The Christian Bible holds the Guinness world record as the best-selling book of all time, stating, “…research conducted by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 2021 suggests that the total number probably lies between 5 and 7 billion copies.” They go on to say there are an estimated 80 million copies printed each year. That equates to ~219,000 copies printed around the globe every day. The Bible is indisputably the most popular book in human history, but that fact does not mean the Bible is of divine origin. Let’s briefly examine a few indicators that the Bible is in fact the word of God.
- Internal Claims – the Bible itself claims to be the inspired word of God (2 Tim. 3:16), meaning it claims to have been “God-breathed” (theopneustos). This self-ascribed description is the first item to consider regarding the origin of the Bible.
- Unity of Message – we think of the Bible as a single book, however in reality it is a library containing 66 books written by ~40 authors in 3 languages from various geographical locations on 3 continents composed over a span of ~1,500 years covering historical events that span ~4,000 years, yet there are no contradictions nor departures from the single, unified, consistent theme found throughout.
- Historical Accuracy – from the accounts found in Genesis through the historical records provided by Luke in the book of Acts in the New Testament the Bible has provided an accurate depiction of historical events as verified by secular history. For example, Luke mentions 32 countries, 54 cities, 9 Mediterranean islands, and 95 different people in his record of Acts, and secular history concludes that Luke is accurate in all his claims. Stan Mitchell of www.forthright.net describes skeptic and historian Sir William Ramsay as stating, “The book of Acts, he declared, was full of errors, and to prove this contention, he traveled to Asia Minor to demonstrate Luke’s unreliability.” Mitchell goes on to state, “Ramsay the skeptic returned to Great Britain a believer. Every one of Luke’s facts checked out.” While historical accuracy does not directly indicate divine inspiration, a divinely inspired book must be historically accurate.
- Scientific Accuracy and Foreknowledge – unbiased science is not the enemy of true religion, and God Himself proves this in His inspired word. From the time God told man to subdue and have dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28) man has been examining the glory of God throughout His creation (Rom. 1:20; Psa. 19). The Bible avoids errors in the fields of astrology, medicine, witchcraft, geography, and the like, which contemporary cultures contained at the time of its writing.
- Predictive Prophecy – there are numerous verifiable prophecies regarding historical events that have been fulfilled. One such prophecy was made by Ezekiel in the year 597 BC regarding the fall of the city of Tyre. He predicted that Babylon would conquer the city, and he even went so far as to describe the way it would fall. Secular history verifies this historical event took place in 330 BC in the exact manner in which it was prophesied.
Space does not allow for a more detailed description of the divine properties contained within the pages of the Bible, but it is evident that the Bible contains features that prove it to be of supernatural origin. As Christians, we may take comfort in the fact that God has proven Himself in His word. For more detailed explanations of specific instances of predictive prophecy and scientific foreknowledge I would recommend examining material from Apologetics Press and World Video Bible School.
