Why Should I Believe the Bible Is True? (part 1)

It's a great question and one many have asked and answered for centuries.  The answer has far reaching implications.  If it's not true then Christianity is a lie and offers no hope in Jesus.  But if it's true it offers the hope of eternal life in Jesus.

One of the most often cited verses in the Bible is John 3:16 but the two verses after that are just as powerful: 

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.¹⁷

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.¹⁸

(John 3:16-18, NASB)

Jesus was speaking to Nicodemus, who was a Jewish leader.  In many places in the New Testament (NT) Jesus makes it very clear that he is the only way to heaven.  If the NT is true then all claims contrary to that are false.  Any decisions we make about the Jesus's truth claims can have very real consequences.

That leads to two questions:

1. Has the Bible been reliably preserved from the originals?
2. Is the Bible true?

Let's look at the first question.  We don't have the originals from the authors so can we know what we have was what they wrote?  All significant ancient literature has to be reconstructed from manuscript copies not just the Bible.  The originals are reconstructed by comparing all surviving manuscripts and the closer in time the manuscripts were created in relation to the originals the better.  The number of manuscript copies is also significant because if you have more sources that agree the higher degree of certainty you can have that it reflects the original.  This is known as textual criticism.

There are about 5,700 manuscripts of the NT written in Greek.  There are over 9,000 manuscripts written in other languages for a total of over 15,000 manuscripts.  To compare this to other ancient writings Homer's the  Iliad has the second most manuscripts found at 643.  The writings of Demosthenes are 3rd most with 200 and almost all the rest of ancient writings have fewer than a dozen manuscript copies.

Once the manuscripts are compared then the original can be recreated.  There are variations amongst the manuscripts but almost all of these are spelling and grammar variants.  It's been calculated by scholars that we have over 98% of the original writings.  Not even 1 of the remaining 2% (actually just under 2%) in question affects the doctrine of the Christian faith.  So in other words the < 2% in question isn't anything that affects the  Biblical message and it's claims.  That <2% in question doesn't contradict the other 98%+ that's not in question.

So how close are the manuscripts time wise to the originals?  The earliest undisputed fragment of John's gospel is dated at about 130 AD and the original would have been written no later than 70 AD.   The earliest 9 disputed fragments are dated at 50-70 AD.  That's within 25 years of when the originals were written.  Again to compare to other ancient literature the closest manuscript copy of Iliad is 500 years after the original.  Demosthenes manuscripts were 1,400 years after the originals.  The NT manuscripts compared to other ancient literature are by far the closest to when the originals were written.  So the answer to the first question is yes.  I'll talk about the answer to the second question in a part 2 blog post.

There are many, many great resources on this subject.  Here are just a few:

Book: I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, chapter 9

Article: Is the New Testament Text Reliable, by Greg Koukl

Web: The Early Eyewitnesses of Jesus, posted on PleaseConvinceMe.Com

Favorite Apologetic Resources

"Christian apologetics is the task of presenting a defense of the person and the message of Jesus Christ."

 Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods

Studying Christian apologetics is a hobby and passion of mine.  I thought I'd post a few of my favorite resources for those that might want to learn more or have faced difficult challenges or questions from others or might have challenges to Christianity themselves.

Books

I read almost every day and now that I recently got a Kindle it's even easier to take my books where ever I go.  Many of these are probably available at the library and if you're near me I'm always happy to lend my copy. Here are just a few of my favorites:

The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel

This is the first apologetics book I read not too long after becoming a Christian.  It really opened my eyes to the evidence for Jesus and the Bible.  It was written by a former atheist who was an investigative reporter for the Chicago Tribune.  He set out to disprove Christianity and ended up being so convinced by the evidence he become one instead.

I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Norman L Geisler and Frank Turek

Norm Geisler is a Christian apologist and has written some of the best books around answering the tough questions of Christianity.  It covers everything from origins of the universe, evolution, morality, the problem of evil, the reliability of the New Testament, eye witness accounts of Jesus, the resurrection, and more.  Great explanations of the challenges made by atheists and skeptics and the Christian answers to those challenges.

