Authentic, Inspired, Inerrant and True

By Knowing Christ Ministries

From the beginning of time Satan has attempted to make us question God's Holy Word. Part of Satan's plan is to prevent us from believing in the accuracy, inerrancy, truth and inspired nature of God's Word. It's easier to look at The Bible as a story book or piece of literature rather than know the Word of God is true. Thus many people think of the Bible as a story book or a book of historical literature - therefore whether it is true or not is immaterial. Many people say they believe in some parts and not others. We know that the Bible is the true, inspired and inerrant, accurate Word of God, if part is true, all is true. If it is all true we must face the truth about our moral character.

Thus, through independent research and with the goal of Scripture proving Scripture rather than relying on what man says about Scripture, this book gradually came together exploring such topics as:

What God Says

Statistical Proof

Historical and Archeological Evidence

Prophecy

And finally a look at how the various versions of The Bible came about and a candid discussion of how accurate or inaccurate they are.

Let Dr. West-Stellick lead you on an exciting journey that lays the foundation and then covers 3,500 years of writing, translations, discoveries and more. Authentic, Inspired, Inerrant and True will bring you to the fact based conclusion - The Bible is God's Word to us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452081885

Knowing Christ Ministries

Dr. West-Stellick is a well respected author, lecturer and seminar leader frequently speaking to church and private organizations throughout the country. As an international radio show host, Dr. West-Stellick's teaching can be heard throughout the world on topics such as the Authenticity of the Bible, How to Study the Bible, Forgiveness, How to Keep God's Commandments and many more equally entertaining yet educational topics which utilize Scripture to prove Scripture rather than rely on man and commentary. Holding dual doctorate degrees in Divinity and in Naturopathy, Dr. West-Stellick is currently the Chief Operations Officer and co-founder of Knowing Christ Ministries, a non-profit organization which seeks to bring people to a more intimate relationship with Christ through paths to knowing Him, starting with the Authentic, Inspired, Inerrant and True nature of The Bible. Knowing Christ Ministries currently ministers to in excess of 400 people in a virtual congregation reaching people of all nations.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

The Foundation

Chapter 2

Authenticity: What God Says

Chapter 3

Authenticity: Statistical Proof

Chapter 4

Authenticity: Historical and Archeological Evidence for the New Testament

Chapter 5

Authenticity: Prophecy

Chapter 6

Authenticity: Versions

Chapter 7

What Does It All Mean?

End Notes

Appendix A

Fulfilled Prophecy:

Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible

Dr. Hugh Ross

Dedication

To God the Father, God the Son and the precious gift of the Holy Spirit – Knowing the words contained in the Bible are true, 100% accurate, without error and are inspired from your heart to mankind is overwhelming. Your love letter to us, Lord, is the source of my inspiration, the source of my ability to commune with you and my guide to life. I thank you with all that I am and all that, through your transforming power, I’ve become.

Acknowledgments

The following resources provided a wealth of rich information, much of which is included in this book. As such, while specific permissions were acknowledged on the back of the title page for Bible versions used in these books, the following sources are also used by permission of the author or organization, respectively.

Why Bible Prophecy is Genuine. Brett Miller. © 2008 Evident Creation. Used with permission.

Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible by Dr. Hugh Ross. © 2010 Reasons To Believe. Used with permission.

Science Speaks Peter Stoner. © 1958, 1963, 1968 by the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. Online version © 2002, 2005. Used with Permission.

Introduction

I often sit back and ponder God’s incredible knowledge of our hearts, our minds and our readiness to pursue His plans. For example, had I been presented with the challenge of writing this book years ago I would have probably scoffed at the prospect; but gratefully God waited until He knew I was ready. When He called me to begin the radio series on the authenticity of the Bible (as explained in Chapter One), I readily accepted His assignment. And, the more I researched the more I felt the Holy Spirit directing me in paths of the truth.

There is a tremendous amount of literature available both on the internet and filling the shelves of many Christian bookstores. Most of it is written by man with man’s point of view. As such, much like harvesting a crop or gleaning in the fields of ancient days, one must be careful to sow wheat rather than thorns. For we are told in Jeremiah 12:13 They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

We already know that Satan is at work in our lives in efforts to thwart God’s Word and manipulate our belief in what God has inspired. As we talk about in Chapter 6, Satan began his manipulation of God’s Word way back in Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?"

From the beginning of time Satan has attempted to make us question God’s Holy Word. Part of Satan’s plan is to prevent us from believing in the accuracy, inerrancy, truth and inspired nature of God’s Word. It’s easier to look at The Bible as a story book or piece of literature rather than know the Word of God is true. Thus many people think of the Bible as a story book or a book of historical literature – therefore whether it is true or not is immaterial. Many people say they believe in some parts and not others. We know that the Bible is the true, inspired and inerrant, accurate Word of God, if part is true, all is true. If it is all true we must face the truth about our moral character.

