“The Bible. This is what fools have written, what imbeciles commend, what rogues teach, and young children are made to learn by heart a hundred years from now the Bible will be a forgotten book.” -Voltaire Is Jesus the only way? Why should I forgive? Do I need to be baptized to be saved? Why can’t I stop worrying? Why should I trust the Bible? The Resurrection. Why should I trust the Bible? 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. The Bible is the most reliable collection of ancient writings. Plato – 210 Copies – 1300 yr Julius Caesar – 251 Copies – 950 yr Homer’s Iliad – 1800 Copies – 400 yr New Testament – 24,000 Copies – 50 yr Jesus took the scriptures seriously. Christians take the OT seriously because Jesus did. Matthew 5:17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. Matthew 19:4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that he who created them in the beginning made them male and female, Matthew 19:5 and he also said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? I believe the story of Adam and Eve, because Jesus did. The authenticity of the Gospels and what they say about Jesus. Objection: Since the Bible is the source of what Jesus said, aren’t we using the Bible to prove the Bible? Bible = Books Christians don’t believe the Gospels are reliable because they are in the Bible. Christians believe the Gospels were included in the Bible because they are considered reliable. The Gospels are considered reliable because of who wrote them and when they were written. 70 AD | The Jewish temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. “The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectacle without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who fought and those who entreated mercy were hewn down in indiscriminate carnage. The legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead, to carry on the work of extermination.” - Josephus There is no mention of the war against the Jews or destruction of the Jewish temple in the New Testament. Why? It hadn’t happened yet. The Gospels are reliable because of who wrote them and when they were written. The Bible is prophetically accurate. 2 Peter 1:21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Peter Stoner did the math to predict the odds of any man fulfilling just 8 of these prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. That number is 1 in 10¹⁵⁷. 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Skeptic – What is your reason for not believing? Follower of Jesus – What is your reason for believing? Your role is not to defend every verse in the Bible but to bring the hope of a resurrected Jesus into the spaces you are in. Can the Bible be trusted? Yes! Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.