Laser Eyes
Registered Senior Member
1. The history of how we got the Bible
The survival of the Bible is a remarkable story. During the time that the Old Testament was written other nations produced religious literature but while they were forgotten the Bible has survived. The Jews who produced the Old Testament were an oppressed people. They had to fight against powerful enemies such as the Philistines, the Ammonites and the Moabites. When the empire was divided the Assyrians wiped out the northern kingdom and the Babylonians crushed the southern kingdom. At times various enemies like Haman tried to annihilate the Jews. The Syrians tried to force the Jews to follow Greek customs and Greek Gods. Despite all these difficulties the Jews and the Hebrew scriptures survived while the nations around them disappeared.
The Christians who produced the New Testament were also oppressed. The Jewish authorities tried to stop them spreading their ideas. The Roman empire tortured and killed Christians and the emporer Diocletian ordered the burning of all Bibles. Once again the threats to the survival of the Bible failed.
Why did the Bible survive when other books that did not face these challenges were forgotten? If the Bible really is the word of God then no humans could destroy it.
Another aspect of this story of survival is the repeated recopying of the Bible on perishable material. The discovery of Bible manuscripts, especially the Dead Sea Scrolls, prove that the Bible has come down to us with amazing accuracy, despite the risk of human error and attempts to deliberately alter the text.
But the story doesn't end there. The empire of Christendom tried to destroy the Bible in a different way. In the Middle Ages the Pope ordered that the Bible be kept in Latin and not translated into the common language. It became a crime to own a Bible and people suffered shocking punishments for trying to translate the Bible and make it available to others. People have been willing to risk death just to own a Bible. It has inspired a devotion and willingness to die unparalleled in human history. No other book in history has survived despite such fierce opposition by enemies. The distribution of the Bible today is estimated at four billion copies in two thousand languages. The story of the Bible as a book is unique.
2. A higher wisdom
(a) The Bible contains wisdom that is beyond merely human capabilities. Has there ever been a more wise saying than Jesus' advice: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 7:12 In a world that has always promoted the pursuit of wealth the Bible recognises: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" - 1 Timothy 6:10 However the Bible also recognises the practical need for money when it says: "For wisdom is a defence as money is a defence" - Ecclesiastes 7:12 Substance abuse is a serious problem in many countries including affluent western societies. Two thousand years ago The Bible writer wisely counseled us to stay in control of ourselves and not let addictions rule our lives. When speaking about the food we take into our bodies Paul said: "I will not be brought under the power of any." - 1 Corinthians 6:12 What the Bible says about marriage is unfashionable by today's standards. But if husbands obeyed the Bible's counsel to "love their own wives as their own bodies" (Ephesians 5:28) and if wives respected their husbands (Ephesians 5:33) maybe we wouldn't see the spiralling divorce rate and the family breakdown this causes. The Bible commands sexual abstinence prior to marriage. - Matthew 19:4-6 The Bible's approval of sexual relations only in marriage, is considered old-fashioned today. But a long hard look at the results of "sexual freedom": unwanted pregnancies, teenage motherhood, sexually transmitted diseases; shows that there is much to be said for the strict standard set down in the Bible. Far from bringing a feeling of freedom the loose morals prevalent today have brought pain and suffering. The Bible's practical suggestions, if followed, raise the physical and mental health of those who follow them. It might be said that many books written by men do the same. But remember the writing of the Bible extended over 1600 years started in 1513 B.C. and ended in 98 A.D. The wisdom contained in the Bible was unknown at the time of its writing. The Bible provides guidance and sets standards of conduct in business dealings, working life, family relationships, raising children and clean moral conduct that are beneficial if followed.
The Bible is one of the most influential books in history. Abraham Lincoln: "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man." Robert E. Lee: "In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength." Mahatma Ghandi: "When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems, not only of our countries, but those of the whole world." John Quincy Adams: "I speak as a man of the world to men of the world, and I say to you, search the Scriptures. The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life."
