Facts on the Bible

John Ankerberg, John Weldon, Burroughs Dillon

Description

The Facts On series has sold more than 1.9 million copies and continues to provide information, facts, and foundational truths to help Christians understand their faith and their world. How can Christians be sure that the Bible is the Word of God and a trustworthy foundation for their faith? John Ankerberg and John Weldon, the respected coauthors of many popular apologetics books, examine the Bible from various angles--history, archaeology, science, and logic--as they explore of the accuracy of the biblical text expose current critical fallacies demonstrate that the Bible is supremely reliable show how fulfilled prophecy is the result of divine inspiration encourage readers to confidently share God's message This confidence-building resource affirms the uniqueness and inerrancy of the Christian Scriptures and provides a quick, updated reference for students, pastors, teachers, and all believers. Rerelease with new cover and minor revisions.

Sujets

• Reference work

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736939096
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

®

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, ® ® NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. ® Verses marked NASB  are taken from the New American Standard Bible , © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org) Unless otherwise indicated, all emphasis (italics) in Scripture quotations has been added by the authors. Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota Cover photos © Fotolia Backcover author photo of Dillon Burroughs © Goldberg Photography

THE FACTS ON THE BIBLE The Facts On Series FormerlyThe Facts on Why You Can Believe the Bible,was adapted with new which research fromKnowing the Truth About the Reliability of the Bible, The Facts on False Views of Jesus,and short excerpts fromReady with an Answer. Copyright © 2004 by John Ankerberg and John Weldon Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data  Ankerberg, John, 1945  The facts on the Bible / John Ankerberg and John Weldon.—Updates / by Dillon  Burroughs.  p. cm.—(The facts on series)  Rev. ed. of: The facts on why you can believe the Bible. © 2004.  Includes bibliographical references.  ISBN 9780736924900 (pbk.)  1. Bible—Evidences, authority, etc. I. Weldon, John II. Ankerberg, John, 1945  Facts on why you can believe the Bible. III. Title.  BS480.A68 2008  220.1—dc22 2008032119 All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 / VPNI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Section One The Bible and the Difference It Makes 1. Does the Bible matter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2. What have been the different approaches to  establishing the reliability of the Bible? . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3. Why is the reliability of the Bible a critical  subject for everyone?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 4. What does the Bible claim for itself, and is  there good reason to believe it?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 5. Did Jesus believe the Bible was  without error? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Section Two The Accuracy and Supernatural Character of the Biblical Text  6. Why would anyone argue that the  Bible can’t be trusted? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25  7. Does biblical archaeology confirm the  reliability of the Bible? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36  8. What about alleged Bible errors and  contradictions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40  9. Does the biblical data by itself prove that the  Bible is without error?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43  10. Does prophecy prove the Bible is God’s  only revelation to man?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45  11. What can skeptics learn from science  and mathematics about the Bible? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Section Three The Responsibility of Historical Research  12. What is rationalistic biblical criticism,  and how do we distinguish it from  valid historical research?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59  13. Are rationalistic critical approaches such as the  Jesus Seminar and “Q” studies nothing more  than nonsense? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Section Four Conclusion

 14. How unique is the Bible?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75  Learning from History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

 Recommended Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83  Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

The Bible and the Difference It Makes

ONE

SECTION

“So many of the ideas that found application in America’s founding documents and our government were taken from the Bible. It is not only the single most cited authority in the writings of the founding era, but it is also the book from which many of America’s political and social customs were originally formed.”

—David Barton The Influence of the Bible on America

1 Does the Bible matter?

Christian faith is increasingly under assault today, even in America, a nation that has benefited extraor dinarily from its positive influence in national and individual life. Many are now expressing open disdain for the Christian faith that has provided their freedoms. Such disdain could be seen as one of the great ironies of recent time. Those who wish to tear down the Bible and Christian faith should actually be on their knees thanking God for both, because otherwise they would clearly not have the blessings and freedoms for their personal endeavors. Whatever shortcomings Christian faith has displayed throughout history, they pale into insignificance com pared to the incalculable blessings it has produced for America and throughout the world. The benefits are due largely to one factor—the teachings of the Bible lived out in practical ways by men and women who believed it. When we examine the benefits of Christian faith to humankind, we must remember it is the Bible that plays the central role. Because this book talks about the trustworthiness of the Bible, an appropriate place to begin is by briefly illustrating for readers how the Bible has dramatically 7