The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest

Vol: 36 Issue: 8 - Wednesday, September 08, 2004

Special Report: Reasons to Believe
by Jack Kinsella

What with the recent round of assaults by the God-haters seeking to
'disprove' the Bible by trying to suck people into debates where they can
pose ridiculous questions to unprovable details, like the virgin birth or
the Resurrection, or whether or not some scholar's method of dating is in
error, there are certain facts about Scripture that are beyond debate.

(Although I bet I get challenges anyway)

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for
they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

The God-haters argue that the Bible is a dishonest record that, if
properly scrutinized, is filled with errors. In fact the reverse is true.

The Bible is painfully honest. It shows Jacob, the father of its "chosen
people," to be a deceiver. (His name even means 'deceiver') It describes
Moses, the lawgiver, as an insecure, reluctant leader, who, in his first
attempt to come to the aid of his own people, killed a man, and then ran
for his life into the desert to avoid punishment.

It portrays David not only as Israel's most loved king, general, and
spiritual leader, but as a man who took another man's wife and then, to
cover his own sin, conspired to have her husband killed.

Israel, God's Chosen People, are depicted in Scripture (Ezekiel 16:46-52)
as being so evil they made Sodom and Gomorrah look good.

The Apostle Peter denied Jesus three times, and, together with most of the
Apostles, abandoned Jesus and ran for their lives. The Apostle Paul is
self-described as the 'chief among sinners' who had the blood of the
Christian martyrs on his hand.

Despite arguments from the God-haters that the Bible was changed after the
fact to make it appear prophetic, the Dead Sea Scrolls prove otherwise.
Among the most important finds in the treasure trove of ancient documents
discovered in a cave in 1947 was a complete copy of the Book of Isaiah.

It varied from the modern book of Isaiah only in matters of dialect and
the use of vowels.  The Bible's preservation over the centuries is nothing
short of miraculous, but, of course, that is because the Bible is a
miracle in and of itself.

The Bible, particularly the New Testament, employs the use of eyewitness
accounts, as well as Divine Revelation, to teach its eternal truths.  Paul
writes:

"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is
also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have
testified of God that he raised up Christ: Whom He raised not up, if so be
that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ
raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in
your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:14-17)

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the resurrected Jesus had
been seen by more than five hundred witnesses, (1 Corinthians 15:1-6) many
of whom Paul writes, were alive at the time, in case anybody wanted to do
a little fact checking.

It is not unreasonable to assume that the God-haters of Paul's time were
just as dedicated to disproving the Resurrection story in the 1st century
as they are in the 21st.  Paul provided the opportunity, but there were
evidently no takers.

Many of the witnesses ended up as martyrs, not for abstract moral or
spiritual convictions but for their claim that Jesus had risen from the
dead.

While martyrdom is not unusual, the basis on which these people gave their
lives is what IS important. Many have died for what they believed to be
the truth. But people do not die for what they KNOW to be a lie.

The Bible's composition also defies the God-haters contentions. Forty
different authors writing over a period of 1,600 years penned the 66 books
of the Bible. Four hundred silent years separated the 39 books of the Old
Testament from the 27 of the New Testament.

Yet, from Genesis to Revelation, they tell one unfolding story.  Each book
flows seamlessly into the next, gradually unfolding, without
contradiction, the progressive Revelation of God to man.  Although the
Bible is made up of many books, it is really just one.

The God-haters throughout history have tried to make the case for Bible
errancy based on the absence of historical evidence of its accuracy. One
such argument concerned the historical reality of Pontius Pilate.

Pilate, according to Scripture, was the Roman governor of Judea. The
Romans kept meticulous records, but there was no record of Pontius Pilate
among them. For centuries, the historical absence of Pilate was the
God-haters 'gotcha' question.

But in 1961, archaeologists found a stone inscription at the excavation of
an old Roman temple located in Caesarea in Israel.  It was constructed by
Pilate in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, (called a Tiberieum).

It says in Latin:"TIBERIEUM (PON)TIUS PILATUS (PRAEF)ECTUSIUD" identifying
Pontius Pilate as Rome's prefect in the time of Jesus.

The Bible names Caiaphas as the chief of the Sanhedrin who oversaw the
trial of Jesus.  His existence was also questioned, since the only record
of his existence is in the Gospels.