When the question of the authenticity of the Bible is raised, it is not unusual to hear many devout Christians as well as noted Christian scholars simply state I believe in Jesus Christ, therefore I believe in the Bible. To me that seems a little self-fulfilling and gives me the sense of putting the cart ahead of the horse. In order to believe in Jesus Christ don’t you first have to believe in the accuracy, inerrancy and truth of the Bible? Perhaps that is just the scientist in me talking, but I still give people the old cocker spaniel head tilt when I hear those words from people.

Thus, through independent research and with the goal of Scripture proving Scripture rather than relying on what man says about Scripture, this book gradually came together.

While I do not profess that this book be a contribution to the Christian field of Apologetics, certainly if you believe the Bible is the accurate, inspired, inerrant and true Word of God, then you can’t pick and choose what you’d like to believe. The words of the New Testament are just as valid, reliable, accurate, inspired, inerrant and true as those of the Old Testament. It is man who differs on what they believed would be the case when the Messiah would come to Earth as a Savior.

So, without further adieu, I bid you God Speed, I bid you a joyful journey towards understanding the truth. I bid you patience at reading some of the heavier material contained herein. I bid you understanding of God’s Glory and His miraculous intent on inspiring The Word for us as our User’s Manual, our Guide to Life, and as the only self-help book you really ever need. And, most importantly, I pray you will be led through the truth of this book and The Word by the Holy Spirit to empower and enable you to apply the words you find written to you by God and lead you in righteousness.

God Bless.

Chapter One

The Foundation

It’s the #1 best-seller of all time; there are upwards of 500 different versions; parts of or the entire Bible have been translated into at least 1,090 languages throughout the world, yet it’s one of the least read and most questioned book of all time. I’m talking about the Bible.

As Rabbi Glenn Harris1 states, most people approach history textbooks somewhat uncritically, accepting what they read as accurate and authoritative. However, when one thinks about the Bible, moral and ethical issues rise within us and it is easier to discount the authenticity and reliability of the Bible rather than accept it as authentic and true. Additionally, if the Bible is not authentic then it is not God’s word and I have nothing to fear from God; I can do as I please. Herein is where the debate lies: If the Bible is not authentic, then one’s moral character is theirs to decide, the ethnical choices made are exactly that, those one chooses to make as there are no consequences other than stepping up and taking responsibility for one’s own actions. If the Bible is authentic, then the word of God is true and a person needs to take a good hard look at their own character.

If one looks to any one of a number of areas: statistics, history or archeology for example, ample evidence exists which demonstrates the authenticity of the Bible – not just one book or story, but the authenticity of the entire 66 books contained therein. For example, if one merely looks at the continuity of one book having upwards of 40 different authors over the span of 3,500 years, authors who spoke three different languages, came from all walks of life from poverty to military general status and resided on three continents, you would certainly not expect to find continuity in all that was written. But the Bible proves itself consistent.

Therefore, this entire volume will address issues related to the authenticity of the Bible based on knowing it is irrefutably the inerrant inspired word of God which, despite the statistics highlighting the improbability of the entire 66 books of the volume being consistent among themselves and across the millennia since they were written, give us 100% consistency, accuracy, reliability and validity. The Bible is as accurate, reliable, valid and applicable today as when it was written!

By way of background, a dear younger friend of mine who we’ll call Jane, a non-believer very much into New Age philosophies questioned how I could be so sure the Bible was not written by a bunch of old men holed up in some room somewhere who dreamed up the whole history of man. Now, I have to admit my strengths are not in apologetics, but I did the best to answer her question by providing her with an easy to read New International Version of the Bible along with charts on the different versions of the Bible explaining why and how they differed but were essentially the same. To date, I don’t believe she has read what I gave her, but I succeeded in planting seeds and when God sees the time is right to open her heart, ears and eyes to His Word, she’ll be ready. However, I had not yet performed the detailed research for this book and the weekly radio shows Knowing Christ Ministries produces. Had I, I would have been better prepared to respond to her questions on the authenticity, inspired nature, inerrancy and truth of the Bible. I might have also chosen a different Bible for her to read.

By further way of background, originally I had planned on a short radio series of two or three weeks on How to Study the Bible. Apparently, the Holy Spirit had other plans for me… I felt God saying to me:

"Dani, you can’t just jump into a book on How to Study the Bible if people may not truly realize why I wrote what I did. People need to trust that these are my words and that I did in fact inspire the writers to write my words. You need to help them understand why there are so many different versions of what I’ve said. Only then, once they know it is my inspired Word and can trust, and understand the rigor involved in producing accepted versions of the Bible will they believe and seek My Words. Only then will it make sense for them to learn how to study My Word."

I have to admit, His words made