The Bible is the world's all-time best selling book. About 2.5 billion copies have been printed which are available in over 700 languages. Although the Bible has enjoyed such vast distribution and attention, it is read relatively little. Perhaps part of the reason the Bible is so neglected is the many doubts people have about this unique book. If the Bible came from the mouth of God, then the scriptures are believable when they speak of Jesus Christ and accurate when they touch the realm of science.
All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work . (2 Timothy 3:16,17)
The word "inspired" (theopneustos) in the original Greek language literally means "God-breathed". When the Bible claims to be inspired, we understand therefore, that it came from the mouth of God. It is God-breathed, inspired.
But a skeptic will say, "Everyone knows the Bible was written by men! The book of 1 Corinthians, for example, was written by a man named Paul. After all, the very first verse bears his name as the author." In reply to this we answer: "Yes, 1 Corinthians was written by Paul. Notice however, what Paul said in chapter 14, verse 37: "the things I write to you are the Lord's commandment." Paul knew the source of his writings and understood that he was like a pen in the hand of Almighty God. We must not view the Bible as the word of Paul, Peter, or Jeremiah, but rather, as the message God revealed through these men just as it is written in Jeremiah 1:9,
Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, 'behold, I have put my words in your mouth'.
The Bible writers were not like news reporters giving their personal interpretation of events they eye-witnessed, but were divinely guided as 2 Peter 1:20-21 says,
Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
God and man worked together in writing the scriptures. However, in this work, God is the author who dictated the message, and man is the writing instrument. Men were guided or inspired to write the exact message God wanted recorded in the Bible. Now that we have a fundamental understanding of inspiration and the origin of the Bible, let us look at some evidence of inspiration.
"We constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God" (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Scientific information in the Bible
Although the Bible is not primarily a book of science, it does contain numerous scientific facts. We laugh at the scientific knowledge of just a hundred years ago. If man alone were the author of the Bible, we would expect to find many such humorous errors contained in it. However, if we examine the scientific data of the Bible and find it to be accurate to present-day knowledge, then we have powerful evidence for divine authorship. The scientific facts we are about to examine are not only accurate, but were revealed thousands of years before man discovered them for himself. The Bible does not contain any errors typical of the time in which it was written. Would we expect anything less from a book written by God?
The earth is round!
You may be surprised to learn that the Bible revealed that the earth is round. "He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness." Job 26:10,
"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in." Isaiah 40:22. Today, we chuckle at the people of the fifteenth century who feared sailing because they thought they would fall over the edge of the flat earth. Yet the Bible revealed the truth in 1000 B.C. 2500 years before man discovered it for himself!
Read the Walls of Jericho where the archeologist who went out to prove that the Holy Bible was inaccurate ended up giving his life to Jesus > Walls of Jericho Archeology Dig
The Hydrologic Water Cycle
Revealed in the Bible: "He draws up the drops of water,
which distill as rain to the streams [a] ;
28 the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind." Job 36:27-28
The water cycle was not fully understood until about 30 B.C. by a Roman engineer named Marcus Vitruvius. Yet every aspect of the water cycle was fully revealed to mankind in 1600 B.C.! The Bible's description is in perfect harmony with modern science. The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again. Eccl 1:6-7; 11:3;
He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. Job 26:8;
"he who builds his lofty palace [a] in the heavens
and sets its foundation [b] on the earth,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out over the face of the land—
the LORD is his name".Amos 9:6. Vitruvius was 1600 years too late!
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