Darwin's Black Box by Michael Behe

Behe is a professor and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry.  He puts forth an argument he calls irreducible complexity.  He argues that some molecular structures are too complex to be explained by evolutionary methods.  Evolution is a scared cow and he challenges it head on with proven science and reason.  The book has generated lots of challenges and praise as well.  It's a little more technical than most books but still very readable.  I love science and this book was excellent.  I've read a lot of different challenges to this book but haven't felt like those challenges have overcome this powerful argument for intelligent design.  Behe also has a blog.

Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias

Ravi was born in India and immigrated to Canada at about 20 and then later to the U.S.  He is a brilliant philosopher and apologist.  He has spoken and debated all around the world and writes in a way that is both very intellectual but plain and straightforward.  I read and listen to anything I can get my hands by him.

Podcasts

If you don't listen to podcasts you're missing out on some great material for humor, learning, and enjoyment.  Podcasts are free recorded internet audio or video and can be anywhere for a few minutes to hours long.  You can listen on your computer or subscribe through iTunes and get them on your iPod, iPad, or iPhone.  Most smartphones or mp3 players will support podcast subscription as well.  Usually they are done on a regular frequency, like daily or weekly.

The PleaseConvinceMe.com Podcast

This is a weekly show done by J. (Jim) Warner Wallace.  Jim is a cold case homicide detective and a former atheist. He has a unique view point and I share a lot of his perspective on things.  He discusses different topics each week and reads e-mail questions and answers them each week.  Sometimes he has guests as well.  I've had the pleasure of talking with Jim on the phone and he's a real down to earth guy.

Stand to Reason Podcast

This is a weekly radio show hosted by Greg Koukl.  This is a live radio show that's recorded and podcast each week.  He usually has a couple of topics he leads with and then takes caller questions.  He also has some great guests on the show.  It's a little long (2 hours) but the description on the podcast info has the questions and topics indexed by time code so you can listen to those topics or questions that are most  interesting to you.

Websites

PleaseConvinceMe.com

All kinds of information and answers to the most challenging problems for Christianity.  Same guy that does the podcast above.  Blogs, articles, and videos are posted on the website.

STR.org

This is the Stand To Reason website which puts on the podcast above.  All kinds of articles, blogs, books, videos, etc. addressing the toughest criticisms to Christianity.

Documentaries

If you're a visual person these are very good DVDs addressing many of the topics in the resources above.

The Privileged Plant

A documentary based on the book by the same name.  The quality is excellent and is not a defense of Christianity per se but is a case for creation of the universe.  If my blog post a few days ago interested you on this topic then this DVD is a must see.  Several scientists are interviewed and some are theists (believing in God) and some are not.  I think this one aired on PBS but don't hold me to that.

Unlocking The Mysteries of Life

About the idea of intelligent design.  It goes through the arguments for intelligent design including irreducible complexity as mentioned above.  Great quality DVD and has interviews with scientists again both theistic and agnostic.

The Case For a Creator

Documentary on a book by the same name written by the author of The Case For Christ.  Lee Strobel interviews scholars and scientists on the subject of intelligent design.

I have all of these resources (and others) so if you're near me and want to borrow something I'd be happy to lend them.  I don't have too many books on my Kindle yet but I think those can be lent out as well but I haven't tried it.  If you want to try that we can give that a shot.  I think there's a limit on how many times and how long you can lend something on Kindle.  All of the books and DVD's are available on Amazon.

Is it Just "My" Opinion?

Post from the Please Convince Me blog on relativism typing in with my previous post on the same subject.

Is it Just "My" Opinion?

Our Awesome Universe

As the Stardust NExT spacecraft passed Comet Tempel 1 yesterday I couldn't help but feel some pride because  Lockheed (my employer) built Stardust right here in Denver.  Since Stardust's launch in 1999 it has traveled 3.5 billion miles collecting data and samples from Comet Wild 2, back to Earth to jettison off a container with those samples and then out to Tempel 1.

