When I was in my twenties (just as the crust of the earth was cooling) I realized that I didn’t know why I believed what I believed about Christianity. I grew up in a Christian home, married a Christian woman, and always went to church. Living in that bubble, I was never forced to think about why I was a Christian. But one day as a young adult, with no real crisis driving me, I began to ponder why I believed what I believed. I was firm on what I believed, I just couldn’t tell you why.
I think we would all agree that it’s important to know WHAT we believe (insert optional “Well,DUH!’ here). But how many of us ever ask ourself WHY we believe it? That’s a critical question to ask yourself, because when you know why you believe what you believe your faith becomes more unshakable and you become much more passionate about your faith. God is looking for believers whose faith is unshakable and who are passionate about it.
When you know why you believe what you believe your faith becomes more unshakable and you become much more passionate about your faith.
How about you? Are you passionate about your beliefs and is your faith unshakable? If your answer is less than a resounding “yes”, maybe you’re not clear about why you believe what you believe.
As Christians, we get our beliefs from the Bible. Or at least we should. Unfortunately, more and more people who identify themselves as Christian are straying away from the clear and basic teaching of the Bible. But that’s a subject for another day. The big question for this article is, “How can I trust the Bible?” In other words, we get our beliefs from the Bible, but how do we know that we can trust it? Isn’t it just a book? If so, there are lots of religious books floating around the world. What makes the Bible any better than those? Those are all good questions to which we should know the answer because the Bible is the “why” of what we believe.
If someone were to ask you what you, as a Christian, what you believe, you would most likely share biblical truths with them such as God’s plan for mankind, our need of salvation, and Jesus coming to be our Savior. All good things, right? Of course! But what if they ask you why you believe those things? What would your answer be?
Well, for what it’s worth, here’s what I would say. “I believe these things because they’re in the Bible, and I believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God based on these 3 things:
3 Reasons Why I Trust The Bible
1. The Bible is considered among the most historically reliable of all ancient documents.
Secular historians have a rigorous test for the reliability of ancient documents, of which the Bible is one. Based on this test of 9 criteria, the Bible, as an ancient historical document, passes with flying colors. If fact, no other ancient document even comes close to the Bible when compared to it using this test for reliability. And just as a note of interest, other religious books that claim to be in some way inspired by God score very, very low on the same test for historical reliability.
2. The hundreds of fulfilled prophecies in the Bible confirm its reliability, inspiration, and inerrancy.
There are literally hundreds and hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that have come to pass just as stated in the Bible. In fact, out of the hundreds of biblical prophecies, not one has been found to be false. Many of the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible have to do with Jesus’ birth, his earthly ministry, and his death and resurrection. To put it this way, the Bible is batting a thousand, with some prophecies yet to be fulfilled in these last days. So because of it’s perfect track record in fulfilled prophecy, we can say the Bible is not only inspired by God, but also without error.
3. Jesus himself believed the Scriptures to be the word of God.
While Jesus was on earth, He affirmed the Bible’s claims for itself. In what He said about it and in the way He used it, Jesus showed the Bible to be the Word of God. He even referred to it as the Word of God and held people responsible for what it said. Jesus also believed the stories in the Old Testament to be historically accurate, and not just fables to make a point. He expressed his belief in the biblical account of creation, the story of Noah and the great flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the account of Jonah being swallowed by a large fish. In all of these biblical accounts, Jesus expressed his belief in their historical accuracy. So if Jesus, believed the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, that’s good enough for me. I tend to believe someone who foretold their death AND resurrection, and had it happen just the way they said. There’s only been one person in the world whose ever done that… and that’s Jesus. Because of what He’s done I trust in what He says. And if He says the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, then I believe it.
That’s why I believe what I believe. What about you?
Great article Mike. The why is so important.
As asked by my 11 year old (at the time) daughter “Mom if you were born in Katmandu, would you still be a Christian?” Good question; are we what we are because we are taught what we are for the most part? I don’t think most of us seek out all the religious options in the world and then “decide” what we believe..we believe what we know.
Thanks for the comment, Martha. I agree that we tend to believe what we’ve been taught and that what we’ve been taught is heavily influenced by our culture. However, the big question that should be asked is, “Where did that teaching come from in the first place and should we trust that teaching?” What I want to know is, “What is God teaching us and where do I find that information for myself.” Unfortunately, many of mankind’s prejudices have crept into the teaching we have received over the centuries and has skewed God’s original revelation to us.
I have been pondering this since I saw it yesterday and even further still since I heard you preach about it in church a few weeks back. I believe and trust in what you are saying about the Bible as the basis for christian beliefs and this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone actually prove it’s validity (if that makes sense), however – here is the struggle…and I don’t believe I am the only one with this struggle which is why I’m trying to be brave enough to share it – if you’ve never read the Bible and had very little teaching about it, how do you successfully use it as a basis for unshakable faith? At least that is until you do study it, but what happens in the mean time? How do you face the challenges of making this change in your life without that basic knowledge? I’ve always thought of it as trying to practice medicine without going to med school.
For me, what happens is I ask God daily for patience with me as I learn His ways and then I try to soak in as much as I can whenever I can. I also have to allow myself to trust that this is the right path and to have patience with myself. Yes, I started reading the Bible – but not until I asked the Holy Spirit for help (as you’ve pointed out), and it has been quite different from when I’ve made feeble attempts to reading it in the past. In the past, I was reading it to “see what the big deal was”, well no wonder I wasn’t able to understand anything!
This might be too much information for this venue, but I hope by sharing I’ve also helped someone else realize that you just have to start somewhere sometime. Of course, I am realizing all of this through Mike and the wonderful family at New Life – thank you!
ps – I love that you are blogging!
Great insight, Mary. Thanks for the comment. I think most of us start out believing what we’re taught without really questioning where those who are teaching us are getting their information. Now, as an adult, if I’m sitting under someone’s teaching, I want to KNOW that their source is the Bible, and not just their own ideas or wishful thinking.