What makes you think the Bible is the word of God?

Prophecy. The Old Testament was written before Jesus was ever born. The New Testament was written by the men who knew Jesus, who walked with Him, ate with Him, and learned from Him. In the O.T. there are prophecies concerning His birthplace (Micah 5:1-2), that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), that He would be rejected by His own people (Isaiah 53:3), that He would be betrayed by a close friend (Isaiah 41:9), that He would die by having His hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16-18), and that He would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10, 49:15). In the N.T. all these prophecies, and many more, are fulfilled by Jesus. Now, this is the question you must answer: "If the Bible is not inspired from God, then why does it have so many fulfilled prophecies?" How is that possible if the Bible were not from God?

Only God knows the future, has power over it, and can look into it to tell us exactly what will happen. In the Bible we have the finger prints of God: fulfilled prophecy!

Wisdom. The Bible is full of the greatest truths about man and God, sin, and salvation. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) is beautiful in its wisdom, humility, and love. The Psalms are incredible poetry of great depth and beauty. The N.T. epistles are great descriptions of love, forgiveness, longsuffering, kindness, etc. Even if you don't want to become a Christian, studying the truth God has revealed in the Bible will greatly help you in your life. (The aim is not to merely use the Bible as a guide to good living, but to encourage reading it. This way, he will at least be reading the Word of God and God's Word will accomplish what He wants it to (Isaiah 55:11).

(Reprinted with permission from the CARM Website)

Right Servant! That's all very true and real! Sometimes I've even wondered myself about how the Bible could possibly be 100% God's Word, but actually that post just helped me. Thank you!!!

Back to topic...it is true that a lot of prophecy has been fulfilled. That's proof right there! I know that this could help out a lot of unbelievers and people who try to refute God's existence.

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"...You are not your own; you were bought at a price..."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Amen Brent.

Messianic Prophecy in the Bible

One of the extraordinary things about the Bible is that it talks about events before they happened. This was part of the prophet's ministry, along with his commission to preach repentance and faith to his own generation. There is a special group of prophecies, unique to the Bible, that relate to the coming of God's redeemer, called the Messiah. In every other collection of religious literature, the leader or chief figure of the group is talked about after he appeared, sometimes many centuries later, and in terms of rather fantastic myth or legend. In the Bible, however, Jesus Christ is talked about long before he came to earth and in such exact terms that no one should have missed his appearing. As we look back on this set of prophecies and fulfillments, it only confirms our faith in the God who knew the end from the beginning and prepared the stage for the sending of his Son to redeem the world. Following is only a selection of the many such prophecies.

Prophecy

An important ruler would come from the little town of Bethlehem, one whose origins were "from the days of old, from everlasting" Micah 5:2.

Fulfillment

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Luke 2:4-7


Prophecy

A virgin would bear a son, whose name would mean "God with us." This would be a sign from the Lord. Isaiah 7:14

Fulfillment

Mary, a virgin, was told by an angel that she would conceive a child, by the power of the Holy Spirit, whose name was to be Jesus ("Savior"). Luke 1:26-35; Matthew 1:18-25.


Prophecy

The Lord would send a special messenger to prepare the way for his own coming. Malachi 3:1


Fulfillment

John the Baptist came to preach and prepare the way for one greater than himself. Luke 4:16-20


Prophecy

The Lord would raise up a prophet in Israel to whom they should pay attention. Deuteronomy 18:15

Fulfillment

The apostles saw Jesus as this prophet: the Christ. Acts 3:18-23


Prophecy

The Lord God would anoint a liberator, one who would preach good news to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captive, and the mourning. Isaiah 61:1-3

Fulfillment

Jesus began his ministry by explaining that he was the person referred to in Isaiah's prophecy. Luke 4:16-20


Prophecy

The special Servant of the Lord would suffer and be rejected. Isaiah 53:3

Fulfillment

Jesus was rejected and put to death for being who he was and saying what he said. Luke 23:13-25; John 1:10-11


Prophecy

The coming righteous King and Redeemer would come to his people riding on a young donkey. Zechariah 9:9

Fulfillment

The last week of his life on earth, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Mark 11:1-11


Prophecy

The special Servant of the Lord would remain silent when cruelly treated. Isaiah 53:7

Fulfillment

Jesus refused to answer the false charges made to Pilate against him. Mark 15:3-5


Prophecy

The special Servant of the Lord would suffer on behalf of others. Isaiah 53:5

Fulfillment

The heart of the gospel is the good news that Christ died for our sins. Romans 5:6-8


Prophecy

The Messiah would be mocked and insulted because his God was not delivering him in his time of anguish. Psalm 22:7-8

Fulfillment

Bystanders sneered at Jesus on the cross because God had not saved him from death by crucifixion. Luke 23:35


Prophecy

The Messiah would be given all and vinegar. Psalm 69:21

Fulfillment

After carrying his cross to Golgotha, Jesus was given wine vinegar mixed with gall (bad tasting) for his thirst. Matthew 27:34


Prophecy

The Messiah's love for his people would be met with hostility, but his response would be to pray for them. Psalm 109:4

Fulfillment

Jesus prayed that God would forgive those who crucified him, because they did not realize what they were doing. Luke 23:34


