How do we know the Bible is truly from God?  It claims to be from God (2 Timothy 3:16-17), but what evidence is there to back up this claim?  This is a great question, and one worthy of thoughtful answer.

Consider this.  The Bible is made up of 66 books, written by approximately 40 different authors, written over a period of 1,600 years on three different continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe.  These books were written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.  The authors of these books came from very different backgrounds.  Moses was a prince trained in Egypt’s universities who later became a shepherd.  Luke was a doctor.  Daniel was a slave who became one of the prime ministers of two different empires.  Several of the apostles were fishermen.  Joshua was a soldier.  Nehemiah was a butler.  David and Solomon were kings.  Amos was a shepherd.  Paul was a tent maker and a rabbi.  Mathew was a tax collector.  These men wrote their books in very different environments.  David wrote while fighting wars and undergoing other hardships, but his son Solomon wrote during peacetime.  These different authors wrote about topics which were extremely controversial.  They examined the nature of sin, how man is redeemed from sin, God’s nature, the origin of man and the universe.

Despite all that, the Bible contains complete harmony and continuity.  No other similar collection of writings can claim the same thing!  Take just ten authors from only one walk of life, from only one generation, from only one place, from only one time, from only one continent, speaking only one language, with all ten being in just one frame of mind.  Ask them to write on just one controversial topic.  You would get a conglomeration of ideas, a hodgepodge of different takes and opinions on the controversial subject.  There would be little to no unity and harmony.  Yet what we see in Scripture is unity and harmony from many authors, from many walks of life, from different times, writing on many controversial topics.  Why?  Because they all were moved by the same Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).  To all with open, honest hearts, this is evidence that the Bible is inspired by God.

What might surprise some is the overwhelming scientific evidence which, when combined with plain common sense, supports the biblical claim of divine inspiration.  Take Isaiah’s book, written around 701 B.C., which says the earth is round (Isaiah 40:22).  Or Job, likely written around 950 B.C., which says there is an empty space north of the earth (Job 26:7), the earth is suspended over nothing (26:7), air has weight (28:25), and springs exist in the sea (38:16).  Or the psalms, likely written around 990 B.C., which say the oceans have currents (Psalm 8:8).  Or Ecclesiastes, likely written around 950 B.C., which say the winds move in a circular motion (Ecclesiastes 1:6) and all rivers flow into the sea without causing its overflow (1:7).

Historically, man did not become undoubtedly sure about the roundness of the earth, its suspension over nothing in space, and the empty space north of the planet until the latter half of the twentieth century when cameras were sent into space.  We did not discover that air has weight until the barometer was invented in the 1600’s.  Sea currents were not charted until the 1800’s.  Wind currents were not charted until the 1900’s.  It took almost 1,500 years for civilization to explore enough of the planet to state with certainty that all rivers empty into the sea.  It wasn’t until the late 1800’s that we discovered there are springs of fresh water in the oceans.  Around that same time, we figured out the water cycle and thus discovered why the oceans do not overflow.

How could men living in ancient times write about these scientific facts thousands of years before science discovered them?  Where was the technology they used to make such claims?  There is no logical explanation without factoring God into the equation.  However, both the Bible’s claim of divine inspiration and God’s existence are extremely logical if one considers that these men were inspired by the Deity who created them and the universe.               

These and other reasons are why you must “in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).