3. A claim consistently made by the writers that they were writing God's thoughts and not their own
I'm reluctant to include this one. Statements by a writer that his words are inspired by God are self-serving and are certainly not proof that they are. But what is remarkable here is that the claim is repeated by many different writers time and time again. In 2 Samuel 23:2 the writer states: "The spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue." Over a thousand years later Peter makes the same claim: "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy spirit." - 2 Peter 1:21 John writing in exile on the island of Patmos in the year 96 also credits the book of Revelation to God: Revelation 1:1-2 That the same claim is made by so many different men at widely differing times and places is something to consider. Contrast this with what we know of human nature. Do the academics, psychologists, scientists, professors and other intellectuals of today readily give the credit for their writings to someone else? Isn't it human nature and intellectual pride to take the credit for what one produces? Why would 40 different writers, who mostly never met or knew each other, over a period of 1600 years, all refuse to take any credit for what they had written? Can you think of any other example that even comes close to this?
4.Scientifically accurate
(a) Long before modern scientists concluded that the universe had a beginning Moses wrote in Genesis that "God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1 How did he know that there was a certain moment in time when the universe began?
(b) At a time when the world had little knowledge or understanding about the earth two Bible writers revealed a knowledge that could only have come from one source. Writing in the wilderness Moses said that God "hangs the earth on nothing." - Job 26:7 This description accords with the appearance of the earth suspended in space due to the forces of gravity and inertia. At the time, and for centuries later, there were all sorts of myths and legends, one common view was that the earth rested on 4 elephants standing on a large sea turtle. The Egyptians thought the universe was a north-south rectangular box with the earth on the bottom and Egypt in the centre, and at four cardinal points very high mountains held up the sky. How did Moses know 3000 years before Copernicus, and without those snazzy space shuttle pics, that the earth hangs self-poised in empty space? If you think about it, what the Bible writer said is the last thing a human mind would have come up with. Gravity plays such a big part in our lives, everything rests on something, its what we understand, observe and live by, we even have a saying for it: "What goes up, must come down". Why would a man think the earth just floated in space, resting on nothing, contrary to everything else in his life? Writing in the eighth century B.C., 2200 years before Magellan sailed around the world, Isaiah told us that God "sits above the circle of the earth." - Isaiah 40:22 How did he know the earth was round when everybody else on earth thought it was flat?
(c) One of the objectives of the law that God gave to Israel was to protect the health and welfare of the people. Egyptian medicine prescribed the application of human and animal excrement as a remedy for various ailments. Their use could result in serious infections. Considering that "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22) the regulations found in the Mosaic law that relate to physical cleanliness show remarkable knowledge of sound sanitary procedures. One regulation dealt with the segregation and burial of excrement. The hazard of leaving excrement exposed was not generally known until last century. - Deuteronomy 23:12-13 Another required anyone who came in contact with a dead person to undergo a cleansing procedure - Numbers 19:11-22 The importance of quarantining persons with transmissible diseases was recognised - Leviticus 13:46
(d) God instructed Abraham that "every male of yours eight days old must be circumcised." - Genesis 17:12 The requirement that circumcision take place on the eighth day was restated in the Mosaic law. - Leviticus 12:3 Why the eighth day? Only recently physicians have discovered that essential blood-clotting elements are higher on the eighth day than at any other time of a child's life. Did the Bible writer just happen to pick the perfect day by chance?
(e) Long before modern medicine worked it out the Bible recognised the that there is a connection between a person's physical health and his mental attitude. "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." - Proverbs 17:22 "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones." - Proverbs 14:30
(f) When Moses wrote Genesis there were many strange theories about the causes of day and night. Men thought daylight was caused by a bright vapour and darkness by a black vapour that ascended from the ground. Yet the Bible accurately states the cause of day and night to be lights in the heavens that give light on the earth and "divide the light from the darkness". - Genesis 1:14-18
(g) In the Egyptian society in which Moses grew up and was educated it was taught that man came from Ra's tears. But in Genesis 2:7 Moses wrote that God formed man from "the dust of the ground." Every chemical found in the human body is found in the ground. Of all the things that Moses could have chosen to say that man was created from he just happened to pick something that was chemically consistent with the human body. Was it just a good guess?
(h) In Ecclesiastes 1:7 the earth's amazing water cycle, unknown in ancient times, is vividly described: "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again." Where did Solomon learn this in 1000 B.C.?
