Why Should We Teach Evidence For Biblical Reliability

WHY SHOULD WE TEACH

EVIDENCE FOR BIBLICAL RELIABILITY
To Develop A Strong Christian Foundation
by Brooks A. Harris

I have heard it said that 70-75% of children brought up in Christian homes will loose their faith after the first year of college. Also only 9% of adults and less than 1% of teens have a Biblical world-view believing that Jesus lived a sinless life, hell exists, God created the world, absolute morals exists, etc. Many people are taught in church about the gospel of Jesus, God’s love for us, Church doctrine and Bible lessons, but they are never shown how truly reliable the Bible is. They never develop a strong foundation for the truth of the Bible. Therefore when they are confronted later by liberal professors and/or students with different beliefs, they do not know what to really believe. Often these professors and/or students are well prepared with their convincing arguments and literature. But since the Christian has never been shown information which scientifically, historically and statistically support their Christian faith, they often begin to doubt their own faith and begin to accept the other person’s views, whether it be atheism, agnosticism or a different religion.

Over the past several decades our society has been trying to distance itself from the truth of the Bible. When our country was founded most people, although not particularly religious themselves, accepted the Biblical account of ancient history and the moral laws of the Bible. But over time misinformed scientists and liberal thinkers have slowly convinced people that the ideas in the Bible are out dated and that we can no longer trust everything the Bible says.

The founding fathers of our country believed in the moral laws and teachings of the Bible. The Bible was looked upon as "The" authority for moral law. But over the past few decades liberal minds have been successfully removing the Bible (from our schools and government) as the ultimate authority and have been replacing it with man’s opinion. Christians and morally conservative thinkers have sat back and allowed these changes to occur. Today children are being taught that morals, ethics and values are relative to each culture - there is no longer an ultimate standard as taught by the Bible. Also many believe that there are several ways to get into God’s kingdom - all religions are basically the same at their core. The Bible is no longer trusted by many people. Therefore it is difficult for non-Christians to understand the meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ when they do not even believe that God exists or that the Bible is even reliable.

What must we do as Christians? We must learn how to develop a strong foundation in the Christian faith. We must show our congregations that abundant evidence (scientific, historical, archaeological, prophetic, manuscript preservation , structural and statistical) is available for God’s existence, His creation, Jesus’ life and the overwhelming reliability of the Holy Bible. Once they see that Christianity is the only reliable religion and that the teachings in the Bible can be trusted, then they can gain much better appreciation for the teachings in the Bible, such as God’s love for us, His desire for us to live abundant lives with Him, and His desire for us to develop a strong personal relationship with Him. We can ask our congregations "wouldn’t it be neat if the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God of the universe could tell us what He wants us to know?" Now that they know that the Bible can be trusted to be true, we can start to teach them again that the Bible is God’s Word - His way of revealing to us what He wants us to know about Himself, His laws and instructions for us to live by, His expectations of us, and His promises for us, and about His creation and mankind’s origin and past, our purpose in the present, and the hopes or fears for our future.

Teaching the evidence for Biblical reliability will help non-believers to believe, help new and established believers grow stronger in their faith and help them be able to evangelize to those liberal professors and students with Biblical Reliability discussions and handouts. Do you want to see a revival? Get people fired up with the abundant evidence on how awesomely reliable, trustworthy and truthful the Bible really is then let them spread the word.

A Good Father's Love

A GOOD FATHER’S LOVE
SHOULD I TRUST HIM?
by Brooks A. Harris

Often people feel that they have been so bad or done something so wrong that noone could ever forgive them or love them. But a good parent would love their child, no matter what they had done. They may be very displeased with what their child has done, but they would always love them. This is called unconditional love. A good parent would want their child to come to them and confess what they had done, apologize for it (be sincerely sorry for it) and ask for forgiveness. They would hope their child would no longer want to do bad things. A good parent should be trusted to do what is best for their child.

Unfortunately not all parents are good parents, but there is one father who is the perfect parent. He has unconditional love for His children. He wants them to come to Him with all their problems. He will completely forgive His children for whatever they have done. He wants to have a loving personal relationship with each child. His love will last forever. This good parent can be your’s too. This Good Father is the almighty God of the Holy Bible.

Now, you may be thinking, "This seems great but how can I know that God really exists?" The Bible gives us many guidelines on how we ought to live, but can the Bible be trusted as a relevant guide to today’s times? Is there evidence to support the truth of the Bible? Well to tell you the truth, there is much evidence which shows that God does truly exist and that His Word, the Holy Bible, is very reliable.

Those who argue that the Bible cannot be trusted, speak largely on the basis of unjustified assumptions, bias, and/or simple ignorance of the facts. For those who are open-minded, the evidence is more than sufficient to establish belief. Many of the best legal minds throughout history have concluded that the evidence for the historic truthfulness of Scripture is beyond reasonable doubt. They have accepted the New Testament as factual history on the grounds of strict legal evidence alone.

The article "Evidence For Biblical Reliability," compiled from several sources, will show evidences for the truth of the Bible, show how Bible teachings are relevant to today’s times and encourage faith in God and His Word. To shape your acceptance of the Bible, this article will show you the SHAPES of Biblical Reliability which are: Scientific evidence, Historic evidence, Archaeological evidence, Prophetic evidence, Epistles/Manuscript preservation evidence and Structural & Statistical evidence. Also see in this article listed web sites, web articles and books for more information.

Is Jesus Really The Only Way?

IS JESUS REALLY THE ONLY WAY?
by Brooks A. Harris

How can Christians honestly claim that the only way to reach God’s heavenly kingdom is through Jesus? There are several religions which say that there are other ways to get there. How can Christians be so narrow minded? What gives them the right to say there is no other way?

John 14:6 in the Bible states that Jesus himself said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." To accept this statement as true we would have to accept the Bible as a reliable source. But for it to be absolutely true and the only way, the Bible would have to be the most reliable religious work over all other writings from all other religions.

Now days many people get caught up believing whatever they are told instead of researching for themselves to see what to believe. They get caught up in feelings and emotions without trying to find out what is true. A common philosophy today is that there is no absolute truth. Truth is relative to each person. Each individual and culture must decide for themselves what they believe to be true. Therefore there is no ultimate authority which declares what is true. But Jesus says that He is the truth.

So how do we determine what is true if we cannot prove it? As in a court of law, we look at the available evidence to see what it indicates or supports. The more evidence there is to support an idea, the better the case for its truthfulness. But we must be very careful how we analyze the evidence. So is there evidence to support the truth of the Bible? Well to tell you the truth, there is much evidence which shows that God does truly exist and that His Word, the Holy Bible, is very reliable.

Those who argue that the Bible cannot be trusted, speak largely on the basis of unjustified assumptions, bias, and/or simple ignorance of the facts. For those who are open-minded, the evidence is more than sufficient to establish belief. Many of the best legal minds throughout history have concluded that the evidence for the historic truthfulness of Scripture is beyond reasonable doubt. They have accepted the New Testament as factual history on the grounds of strict legal evidence alone.

The article "Evidence For Biblical Reliability," compiled from several sources, will show evidences for the truth of the Bible, show how unique and reliable is the Christian faith versus all other Religions, show how Bible teachings are relevant to today’s times and encourage faith in God and His Word. To shape your acceptance of the Bible, this article will show you the SHAPES of Biblical Reliability which are: Scientific evidence, Historic evidence, Archaeological evidence, Prophetic evidence, Epistles/Manuscript preservation evidence and Structural & Statistical evidence. Also see in this article listed web sites, web articles and books for more information.