By what name are books of

Moses collectively

known?

Welcome to Family Builders

The Pentateuch

Answering the Bible Question:

Is the Bible the Word of God?

Pastor Eric S. LewisShadow Mountain Community Church

Series ReviewWeek 1

What does the Bible claim about itself? (Doctrine)

Week 2How do we know that the Bible’s claims are

true? (Apologetics)Week 3

How do I know my English Bible is reliable? (Compilation and Translation)

Last week we discussed…The Bible claims to be…

God’s revelation to mankindInspired by God word for word and

in its entirety and therefore without error

The Holy Spirit helps the believer to understand the inspired words

These concepts are known as the doctrines of the Bible.

This week we will discuss If the Bible is inspired, as it

claims to be, one should expect it to be…

Prophetically accurate?Archeologically accurate?Scientifically accurate? Bibliographically reliable?These are the apologetic

questions

Two Concessions Need to be Made

One cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that God exists much less that He wrote a book.

The study of Apologetics is to enforce the beliefs of the Christian NOT to convince the unbeliever.

Prophetic AccuracyWhen a prophet speaks

in the name of the LORD, if the thing does

not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD

has not spoken The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of

him. -Deuteronomy 18:22

Fullfilled Prophecies of the Bible

Tyre will be conqueredAmos 1:9-10

Tyre will be thrown into the seaEzekiel 26:12

Tyre will be attacked by many nationsEzekiel 26:3

Archeological Accuracy

If the bible is true…There must be

some evidence to support it in Archeology

There cannot be an archeological fact that disproves the Scripture.

Archeological Accuracy

City of Jericho found (1936)Walls are now flatJoshua 6:20

Sodom excavationsEvidence found of brimstone and earth

quakeGezer excavations

Hebrew, Egyptian and Philistine artifacts found together

1 Kings 9:16

Archeological Accuracy

There is NO known fact of Archeology that is not consistent with the

Biblical record.

Scientific Accuracy

“The Bible is not a science book, but where it does touch on science, it

does so perfectly.”-Dr. George W. Hare

Chancellor, Southern CA Seminary

The Scientific Accuracy of the Bible

That stars are all different1 Corinthians

15:41The earth is

roundIsaiah 40:22

Questions?

Ok, so the original texts may be the Word of God, when they were written but we

do not have the originals any more.

How close are the Greek and Hebrew texts that we have today to the

originals that Paul and Peter wrote?

Bibliographic Reliability

There are two tests applied to all ancient literature to determine

bibliographic reliability1. Number of extant manuscripts2. Historical proximity of the

manuscripts to the original

Bibliographic Reliability1. Gaelic Wars by Julius Caesar

1. 10 Extant manuscripts2. Oldest MSS is from circa 900 AD

2. Homer’s Iliad1. 643 Extant manuscripts2. The first one is from the 400 B.C.

3. The New Testament1. More that 25,000 manuscripts and

fragments2. The first one dates to 70 A.D.

To Sum Up:

The Bible can be accepted to be…

Prophetically accurateArcheologically accurateScientifically accurate Bibliographically reliable

So What?“The Bible is the

Word of God in such a way that whatever it says,

God says.” -Dr. B. B. Warfield

Questions?

Ok, so the original language texts may be the Word of God, but I don’t read or

write ancient Greek or Hebrew. I have to read in English.

How close is my English translation to the original and what about all these

different translations?