Prophecy

The Messiah's clothing would be divided up by lot. Psalm 22:18

Fulfillment

After crucifying him, the Roman soldiers divided up Jesus' clothes by casting lots. Matthew 27:35


Prophecy

The Messiah's bones would not be broken. Psalm 34:20

Fulfillment

The Roman soldiers didn't break Jesus' legs after the crucifixion, as they ordinarily did to people punished in this way, because Jesus had already died. John 19:34



Prophecy

The Messiah would be pierced. Zechariah 12:10

Fulfillment

Jesus' side was pierced by a Roman soldier. John 19:34


Prophecy

God would redeem his Holy One (The Messiah) from the grave; his body would not decay. Psalm 16:10; 49:15

Fulfillment

God raised Jesus from the dead. Without the resurrection, the hopes of Christianity would be only wishful thinking. Mark 16:6-7; I Corinthians 15:16-19

Servent...I must come from the opposing veiw...you should know that about me by now...um...if I was unsaved the logical answer I would use would be...How can you use the bible to prove itself? You get what I'm saying...I think a more logical way to show someone the bible is the word of God would be to show them some of the prophesies that concern the end-times...or maybe talk to them about how the Jews could have possiblly known that circumsion was good for them...I mean after all...it sure doesn't sound good...only God could have shown them that truth...just a thought...

Laterz & Love,
WHC

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GOD IS LOVE--it's just that simple
NO COMPROMISE....Live God Loud...you have just read the post of an
ex-satanist...God is Good!!!!!!!!

To compromise the truth is to live the lie.

What are they teaching you at that seminary school??

The Old Testament record was verifiably documented over 400 years prior to Jesus's coming and the writings of the New Testament...and, subsequently, the fulfillment of these prophecies.

If you are saying that the New Testament authors wrote in such a way as to insure that the OT prophecies would be seen as being fulfilled by Jesus Christ...then you haven't done your homework my friend and, at your urging, I will address that if you wish.

I believe that this is a very important piece of evidence to support the Bible as being inspired by God himself,for who else but God can pefectly prophecy the future? But it is only one of several evidences which assisted me in learning to trust God's Word.

I encourage you...don't be so quick to dismiss this. Do some more homework on the subject.



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By His grace-



And when I stand, let me stand on the promise,
that you will pull me through,
And when I fall, let me fall on the grace,
that first brought me to you.
-Rich Mullins.

Great thread Servant! One of the things God really used in my life was science and scripture. The enemy attacked my pursuit of God through evolution, nature, etc.

One of my favorite verses is the one in Romans that says nature reveals the Godhead. I like that because it means that even nature shows us some of the characteristics of the trinity.

I've stated some of them in another thread. I know that there is a HUGE ministry out there for apologetics and I am gratefull that some are called to it. Had it not been for such people, my faith would have languished. Now, such things don't motivate me like they use to. But please, please continue in your calling. For many are the people that need such things.

Grace,

Mark

Greetings WH. I don't think Servant is using circular reasoning. For instance, ciruclar reasoning is saying that God created the world and we know this because the bible says so. Well that works for us but not for unbelievers.

What Servant did was take the Old Testament prophesies that were written thousands of years ago and hundreds and thousands of years before Christ. He took those prophesies and showed their fullfillment in Christ.

At the very least, he has shown the common thread or consistency of scripture. It is a great starting point.

The end time prophesies are harder because we don't totally see them yet. We lack in our understanding. (BTW, for years many have preached that Europe would give rise to the antichrist. I am beginning to think it might be an Islamic state union. But that's another thread...)

One of the greatest prophesies is the 70 weeks of Daniel. Man that thing predicted the exact time that Jesus would come!!! What an incredible prophecy. As a matter of fact, some have argued for a much later origination date for the book of Daniel because they cannot deal with the accuracy of his prophecy any other way. They are left with two options... believe he was so accurate about all the world powers and Christ because he represented God. Or they can believe he wrote it after the fact to pretend to be a prophet. Too much evidence is out there for the honest person to believe Daniel was written after Christ and after the world powers.

"For they are willingly ignorant"

Blessings to all! What a mighty God we serve. He is able to deliver us from all our enemies and to give us LIFE and that more abundant!!!

Grace,

Mark

I can't keep up on all these threads, but what you suggested regarding some liberties with the facts to confirm earlier prophecies is likely Servant. Just cuz someone disagrees with your take doesn't mean they need to redo a study. I'm an advocate of more info all the time, but there are many takes on the same info. Which is why God Loves Us All, AND THAT REALLY IS THE IMPORTANT POINT AS I'M SURE YOU'D AGREE!!!.

jtw

WHC-

My apologies if I seemed harsh. You know I think the world of you We goes back a long ways partner!

JTW-

I respectfully disagree. But friends can do that.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours...evidence that is!

I have an edit session today so I won't be able to touch back here till later on this evening...so once again...patience will be a virtue. But you can start first if you wish.

Have a great day all!!!!


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By His grace-



And when I stand, let me stand on the promise,
that you will pull me through,
And when I fall, let me fall on the grace,
that first brought me to you.
-Rich Mullins.