(i) An examination of the scientific accuracy of the Bible would not be complete without looking at the account of man's creation. Is the creation of man by God unscientific? Does modern science support evolution or creation? One way to test evolutionary theory is by examining the fossil record to see if a gradual change from one kind to another really happened. Evolutionary theory suggests a fossil record that contains very simple life forms gradually changing into complex ones with transitional links between them and new body features starting to appear. Creation suggests a fossil record that contains complex life forms suddenly appearing, variety only within species, no transitional links between species and no partial body features. Many scientists openly admit that when you look for links between biological families they just aren't there. Even Darwin in his Origin of the Species admitted the fossil record did not support his theory when he said, "I look at the geological record as a history of the world imperfectly kept, ... imperfect to an extreme degree." After more than a century of research, and an extensive record now discovered, the fossil record reveals the same thing it did in Darwin's day: Complex life forms appearing suddenly without transitional links between different species. Far from supporting the theory of evolution, the fossil record supports the arguments for creation. In his book Cosmos, astronomer Carl Sagan said, "The fossil evidence could be consistent with the idea of a Great Designer."
(j) Let's look at another aspect of whether science supports the Bible version about how life began. Evolutionary theory suggests that life began spontaneously by a chance collision of chemicals and energy. But more than a hundred years ago Louis Pasteur clearly demonstrated that life comes only from life. The gulf between living and non-living things grows wider as scientific knowledge increases. The spontaneous generation of life from non-living matter belongs in the realm of science fiction, not science fact. Of the Bible's explanation, that life was created by a living God, it can at least be said that it is not inconsistent with established scientific knowledge.
5. A remarkable consistency
Suppose you asked 40 writers to write 66 books over a period of 1,600 years. The writers were all from varied backgrounds, some were educated, others were farmers and shepherds and most of them lived at different times in history and in different places. What are the chances that their writings would harmonize? The Bible shows remarkable internal harmony even in the smallest details. What may seem to be a contradiction is usually explained by the fact that the Bible writers had different backgrounds and different writing styles and these differences are reflected in the writing. Also if two writers relate the same event one might include details that the other leaves out. Additionally, two writers might use different methods, one might record something chronologically while another might use a different method.
6. Fulfilment of prophecy
The Bible says that God is the one "Declaring the end from the beginning" - Isaiah 46:10 The Bible contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies and even some that we are seeing come true today. Obviously I don't have room to tell them all here. I will limit myself to a few, the fulfilment of which are historical facts beyond dispute.
(a) History records the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 607 B.C. and the Jews being taken into captivity. Isaiah prophecied it 150 years before it actually happened. - Isaiah 39:5-6
(b) On a fateful night in 539 B.C. the Persian general Cyrus overthrew the city of Babylon. His soldiers were able to approach along the banks of the Euphrates by diverting the course of the river. They entered through gates that for some reason had been left open. They captured the palace and killed Belshazzar. The city had fallen in one night. Two hundred years before it happened Isaiah foretold the destruction of Babylon, that its rivers would dry up, that Cyrus would conquer the city and that its gates would not be shut. - Isaiah 44:27, 45:1 Jeremiah made the same prophecy 50 years before it happened. - Jeremiah 50:38, 51:11, 30
(c) After the predicted 70 years in exile, in 537 B.C. Cyrus returned the Jews to their homeland. Jeremiah foretold the Jewish exile would last exactly 70 years. - Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10
(d) In the eighth century B.C. Isaiah foretold that Babylon would eventually be completely destroyed and never again be inhabited. - Isaiah 13:19-22 In the sixth century B.C. Jeremiah made the same prophecy. - Jeremiah 51:37, 41-43 The prophecy was not fulfilled until the fourth century A.D. and to this day Babylon is a bunch of desolate ruins.
(e) The book of Daniel, written in the sixth century B.C. during the Jewish exile in Babylon makes startling predictions about the dominance of various world powers. Daniel accurately predicted that the Medo-Persian army would conquer the Babylonian empire even though it was a dominant power at the time. - Daniel 8:3, 20; an attempted invasion of Greece by the fourth king of Persia - Daniel 11:2; the defeat of Medo-Persia by Greece under Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. - Daniel 8:5-7, 21; and its eventual division into 4 smaller powers - Daniel 8:8, 22
(f) In the first century it was foretold that many claiming to be Christian would bring reproach on the Bible and the name of Christianity. - 2 Peter 2:1-2; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. The empire of Christendom promoted military campaigns against the Muslims, the so-called holy crusades. The appalling conduct of the church to prevent dissemination of the Bible I recount elsewhere. During the last few centuries the military expansion of the supposedly Christian nations has been marked by cruelty and greedy self-interest. The last two world wars have been fought between "Christian" nations. We should remember that their conduct does not represent true Christian teachings. Is that the kind of prophecy you would expect of a purely human creation?
