Internal and External Proofs that the Bible is the Word of Godby MBGNo other book has ever received such an onslaught of criticism and hate-filled attack as the Bible has. Men have vainly attempted to discredit, disprove, and destroy its Sacred Pages. The skeptic Voltaire boasted that the Bible would be regarded in the same light as Greek mythology and would no longer be used religiously within one hundred years of his death. A few years after his death, his home was converted into a printing house to print Bibles! Rulers, secular and religious, have attempted to keep its spread under control or wipe it from the face of the earth, yet it is unrivaled in its distribution. It is of a necessity that a Christian should know their Bible, not just what is in its pages, but also why it is regarded as the Word of God. It is simply not enough to know it is, or that someone once said it was. In these days, perhaps more than ever since most questions come from fellow “Christians”, we most know what we believe, why we believe, and where our basis for each belief is. Is the Bible the Word of God? Can it be proven from within itself? Is there evidence found outside its covers? Let us briefly discuss these and many other items as we see that the Bible is the very Word of God. Before we begin, I would like to make it known that this paper is not written in defense of the King James Bible. It is not that I do not believe that the King James Bible is the very word of God, because I do. This paper is written to prove that the Bible, no matter the language, is in fact the word of God. The King James Bible is God’s preserved Word for the English language, as any study put to the matter will show. But for the King James Bible to be the Bible, we most first prove the Bible is what it says it is: The Word of God. References to the King James Bible are made because this paper is written in English, and the King James Bible is the Word of God for the English language. Internal ProofsLet us first consider how the Bible can be the Word of God from within it’s own pages. Is this Book worthy of the title that it is given, or is it man exalting mortal work to the point of ascribing God’s authorship to it? Outside opinion is never as good as internal evidence. The Bible contains proclamations that it itself is the Word of God. The Old Testament contains the phrase “Thus Saith The Lord” over 400 times. Search for these in other “holy books”. Rarely do they make the assertion that their message is straight from God’s mouth. Biblical prophets preached their messages after receiving them from God the Holy Spirit. The Writers of the Bible wrote as God the Holy Spirit gave the message straight to them. How could a man claim that the work of his mind and hand is the work of God? It is possible, and has occurred. It is only logical that a perfect and orderly God would produce a perfect and orderly book. Since God is incapable of mistakes, one error in a work accredited to Him would prove that the work couldn’t be His. Therefore, when a Book makes the bold profession that it is the very Word of God, it cannot contain one error lest it should be ridiculed all the way to the garbage can. Consider how foolish it would be for a man to sign God’s Name on his own work, when one error would prove that it is not God’s. One unfulfilled prophecy, one fictitious person, or one contradiction would prove it as a forgery. One could get away with mistakes in a novel or letter, but ascribing a contradictory and fallible work as that of the Perfect God of Heaven is absolutely insane. There is, by the way, evidence that the men (i.e., Muhammad) who wrote such forgeries possibly were not of entirely sound mind. The prophecies of the Bible also set it apart from man’s work. No man in his right mind would predict so much and so accurate as the Bible. Let us just suppose that man did write a book littered throughout with prophetical statements. Once it was shown after a passage of time that the prophecies had failed to come true, the work would be discredited. Why has the Bible not been discredited? Its prophecies are sure. Consider the obscure prophecy made by Joshua in Joshua 6:26. He prophesied that the man who would rebuild Jericho’s walls would start the task with the birth of his firstborn and complete it with the birth of his youngest son. Now look at I Kings 16:34 and see what Hiel the Bethelite did. He built the walls of Jericho, starting with the birth of his firstborn and completing it with the birth of his youngest son. Some coincidence isn’t it? Even consider the Messianic prophecies. Where He was to be born, His tribe, His flight to Egypt, His rejection by His people, His betrayal and betrayer, His death, and many, many other things were written about the coming Messiah. How foolish it would be for men to keep adding on to the prophecies and being so specific. If twenty people would all right down one thing about someone no yet living, we then compile these thoughts, and we have twenty prophecies about a person not yet born. One may have written a place of birth, residence, or death. Another writes actions this person will make. One writes about a trip this person will take, and so on. Let us then wait and see if a person in the future would meet each and every one of the prophecies. Foolish is far too weak of a word to describe the thought of this actually succeeding. We must stand in awe of the God who wrote the Bible, for it is unreasonable to ascribe the multitude of fulfilled prophecies to chance. The precision of the Bible