INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE

                                                 

     The importance of the inspiration of the Bible is foundational to the Christian faith. If the Bible were just a collection of writings by men, without God's authorship, it would be spiritually worthless. The inspiration of the Word of God is the very basis for referring to the Bible as the Word of God. Through the fact of the inspiration of scripture we are able to know that the words contained therein are true and reliable. There are many proofs to verify the inspiration of the Bible.

One such proof is the fact that the Bible accurately deals with prophetic content. No other religious writing even dares forecast future events while the Bible not only predicts the future, but does so inerrantly. The Old Testament is filled with prophecy concerning the coming Messiah. Every one of those prophecies have either been fulfilled by the life of Jesus Christ or will be fulfilled at His second coming. One such example is found in Psalm 22 where we find David giving a very detailed description of a death by crucifixion hundreds of years before this type of capitol punishment even existed.

Another proof of the inspiration of the Bible is the cohesiveness of each of it's 66 books. Imagine endeavoring to put together a compilation of writings written over a 1500 year period by over 40 different authors and all of it with one common theme, the redemption of mankind through one person, the God/man, Jesus Christ. This would be an impossible undertaking if it were attempted by the power of man, but as Jesus told us Matthew 19:26 - “with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible. It is difficult to get four people together who agree theologically, yet the Bible was written by over 40 authors, most of whom never met, and yet were able to put forth the same message with out contradiction or error. This could only be accomplished by the power and inspiration of God.

Historical and Archaeological evidence also supports the inspiration of scripture. Indeed the Bible was written over a 1500 year period by over 40 different authors and amazingly does not contain one historical flaw or archaeological inaccuracy. In fact, many archaeological discoveries have been made by the direction of the Bible. One such discovery is the real Mt. Sinai discovered by archaeologist Ron Wyatt, in what is now Saudi Arabia. Wyatt used the Biblical account of the Exodus to discover the location of the Israeli camp in which Moses received the 10 commandments from God.

The Bible itself testifies as to it's own inspiration. II Timothy 3:16 tells us that “all scripture is given by the inspiration of God...” Although a self description does not usually hold any veracity, that is not the case in this instance. As the Bible has been tested and tried by almost every generation, it has maintained it's integrity under heavy scrutiny. This scrutiny testifies to the truth of the above verse. When the Bible has been found true under every verifiable measure, that which is not verifiable becomes acceptable by default.

What we find ourselves with is a solid accounting of God's plan and dealings with mankind, given to us by God Himself as He inspired ordinary men who made themselves available to His will. The Bible has been unsuccessfully attacked by it's critics for ages past and has stood up to all scrutiny. God continues to remove the evidence of those who would claim He does not exist or that His word is not true because that evidence is nothing more than false claims and baseless accusations.