(g) There is perhaps space for one more. This amazing prophecy is coming true right before our eyes. Jesus' disciples asked him what will be a sign of the last days. He said, "Many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars ... For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places ... because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." - Matthew 24:5-12 Some may argue that these things have happened in the past and they would be right, but they have never before happened together and on a worldwide basis and in addition they are becoming more and more pronounced.
7. Logical answers to questions that only God can answer
There's an old saying: "Nobody's perfect." And yet who can explain why? Why is every person on earth flawed in some way? We don't think of animals as being imperfect. We don't think of trees, or plants, or flowers, or anything in nature as being imperfect. We don't even think of rainy days as being wrong. And yet somehow we know that there is something wrong with us. The Bible provides an explanation of how human life started, how imperfection was introduced by the first man, and how this has brought about war, crime, sickness, famine and ultimately death. Man is not evolving, he is degrading. The Bible provides a complete and logical explanation about the world today and how it got this way, how we can achieve happiness, what will happen in the future to the earth and mankind. The answers the Bible provides to life's questions are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which, when put together, produce a picture that is logical and makes sense.
8. Surprising candour
People don't like to admit their own mistakes. And they certainly don't like to immortalise their errors in writing for posterity. The Bible writers display a surprising candour and honesty about their weaknesses. In Numbers 20:1-13 Moses reveals a serious mistake which led to him not leading his people into the promised land. Jonah told how he disobeyed a direct command from God out of indifference. - Jonah 1:1-3 Many passages in the gospels record the failings of Jesus' disciples. The disciples failure to understand Jesus. - Matthew 16:5-12 Peter's failure to walk on water because of lack of faith - Matthew 14:28-31; his denial of Jesus 3 times - Matthew 26:69-75 The disciples argued among themselves who was the greatest among them - Mark 9:33-34; Luke 22:24 The apostle Paul told how he used to beat Christians - Acts 22:19; and he described himself as the worst sinner in the entire world. - 1 Timothy 1:15 If the writers were going to make false claims wouldn't they most likely falsify the things which show them in a bad light?
The survival of the Bible is a remarkable story. During the time that the Old Testament was written other nations produced religious literature but while they were forgotten the Bible has survived. The Jews who produced the Old Testament were an oppressed people. They had to fight against powerful enemies such as the Philistines, the Ammonites and the Moabites. When the empire was divided the Assyrians wiped out the northern kingdom and the Babylonians crushed the southern kingdom. At times various enemies like Haman tried to annihilate the Jews. The Syrians tried to force the Jews to follow Greek customs and Greek Gods. Despite all these difficulties the Jews and the Hebrew scriptures survived while the nations around them disappeared.
The Christians who produced the New Testament were also oppressed. The Jewish authorities tried to stop them spreading their ideas. The Roman empire tortured and killed Christians and the emporer Diocletian ordered the burning of all Bibles. Once again the threats to the survival of the Bible failed.
Why did the Bible survive when other books that did not face these challenges were forgotten? If the Bible really is the word of God then no humans could destroy it.
Another aspect of this story of survival is the repeated recopying of the Bible on perishable material. The discovery of Bible manuscripts, especially the Dead Sea Scrolls, prove that the Bible has come down to us with amazing accuracy, despite the risk of human error and attempts to deliberately alter the text.
But the story doesn't end there. The empire of Christendom tried to destroy the Bible in a different way. In the Middle Ages the Pope ordered that the Bible be kept in Latin and not translated into the common language. It became a crime to own a Bible and people suffered shocking punishments for trying to translate the Bible and make it available to others. People have been willing to risk death just to own a Bible. It has inspired a devotion and willingness to die unparalleled in human history. No other book in history has survived despite such fierce opposition by enemies. The distribution of the Bible today is estimated at four billion copies in two thousand languages. The story of the Bible as a book is unique.
