(The following post is by Rachel W.)
“Why do you believe what you believe?”
This was a simple yet compelling question that was posed to me during a message shared by a dear friend and brother in Christ my freshman year of college. I remember being very bothered by the question because I had never in fact considered why I believed in Jesus or the Bible. When this question was asked of me, I began to wrestle with my faith. I do not think I doubted, but instead wanted to know where the proof or evidence of my convictions came from. I began to ask myself questions like, “What if this is all fake? Do I just believe these things because my parents told me they were true and I was raised in the church?” At this point I knew I had to search for some answers to my questions. In 1 Peter 3:15 we read,
“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
We are supposed to have an answer for the faith that we have. While I had my own personal testimony, which is powerful nonetheless, (Revelation 12:11) I did not have historical evidence for Jesus’ existence or the validity of the scriptures. This sent me on a journey of studying and searching to understand the evidence that supported my faith.
The validity or reliability of the Bible is a hot topic of debate. We hear arguments all the time such as: “That book is ancient and outdated. That was written in a different time period, so it has a whole different meaning now. The Bible has been translated so many times, there is no way it’s accurate.” The list goes on and on. Many times as Christians, myself included, we use scripture to combat the doubts that skeptics have about the Word of God. We use scriptures like 2 Timothy 3:16,
“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
We tell skeptics that if they trust in God, they would believe that the Bible was accurately translated. I’ll admit, that was me. I was the Christian that used that verse and explanation mentioned before to argue the validity of the scriptures. We also like to use Hebrews 4:12 which says,
“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Another common defense is Isaiah 40:8,
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of God stands forever.”
There is nothing “wrong” with these arguments. These scriptures are powerful, true, and if you trust in Jesus and His Word they are often enough for you. But the skeptic of the Bible looks at these verses and says, “That’s really cool, but you are trying to use a book that I don’t trust to prove something to me.” Think of it in this way: A Muslim is trying hard to convert you to Islam, so they reference the Quran multiple times with verses about how reliable and legitimate it is. If you are a Christian and you do not trust in the Quran, you really don’t care what it has to say about how reliable it is. Sharing God’s word is always effective (Isaiah 55:11) so I would never discourage that, but I have also found it helpful to be able to explain why the scriptures are in fact reliable historically.
If we only focus on the gospel’s validity for now, we can point to several pieces of evidence that suggest they are the real deal. When I was on my journey of discovering why I believed what I did, I watched a movie titled The Case for Christ. Not to be confused with the movie from a few years ago with this title (although that one was excellent too). This was the original documentary like film that featured Lee Strobel (former atheist turned pastor) telling his conversion story. One compelling argument he made was about the question some ask, “If the gospels are so reliable, why are there 4 of them and they all tell the story differently?” That was a valid question, but his answer was just as valid. He talked about how when a car accident happens there can sometimes be multiple witnesses. Very rarely do they tell the story of what happened the exact same way, however, that DOES NOT mean they were not there and that their eyewitness account of the accident is not true. The same goes for the gospels. Lee even says that the fact that they are told differently brings them more validity, not less. In the same way that when a crime happens, if four individuals have the same perfectly rehearsed story, it would seem untruthful, the gospels would as well.
Another part of the gospels many people struggle to believe is the ascension of Jesus. There are historical documents to prove He was crucified, but rising from the dead?! Lee points out that in the gospels, it is recorded that women were the ones to discover first that Jesus was alive, the tomb was empty, and share that news with others. Today this does not seem relevant, but in Jesus’ day women had no rights and minimal worth. For example, women in the time Jesus was alive had so little value that they were not permitted to give a testimony in court. Their witness was not considered valid, simply because they were women. The only way the gospel writers would say that women discovered the empty tomb was if it actually happened. If the story were made up, it definitely would have been men who found Jesus alive and shared the news first.
Historically, we know the Bible to be accurate for many reasons:
- Ancient manuscripts of the Bible have been found in mass abundance. There is more documentation for the books of the Bible than many of the historically recognized authors and stories like The Illiad and many others like it.
- Archeological findings reveal evidence that many of the people, places, and events discussed in the Bible did in fact exist.
- The life of Jesus and His existence is well documented by Jewish manuscripts. It is widely accepted that Jesus was definitely a real person (many just do not believe He was the Son of God).
- The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies that were made hundreds of years in advance that we know to have come true and been fulfilled.
These are just a few of the pieces of evidence I learned while doing research to understand the validity of the Bible. Just as I expected, I found more than enough evidence to support the faith that I felt so strongly about. I was also more confident, because no longer could anyone say that I was blindly following or believing in something. I’ll end by asking the same question that was posed to me in the hope that that you will do your own searching too. Why do you believe what you believe?
By the River Together 