Why Should You Trust the Bible?

Trust in the Bible is fundamental to belief. It is the primary way in which we understand the nature of God, His expectations for us, and how we build our trust in Him by understanding how He has operated throughout time. Our perception of the Bible has deep ramifications. It can tilt us toward fortifying our faith in Him or slowly diminish our faith until doubts overwhelm our beliefs.

On a recent Everyday Theology single chair episode entitled “How do I know the Bible is True,” three reasons were given to have confidence in the validity of the Bible. The first was its cohesiveness. The Bible was written over 1600 years on three different continents (Africa, Asia, Europe), in three different languages (Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic), yet maintains one message of God’s redemption through Jesus Christ despite all those variables. Secondly, the textual copies of the biblical manuscripts far outweigh any other historical work and can be traced back to the 2nd century. Lastly, Jesus Christ confirmed the authenticity of the Bible through His acknowledgments of the Old Testament and His life (John 5:39).

However, there are plenty of other reasons that grounds the dependability of the Bible. These include its fulfilled prophecies, archeological discoveries, and changed lives.

Fulfilled Prophecies

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’ — when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him” (Deut. 18:20–22).

People have posited prophetic words for centuries. They have claimed to have exclusive proverbs and insights grounded in some divine source. However, in assessing these claims’ legitimacy, the Bible explicitly provides a criterion for discerning between truth and falsehood. In the Deuteronomy verses, Yahweh essentially states that if a prophecy is fulfilled, it can be trusted. If it isn’t, it should be disregarded.

The exact number of bible prophecies is difficult to state. However, most scholars agree that there are well over 1,000. Since the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the pinnacle of God’s redemptive plan, we will focus on some prophecies particularly pertaining to Him. Hundreds have been associated with Christ, but here are a few noteworthy ones:

This is only a modest number of prophecies Christ fulfilled but seeing that these were predicted hundreds of years before Christ is remarkable. It further proves the legitimacy of the Bible, especially when you continue to look at the sheer improbable number of prophecies that people uttered through the power of God.

Archeological Discoveries

The further away we get from the time in which the various books of the Bible were written, the more people question its validity and relevance. One way in which Scripture has continued to be rooted in historical truth is through archeological discoveries that have confirmed many aspects of the biblical narrative. Here are three important archaeological discoveries:

1️⃣ Dead Sea Scrolls: One of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century is the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1947, shepherds made an initial discovery of these documents, but there have been other findings all falling near the Jordan Valley and Judean Desert. They contain hundreds of “fragmentary documents — including fragments of 190 biblical scrolls.”[1] These documents date back to the mostly the first or second century BC, contain nearly every Old Testament book, and are particularly important for solidifying the reliability of biblical text transmission because it shows inconsequential differences between these and other texts.

2️⃣ Mesha Stele: 2 Kings 3:4–27 records the revolt of Mesha, king of Moab, against Israel. The Mesha Stele (i.e. the Moabite Stone) records this rebellion. It corroborates biblical history and even names Yahweh as the God of Israel.

3️⃣ Rosetta Stone: Most people have heard the phrase “Rosetta Stone” but don’t realize its significance in relation to the Bible. In the late 18th century, the Rosetta Stone was discovered near a Mediterranean port city. This Egyptian stela (or standing stone slab) was crucial to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, including a large amount of historical texts related to the Bible. One example is the Merneptah Stele, which contains the earliest account of an ancient people called Israel.

Changed Lives

In the early 2000’s the term “New Atheists” became associated with a slew of unbelieving academics, scientists, and philosophers who were essentially evangelists for atheism. They openly and regularly critiqued and challenged the rationality of religion, and particularly Christianity.

Aayan Hirsi Ali was one of the New Atheists who was also a former Muslim. She recently converted to Christianity, and in her column explaining her conversion, she stated, “I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?”[1]

The Christian faith (and more specifically the Holy Spirit) is responsible for an unfathomable amount of changed lives throughout history. Articles, books, and first-hand accounts records a countless number of testimonies. Even the Bible itself recounts conversions (e.g. Paul, James, etc.) from those who encountered Jesus Christ.

In Matt. 7:16 Jesus states, “you will know them by their fruit.” This statement regarding discerning between true followers and false ones. However, it implies that people’s lives would have been changed in such a way that they produce good fruit, or rather, their lives reflect Christ’s righteous ways. It does not mean they will be perfect. But as the late Pastor Adrian Rogers once said, “It’s not the perfection of your life, but the direction.”

There is a plethora of reasons to trust the Bible. That’s part of what makes the Christian faith so unique. Its credibility is grounded in many things, some surely more important than others, but nonetheless, reliable.

For more, check out this episode of Everyday Theology ⤵️