Some people ask, “How do we know the Bible is true?” Some Christians will say, “Of course it is”. But hey – that’s not really an acceptable answer for someone who’s asking, “Is the Bible true?”, is it? My first thought after hearing that is, “Do you want to believe the Bible is true?”
My second thought is then, “Why wouldn’t you want the Bible to be true?” But, of course, that’s also from the point of view of a Christian who already believes it is true.
So what’s a good way to address the first question? I believe it has to begin with knowing the mindset of the person asking the question.
That’s why I wonder if the person asking even wants the Bible to be true.
What answers are possible to the question, Do you want to believe the Bible is true?
- I already believe the Bible is true.
- Yes, I want to believe the Bible is true.
- I’m not sure if the Bible is true or not. My mind is open to what I find out.
- No, I don’t want to believe the Bible is true.
- I already believe the Bible is not true.
- I don’t know and I don’t care.
- What is a Bible?
There are probably nuanced answers in between the ones above, but I think they pretty much cover the spectrum of likely answers.
Why does it matter if we want to believe the Bible is true?
Obviously, I think it does matter whether or not we even want the Bible to be true. I also mentioned that I think we should want the Bible to be true. However, knowing something about Christianity, the Bible, God, is a prerequisite to wanting it to be true.
And then there’s the ultimate question, why would we not want the Bible to be true? That takes more understanding and something called faith. It takes realizing that there is no alternative to Christianity that gives us a better result.
If we don’t even want the Bible to be true, we’ll never reach that point. As Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” However, if we don’t examine the Bible, we certainly can’t reach the point where we know whether it’s true or not.
So, let’s go through the 7 options above and see what they mean to our search for the truth about the Bible.
1. I already believe the Bible is true.
There’s not much to say here, given that this person already believes the Bible is true.
There’s a kid’s rhyme that goes:
Jesus loves me, this I know,
‘Cause the Bible tells me so.
It’s a nice rhyme. For a kid. But for an adult? If that’s the extent of our knowledge, and we don’t know why we believe the Bible is true, then how strong is our faith? When things like this come up, I often return to when Jesus answered a question about what the greatest commandment is.
The Greatest Commandment – Matthew
22:34-40 pp — Mk 12:28-31
Mt 22:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Mt 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
If we Love the Lord your God with all your (our) heart and with all your (our) soul and with all your (our) mind, then shouldn’t we really put all of our heart, soul and mind into knowing as much as we can about Him?
On top of that, how can we Love your neighbor as yourself (ourself), if we don’t know anything about Jesus other than that kid’s rhyme?
One of my favorite Christian Authors wrote the excerpt below in Mere Christianity.
Prudence means practical common sense, taking the trouble to think out what you are doing and what is likely to come of it. Nowadays most people hardly think of Prudence as one of the ‘virtues’. In fact, because Christ said we could only get into His world by being like children, many Christians have the idea that, provided you are ‘good’, it does not matter being a fool. But that is a misunderstanding. In the first place, most children show plenty of ‘prudence’ about doing the things they are really interested in, and think them out quite sensibly. In the second place, as St Paul points out, Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary. He told us to be not only ‘as harmless as doves’, but also ‘as wise as serpents’. He wants a child’s heart, but a grown-up’s head. He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim. The fact that you are giving money to a charity does not mean that you need not try to find out whether that charity is a fraud or not. The fact that what you are thinking about is God Himself (for example, when you are praying) does not mean that you can be content with the same babyish ideas which you had when you were a five-year-old. It is, of course, quite true that God will not love you any the less, or have less use for you, if you happen to have been born with a very second-rate brain. He has room for people with very little sense, but He wants every one to use what sense they have. 1Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) (p. 77). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
It’s a great book. The point here fits so nicely. No, we aren’t all the same when it comes to sense, intelligence, knowledge, the capacity to learn, etc. But we are all given what we have for our own God-given purpose. If we love God, then we should do the best we can with the gifts we receive from our Creator.
Anything less than that and we won’t/can’t full the Greatest Commandment(s). Neither can we know the truth, at least not to the extent that we could if we use our God-given talents to the greatest possible extent.
And that’s true even if we believe the Bible is true. I dare say, maybe even especially if we believe the Bible is true. Indeed, if we believie the Bible is true, then why would we not want to use our God-given talents and perform our life’s mission to the best extent possible?
2. Yes, I want to believe the Bible is true.
Yes, I want to believe the Bible is true sets us up for a good possibility for success in finding out the Bible is true. It reminds me of the event below.
