iChange The World.
08’ Summer Evangelism Series
Part 5 - Common Arguments
"...But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" 1 Peter 3:15
We believe what we believe as absolute truth based on the the fact that we recognize that The Bible is inspired by God. Proving this logicly , will take any contrary theory or idea away. The Bible and only the Bible can stand on its own with evidences in areas like archeology, time, science and content. No other so-called sacred book can make such claims.
...this is part I of "Common Arguments"
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As we learn about how to Biblically share the Good News of The Gospel, we quickly realize that often the conversations can turn to a discussion of facts and theories. Often, people will reply with statements that are intended to contradict what we are presenting such as:
- “I don’t believe in God – Doesn’t exist”
- “what about Creation vs. evolution”
- “How do you know the Bible the Word of God?”
- “why Christianity and not other religions?” etc
When we read 1 Peter 3:15, we understand that the first step in sharing is to make sure we have a good standing in our relationship with God: “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,…” Then we notice that besides the heart –which we address when bringing a person to the mirror of the law, we are also to be prepared to address issues in the intellect: “… and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…”. Finally we notice an emphasis in making sure that we do so in love: “…with meekness and fear”
Whith that in mind, let’s see some very simple ways to question ones presumable problems with accepting God’s existence and the validity of The Bible. These are just a few pointers to bring up in discussion with the ones who seem to be honestly seeking an answer.
About the existence of God
“God doesn’t exist”
One simple way to question the logic (or lack of thereof) behind a statement along the lines of “I don’t believe in God – Doesn’t exist” is asking the person to picture a painter, or a building. When you see them, you don’t see the painter or the architect, nor may you even know them at all. Nevertheless, the simple fact the painting or building are standing there are a proof that there is a painter and an architect. Creation is a proof thath there is a creator.
“What about evolution?”
The is much to be said and discussed about Creation vs. evolution. There are several resources that can educate us in correct approaches and methods to understand logically abd Biblically how this world came to be.
There is though a very easy way to disprove the evolution theory. That is, “Where are, or at least, where is the one and just one proof of a transitional form?” the answer is, There is no one. That little piece of evidence is what is lacking in today’s evolutionist circles. Just a small detail !!
“It all started with the Big Bang”
…and what exploded at the big bang? Where did the big bang’s elements come from?
About the veracity of The Bible
Why do we believe that The Bible is the word of God and therefore that it is absolute in everything it proclaims as absolute? Why don’t we accept other religious books as sacred?
Because of all of the books that proclaim themselves to be inspired by God, only the bible proofs itself to be so. How? The Bible is set apart from any other religious book in 5 ways:
1. The Bible is the only set of sacred book that has the ability to clearly foretell events in history. Such thing can only be done by a superior mind who knows all time, beginning and end. The God of The Bible.
2. The Bible is only ancient book that is consistently and progressively supported by secular archeological evidences. History proves The Bible right, the opposite is true with other religious books.
3. Though the Bible is a compilation of 66 books written by 40+ authors across 1500+ years in 3 different languages, it is completely accurate and consistent internally and externally
4. The Bible is been examined and verified textually by non-Christian critics.
5. The Bible proves to be inspired by the true God by showing principles and knowledge in science and other areas hundreds of years before humanity ‘discover them’
We are going to analyze these 5 factors using the acronym FACTS:
1. Fulfilled Prophecy
2. Archeological and manuscript evidences
3. Consistency
4. Textual verified precision
5. Scientific accuracy and foresight
1. FULFILLED PROPHECY
We read in Isaiah 46:9-10: “I am God, and there is none like Me”. The verse continues on with God saying how He proves He is God: “…declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done" No one else can do that 100% accurately.
