Why the Bible Matters

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Why the Bible Matters
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The Bible Claims to be Gods Word
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2 Timothy 316-17

• 16All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
  and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
  correction, for instruction in righteousness,
  17that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
  equipped for every good work.

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1 Thessalonians 213

• For this reason we also thank God without
  ceasing, because when you received the word of
  God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not
  as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the
  word of God, which also effectively works in you
  who believe.

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• If God really wrote a book dont you imagine that
  it would matter?

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Some Prevailing Attitudes

• The Bible is loved and respected by many.
• However, the Bible is often
• Taken for granted
• Ignored
• Rejected
• Ridiculed
• Attacked

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Some Specific Negative Reactions

• Its just a book of stories written by
  imaginative or superstitious men.
• Biblical accounts do not take the form of legends
  or myths.
• They are reported as historical facts.
• Often they are recorded in a fashion that made
  them checkable when first written.

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2 Peter 116

• For we did not follow cunningly devised fables
  when we made known to you the power and coming of
  our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of
  His majesty.

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Some Specific Negative Reactions

• Its old and outdated. Weve outgrown its
  primitive concepts.
• Arrogance of modernity
• Athenians in Acts 1721
• Just because something is old does not mean it is
  outdated multiplication table.

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Some Specific Negative Reactions

• Its filled with contradictions.
• Logical explanations for these have been listed.
• Alleged contradictions are not real
  contradictions.
• Consider
• Context
• Authors purpose
• Authors audience
• Type of writing

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Some Specific Negative Reactions

• The Bible is not scientifically or historically
  accurate.
• Alleged historical inaccuracies have often been
  resolved by archaeological discoveries.
• Though not a science text, the Bible does not
  conflict with scientific fact.
• There are many mistakes the Bible does NOT make
  that were accepted by contemporary culture.

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Some Specific Negative Reactions

• The Bible is a dead letter. Faith must be based
  on something vibrant and not a book.
• Hebrews 412 living and active
• We see the power of the Bible in lives that are
  changed by it.

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Some Facts to Consider

• The Bible has endured time
• The newest portion is over 1900 years old.
• The oldest portion is over 3500 years old.
• Yet still widely circulated.
• The Bible has endured attacks
• Physical
• Intellectual

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Some Facts to Consider

• The Bible displays amazing unity.
• Written by 40 authors
• Written over a period of 1600 years
• Written in three languages
• Written on three continents
• Yet it is harmonious with each part contributing
  to the overall theme the glory of God and the
  salvation of man through Jesus Christ.

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Some Facts to Consider

• The Bible displays scientific foreknowledge
• The roundness of the earth - Isaiah 4022
• The suspension of the earth in space - Job 267
• The currents in the seas - Psalm 88
• All nations of one blood - Acts 1726
• Laws of quarantine and hygiene

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Some Facts to Consider

• The Bible contains fulfilled prophecies
• Destruction of Babylon - 200 years before it
  happened - Isaiah 1317-22
• Fall of Egypt from civil war - Isaiah 191-4
• Utter destruction of Nineveh - Zephaniah 213-15
• Fall of Tyre Ezekiel 261-5

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Some Facts to Consider

• Prophecies of Jesus
• There are over 300 prophecies of Jesus in the Old
  Testament
• The chances of all of these being fulfilled by
  coincidence in one person are 1 in 10157

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ONE chance in

• 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
  ,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0
  00,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
  ,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,0
  00,000,000
• Josh McDowell, Dont Check Your Brains at the
  Door, p. 67, citing Peter Stoner, Science Speaks.

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Some Facts to Consider

• The Bible is superior to other holy books
• Think Magazine - June 2008 Do We All Worship
  the Same God?
• God Wrote a Book James MacDonald

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• Pile them, if you will, on the left side of your
  study table but place your own Holy Bible on the
  right sideall by itself, all aloneand with a
  wide gap between them. Forthere is a gulf
  between it and the so-called sacred books of the
  East which severs the one from the other utterly
  hopelessly, and a forevera veritable gulf which
  cannot be bridged over by any science of
  religious thought.
• Professor M. Montiero-Williams
• former Boden professor Of Sanskrit who spent 42
  years studying Eastern books
• http//www.why-the-bible.com/bible.htm - July
  9, 2008

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Why the Bible Matters

• It is Gods Word to us.
• It addresses the deepest needs of mankind.
• Where did I come from?
• Why am I here?
• Where am I going?
• It convicts and converts Hebrews 412
• It comforts and restores Psalm 197
• It tells of Jesus