is yet another compelling argument for its inspiration. With the Omnipotent Creator as its writer, the Word of God will have perfect science within it. Since its Author is the Eternal Rock of the Ages, it will have exact historical references. How could man at the time of the Bible’s penning know of medical, scientific, and astrological areas not yet “discovered” by man? Could these men have known the importance of blood (Leviticus 17:11)? How did they know that washing in running water (Leviticus 15:13, i.e.) had anything to do with cleansing from an illness or impurities? Could these ancient people have grasped astronomical principles (Job 38:13-14; 26:7; Judges 5:20; i.e.) before the invention of the telescope? Man at that time could not, but God could! Historically, the Bible has never been proven false. The Bible has stood as man’s theories of kingdoms and rulers have failed. The Archaeologist’s spade has never disproved the Bible. The Bible has served as a guide for digs and excavation throughout the centuries. The Bible has held such men as David, Belshazzar, and Nebuchadnezzar long before men have “discovered” their existence. Finally, let us consider the practicality found in the Bible’s pages. The work of a mortal man is outdated shortly after they are written because he cannot see beyond his own era. The cults and pagan religions of the world find themselves having to revise what their “holy” books say because it is no longer applicable and relevant in this day. The Bible, though it in itself has not changed, has stayed up to date and relevant to each era and age even though it is thousands of years old. The same words we read today in our Bible are the same ones our forefathers read. The Old Testament is the same as when Jesus read it. No one has altered texts to be more compatible with the society of their time. Some have altered texts to prove their own heretical notions, but never to update the text in order to be relevant. The world has changed more over the past two hundred or so years than in millenniums of the past, yet the King James Bible, though nearing three hundred years of age, is still relevant with our modern English-speaking society. Muslims cannot boast of this, because their Koran has become outdated and irrelevant. They are scrambling to interpret passages concerning the treatment of women, the jihad, and relations with non-Muslims (better known in the Koran as infidels) among other things. The Bible is ignorant of these problems, because it is a book for the ages, penned by the Immortal, Eternal God and not a mortal, finite human. External ProofsNow that we have concluded an examination of the Bible in light of internal evidence, let us move on and search for external evidence. Many a mortally penned book has had an impact. President Lincoln credited the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin with aiding in the starting of the Civil War. Marx and Darwin are two individuals whose pens have influenced many to err in their philosophies. Marco Polo’s work on his travels in the Orient helped to bring Europe out of the dark ages. Is it too little to assume that if a book is Divinely penned that it should be unparalleled in its scope of influence? Is it too little to assume that a book claiming heavenly origins and utterance by the very breath of God will show signs outside of itself that it is what it claims to be? Consider the power that the Bible has. It is not written is an apologetic tone, but in mighty and forceful tone of “Thus Saith The Lord”. It is not the rehashing of ancestry and rhetoric against its enemies. It is not obsessed with proving itself and its followers as legitimate, but is written as fact and is our guide. What other book has influenced the drunk to leave his booze, the riotous to leave his revelings, and the whoremonger to leave his lust? Hundreds of books have been written to bring about these ends, but the Word of God stands alone its ability to rehabilitate and transform the destitute. No other work on morals has influenced so many nations, cultures, and regions for discerning between that which is right and that which is wrong What other book has comforted the sorrowful, strengthened the weary, gladdened the sad, and inspired the directionless? What other work has something to offer to anyone that may seek from his or her need from it? What other book has been so greatly treasured that even persecution and death could not tear people’s hands from its pages? What other work has the preservation that the Bible has had? We have had passed down to us from past generations the very Words of God. We have God’s preserved Word in the Masoretic Hebrew Text of the Old Testament and the Greek Textus Receptus of the New Testament. No other work has been so scrupulously and methodically preserved as the Hebrew Old Testament. From the earliest writings of Moses, the manuscripts were copied by the hands of scribes, who would destroy the manuscript they were on if they made merely one mistake. These men passed their legacy on to a group known as the Masoretes, who from the seventh century to the tenth century standardized the text and added vowels to the traditional Hebrew consonantal text. From their work, the Masoretic Text, the only sure foundation can be laid for the Old Testament. Most other manuscripts, no matter the age, are of dubious origin and are highly doubtful in their accuracy. The New Testament was originally written in Greek, the business and most widely used language in Roman times. This allowed for widespread