- 27%of the Bible contains specific detailed prophecies that were written hundreds of years before their fulfillment (more than 1 out of every 4 verses; over 1000 prophecies, half of them already fulfilled)
Examples - About Jesus
A - Born of the seed/Ethnicity of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3, 22:18)
B - Of the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10)
C - Of the house/Family of David (2 Samuel 7:12f)
D - The city in which He would be born (Micah 5:2)
E - While the temple was still standing (Malachi 3:1) (Timeframe)
F - Rejected by His own people (Psalm 118:22; 1 Peter 2:7)
G - Precise time in history when He would be proclaimed a king and crucified (Daniel 9:24-26; 483 years after the declaration to reconstruct the city of Jerusalem in 444 B.C. This was fulfilled to the very year.)
H - He would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27-32)
- Set up?, coincidence?
- Odds of a single man fulfilling just eight of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled as the mathematical improbability of 1 in 10 to the 17th. (One in ten to the seventeenth power)
Also, see the reestablishment of the nation of Israel in 1948, the destruction of the temple in 70AD etc.
2. ARCHEOLOGICAL AND MANUSCRIPTS EVIDENCES
- Only religious book used in archeology as historical document
- Events, customs, persons, cities, nations, and geographical locations confirmed by archeological findings.
- “No archeological discovery has ever controverted [overturned] a Biblical reference….…Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.”
- TIME AND HISTORY CONFIRM THE BIBLE
A few examples of people and places denied and considered by the critics as inventions from the Bible that have then been confirmed to have been authentic:
A. Pontius Pilate
Roman governor of Judea , issued the official order for Jesus to be sentenced to death by crucifixion
- In June of 1961 a team of Italian archaeologists, led by Dr. Antonio Frova, ..Mediterranean port city of Caesarea…ancient Roman theater that they uncovered a large 2’ x 3’, 5” or so thick, limestone rock. The inscription on the rock amazed the archaeologists. It read in: “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberium to the Caesareans.” (Scholars believe that the Tiberium refers to a temple or some other kind of public structure named after the Roman emperor Tiberius, who reigned from 14–37 A.D.) This stone is on display today in the Israel Museum as a testimony to the reliability of the Bible.
B. Caiaphas
Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus crucifixion… 1990, when the Caiaphas family tomb was accidentally discovered by workers constructing a water park just south of Jerusalem. Archaeologists were hastily called to the scene. When they examined the tomb they found 12 ossuaries (limestone bone boxes) containing the remains of 63 individuals. On the outside of the most beautifully decorated of the ossuaries was inscribed the words: “Joseph son of Caiaphas.” What’s incredible is that Josephus (that Jewish historian of the first century A.D.) in his writings (Antiquities 18: 2, 2; 4, 3) documents that that was actually the full name of the high priest who arrested Jesus, “Joseph son of Caiaphas.” (Saying “son of” was a way of referring to the family name). Inside the ossuary archaeologists found the remains of a someone approximately 60-years-old at the time of his death...the actual bones of Caiaphas, the high priest mentioned in the Bible. Today Caiaphas’ ossuary is also on display in the Israel Museum as a testimony of the Bible’s trustworthiness!
C. David
… there was no mention of him outside of the Bible.
… 1993. It was then, at an excavation at Tel-Dan in N. Israel they found a now famous stone with an inscription (in Aramaic) referring to the House of David
1994 two more fragments of the same stone inscription were discovered, again mentioning the House of David. In 1995 Time Magazine did a story on this discovery and stated, This writing—dated to the 9th century B.C., only a century after David’s reign—described a victory by a neighboring king over the Israelites…The skeptics’ claim that King David never existed is now hard to defend" (Time, December 18, 1995)
D. Dead Sea Scrolls. 1947, Qumran, north and to the west of the Dead Sea in Israel, ancient collection of hand written copies of the Old Testament. In caves by the Essenes, a Jewish sect living in Qumran,
- Every book of the Old Testament except the Book of Esther,
- Isaiah scroll that dates back to about 100 B.C. (Others 300bc)
1. The pottery that housed the manuscripts
2. The weave and pattern of the manuscript cloths
3. The form of the characters
4. The spelling of the words
5. The coins found alongside the manuscripts
6. They also used Carbon-14 Dating
E. John and the pool of Bethesda. John 5:1-3. Found by researchers in 1888
... to be continued in next session.
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