What I also feel as I reflect on space and it's vastness is an awe for our universe.  It's hard to even comprehend the size and vastness of our universe.  There are about 100 billion stars (10¹¹) just in our own Milky Way galaxy and the average distance between those stars is 30 trillion miles. The number of stars in just our galaxy is about the same as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth.  We are just one of between 100 billion (10¹¹) and 1 trillion (10¹²) galaxies in the universe with each having about an average of 100 billion stars.

To give even more perspective on the shear size of the universe it's helpful to understand light years.  A light year is the distance light travels in a year or about 5,900,000,000,000 miles.  The closest star to us is about 4.2 light years away and the edge of the universe is 15 billion light years away from us!  Absolutely staggering.

When you think about that vastness and how small we are in comparison it makes the fact that we exist at all pretty amazing.  As the universe is studied more it's becoming apparent that life is much more rare than has been thought in the past.  What scientists, astronomers, and astrophysicists are finding is that conditions have to be pretty precise to support life in our universe.  Here are just a few of over 120 constants that need to be present for life to exist on Earth:

1. Oxygen makes up 21% of our atmosphere.  If it were 25% fires would flare up spontaneously.  If it were 15% we would suffocate.
2. If the atmosphere were more transparent not enough solar radiation would reach Earth.   If it were less transparent we'd get too much solar radiation.
3. If the gravitational relationship of the Earth and the moon were greater, tidal effects on oceans, rotational period, and atmosphere would be too great.  If it were less orbital changes would effect climate.  Either case would make life impossible on Earth.
4. If carbon dioxide levels were greater than they are we'd burn up.  If there were less plants would not be able to perform efficient photosynthesis and we'd suffocate.
5. If gravity were any different at all our sun wouldn't exist.
6. A slight variation in the speed of light would alter the other constants and life wouldn't be possible.
7. If Earth's rotation took longer that 24 hours temperatures would be too great between night and day.  If rotation was shorter wind velocities would be too much.
8. If the lightning rate were more there would be too much fire, if less there wouldn't be enough nitrogen in the soil.
9. The Earth's axis tilt is 23 degrees.  If it were different either way temperatures would be too extreme.
10. If Jupiter were in a different orbit the Earth would be bombarded by space material.  Jupiter's gravitational pull sucks in this material and keeps it from hitting Earth.

These are just 10 of the constants needed to support life on any planet in the universe.  Astrophysicist Hugh Ross has taken all the constants into account and calculated that there is a 1 in 10¹³⁸ chance that these constants would exist by chance for any one planet in the universe.  To put that number in perspective there are only 10⁷⁰ atoms in the entire universe.  In essence there is no chance that our universe and life on Earth could have happened by chance.  A universe like ours requires design and intelligence.

If Bill came home and saw a note on the counter that said "Bill, everything to make dinner is on the counter."  And right next to the note were spaghetti noodles, a jar of spaghetti sauce, bread, and a bottle of wine, would Bill think "I wonder how the pencil fell just right to make this note.  Maybe the window was left open and it blew the pencil around on the page.  And it's great that all these ingredients rolled out of the cupboard and were everything I needed for dinner!  I am so lucky!"  We'd think Bill had lost his mind because there was obviously intelligence and thought behind the note and the selection of the ingredients.  So why would it be any different for the universe which is much more complex than a note and 4 ingredients for a spaghetti dinner?

The universe has all the earmarks of design and intelligence and none of the earmarks of chance and blind luck.  The designer of our universe would have to be powerful beyond belief and intelligent beyond our comprehension.  There is only one intelligent being that fits that description and it's God.

Resources
I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman L Geisler and Frank Turek (Ch. 4 Divine Design)
The Privileged Planet, by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W Richards (Also a documentary)
Why the Universe Is the Way It Is by Hugh Ross

Are all beliefs the same?