circulation in early Church History. These manuscripts were also hand copied and passed down from generation to generation. Heretics and critics influenced many corrupted copies of the Scriptures, bent and twisted to serve their own views. This led to the formation of the standard Greek New Testament, known as the Textus Receptus (which well over 90% of the existing ancient New Testament manuscripts agree with), as we known it today, and greater care at preserving the exact words. It was not until the miracle of the moveable type printing press that both the Old and New Testaments become widely circulated and complete in form. The high price of the hand copied work of a scribe and persecution kept the Bible out of the hands of the common man. Finally, the Masoretic Text and the Textus Receptus could be produced without the worry of a copyist’s mistake. From these two accepted and most reliable sources have come the best and most accurate translations have been made into modern languages. Man’s works cannot boast of the protection that the Bible has had. How many writings held sacred by past generations are now lost in time? How many books have been erased from earth through the instrument of persecution? The great libraries of ancient and Biblical times are no more, but this one book the – Word of God – stands. Persecution, secular and religious, has vowed to rid the world of the Bible, but the Bible’s circulation continues to grow. The Roman Emperor Diocletian, in his persecution of the Christians, vowed in A.D. 303 to destroy the Bible from the world. He felt so confident that he had succeeded that he erected a memorial to the memory of the “extinct” religion of Christianity. Who would follow him on the Roman throne? His successor was Constantine, who would end the Roman persecutions of Christians and “legalize” Christianity. The only reasonable explanation of the preservation of the Bible is the realization of the protection of God on His Book. How could this Book withstand the flames of trials without being consumed unless the God of Shadrach, Meschack, and Abendego sealed it? How could this Book survive the floods of criticism unless the God of Noah protected it? Why would God protect something that He did not Himself author? Count the cost of the price for the Bible. No other book has a flowing river of human blood sending it forth through the generations. Is there another book upon this earth can claim martyrs as couriers, delivering and sealing it with their own blood? Is there another book that has carried a death penalty for merely possessing it? Many thousands of saints have been ushered onto the Golden Shore through persecution or Inquisition for simply having a copy of the Scriptures. What of Tyndale, who suffered a martyr’s death, and his translation of the Bible into English? What of Richard Byfield, John Tewkesbury, and the ex-priest Saitees, whose only crimes were possessions of Tyndale Bibles? What of the untold thousands who down through time have hidden those Blessed Words at the risk of their own life? What of Wycliffe who, although he miraculously escaped a martyr’s death for his translation of the Bible into English, had his remains were exhumed many years later, were burned, and the ashes thrown into the nearby River Swift? What of these and the brave souls – known and unknown, living or dead – who have or are willing to give their “last full measure of devotion” for ink and paper? Is this not an indicator that there is something special about the Bible? It is insane to give your life for something so trivial as a book, unless that Book is the very Words of God that have been preserved and delivered to mankind. Have you ever considered the proliferation of the Bible? It is the best selling book of all time. No other book is comparable in printing and distribution. No other work has been so diligently studied, no other work has been so widely written about, and no other book has such international appeal. It is not simply a book of Hebrew history and religion, but is a Book applicable to anyone, anywhere, anytime. No other Book has been and is being translated into so many languages. The Bible as a whole has been translated into at least 290 languages and dialects. The New Testament has been translated into at least an additional 600. Over 900 languages and dialects have at least one book of the Bible available for its users. It is also sad to note that a conservative estimate of the number of languages and dialects is at least 4,000 and approximately 2,200 of them do not have even one book of the Bible translated into it. No other Book has increased circulation through times of persecution. No other Book holds claim as the first mass printed book after Gutenberg’s invention of moveable type. No other book even comes close to God’s. Here we have here examined but a few arguments supporting the fact that the Bible is the Word of God. I wish I had more time and space to greater expand on each thought. Nevertheless, this small sampling of reasoning and facts is truly but a meager sampling of the information that may be gleaned from the works that men of God have written about the Bible. Since the Bible is the work of Christ, we rightly assume that that there are “many other things” and suppose that we could “suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written”? Only when “time is no more” will we be able to fully understand the Bible as the Author Himself expounds it to us for all eternity. 
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