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
Lk 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
Lk 19:5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
Lk 19:7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’ ”
Lk 19:8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Lk 19:9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”
Just check out the beginning again.
Lk 19:1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
That’s such an undignified thing to do. This wasn’t just idle curiosity. Clearly, tax collector, the scum of the earth to Jews at the time, wanted to know about Jesus.
If you answered, yes, I want to believe the Bible is true, are you willing to, figuratively speaking, risk making a spectacle of yourself and climb a tree in full view of everyone? Even people who hate you?
When I lead a class, I always have two rules. One of them has to do with the idea of a dumb question. I remind the group of the saying, there’s no such thing as a dumb question. And then I tell them, there is actually one dumb question. It’s the one you don’t ask!
Why? Because, if you don’t ask it, then you’ll be thinking about your question, while I’m moving on to the next thought. Then, you’re question is still unanswered, and you’re missing whatever came next, still thinking about your question. Plus, if you do ask, there’s probably at least one other person who’s happy you asked, because they were afraid to ask.
If you want to believe the Bible is true, are you willing to be the one who speaks up? Or are you waiting for someone else to do what you thought you wanted to do?
Now, do you still say, “Yes, I want to believe the Bible is true”?
3. I’m not sure if the Bible is true or not. My mind is open to what I find out.
If you didn’t find yourself in one of the first two scenarios, I hope you’re at least in this one. Why? Because as we move down the list, it gets harder and harder to learn much of anything about the Bible. Because our minds just won’t be in it.
But if you’re here, let’s give you some encouragement. There’s a book, Embrace God’s Truth, with the following introduction.
In Forrest Gump, a person is shown reading a copy of USA Today during a sequence set in the 1970s. The problem is that USA Today wasn’t created until 1982.
At the end of Will Smith’s Wild, Wild West, James West and Artemus Gordon ride off into the sunset as they head back to Washington, D.C. Writers must have forgotten that D.C. is on the east coast and the sun sets west.
In the Field of Dreams, “Shoeless Joe” Jackson is shown batting right-handed. But historians of the game know that Jackson was left-handed.
Although these film flubs are innocent and have no bearing on anything important, real life is measured by truth.
Genuine truth is accurate, flawless, and perfect in every detail.
God is truth, and this book will show you his ultimate authority, and that his way is not just the best way, but the only way to truth for your life. You will learn how the Trinity, God in three persons, expresses his truth to us intimately. And you will discover how it all works together as it is lived out in the body of Christ.
We should not chance our life and the choices we make on anything less than absolute truth. In a world full of flaws, uncertainties, and unknowns, God’s truth is authentic and brings true freedom to our life.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). 2Wilson, C., & Simmons, S. (2010). Embrace God’s Truth (pp. 5–6). WPH.
Let me repeat part of that:
Genuine truth is accurate, flawless, and perfect in every detail.
It can be known. Not completely. We aren’t capable of it. And God hasn’t given us what we can’t grasp. As I said, different people will grasp things to different degrees. But everyone can see if there isn’t truth in it.
However, as the title states, if we don’t want to see truth, we won’t.
God doesn’t force us to love Him. In the same way, He won’t force us to learn about Him either. But, He did place something in us, even those who aren’t yet Christians and don’t yet have/know the Holy Spirit, the mind of God.
I don’t know how many of you know of the song, Turn, Turn, Turn. The lyrics are available at genius.com. But maybe you won’t need them. Here’s the thing about those lyrics:
This song is adapted entirely (except for the last line) from Qoheleth, also called the Book of Ecclesiastes. It was put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959. The song became a worldwide hit in 1965 when it was covered by The Byrds.
Qoheleth, as you may know, was Solomon. The son of King David. The author of both Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The wisest man.
Here are the verses from Ecclesiastes that make up the song:
A Time for Everything
Ecc 3:1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
Ecc 3:2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
Ecc 3:3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
Ecc 3:4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Ecc 3:5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
Ecc 3:6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
Ecc 3:7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
Ecc 3:8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Not in the song, but immediately following in Ecclesiastes are these verses:
Ecc 3:9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Did you happen to catch the verse about eternity? And how about that last sentence in there?
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end
God does it so that men will revere him.
No, we cannot understand everything about God. But we can understand something. Because God put something of Himself in our hearts.
And, God did that so we can revere Him. God’s desire is that we love Him. That means we can choose to love God, but it also means we can choose not to love God.
Further, if we put it all together, we also see that if/when we choose to know about God, to honestly seek that knowledge available to us, He will provide it. It also means we already have the ability to know whether or not what we learn is true.
