How do we know that the information in the Bible is the Truth?

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There can be no doubt about the fact that the Bible does claim to be the very Word of God. This is clearly seen in verses like 2 Timothy 3:15-17, which say, “. . .from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

In order to answer these questions we must look at both the internal and external evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word. The internal evidences are those things internal to the Bible itself that testify of its divine origin. One of the first internal evidences that the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in its unity. Even though it is really sixty-six individual books, written on three continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1500 years, by more that 40 authors (who came from many walks of life), the Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. This unity is unique from all other books and is evidence of the divine origin of the words as God moved men in such a way that they recorded His very words.

Another of the internal evidences that indicate the Bible is truly God’s Word is seen in the detailed prophecies contained within its pages. The Bible contains hundreds of detailed prophecies relating to the future of individual nations including Israel, to the future of certain cities, to the future of mankind, and to the coming of one who would be the Messiah, the Savior of not only Israel, but all who would believe in Him. Unlike the prophecies found in other religious books or those done by Nostradamus, the biblical prophecies are extremely detailed and have never failed to come true. There are over three hundred prophecies concerning Jesus Christ in the Old Testament alone. Not only was it foretold where He would be born and what family He would come from, but also how He would die and that He would rise again on the third day. There simply is no logical way to explain the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible other than by divine origin. There is no other religious book with the extent or type of predictive prophecy that the Bible has.

A third internal evidence of the divine origin of the Bible is seen in its unique authority and power. While this evidence is more subjective than the first two internal evidences, it is no less a very powerful testimony of the divine origin of the Bible. The Bible has a unique authority that is unlike any other book ever written. This authority and power are best seen in the way countless lives have been transformed by reading the Bible. Drug addicts have been cured by it, homosexuals have been set free by it, derelicts and deadbeats have been transformed by it, hardened criminals reformed by it, sinners are rebuked by it, and hate has been turned to love by reading it. The Bible does possess a dynamic and transforming power that is only possible because it is truly God’s Word.

Besides the internal evidence that the Bible is truly God’s Word there are also external evidences that indicate the Bible is truly the Word of God. One of those evidences is the historicity of the Bible. Because the Bible details historical events its truthfulness and accuracy is subject to verification like any other historical documentation. Through both archaeological evidences and other written documents, the historical accounts of the Bible have been proven time and time again to be accurate and true. In fact all the archaeological and manuscript evidence supporting the Bible makes it the best documented book from the ancient world. The fact that the Bible accurately and truthfully records historically verifiable events is a great indication of its truthfulness when dealing with religious subjects and doctrines and helps substantiate its claim that it is the very Word of God.

Throughout time, skeptics have regarded the Bible as mythological, but archeology has established it as historical. Opponents have attacked its teaching as primitive and outdated, but its moral and legal concepts and teachings have had a positive influence on societies and cultures throughout the world. It continues to be attacked by science, psychology, and political movements and yet remains just as true and relevant today as it was when it was first written. It is a book that has transformed countless lives and cultures throughout the last 2000 years. The accuracy which has been preserved despite every attempt to corrupt, attack, or destroy it, is clear testimony to the fact that the Bible is truly God’s Word. It should not surprise us that no matter how the Bible is attacked, it always comes out unchanged and unscathed. After all, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mark 13:31). After looking at the evidence one can say without a doubt that “Yes the Bible is truly God’s Word.”
 
By the way the Bible, which the Catholic Church gave to the world, has 73 books and not 66. That idiot Luther took out 7 books because they contradicted his beliefs.

INSPIRATION AND TRUTH OF SACRED SCRIPTURE

CCC 105 God is the author of Sacred Scripture. “The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”

“For Holy Mother Church, relying on the faith of the apostolic age, accepts as sacred and canonical the books of the Old and the New Testaments, whole and entire, with all their parts, on the grounds that, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and have been handed on as such to the Church herself.”

CCC 106 God inspired the human authors of the sacred books. “To compose the sacred books, God chose certain men who, all the while he employed them in this task, made full use of their own faculties and powers so that, though he acted in them and by them, it was as true authors that they consigned to writing whatever he wanted written, and no more.”

CCC 107 The inspired books teach the truth. “Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures.”

CCC 108 Still, the Christian faith is not a “religion of the book.” Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God, a word which is “not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living”. If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, "open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures
 
By not over-analyzing the history or theology. Apply Jesus’ moral teachings to your life, and the truth of the bible will prove itself.

Now if I could just apply it to my own life. . . . . .
 
Just an aside, consider the thread “Bible: God’s Word?” in the sacred scripture forum.
 
I’ve been looking for a good book on the exact history of the Bible (how many authors wrote it, where and when did they write it, etc…) I’d be very interested to find a book or source that really covers the history of the making of the Bible (not the information in the Bible), if anyone knows of one.

aide from that,
The Bible is actually known for its contradictions, as it contains many passages that contradict one another. There are countless websites that are devoted to this.

People can claim to be transformed by anything, any book and any scripture. The Bible is not unique in its transformations.

As said in this thread, faith is what’s important, not the science of history.
 
**How do we know that the information in the Bible is the Truth?

By grace through faith. If it could be scientifically proven without a doubt, it would not be faith and we would not have the choice to accept or reject God through our own free will, which is His will for us.
**
 
Could you explain how 2 Timothy 3:15-17 refers to the Bible, rather than the writings the author of the letter regarded at the time to be ‘scripture’?

