Is the Bible the Word of God?
Many people accept the Bible as the Word of God without having studied it first, while others reject it believing that it is just another religious book among many others. There is yet a third category of individuals who claim that the Bible had changed their lives, that God had spoken to them through it, and that it is the truth revealed by God!
This article seeks to find the answer to the following questions: Is the Bible trustworthy for us? Is it truly the Word of God as it claims to be? Is it a unique book, different to all other books written by mankind? Does it contain God’s message for all of mankind?
If the Bible contains God’s message for mankind, then it should be the most widely available and translated book throughout the world. It would naturally contain statements as “Thus speaks God.” It would speak living words full of wisdom to the hearts of people, contain prophecies foretelling the future. It would begin with the creation of the world, and would carry us throughout important events in the history of mankind up to the eternity. It would carry a description of God, his will, his commandment, his plan.
Does the Bible meet these and other requirements to prove that it is truly God’s holy book?
First we can say for sure that the Bible is a unique book. It has been translated into more languages than any other books, so that 90% of the world’s population can read it in their native tongue! It has been printed in billions of copies, exceeding the print run of any other religious or non-religious book! The Holy Scriptures have survived times when many leaders wanted to destroy it, it resisted throughout the centuries to various forms of opposition and fierce critics, and it influenced more than any other book morals, history, beliefs, culture and life itself.
The Bible declares about itself to have been inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) It also states that the people who wrote the books of the Bible did not perform the writing by their own minds or their own wisdom, but by God’s Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21) We can illustrate the inspiration of Scripture with the activity of a prompter, who whispers the actors on stage what to say, or we can compare it with an executive who dictates his secretary what to write. Likewise, all Scripture is inspired of God by means of Holy Spirit who spoke to God’s holy ones.—2 Samuel 23:2.
Mankind has many books called holy, however none other of them claims about itself to be inspired of God or to contain the very speech or word of God. No holy book contains laws written by God with His own finger in a way Moses received the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 5:1-22). The Bible contains statements like, “This is what the true God says,” (2 Chronicles 24:20) “This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says.” (1 Samuel 10:18) It contains the words uttered by God himself for mankind, by the Son of God, and by God’s angelic or human messengers, sent by Him.—Hebrews 1:1, 2; 2:2.
The Bible is also scientifically accurate. Though it is a book targeted to human spirituality, and not a science book, the Bible refers to facts which science had not discovered until fairly recently, which proves its divine origins, since it contains superior knowledge and wisdom than was available during the time it was written.
In ancient times when the Bible was being written, there was much speculation about how the earth was held in space. Some believed that the earth was supported by four elephants standing on a big sea turtle. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist of the fourth century B.C.E., taught that the earth could never hang in empty space. Instead, he taught that the heavenly bodies were fixed to the surface of solid, transparent spheres, with each sphere nested within another sphere. Supposedly the earth was on the innermost sphere, and the outermost sphere held the stars.
Yet, rather than reflect the fanciful, unscientific views existing at the time of its writing, the Bible simply stated (in about the year 1473 B.C.E.): “[God is] suspending the earth upon nothing.” (Job 26:7) In the original Hebrew, the word for “nothing” used here means “not any thing,” and this is the only time it occurs in the Bible. The picture it presents of an earth surrounded by empty space is recognized by scholars as a remarkable vision for its time. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament says: “Job 26:7 strikingly pictures the then-known world as suspended in space, thereby anticipating future scientific discovery.” The Bible’s accurate statement predated Aristotle by over 1,100 years. Yet, Aristotle’s views continued to be taught as fact for some 2,000 years after his death! Finally, in 1687 C.E., Sir Isaac Newton published his findings that the earth was held in space in relation to other heavenly objects by mutual attraction, that is, gravity. But that was close to 3,200 years after the Bible had stated with elegant simplicity that the earth is hanging “upon nothing.”
Another example of the Bible’s accuracy relate to its statements on the shape of the earth. There was a time when people believed the earth to be flat, however, the Bible was not influenced by such views, and it held to the truth from the very beginning! About 2,700 before man mad space travel possible, the Bible said in Isaiah 40:22: “There is One who dwells above the circle of the earth.” Thus the Bible does not hold the view of a flat earth, it rather says that the earth is spherical.
