07. Is the Bible trustworthy?
Key Verses / Passages
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
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Discussion
Is what we read about actually what happened?
How can we be sure that what we are reading today is the same as what was written 2000+ years ago?
There are peoples, places, and whole countries mentioned in the Bible that don’t exist - so is it a work of fiction or not?
How can I trust what I read?
There are so many questions that come from this one little question. This is a subject that is worth studying and much has been written about this one topic.
The Bible has been proven, multiple times, to be:
• Historically reliable and accurate, verified by external sources.
• Textually reliable based on the number of early manuscripts (over 5,800 in the Greek New Testament)
• Prophetically reliable with over 300 accurate predictions about Jesus, alone.
• Scientifically reliable; e.g. the hydrological cycle.
• Internally consistent; truthful and credible, showing human flaws and nature.
• Enduring across the test of time.
By delving into this subject separately, your faith will grow, and you will be encouraged as you find that Bible is consistent and reliable.
A few online locations of reliable information on this subject are:
10-reasons-you-can-trust-the-bible
The Bible Project: How to Read the Bible is a series of 19 videos about reading the Bible
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Reflection / Questions
• What is the way that you will be, or have already been, convinced that the Bible is trustworthy? Think about this and discuss it with your mentor.
• The Bible authors wrote about what they saw, so not everything is “literal”. Does it still make the text trustworthy?
• The Bible consists of different genres, or types of writing, like poetry, songs, history and others. This means it cannot be read as a single story. Each section must be read according to the genre. This is something that you can discuss with your mentor.
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Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for your word. Thank you for being the Word of creation and life. Thank you that your words have been kept true and are reliable. Please help me to appreciate them more and understand what you have written.