Is the Bible Real?

My $10 Bible is the small, black one.

I grew up in a small town in Kentucky.  On my 10th birthday, I went to a downtown drugstore and bought a $10 King James Bible.  And I've been reading the Bible ever since.  



Today I counted - my family has 32 Bibles, not including the Bible I currently read, which is on my iPad.  We have 9 different translations.* 

So, of course, the Bible is real.  

But...Is it true?  Or have I wasted 45 years?

As a historical document...  

 - The Bible is externally consistent, meaning that outside evidence supports the historical events recorded in the Bible. 

- The Bible is internally consistent, meaning that it doesn't contradict itself. 

- The Bible is considered a reliable historical document.  Biblical events, especially those in the New Testament, were recorded not many years after they occurred, by eyewitnesses or people close to those events.  

- And the Bible has been accurately copied throughout the centuries.  We're confident that the Bible we read today contains the same text that the ancient Israelites read.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I consider how I would answer a person who asks, "Is the Bible true?" I have two thoughts.

First - the entire Bible is about Jesus and His work of redemption, His death and resurrection.  Paul wrote this about that truth:

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain...If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.                    1 Corinthians 15:14 and 19

By faith, I believe Jesus did rise again - faith given to me by the Holy Spirit and based on the testimony of witnesses.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 

Second - science and historical facts, even if proven to be true, mean nothing to a person if those words of truth can't affect the human heart.

My pastor once said:  

God's Word always nourishes.  God's Word is never without effect.

He's right.  God's Word, recorded in the Bible, diagnoses and moves the heart.  

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

I haven't wasted 45 years.  Even today, God's Word cuts me to the heart and moves me; it diagnoses my sin, convicts me...and then gives me hope...in Jesus.  That $10 was money well spent.


*Our versions of the Bible:
King James Version
New King James Version
Revised Standard Version
New American Standard Version
New International Version 
English Standard Version
International Children's Bible, New Century Version
The New English Bible with Apocrypha
The New American Bible - The New Catholic Translation