2. A higher wisdom
(a) The Bible contains wisdom that is beyond merely human capabilities. Has there ever been a more wise saying than Jesus' advice: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 7:12 In a world that has always promoted the pursuit of wealth the Bible recognises: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" - 1 Timothy 6:10 However the Bible also recognises the practical need for money when it says: "For wisdom is a defence as money is a defence" - Ecclesiastes 7:12 Substance abuse is a serious problem in many countries including affluent western societies. Two thousand years ago The Bible writer wisely counseled us to stay in control of ourselves and not let addictions rule our lives. When speaking about the food we take into our bodies Paul said: "I will not be brought under the power of any." - 1 Corinthians 6:12 What the Bible says about marriage is unfashionable by today's standards. But if husbands obeyed the Bible's counsel to "love their own wives as their own bodies" (Ephesians 5:28) and if wives respected their husbands (Ephesians 5:33) maybe we wouldn't see the spiralling divorce rate and the family breakdown this causes. The Bible commands sexual abstinence prior to marriage. - Matthew 19:4-6 The Bible's approval of sexual relations only in marriage, is considered old-fashioned today. But a long hard look at the results of "sexual freedom": unwanted pregnancies, teenage motherhood, sexually transmitted diseases; shows that there is much to be said for the strict standard set down in the Bible. Far from bringing a feeling of freedom the loose morals prevalent today have brought pain and suffering. The Bible's practical suggestions, if followed, raise the physical and mental health of those who follow them. It might be said that many books written by men do the same. But remember the writing of the Bible extended over 1600 years started in 1513 B.C. and ended in 98 A.D. The wisdom contained in the Bible was unknown at the time of its writing. The Bible provides guidance and sets standards of conduct in business dealings, working life, family relationships, raising children and clean moral conduct that are beneficial if followed.
The Bible is one of the most influential books in history. Abraham Lincoln: "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man." Robert E. Lee: "In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength." Mahatma Ghandi: "When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems, not only of our countries, but those of the whole world." John Quincy Adams: "I speak as a man of the world to men of the world, and I say to you, search the Scriptures. The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life."
3. A claim consistently made by the writers that they were writing God's thoughts and not their own
I'm reluctant to include this one. Statements by a writer that his words are inspired by God are self-serving and are certainly not proof that they are. But what is remarkable here is that the claim is repeated by many different writers time and time again. In 2 Samuel 23:2 the writer states: "The spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and his word was on my tongue." Over a thousand years later Peter makes the same claim: "For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the holy spirit." - 2 Peter 1:21 John writing in exile on the island of Patmos in the year 96 also credits the book of Revelation to God: Revelation 1:1-2 That the same claim is made by so many different men at widely differing times and places is something to consider. Contrast this with what we know of human nature. Do the academics, psychologists, scientists, professors and other intellectuals of today readily give the credit for their writings to someone else? Isn't it human nature and intellectual pride to take the credit for what one produces? Why would 40 different writers, who mostly never met or knew each other, over a period of 1600 years, all refuse to take any credit for what they had written? Can you think of any other example that even comes close to this?
4.Scientifically accurate
(a) Long before modern scientists concluded that the universe had a beginning Moses wrote in Genesis that "God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1 How did he know that there was a certain moment in time when the universe began?
(b) At a time when the world had little knowledge or understanding about the earth two Bible writers revealed a knowledge that could only have come from one source. Writing in the wilderness Moses said that God "hangs the earth on nothing." - Job 26:7 This description accords with the appearance of the earth suspended in space due to the forces of gravity and inertia. At the time, and for centuries later, there were all sorts of myths and legends, one common view was that the earth rested on 4 elephants standing on a large sea turtle. The Egyptians thought the universe was a north-south rectangular box with the earth on the bottom and Egypt in the centre, and at four cardinal points very high mountains held up the sky. How did Moses know 3000 years before Copernicus, and without those snazzy space shuttle pics, that the earth hangs self-poised in empty space? If you think about it, what the Bible writer said is the last thing a human mind would have come up with. Gravity plays such a big part in our lives, everything rests on something, its what we understand, observe and live by, we even have a saying for it: "What goes up, must come down". Why would a man think the earth just floated in space, resting on nothing, contrary to everything else in his life? Writing in the eighth century B.C., 2200 years before Magellan sailed around the world, Isaiah told us that God "sits above the circle of the earth." - Isaiah 40:22 How did he know the earth was round when everybody else on earth thought it was flat?
