If you’ve ever had a discussion or even an argument with a Christian you’ve probably noticed that they constantly base what they say on what the Bible says.
‘Fair enough,’ you may say, ‘all well and good if the Bible is reliable.’
But is it? Why are Christians so convinced that they can rely on what the Bible says?
There are many things that bring Christians to that conclusion but let’s look at just one.
The Bible is really a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors from 3 continents over a period of almost 2000 years1. It is divided into 2 main parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Christians lay great emphasis on the fact that such a collection from many sources forms one complete work. This work is internally totally consistent.
Let’s take one example of this. The following lines are quoted from the 3rd book of the New Testament, Luke, and are part of an account of a conversation between Jesus and two others:
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. ( Luke chapter 24 verse 25 ff, NKJV)
Here Jesus refers to ‘all the Scriptures’, indicating that the books of the Bible were to be seen as a united work. He refers to the individual components of ‘Moses and all the Prophets.’
A close look at books written by Moses might take us to the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis. In chapter 22 we can read an account of a man called Abraham who was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in obedience to God’s command to do just that. (God stepped in at the last minute to stop that sacrifice.) Christians assert that this incident is a picture of something that happened centuries later. It’s recorded in the New Testament: God Himself gave His Son, Jesus Christ, as the sacrifice for sins on a cross. Christians believe that this is one example of how the Old and New Testaments hang together, a view endorsed by Jesus Christ Himself in the lines quoted above from Luke.
The reference made by Jesus to ‘the Prophets’ is even clearer. We could take two Old Testament prophets as examples.
The prophet Isaiah wrote these words hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ:
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14)
In the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, we read in the context of the birth of Jesus Christ and His virgin mother Mary:
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” (Matthew chapter 1 verse 23)
And Micah likewise long before the event wrote:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Micah chapter 5 verse 2)
In the second book of the New Testament, Luke, we read the historical record:
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke chapter 2 verse 4)
There are 3 questions: did Isaiah and Micah, writing hundreds of years before the event, have the ability to stage-manage the historical record of the birth of Jesus; was Mary to stage-manage the circumstances of His birth or were Isaiah and Micah true prophets? Christians believe that the only logical conclusion is that Isaiah and Micah were true prophets and that prophecy confirms the reliability of the Bible.
1https://answersingenesis.org/the-word-of-god/3-unity-of-the-bible/