How do we know the Bible is from God? After all, there are books, other than the Bible, which claim to be inspired. How do we make a distinction between these books and the word of God? The answer lies within the Bible itself. Unlike other books, the Bible contains an abundance of internal evidence supporting its claim to inspiration.
First, the Bible’s scientific foreknowledge testifies to its divine origin. For example, the Bible describes the shape of the earth about 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. At that time, Solomon spoke of God as having “inscribed a circle on the face of the deep…” (Prov. 8:27). Then, around 700 B.C., Isaiah spoke of God as sitting “above the circle of the earth…” (Is. 40:22). The Hebrew word for “circle” literally means “sphere.” How did the writers of the Bible know what science would not discover for over 2500 years? They were inspired by God. Even as late as 350 B.C., the earth was thought to be flat. By the time the Romans came to power, people commonly accepted an earlier belief that the earth was shaped like a disc. It was not until Magellan’s voyage around the earth in 1520 A.D. that science finally accepted the fact that the earth is round.
In addition to its scientific foreknowledge, the Bible also testifies to its own divine origin through its remarkable historical accuracy. At one time, sceptics of the Bible claimed that there were 47 kings mentioned only in the Bible. In their minds, this was evidence that the Bible was the fictitious work of man. Amazingly, since that time, all 47 kings on that list have been confirmed through archaeological findings. The Bible is neither an historical nor a scientific textbook, but where it touches on science and history; it has been proven accurate time and time again.
In addition to these two lines of evidence, a person must also consider the weight of hundreds of prophetic statements made in the Bible that have been precisely fulfilled, often many centuries later. Only God knows the end from the beginning and that is why we have strong confidence in the inspiration of God’s word.
Finally, the unity of the Bible speaks to its divine origin. The Bible was written by 40 different authors over a period of over 15 hundred years and, yet, shows a degree of unity unlike any other book that has ever been written. One author noted that “The Bible is not such a book a man would write if he could, or could write if he would.” The Bible is “inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Doesn’t the Bible deserve your careful attention and study today?