(c) One of the objectives of the law that God gave to Israel was to protect the health and welfare of the people. Egyptian medicine prescribed the application of human and animal excrement as a remedy for various ailments. Their use could result in serious infections. Considering that "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22) the regulations found in the Mosaic law that relate to physical cleanliness show remarkable knowledge of sound sanitary procedures. One regulation dealt with the segregation and burial of excrement. The hazard of leaving excrement exposed was not generally known until last century. - Deuteronomy 23:12-13 Another required anyone who came in contact with a dead person to undergo a cleansing procedure - Numbers 19:11-22 The importance of quarantining persons with transmissible diseases was recognised - Leviticus 13:46
(d) God instructed Abraham that "every male of yours eight days old must be circumcised." - Genesis 17:12 The requirement that circumcision take place on the eighth day was restated in the Mosaic law. - Leviticus 12:3 Why the eighth day? Only recently physicians have discovered that essential blood-clotting elements are higher on the eighth day than at any other time of a child's life. Did the Bible writer just happen to pick the perfect day by chance?
(e) Long before modern medicine worked it out the Bible recognised the that there is a connection between a person's physical health and his mental attitude. "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones." - Proverbs 17:22 "A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones." - Proverbs 14:30
(f) When Moses wrote Genesis there were many strange theories about the causes of day and night. Men thought daylight was caused by a bright vapour and darkness by a black vapour that ascended from the ground. Yet the Bible accurately states the cause of day and night to be lights in the heavens that give light on the earth and "divide the light from the darkness". - Genesis 1:14-18
(g) In the Egyptian society in which Moses grew up and was educated it was taught that man came from Ra's tears. But in Genesis 2:7 Moses wrote that God formed man from "the dust of the ground." Every chemical found in the human body is found in the ground. Of all the things that Moses could have chosen to say that man was created from he just happened to pick something that was chemically consistent with the human body. Was it just a good guess?
(h) In Ecclesiastes 1:7 the earth's amazing water cycle, unknown in ancient times, is vividly described: "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. To the place from which the rivers come, there they return again." Where did Solomon learn this in 1000 B.C.?
(i) An examination of the scientific accuracy of the Bible would not be complete without looking at the account of man's creation. Is the creation of man by God unscientific? Does modern science support evolution or creation? One way to test evolutionary theory is by examining the fossil record to see if a gradual change from one kind to another really happened. Evolutionary theory suggests a fossil record that contains very simple life forms gradually changing into complex ones with transitional links between them and new body features starting to appear. Creation suggests a fossil record that contains complex life forms suddenly appearing, variety only within species, no transitional links between species and no partial body features. Many scientists openly admit that when you look for links between biological families they just aren't there. Even Darwin in his Origin of the Species admitted the fossil record did not support his theory when he said, "I look at the geological record as a history of the world imperfectly kept, ... imperfect to an extreme degree." After more than a century of research, and an extensive record now discovered, the fossil record reveals the same thing it did in Darwin's day: Complex life forms appearing suddenly without transitional links between different species. Far from supporting the theory of evolution, the fossil record supports the arguments for creation. In his book Cosmos, astronomer Carl Sagan said, "The fossil evidence could be consistent with the idea of a Great Designer."
(j) Let's look at another aspect of whether science supports the Bible version about how life began. Evolutionary theory suggests that life began spontaneously by a chance collision of chemicals and energy. But more than a hundred years ago Louis Pasteur clearly demonstrated that life comes only from life. The gulf between living and non-living things grows wider as scientific knowledge increases. The spontaneous generation of life from non-living matter belongs in the realm of science fiction, not science fact. Of the Bible's explanation, that life was created by a living God, it can at least be said that it is not inconsistent with established scientific knowledge.
5. A remarkable consistency
Suppose you asked 40 writers to write 66 books over a period of 1,600 years. The writers were all from varied backgrounds, some were educated, others were farmers and shepherds and most of them lived at different times in history and in different places. What are the chances that their writings would harmonize? The Bible shows remarkable internal harmony even in the smallest details. What may seem to be a contradiction is usually explained by the fact that the Bible writers had different backgrounds and different writing styles and these differences are reflected in the writing. Also if two writers relate the same event one might include details that the other leaves out. Additionally, two writers might use different methods, one might record something chronologically while another might use a different method.
6. Fulfilment of prophecy
The Bible says that God is the one "Declaring the end from the beginning" - Isaiah 46:10 The Bible contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies and even some that we are seeing come true today. Obviously I don't have room to tell them all here. I will limit myself to a few, the fulfilment of which are historical facts beyond dispute.
