocean currents or paths have been charted and ships travel these paths just as trucks travel across roads. Writing in the mid-1800s, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Superintendent of the U.S. Navy's Depot of Charts and Instruments in Washington, D.C., observed, "There is a river in the ocean: in the severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows; its banks and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm; the Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic Seas. It is the Gulf Stream" (Maury, The Physical Geography of the Sea, 6th ed., 1856, p. 25).

q. The Bible says the stars differ in glory (1 Cor. 15:41). "J. Bayer, in 1603, devised a method or system to indicate their brightness or magnitude. No astronomer today will deny this fact. Stars are now known to differ in size, color, light emitted, density, and heat. Our sun, which is a star, is over 1,000,000 times the size of our earth, yet there are some stars at least a million times as large as our sun, and some smaller than the planet Mercury" (World's Bible Handbook).

6. THE BIBLE'S CANDOR PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.

When men write biographies of their heroes, they commonly whitewash their faults; but the Bible exhibits its divine quality by showing man as it is. Not only is the Bible true; it is blunt and candid. Even the best of men described in the Bible are described with all their faults. We are told plainly of Adam's rebellion, Noah's drunkenness, David's adultery, Solomon's apostasy, Jonah's pity party, Peter's disavowal of his Master, Paul and Barnabas' strive. And consider the disciples' unbelief in the face of Christ's resurrection. The following is from The Berean Call, January 2005: "Scripture honestly reveals the flaws and sins of the best saints--even when such facts could have been avoided. Such honesty gives the ring of truth to Scripture. One of the strangest accounts concerns the disciples' unbelief in the face of Christ's resurrection. In fact, their skepticism and apparent unwillingness to believe, even when Christ met them face to face, seems so unlikely that no fiction writer would have dared to portray it. Christ indicts His disciples with 'hardness of heart' (Mk. 16:14). They did not believe, even when Christ appeared to them (Lk. 24:36-38). Yet one of the thieves crucified with Christ believed in His resurrection, or he would not have asked, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom' (Lk. 23:42). The disciples' doubts were without excuse in view of the many Messianic prophecies. That they could be so blind to the Scripture, even after being taught personally by Christ over several years, should cause us to re-examine ourselves lest we be guilty of the same."

7. THE BIBLE'S INDESTRUCTIBILITY PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.

The following is from the Christian Home Bible Course:

The Greek writer, Porphyry, tried to destroy the credibility of the BIBLE back in 304 A.D. In the process he wrote fifteen books against the BIBLE and Christianity in general. Did he succeed? Apparently not. The BIBLE is still around (even stronger than before). And as for Porphyry, well, let's put it this way; can you name his fifteen books? Can anybody name just one? Can anyone even pronounce his name? Porphyry is just one of the many people who, throughout history, have tried to ban, burn, destroy, outlaw, restrict, ridicule or discredit the BIBLE. Another example is a Greek writer of satire, by the name of Lucian, who wrote two books in the second century to ridicule the BIBLE. These books were named The Dialogue of the Gods and The Dialogue of the Dead. There's an extremely good chance that you don't have a copy of either of these two books in your personal library. Yet you probably have a BIBLE somewhere around the house; a testimony to the BIBLE'S ability to "out survive" its attackers. If Porphyry and Lucian would have just read the BIBLE instead of attacking it they could have saved a lot of time, because the BIBLE says: "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever" (Psalm 12:6-7).

In A.D. 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict to stop Christians from worshipping and to destroy their scriptures. Twenty-five years later his successor, Constantine, issued another edict ordering 50 Bibles to be published at government expense. Too bad Diocletian didn't realize the promise from the Bible. "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever" (Isaiah 40:8).

Atheist Robert Ingersoll once boasted, "within 15 years I'll have the Bible lodged in a morgue." Well, within 15 years, Robert Ingersoll was lodged within a morgue, but the Bible lives on!

In the 1700"s the atheist French writer Voltaire said, "within 100 years, the Bible and Christianity will be swept out of existence, and pass into history." Well, within 50 years, Voltaire was swept out of existence and passed into history, and the Geneva Bible Society used Voltaire's house and printing press to print and distribute thousands of Bibles. This ironic twist of events should not have surprised anyone, because God had promised that "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). The very year that Voltaire said "50 years from now, the world will hear no more of the BIBLE," the British Museum paid $500,000 for an old manuscript of the BIBLE, while at the same time in Paris, one of Voltaire's books sold for eight cents.

Down through the centuries many attacks against the Bible have come through bitter persecution along with outright attempts to destroy it. Many attacks against the Bible have come from scoffers. But there have been some, who after examining the facts have changed their opinion. Here are two examples:

General Lew Wallace was a Territorial Governor following the days of the U.S. Civil War. He had been a Senator in Indiana at the age of 29 and was considered a very scholarly man. He had no confidence in Christianity or the BIBLE, so he set out to write a skeptical book to disprove both. In his study he instead found the BIBLE and Christ to be true, and became himself a devout Christian. General Wallace never wrote his book against the Bible. He wrote instead the classic Christian novel Ben Hur.

William Ramsey, the English scholar went to Asia Minor with the expressed purpose of proving the BIBLE was historically inaccurate. As he painstakingly poured over the ancient artifacts and details, to his amazement he found that the BIBLE was accurate down to the tiniest detail. The evidence was so convincing that Sir Ramsey himself became a Christian and a great Biblical scholar.

Down through the years, the BIBLE has been a mighty anvil that has worn out many of the puny hammers of the scoffers. (This section is from the Christian Home Bible Course; used by permission.)

8. THE BIBLE'S INVITATIONS PROVE IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.

The Bible invites the hearer to partake of its spiritual realities and thus prove for oneself its genuineness: "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8); "come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden" (Mt. 11:28); "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Re. 22:17); "ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ... come ye, buy and eat" (Is. 55:1); "look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else" (Is. 45:22).

The Bible promises that "he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself..." (1 Jn. 5:10). God will prove Himself to the sincere seeker. http://www.wayoflife.org