Another statement showing that the Bible agrees with science is the one recorded in the book of Genesis: “Jehovah God went on to form the man out of dust from the ground.” (Genesis 2:7) The World Book Encyclopedia says: “All the chemical elements that make up living things are also present in nonliving matter.” So all the basic chemicals that make up living organisms, including man, are also found in the earth itself. This harmonizes with the Bible’s statement that identifies the material God used in creating humans and all other living things.
Another set of proofs testifying to the divine inspiration of the Bible consists of fulfilled prophecies. The Scriptural prophecies are not enigmatic, ciphered or interpretable in dozens of ways like the predictions of Nostradamus or similar prognosticators, but they are clear, precise, and accurate in details and relate to people, lands, cities, nations, events occurring during a certain timespan. In fact, the Bible was not written to the highly educated or scholarly ones, but for those who become like young children, humble, eager to be taught by our heavenly Father.—Matthew 18:1-3.
The fulfilled prophecies recorded in the Bible prove that the Holy Scriptures are trustworthy, that they are a witness of the truth, and a book inspired of God, because people do not have the ability to precisely foreknow the future. (Jeremiah 10:23; 2 Peter 1:20, 21) The Bible contains scores of prophecies that had come true in a very precise manner. Let us consider a few examples.
The Bible had predicted the fall of the powerful Babylonian Empire 200 years before it happened, and even stated the name of the conqueror before he was even born. This individual, “Cyrus”, would deliver the people of Israel out of the Babylonian captivity. This was recorded before the Israelites were sent into exile, and history confirmed the accuracy of these prophecies. (Isaiah 14:3, 4; 44:26–45:2) The Scriptures foretold that the waters of the Euphrates, previously a protection for Babylon, would dry up and that the gates of Babylon would be opened before Cyrus. (Jeremiah 50:38; Isaiah 13:17-19; 44:27–45:1) According to the historian Herodotus, the prophecy fulfilled in every minor detail. Also regarding Babylon, there are other prophecies uttered in the eighth century B.C.E. about its complete destruction. (Isaiah 13:19-22; 14:22, 23) In the first century C.E. the city only had a handful of inhabitants. (1 Peter 5:13) The Bible predicted that Babylon would become a pile of ruins. And that is how it happened! Today Babylon is nothing more than that, since in the year 363 C.E. Roman emperor Julian destroyed everything that was left of the city, thus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy 1,200 years after it was pronounced.
The Bible accounts for many other prophecies with impressive fulfillment.
A further sample of fulfilled prophecies are the Messianic prophecies that came true in the life of Jesus Christ. The Hebrew Scriptures contain over 300 prophetic references to Him, and some of them were recorded 1,500 years before Jesus was even born. Many prophecies’ coming true did not even depend on Jesus’ actions. The chart below lists some of the major prophecies concerning the Christ:
Event Prophecy Fulfillment
Born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14 Luke 1:26, 27
Massacre of the infants Jeremiah 31:15 Matthew 2:16-18
Flees to Egypt Hoseah 11:1 Matthew 2:14, 15
Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11:12 Matthew 26:14, 15
Struck, spit on Isaiah 50:6 Matthew 26:67
Hated without cause Psalm 35:19 John 15:24, 25
Numbered with sinners Isaiah 53:12 Mark 15:27,28
Hands and feet pierced Zechariah 12:10;
Psalm 22:1, 7, 8, 16, 18 John 20:27
Reviled while on the cross Psalm 22:7, 8 Luke 23:35
Given vinegar and gall Psalm 69:21 Matthew 27:34, 48
Lots cast for garments Psalm 22:17, 18 Matthew 27:35, 36
No bones broken Psalm 34:20 John 19:32, 33, 36
Pierced in the side Zechariah 12:10 John 19:34
These are just a few examples of prophecies which testify to the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible has proved trustworthy by hundreds of fulfilled prophecies, which strengthens our faith of its being truly the Word of God and that many other prophecies concerning the future of mankind will also certainly come true.
Let us read the Holy Bible daily, meditate upon it and pray to God so that He might speak to us and give us advice by means of His Word so that we grow to salvation. In 1 Peter 2:2 we get the following advice: “As newborn infants, form a longing for the unadulterated milk of the word, so that by means of it you may grow to salvation.” Let each of us find the salvation given by God through the Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures as we nourish ourselves daily with the spiritual milk of the Word of God!