(a) History records the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 607 B.C. and the Jews being taken into captivity. Isaiah prophecied it 150 years before it actually happened. - Isaiah 39:5-6
(b) On a fateful night in 539 B.C. the Persian general Cyrus overthrew the city of Babylon. His soldiers were able to approach along the banks of the Euphrates by diverting the course of the river. They entered through gates that for some reason had been left open. They captured the palace and killed Belshazzar. The city had fallen in one night. Two hundred years before it happened Isaiah foretold the destruction of Babylon, that its rivers would dry up, that Cyrus would conquer the city and that its gates would not be shut. - Isaiah 44:27, 45:1 Jeremiah made the same prophecy 50 years before it happened. - Jeremiah 50:38, 51:11, 30
(c) After the predicted 70 years in exile, in 537 B.C. Cyrus returned the Jews to their homeland. Jeremiah foretold the Jewish exile would last exactly 70 years. - Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10
(d) In the eighth century B.C. Isaiah foretold that Babylon would eventually be completely destroyed and never again be inhabited. - Isaiah 13:19-22 In the sixth century B.C. Jeremiah made the same prophecy. - Jeremiah 51:37, 41-43 The prophecy was not fulfilled until the fourth century A.D. and to this day Babylon is a bunch of desolate ruins.
(e) The book of Daniel, written in the sixth century B.C. during the Jewish exile in Babylon makes startling predictions about the dominance of various world powers. Daniel accurately predicted that the Medo-Persian army would conquer the Babylonian empire even though it was a dominant power at the time. - Daniel 8:3, 20; an attempted invasion of Greece by the fourth king of Persia - Daniel 11:2; the defeat of Medo-Persia by Greece under Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. - Daniel 8:5-7, 21; and its eventual division into 4 smaller powers - Daniel 8:8, 22
(f) In the first century it was foretold that many claiming to be Christian would bring reproach on the Bible and the name of Christianity. - 2 Peter 2:1-2; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. The empire of Christendom promoted military campaigns against the Muslims, the so-called holy crusades. The appalling conduct of the church to prevent dissemination of the Bible I recount elsewhere. During the last few centuries the military expansion of the supposedly Christian nations has been marked by cruelty and greedy self-interest. The last two world wars have been fought between "Christian" nations. We should remember that their conduct does not represent true Christian teachings. Is that the kind of prophecy you would expect of a purely human creation?
(g) There is perhaps space for one more. This amazing prophecy is coming true right before our eyes. Jesus' disciples asked him what will be a sign of the last days. He said, "Many will come in my name, saying, "I am the Christ," and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars ... For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places ... because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." - Matthew 24:5-12 Some may argue that these things have happened in the past and they would be right, but they have never before happened together and on a worldwide basis and in addition they are becoming more and more pronounced.
7. Logical answers to questions that only God can answer
There's an old saying: "Nobody's perfect." And yet who can explain why? Why is every person on earth flawed in some way? We don't think of animals as being imperfect. We don't think of trees, or plants, or flowers, or anything in nature as being imperfect. We don't even think of rainy days as being wrong. And yet somehow we know that there is something wrong with us. The Bible provides an explanation of how human life started, how imperfection was introduced by the first man, and how this has brought about war, crime, sickness, famine and ultimately death. Man is not evolving, he is degrading. The Bible provides a complete and logical explanation about the world today and how it got this way, how we can achieve happiness, what will happen in the future to the earth and mankind. The answers the Bible provides to life's questions are like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle which, when put together, produce a picture that is logical and makes sense.
8. Surprising candour
People don't like to admit their own mistakes. And they certainly don't like to immortalise their errors in writing for posterity. The Bible writers display a surprising candour and honesty about their weaknesses. In Numbers 20:1-13 Moses reveals a serious mistake which led to him not leading his people into the promised land. Jonah told how he disobeyed a direct command from God out of indifference. - Jonah 1:1-3 Many passages in the gospels record the failings of Jesus' disciples. The disciples failure to understand Jesus. - Matthew 16:5-12 Peter's failure to walk on water because of lack of faith - Matthew 14:28-31; his denial of Jesus 3 times - Matthew 26:69-75 The disciples argued among themselves who was the greatest among them - Mark 9:33-34; Luke 22:24 The apostle Paul told how he used to beat Christians - Acts 22:19; and he described himself as the worst sinner in the entire world. - 1 Timothy 1:15 If the writers were going to make false claims wouldn't they most likely falsify the things which show them in a bad light?
No. Just beyond your capabilities.