Why the Bible? Why Jesus?
Great questions! Here's why so many people trust the Bible, and why Jesus changes everything.
Can we trust the Bible?
Christian teacher Hank Hanegraaff made an easy way to remember four big reasons the Bible is trustworthy. Just remember:
MAPS
Manuscripts
Manuscripts are old handwritten copies. The Bible has far more ancient copies than any other book from its time.
- There are more than 5,000 ancient Greek copies of parts of the New Testament, some written within a few hundred years of Jesus.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls, found in caves in 1947, include an Isaiah scroll about 1,000 years older than the copies people had before. It matches them almost exactly, showing how carefully the Bible was copied.
Archaeology
Archaeologists keep digging up real places and people the Bible talks about.
- The Pilate Stone (found in 1961) has the name of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor at Jesus' trial.
- The Tel Dan Stone (found in 1993) mentions the "House of David," King David's family.
- The Pool of Siloam, where Jesus healed a blind man in John 9, was uncovered in Jerusalem in 2004.
Prophecy
Prophecies are things God told people would happen before they happened. Many were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born.
- Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
- He would be pierced and suffer for our sins (Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22).
- He would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9).
Statistics
What are the chances one person could make all those prophecies come true by accident?
- Jesus fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies about where and how He was born, lived, and died.
- A science professor named Peter Stoner estimated the chance of one person fulfilling just 8 of them by accident at about: 1 in 100 quadrillion (that's a 1 with 17 zeros after it). It's like finding one marked coin in a pile of coins covering the whole state of Texas two feet deep!
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
Why Jesus?
The whole Bible points to one person: Jesus.
Jesus is real
Jesus isn't a fairy tale. Ancient historians who weren't Christians, like Tacitus and Josephus, wrote about Him too.
Jesus is who He said He is
Jesus said He is God's Son and the only way to God the Father.
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Jesus died for you
We've all done wrong things (the Bible calls this sin). Jesus took the punishment for our sin on the cross because He loves us.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Jesus rose again
Three days after He died, Jesus came back to life! The Bible says He was seen by many people, including more than 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). Because He lives, everyone who trusts Him can have new life forever.
Ready to become a Christian?
Admit you are a sinner, believe Jesus died and rose again for you, and accept Jesus into your heart as your Savior. Here's how.