Also, are you seriously suggesting that there are no contradictions in the Bible?
 
Could you explain how 2 Timothy 3:15-17 refers to the Bible, rather than the writings the author of the letter regarded at the time to be ‘scripture’?

Also, are you seriously suggesting that there are no contradictions in the Bible?
Are you seriously asking about 2 Tim. 3: 15-17? Read it and tell me what YOU think it means first and then we’ll go from there.
Yes, I’m seriously suggesting that there are no contradictions in the Bible. God can’t contradict Himself. 😉
 
**How do we know that the information in the Bible is the Truth? **

Short answer? Because Jesus Christ gave His Church His authority, and that Church said so. 😉
 
The Bible is actually known for its contradictions, as it contains many passages that contradict one another. There are countless websites that are devoted to this.
Those websites are bunk. Any alleged contradiction can be rectified through the proper interpretation.
 
There can be no doubt about the fact that the Bible does claim to be the very Word of God. This is clearly seen in verses like 2 Timothy 3:15-17
The Bible claims no such thing. Actually, what is going on in those verses is an affirmation of the OT by the NT. Since there is no inspired table of contents of the Bible, it is really irrelevant for any part of the NT to claim inspiration for the whole. In fact, there are several books in which the authors express doubt over the inspiration. To find out what those books are, look at any thread on the Deuterocanonicals.
 
First you have to define what is meant by “true” and what that truth applies to - hardly a simple thing.

Then you have to realize that you can’t possibly “know” you can only accept it as a matter of faith.
 
The Bible claims no such thing. Actually, what is going on in those verses is an affirmation of the OT by the NT. Since there is no inspired table of contents of the Bible, it is really irrelevant for any part of the NT to claim inspiration for the whole. In fact, there are several books in which the authors express doubt over the inspiration. To find out what those books are, look at any thread on the Deuterocanonicals.
The whole thing is inspired. Of course there need not be a table of contents for that. :rolleyes:
Do you see the Bible as necessary in living your faith? Yes or No.
 
I have to agree with “thistle”. It is my belief that the only reason we know that the info in the Bible is the truth is because the Catholic Church says so.

It doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If you remove Sacred Tradition and/or the Magesteruim, the Bible is no longer the word or God.
 
The whole thing is inspired. Of course there need not be a table of contents for that. :rolleyes:
Do you see the Bible as necessary in living your faith? Yes or No.
How do you know that the Bible - the whole thing - is inspired?
 
The whole thing is inspired. Of course there need not be a table of contents for that. :rolleyes:
Do you see the Bible as necessary in living your faith? Yes or No.
Of course the whole thing is inspired, but since the writers of the the various books of the Bible didn’t know they were being inspired, nor did they know the others were being inspired, and therefore had no idea what “the Bible” was, an inspired table of contents, or an infallible authority would be mighty helpful in saying which books were inspired.
oh, and necessary is a very strong word…i would say the Bible is very, VERY helpful in living my faith.
 
First you have to define what is meant by “true” and what that truth applies to - hardly a simple thing.

Then you have to realize that you can’t possibly “know” you can only accept it as a matter of faith.
“True” means “not false in any amount”.
This truth applies to whatever it mentions.
wow…that was simple…
 
I have no reason to believe that 2 Timothy 3:16 refers to the Bible itself. You first of all have to believe in the canon to imply it, so it is circular reasoning to invoke part of a text that was written before later parts of such a canon.

A good example of a contradiction is to look at the genealogies of Joseph. Unless you insert a rather torturous piece of commentary (which is not found within the Bible), you can’t get away from the fact that Matthew presents a different lineage from the one Luke presents.

If you look at the standard Christian methods for getting rid of contradictions, they all have the same thing in common. If you accept the presuppositions they put for ‘eliminating’ the contradictions, you have to twist reason so much that nothing in the world could be called a contradiction. This is why theologians generally accept that contradictions exist and scholarship is undertaken within this, rather than against it.
 
A good example of a contradiction is to look at the genealogies of Joseph. Unless you insert a rather torturous piece of commentary (which is not found within the Bible), you can’t get away from the fact that Matthew presents a different lineage from the one Luke presents.

If you look at the standard Christian methods for getting rid of contradictions, they all have the same thing in common. If you accept the presuppositions they put for ‘eliminating’ the contradictions, you have to twist reason so much that nothing in the world could be called a contradiction. This is why theologians generally accept that contradictions exist and scholarship is undertaken within this, rather than against it.
The explanation of the geneologies of Joseph that i’ve heard which makes the most sense involves the Jewish custom of a man marrying his brother’s or other male relative’s widow. One of the geneologies show’s Joseph’s biological father, and the other is his adoptive father, who, after his marriage to the widow (Joseph’s mother), would be Joseph’s legal father.

I really don’t see anything tenuous or torturous about this explanation, and now i will proceed to make a semi-fallacious appeal to authority and tradition. Do you really think that nigh on 2000 years of Christians could have failed to notice the discrepancy, or just chose to ignore it? If there is an unexplainable error in Scripture, then it clearly is not God-breathed.
 
The whole thing is inspired. Of course there need not be a table of contents for that. :rolleyes:
Do you see the Bible as necessary in living your faith? Yes or No.
No table of contents necessary? Oh. Right. That’s why Luther took out those books he didn’t want – because the table of contents didn’t count. So the uninspired and unnecessary canon of scripture came from the Reformation. I can buy that.
 
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