Until 1990 when an ossuary was discovered bearing the inscription,
Caiaphas ben-Joseph was discovered in Jerusalem.

The discovery of Caiaphas ben Joseph's ossuary established -- for the
first time -- that such a historical personage actually lived and
artifacts in the box indicated he died sometime after AD 37.

The ossuary's discovery was announced in the Biblical Archeological Review
(BAR). It is important to note that the BAR is a Jewish secular
organization. They do not take a position of Biblical inerrancy. And being
Jews - secular or otherwise -- they have nothing to gain by proving the
existence of Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus Christ Himself verified the accuracy of Scripture, which, while
meaningless to the Godhaters, is undeniable proof to those who know Him.

He said, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not
willing to come to Me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40)

The Book of Daniel is one of the books the Godhaters hate the most, since
it contains details about global empires that came to power centuries
after Daniel's death.

For that reason, many advance the argument that Daniel is a forgery
written sometime during the Macabean Revolt of BC 163 to encourage the
revolutionaries.

But Jesus Christ verified Daniel as 'a prophet' (and He oughta know).
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by
Daniel THE PROPHET, stand in the holy place . . " (Matthew 24:15)

The books of Moses were written 500 years before the earliest Hindu
Scriptures. Moses wrote Genesis 2,000 years before Muhammad penned the
Koran.  In all those generations, Godhaters and skeptics have sought to
discredit its testimony.

If anybody actually ever did, Christianity would be a dead religion today.
As noted earlier, who wants to die for a lie?  Despite centuries of
attacks, no other book has been so consistently bought, studied, and
quoted as the Bible.  While millions of other titles come and go, the
Bible is still the Book by which all other books are measured.

Then there is the Bible's most undeniable evidence -- its power to change
lives.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon vainly searched for peace until he heard this
verse quoted by a country preacher: "Look to Me, and be saved, all you
ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22).

Martin Luther found deliverance for his sin and the spark that ignited the
Protestant Reformation when he read these words: "The just shall live by
his faith'' (Habakkuk 2:4).

Chuck Colson, convicted Watergate conspirator, came to the truth through
the faithful witness and clear teaching of the Bible by some of his
friends. He now directs a ministry for prisoners, and his book 'Born
Again' has influenced many who were trapped by the consequences of their
own behavior.

Hal Lindsey was a hard-drinking Missippi riverboat captain before hearing
God's call.  I was a cynical, hard-bitten Texas cop when the Lord changed
me.

The God-haters, not understanding the concept of grace, discount the
evidence of changed lives, arguing instead that such people still sin.
(The preaching of the cross is foolishness to the natural man, remember?)

There will always be idiots who will focus on whether or not Solomon had
four thousand horses (2nd Chronicles 9:25) or forty thousand horses (1
Kings 4:26) when what both books refer to are 'stalls' and not horses at
all.  One passage refers to just horses and horsemen, while the other, if
one looks closely, refers to horses, horsemen AND chariots.

It is a dishonest debate they seek.  But they don't have an answer for why
the Apostles chose death rather than deny Jesus. They don't explain why
the 1st century Christians willingly went to their deaths rather than deny
Jesus.

They don't explain how the Bible can be so brutally honest and
simultaneously be corrupt, despite the historical evidence of its
incorruption.

And they can't explain away its power.

Remove the Bible from history and our social structure collapses into
chaos. What happens to our laws, our police, and our judges? What happens
to the weak, the defenseless, the downtrodden, the lonely, and the
despairing?

One shudders to think of the tribulation that would fall upon our world.
One trembles at the heartlessness, the cruelty, the deprivation of an
unrestrained mankind.

Noted one apologist, "Take it all away, and what is left? A Milton without
a poem; a Michelangelo without a theme; a Dante without a vision; a Handel
without inspiration; a Whitefield without a sermon."

There have always been self-important wannabes who seek fame by being the
first one in history to conclusively disprove the Word of God.  The
Scripture says they will continue in their efforts until the Lord returns
at the end of the Tribulation Period.

The Scriptures tell us to 'trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean
not on our own understanding' (Proverbs 3:5) when faced by glib-tongued
Godhaters seeking to steal your victory.

As Paul awaited his own martyrdom, from a prison cell in Rome, he wrote
the following words:

"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and doctrine".

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having
itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and
shall be turned unto fables." (2nd Timothy 4:1-4)