A Look at the Evidence

The Inspiration of the Bible

All Scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.—2 Timothy 3:16

David Stein

The Information Age this may be, but it is also an age of cynicism and agnosticism. While the Bible has been attacked through all of the ages, the onslaught in this day and age is particularly savage. How can one, in the age of information and scientific enlightenment, believe in the divine inspiration of a book written between two and three millennia ago? Is it rational? These are questions every believer must ultimately confront.

To be sure, a spirit-begotten Christian has the holy spirit as well as the intellectual accomplishment of learning the teachings of the Bible. The holy spirit moves us in supernatural ways in our relationship and communication with God. But that fact is not generally something one can use to convince others. The starting point must always be Scripture.

Paul believed and taught that there is such a thing as inspired Scripture because he wrote, "All Scripture given by inspiration of God." Inspiration is a claim registered for the Bible.

One of the interesting things about the Bible is that it is the result of the writing of those whose lives spanned nearly 1,600 years. From Moses to the apostle John, the Bible contains historical, poetic, and doctrinal themes from the pens of many. With so many contributors we might expect there would be a diversity, perhaps even contrary opinions within the writings. However, we find a consistency of theme, a thread of continuity from Genesis to Revelation. It is as though there was collusion among the members of the group to produce something cogent and inspiring. Clearly this could not be done over such a long period of time. The conclusion that there must be a single mind and influence behind it is inescapable. That that mind is God’s takes a little more faith.

The Theme of Atonement

One common theme is atonement. In the book of Genesis we are introduced to the idea of sacrificial offerings. Abel sacrificed animals and God approved of them (Hebrews 11:4). The great patriarchs and ancient worthies all conducted such ritual sacrifices. The Law received by Moses stipulated specific sets of animal sacrifices for all occasions and circumstances—all of which had as their result a restoration of some level of acceptability with God. Why would an omniscient and omnipotent God desire such seeming barbarity? What could possibly be accomplished by the shedding of animal blood?

This question is answered by the coming of Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice to restore acceptability before God. The entire object of animal sacrifice was to point to the need of a single and noble human sacrifice to complete and thoroughly offset the effects of sin. The apostle Paul wrote many pages on this topic, all in explanation of atonement. Truly, in the absence of such an explanation, animal sacrifices may indeed seem barbaric. But the main point is that atonement, typified by animal sacrifices and realized in the ransom of Jesus, is a 1,600-year theme, an inspired theme, a consistent theme providing evidence of a single mind behind the writings.

We can go from a big-picture overview to the tiny details to see other things that are hard to explain apart from divine inspiration. Under the Law of Moses a ritual called circumcision was codified. Part of the specification is that the procedure take place on the eighth day after birth (Leviticus 12:3). Why the eighth day? In modern times biochemists have found that a chemical precursor to vitamin K which expedites blood clotting reaches a high of 800% above normal adult levels on the eighth day after birth. After the eighth day the level begins to return again to normal levels. How is it that Moses knew that the survival of the baby is at its highest probability on the eighth day? Moses didn’t know; God did.

Many believe that the knowledge the earth is round was not attained until Columbus discovered the New World. That is not historically true. Some ancient scientists had concluded they lived on a globe, but it was not common knowledge. However, the Bible shows evidence of such knowledge in the ancient world. In Isaiah 40:21,22 the Scripture describes something we now take for granted: "Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? 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."

The cynics of our generation might say that a circle is two dimensional and the text simply confirms the false idea that the earth is flat. Thus the text in that detail might be seen simply as ambiguous, not proving a flat earth or one that is a globe. But note also that the prophet describes the heavens as stretched out and spread as a "tent to dwell in." Just as a tent is protective of its occupants against the elements, so is the atmospheric "tent" in which we dwell. It provides a comfortable environment and also protects us against extraterrestrial dangers such as radiation and meteors. The poetic language inspired by God reflects real science!

Job says, "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:7). This description comes as no surprise to any astronaut. That it should be contained in the Bible is a surprise to some. For many of us it is simply another indicator of the supernatural origin of what we characterize as God’s Word.