The thing is, with the free will, the choice to love God or not, there’s a need to learn about Him. If we don’t verify that what we think we’ve learned from/about the Bible is true.
Then, if we find it’s false, we lostill have two choices. We can go back and try again to learn the truth. Or, we can accept the lie.
Remember what we just read:
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end
God does it so that men will revere him.
When we find something about God that’s not good, then we either don’t understand it, or it’s not true. We can go back and find the truth, or we can reject God because of the misunderstanding/misinformation.
If we truly want to believe the Bible is true, because we truly want to love God, because we want to know the truth, we will take the time to use all of our heart, soul, and mind to find the truth. To find God.
If you’re not sure, but if you do have an open mind, it’s more than worth it for you to find the truth. It is there. And, as Jesus said, it will set you free.
4. No, I don’t want to believe the Bible is true.
If you find yourself here, or even lower on the list, things aren’t going to be easy. You have to overcome yourself first. And that’s hard.
Not impossible. But hard.
Ask, Seek, Knock – Matthew
7:7-11 pp — Lk 11:9-13
Mt 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Mt 7:9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”
I remember part of this passage from when I was in grade school and my parents forced us to go to church. Oddly enough, the part I remembered is:
Mt 7:9 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
I say it’s odd because it was my parents that led me to want the kind of Father Jesus spoke of. After years of being mad at God, trying to find an alternative to Him, and finally realizing there is no acceptable alternative, this was one of two things that actually stuck with me when I did return to Him. I knocked – the door was opened – and here I am. It wasn’t easy at all. And yet, it did happen.
5. I already believe the Bible is not true.
This can be a problem. I never reached a point where I thought it wasn’t true.it sh Yes, I did want to find something else. At one point, looking into Eastern religions, they did seem interesting.
But there’s no getting around the reality that Christianity promises things that no one else does. We’ll get to them in the conclusion. For now, I do hope that if you’re in this group, that you’ll stick around to read the conclusion. That you’ll find a reason to change your mind.
6. I don’t know and I don’t care.
Short of a wake-up call from God, I’m not at all sure what will help you here. It’s probably the worst place to be of all the possibilities. This describes at least part of the situation in the church in Laodicea in Revelation. Check out what Jesus said to them.
To the Church in Laodicea
Rev 3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Rev 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Remember, these are people who claimed to be Christian. Went to church. And somehow still didn’t really care. And Jesus told them:
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
The parable below gives the same message, in a more directed fashion. The weeds are the non-believers.
The Parable of the Weeds Explained
Mt 13:36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
Mt 13:37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
Mt 13:40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Again, we see the fire:
Mt 13:40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
7. What is a Bible?
Of course, the person who asks, what’s a Bible, certainly isn’t a believer.
Conclusion – Do you want to believe the Bible is true?
So, after all that, I think it shows that if the Bible is true, and if we believe it, and if we follow Jesus, the ending for us is awesome. Eternal bliss.
Given those same conditionals, if we don’t believe, then the ending is truly awful.
However, and this is the key, if the Bible isn’t true – what alternative is there that even has a hope for a good ending?
Islam? Well, first of all, Islam is based on the Bible. However, it claims that portions of the Bible are corrupted. The biggest issue there is that they don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God. It also ignores, and I do mean just flat out ignores, certain things in the Bible. It changes them, without ever making a claim that something’s wrong. Please check out What religion was Abraham? to see one very big problem.
The Eastern religions? There’s nothing of Jesus. No redemption. No promise of an eternal life with God.
Atheist? There is no next life. Things just end. All that time we spent hoping for something better in life is wasted. There’s nothing better, because there’s nothing. What kind of hope is that?
So why should we want the Bible to be true? All of this is why I believe the real question should be why shouldn’t we want the Bible to be true? What could possibly be better?
Yes, of course, when we want it to be true, we should also verify that it’s reasonable to want it to be true That it has a likelihood of being true. Christianity is about a leap of faith – but Christianity is not a blind leap of faith.
I tried to get away from Christianity. To find a “better” choice. But there wasn’t one. So, as I said, I’m back. And I’ve spent a whole lot of time studying Christianity. I have yet to find a reason not to believe Christianity. I sincerely want Christianity to be true. And the more I examine it, the more I believe it is true.
Footnotes
- 1Lewis, C. S.. Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics) (p. 77). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
- 2Wilson, C., & Simmons, S. (2010). Embrace God’s Truth (pp. 5–6). WPH.