It's popular in our culture to say that all beliefs are equal, that all beliefs are true.  The idea that it doesn't matter what you believe because if you are basically a decent person that's all that matters.  What you believe is like choosing ice cream, I like vanilla and you like strawberry it's just all about preference and neither one of us is wrong.

It's interesting because each belief system doesn't teach that even if they say they do.  Can God exist and not exist at the same time?  Can God be personal and impersonal at the same time?  Can Jesus be the only way to God and not be the only way to God at the same time?  These aren't trick questions.  Something can't be and not be at the same time.  Answering yes is a violation of the law of non-contradiction and it's also known as relativism.

If someone says that all beliefs are true then ask them if the exclusive claims of Jesus are true.  When Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) he wasn't saying all beliefs are true.  This doesn't prove that Christianity is true but it does prove that all beliefs are not true.  Because if anyone denies that the only way to God is through Jesus they are saying that Christianity isn't true.  They are saying they are right and Christianity is wrong.  I've seen people still insist that their belief and mine can both be true even though they deny that Jesus is not the only way to God.  There's only three possibilities in this case:  They are right, I'm right, or neither one of us is right but there is no possibility that we are both right.

Lots of people give Christians a hard time about thinking they are right and others are wrong.  The irony in that is the person who thinks the Christian can't be right is doing the same thing they are accusing the Christian of (thinking they are right and the Christian is wrong).

When I can I'll try to give material I've found helpful on Christian apologetics.  Below are some resources from an organization called Stand to Reason.

Article by Greg Koukl titled Religious Stew
Several articles on relativism.
Book: Relativism Feet Firmly Planted In Mid-Air

i-tec Showcase Event

Last night I attended an event at my church as part of their 2011 iMissions Emphasis.  The featured speaker was Steve Saint of a company called i-tec.  Steve is the son of Nate Saint who was a missionary killed by an Ecuadorian tribe and Steve later lived with the same tribe.  The story was the subject of the book and movie End of the Spear.

i-tec invents and uses technology for indigenous people.  They don't just give them technology they create training and teach them how to use the technology on their own and become self sufficient.  One of the things he showed was a portable dental system.  It was designed to meet dental needs where there are no dentists.  Something that many of us take for granted, dental care, is a big problem in places where there is none.

The invention that is getting the most buzz is a flying car called the Maverick.  It's been featured on CNN and in Popular Mechanics and has received some engineering awards.  It uses the same controls as a car to fly (steering wheel, accelerator, and brake).  Florida licensed it as a car and the FAA has approved it recently.  It's only the second car to get such approval (the last one was in the 50's) to be both street legal and air worthy.  The first one is due to be delivered to a Saudi Sheik and the next one is being delivered to Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  The video is here.

First Blog Post

I've thought about blogging for a while but the challenge is finding something to write about.  There are a lot of subjects that I would find interesting to write about: Sports, technology, poker, hunting, outdoor activities.  However, I've chosen to write about Christianity.  Why?  Well, it's probably the one area of my life that I don't discuss a whole lot with many around me.  It's also a topic that I've studied extensively over the past 13 or 14 years.

At 30 years old I became a follower of Jesus, i.e. a Christian.  As of this writing I'm 43 so you can do the math.  Around that same time I began studying Christian philosophy and apologetics.  I felt like I should believe something because it's true not because it makes me feel good.  I wanted to know the evidence of the proof for God, Jesus, and the Bible.  What I found is that the evidence was very convincing and when I looked at it objectively it was an easy conclusion for me to come to.

This blog will be part apologetics, part information, part thoughts, and, of course, part opinion.  This blog is meant to encourage and equip others with a Christian world view who may not know how to answer critics or challenges to their belief.  It's also an opportunity to be more public about my beliefs and sharpen my own thinking about my positions.  I will inevitably learn a few things too.

I chose the name of the blog because Christianity isn't wishful thinking, it's reasonable.  Reason and logic don't have to be abandoned to be a Christian.  It should also be obvious that it's a play on words with my name.

Note: If you're not familiar with the term apologetics, it's the defense of a belief.