Why I Trust the Bible
A Dialogue
In this article a skeptic, "Skeptic Lance," (SL) interviews Pastor Lance (PL) on the question of trusting the Bible as the Word of God.
(SL) So why do you trust the Bible and think it came from God?
(PL) First of all, it claims to be God's Word. Let's focus on the New Testament: the writers claim to be writing the words of God and handing on teachings they received from Jesus and about Jesus.
(SL) Okay, but that doesn't make it the Word of God. Anybody could make those claims!
True, but I think it's important for us to understand that the Bible actually makes that claim. The second point I would make is that the New Testament provides a basically reliable account of Jesus' life and ministry.
(SL) But how do you know that??
(PL) I would focus on the resurrection of Christ. Keep in mind that after Jesus was crucified and buried, the disciples went out and preached in public that he rose from the dead.
(SL) That doesn't make it true!
(PL) No, of course not.
(SL) And since we're asking questions, how do we even know that Jesus existed??
(PL) To my knowledge, the fact that Jesus existed is not really questioned by reputable scholars today. The question is not whether he existed, but who he was, what he taught, whether he really rose from the dead, etc. But the fact that he existed is supported by not only the New Testament writers, but also Jewish and secular sources, such as the Jewish historian, Josephus, the Roman historian, Tacitus, the Roman general, Pliny the Younger, Seutonius, etc. This makes it hard to deny his existence.
(SL) Okay, I'll grant that Jesus existed.
(PL) Along with that, I trust the New Testament writers as basically reliable witnesses to the life and death of Jesus--and the resurrection, of course. Here's why: these events happened in time and space. The story of Jesus did not mysteriously emerge from the mists of time, like some legend or myth. Jesus was a public person who lived in first century Palestine. He was crucified, buried in a real tomb and then after his death, his disciples went out and preached that he rose from the dead.
(SL) The fact that the early church believed that he rose from the dead doesn't make it true!
Or does it? I think we need to look a little closer. The followers of Jesus stuck their necks out and said that if he didn't rise from the dead, their faith was useless (1 Corinthians 15). They put the facts of the case out there for people to investigate!
(SL) So what does that prove?
Well, if you think about it, it would be very difficult for the disciples to publicly proclaim the resurrection if it didn't happen. Not only would friendly eyewitnesses of Jesus' life contradict it, but--and here's the main point--the enemies of Jesus would have been only too happy to point out that he didn't rise from the dead! The enemies of Christianity (most of the Jewish religious leadership in Jerusalem) could have gone to the tomb and produced his body. Given the pivotal importance of the resurrection in the New Testament, this would have killed Christianity before it got off the ground.
But nobody ever produced the body.
(SL) So maybe somebody stole the body?
(PL) It's possible. But who??
(SL) The followers of Jesus! That way they could say he resurrected.
(PL) But what motive would they have? I could see if they had something to gain, but they went out and lived hard lives as apostles and most of them were put to death for their faith.
(SL) Lots of people have died for their religious beliefs. Look at 9-11. They flew airplanes into buildings, blew themselves up, believing they'd get a better life in heaven!
(PL) Those hijackers actually believed they'd get a great life in heaven if they flew a suicide mission. If the disciples of Jesus stole his body, they would know the resurrection didn't happen. They would know it was all a lie, and not many people are willing to die for something they know to be false. Imagine how hard it would be for the Christians to maintain the lie in the face of suffering and hardship. But none of them ever "cracked." They maintained their belief in the resurrection of Christ even to the point of martyrdom!
(SL) Well, maybe they just thought they saw Jesus alive after he was buried.
But how do you explain the empty tomb?
(SL) Maybe somebody else stole the body
(PL) Who? Nobody else had a motive to steal it. The Jewish religious leadership would want to make sure it was still in the bomb. In fact, they were so concerned that the Christians would steal the body, they had a guard unit posted at the tomb of Jesus!
So two facts are key: 1) the followers of Jesus really believed they saw him alive after his death, and 2) the tomb was empty that first Easter morning. Nobody has ever produced the body of Jesus. If they had, Christianity would have been crushed before it ever got off the ground.
(SL) So, even if I granted that Jesus might have resurrected, how do you get from that to trusting that the Bible is the word of God?
(PL) It's like this: If Jesus rose from the dead, then the apostles are true eyewitnesses. And if we can trust the apostles on the resurrection, then it is reasonable to trust what they wrote about Jesus in the New Testament.
(SL) What about the Old Testament?
(PL) Trusting the Old Testament seems to follow from trusting the New Testament. When you read the New Testament you see how much they point back to the Old Testament writings. Old Testament quotes and allusions fill the New Testament. Further, the New Testament explicitly says the Old Testament is the word of God (E.g., 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21).