How Can You Know The Bible Is The Word of God?

To determine the truth of something we need to use a higher standard than what we are evaluating. For example, if I look at a stack of books and I say, "Those books weight 25 pounds." what is the higher standard that can be used to determine whether or not that is true? A scale. If we put the books on a scale we can measure the weight and determine the truth of my statement.

What is the higher authority for the Bible?

To evaluate the Bible using human standards or philosophy or moral judgment is using a lower authority. We are lower than God. The only standard we can use is the Bible itself. This applies to all books that claim to be from God, such as the Quran and The Book of Mormon. This is not circular reasoning. We do not accept the Bible as being the word of God just because it claims to be the word of God--although it does that over 3,000 times. Any book can claim make that claim, but that does not make it true.

However, there are four characteristics of the Bible, and any other book that claims to be the word of God, that we can look at to determine whether or not it is the word of God. They are prophecy, history, science and unity.

Prophecy

The Bible includes about 3,000 prophecies about the future. About half of those have come true. The other half concern things, such as the end times, that have not happened yet. There are 300 prophecies about Jesus. Every one came true. The odds of just 8 of those prophecies being full filled in one person is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. The odds of just 48 of those prophecies being full filled in one person is 1 in 10 to the 157th power. In other words, only someone who perfectly knew what would happen in the future could have made 48 correct prophecies about Jesus. Remember there are 300 prophecies about Jesus, all of which came true. No prophecy in the Bible has been wrong. No detail of a Bible prophecy has been wrong. No one but God could do that.

History

A major portion of the Bible describes historical places, people and events. Archeology and other historical research shows that the history in the Bible is perfectly accurate. Archaeologist used to claim that the Bible was filled with stories, but it was not necessarily accurate history. Some still do claim this. But, what they have found is that if they use the Bible as their guide, they will uncover the cities, battles, and places described in the Bible. Neither archeology nor historical research has discovered anything that contradicts the Bible. The history in the Bible is completely true. Only God can do that.

Science

The Bible is not intended as a science textbook, but it does mention scientific facts that were not discovered until thousands of years after they were written in the Bible. Here are some examples:

• Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22)
• Almost infinite extent of the starry universe (Isaiah 55:9)
• The universe is being stretched out (by God’s hand)
• Law of conservation of mass and energy (II Peter 3:7)
• Law of increasing entropy (Psalm 102:25-27)

Science has never shown any scientific fact, stated in the Bible, to be wrong. Science has disagreed with the Bible many times, but science has always been shown to be wrong. The Bible has described scientific truth long before man "discovered" that truth. Only God can do that.

The Unity of the Bible

The Bible was written over a period of 2,000 years, by forty different authors who came from tremendously different backgrounds. But it is clearly one book, perfect in unity and consistency. It has never needed to be corrected. Most of the books I read are written by one author, over a period of a year or two... and they are not consistent, they have errors and problems. Man is not perfect. We can not write a perfect book, let alone have 40 writers, each writing their own book, spread over a time period of two thousand years, and them combine them together into one unified whole that reads just like all 66 books are chapters in one book. Only God can do that.

There is no doubt. The Bible is the word of God. The Bible is true.

Do Mormons Believe The Bible?

The answer is yes, but...

LDS teaching makes two statements about the Bible.

The Mormon scripture says in The Pearl Of Great Price, The Articles of Faith 1:8 - "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly;"

That's a good statement. This is a christian doctrine also. God's word was given to us perfect and flawless. Translation is done by humans who are not perfect. That's why Bible translations are done by a group of scholars, and the translation work is checked and verified multiple times. Then once a translation is published it is subject to public examination and critique. The result is that we have a number of English translations that are accepted as accurate translations such as the King James (KJV), NASB and NIV.

But the LDS church does not stop there. The LDS scripture, includes three books plus the the Bible. These are: The Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Convenants (D&C), and Pearl of Great Price) . These three are considered to be the greater among four equals. Why? Because it appears what Joseph Smith* intended to convey with the word translated is more like what the word transmitted means, because how we got the Bible involved more than just translation.** The book "Teachings Of The Prophet Joseph Smith", by Joseph Field Smith (Deseret Book, 1976, page 56) quotes Joseph Smith as explaining: "I believe the Bible as it read when it came fom the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors."

A foundational part of Mormom belief is that Christianity was corrupted in the first century. The result being that the Christianity we have now is not the true Christianity. The LDS church believes they are the source of the "correct" doctrine that restores Christianity to what it was originally. In other words, the Bible we have now can not be trusted. For example, it is missing information that is supplied by Mormon scripture.

Yes, Mormons believe the Bible, but only after it has been filtered through Mormon scripture which:

• Changes the meaning of words (salvation does not mean salvation, nor does atonement mean what Christians think of as atonement, plus many other changes)


• Changes Christian doctrine


• Adds to what the Bible has said

Is that really believing in the Bible?

Here is a thought: Joseph Smith is right when he expresses concern about the Bible being translated correctly. One aspect of correct translation is that it must be translated into the language the reader understands. Since the LDS church has created their own version of the English language, in which words mean something different than what they used to mean, when a Mormon reads the Bible they are not reading a book that has been correctly translated. It has been translated into standard English, when instead it needs to be translated into Mormon English.

Yes Mormons believe the Bible. But they don't understand it, because they are not reading the Bible in a language they understand. Believing something does not make what you believe true.

Ask a Mormon this question: If someone read only the Bible (no Mormon scripture), would that person have a correct understanding of God, our purpose in life, salvation and eternity? The answer will be "No". Mormons believe the Bible, but they believe the Bible is limited and is not sufficient on its own. That is not Christianity. Christians believe in a God who is strong enough to preserve His word accurately and completely for all generations.

* Joseph Smith is the founder of the Mormon religion, the translator of Mormon scripture, and according to the LDS church the first modern day prophet of God.
** This is stated exactly this way in the book "The Mormon Faith" by Robert L. Millet, page 17

#8 - Turn Away From God's Word - 1 John

Jesus is the Word.

#7 - "See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father." 1 John 2:24

The Expositor's Bible Commentary (Frank E. Gaebelein) points out the importance of the word "remains".

"The use of the special Johnnine word "remain" (abide) gives weight to the warning. The Word of the gospel must not only be heard but it must be given a vital place in one's life. "

Does God's word have a vital place in your life? Do you read your Bible daily? Do you love God's word or is it another book that sits on the shelf?

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