Prophecy

One of the most convincing aspects illustrating the inspiration of the Bible is prophecy. However, prophecy is by its very nature interpretive. What is solid and persuasive to one is superficial and conjectural to another. Yet if prophecy can be shown to be true, an unbeliever must explain how the prophet could have gotten it right before the fact if not from the inspiration received from a higher Being.

One text which is very difficult to brush aside is a prophecy concerning King Cyrus some two centuries before he was born. Although not of Israel, the prophecy says this king would appear and would become a great conqueror. We read: "[Thus saith the LORD] 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. Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut" (Isaiah 44:28 through 45:1).

Jewish tradition holds that Cyrus was told by Jewish authorities that his coming was foretold in Scripture, something that is very hard to do when the prophecy was written so long before the fact!

There are many prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures which point to the Messiah. These lead inescapably to Jesus though the Jews in their blindness have failed to acknowledge it (Romans 11:25). The accuracy, precision, and abundance of these prophecies is powerful evidence of the inspiration of the Bible. A few of these prophecies are:

Messiah to be born of the tribe of Judah—Genesis 49:10

Messiah to be born of the family of David—Psalm 132:11; Isaiah 11:1

Messiah to be born in Bethlehem—Micah 5:2

Messiah to be born of a virgin—Isaiah 7:14

Messiah to be called out of Egypt—Hosea 11:1

Messiah to enter Jerusalem on the colt of an ass—Zechariah 9:9

Messiah to be betrayed by a close intimate—Psalm 41:9; 109:8

Messiah to be pierced—Zechariah 12:10

Messiah to be rejected, tortured, and executed—Isaiah 53:3-9

Messiah to have no bones broken—Psalm 34:20 (also in the Passover type—Exodus 12:46)

Messiah to be in the grave parts of three days—Jonah 1:17

All these prophecies found fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. Even the year of the commencement of his ministry and his execution can be found in the chronological prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel chapter nine.*

One more set of prophecies which have had dramatic fulfillment in the twentieth century concern the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. The regathering of the Jewish people from all nations of the earth and the establishment of the modern nation of Israel after nearly 2,000 years of scattering is unprecedented in human history. These prophecies have been a frequent subject in the pages of this journal. The fact of Israel’s renewed existence is evidence of the divine authorship of the prophecies of the Bible.

The Bible’s Impact on People

What is convincing evidence of divine origin to one is not necessarily persuasive to another. But there is one more evidence of the divine origin of the Bible that is rarely mentioned: the high and noble principles of behavior outlined in Scripture. Qualities such as love, mercy, sacrifice, compassion, justice, patience, faithfulness, generosity, gratitude, tolerance, and understanding are characteristics which are encouraged and inculcated in the Bible. We see in those whohave consecrated themselves to follow the teachings of Jesus evidence of these very qualities. A Christian begins to reflect these traits through a study of God’s word and careful attention to its teachings. The Bible claims these are all features of the character of God. Since we are told that "God is love" (1John 4:16), we should expect that people consecrated to becoming "godlike" would manifest this trait and thus give confirmatory evidence of the inspiration of God’s word.

Of course skeptics take a contrary view and claim that the Bible has repeatedly produced people who are hateful and violent. They point to the history of the organized church to show the oppression, intolerance, and horrors of religion. Unfortunately such terrible behavior has come from some who name the name of Christ. On the other hand there have also been many individuals whose character is quite different from such bad examples. They have amply manifested the spiritual characteristics and God-like qualities the Bible describes. How can one book produce individuals with such diametrically opposite characteristics? The answer is simple: One group truly represents the fruit of the teachings of the Bible, the other group does not.

The existence of spiritually rich and enriching individuals is powerful evidence of the existence of a loving God. God’s consecrated people, the Church of Christ, stand as persuasive proof of the validity of the divine origin of Scripture.

* For a fuller treatment of this powerful prophecy see "The 70 Weeks of Daniel" in the November-December 1998 Herald.