II Timothy 3:14-17II Timothy 3:14-17 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

II Timothy 3:14-17II Timothy 3:14-1715and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

II Timothy 3:14-17II Timothy 3:14-17

Higgs’ Boson“God Particle”

Both teen and adult Christians wonder about potential conflicts between science and religion.

What you would say if your son or daughter asked you why you believe in God and the Bible?

Several 2:42 groups have viewed the 24-lesson series on “Does God Exist?”.

Why should we believe in:

God?

Jesus?

the Bible?

Proof Beyond All Doubt?• No!

• If we could, • we would not believe by faith, but

believe by knowledge• God would be subject to our time,

space, logic, …, which we know He is not.

• BTW, atheists can not prove that God does not exist.

Why We

Should

Believe the

Bible

“Facts” about Bible Writings

• Old Testament books written prior to 400 BC & collected prior to 200 BC

• New Testament books written 50 – 85 AD, accepted in 2nd century & collected in 4th century

• No original manuscripts (written by authors and called autographs) exist today

Sources for Today’s New Testament

• Over 5,600 Greek manuscript copies of NT books documented

• Nearly 24,000 copies documented including other translations

• 50,000+ fragments• More continuously being

documented • The Center for the Study of New

Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org)

Historical Writings

Writing Number of Copies

Original-Copy Gap (yrs)

New Testament Books 5,600 30-100

Homer’s Iliad 643

400

Aristotle’s Poetics 49 1400

Caesar’s Gallic Wars 10 1000+

Josephus’s The Jewish War

9 900

Accuracy of Copies

Do all of the 5,600 copies say exactly the same thing? Are there any differences?

Yes, over 300,000 differences have been found among the NT manuscripts.

Differences in Existing Manuscripts

• Spellingo Accounts for 75% of the variances

• Synonyms (e.g., Jesus, Lord, He)

Considering all variations, only about 1% actually affect the meaning of the text.

Variances Affecting Meaning

Example: I John 1:4 transcribed as both

“Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete”

and “Thus we are writing these things so that

your joy may be complete”

Difference in meaning? yes but not in doctrine.

Consensus - There are no theological truths at stake due to any of the variants.

God has preserved His written word.

In Addition – Biblical accounts are confirmed by manuscripts written by the early church fathers as well as non-Christian writers.

Inspiration of the Scriptures

Supporting evidence:• Scriptures claim to be inspired• Influence of the Bible• Unusual style of the Scriptures• Unity of Scriptures written by diverse

authors• Fulfilled prophecies of Scriptures• Scientific foreknowledge in the Bible

Unusual Style of the Scriptures

• Brevity of books & eventso Genesis; Christ on earth after

resurrection• Omissions

o Jesus’ physical appearance; only ministry details of Peter & Paul

• Impartialityo No apologies for Peter nor rebuke of

Judas; the good & bad of David

Unity of Scriptures

• Bible written by 40 different men over a period of nearly 1600 years using different languages and living in different countries. Yet, they presented one central theme without variation or contradiction.

• In many instances, writers had no access to other books, yet they wrote about events in perfect unity, each complementing the others.

Scientific Foreknowledge in the BibleJob 26:7 He spreads out the northern

skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.

Isaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, …

Leviticus 13:45 Anyone with such a defiling disease must … cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’No mention of prevalent false superstitions nor erroneous science

Summary

• We can not “prove” that the Bible is the inspired word of God.

• Supporting evidence is over-whelming.

• Even most critics believe that the current Bible accurately reflects the doctrine and principles in original manuscripts.