Introduction:
What will happen to a large building which doesn’t have a good foundation?
Is the foundation the most beautiful or memorable part of the building?
What is the foundation of all Bible doctrines?
If the Word of God was written by men, no matter how good they were, how good is our Christian foundation?
Who wrote the “Book of Mormon” and the “Pearl of Great Price?”
Who wrote the Torah and the Talmud?
Who wrote Gill’s Commentary? Matthew Henry’s Commentary?
If Jehovah is not the Author of the Word of God, what should we do?
The Circumstances culminating in what we call God’s Word.
Approximately how long did God take to write His word?
Approximately how many different men were used by God to write His word?
Were any priests used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any prophets used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any kings used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any statesmen used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any uneducated men used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any highly educated men used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Can you name any tradesmen who used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any sinners used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Were any infamous sinners used to write God’s Word? If so who?
Was any of the Word of God written outside of Israel?
Was any of the Word of God written in Persia or Babylon? What was written there?
Was any of the Word of God written in the Arabian desert? What was written there?
Was any of the Word of God written in Rome? What was written there?
Was any of the Word of God written in the Aegean? What was written there?
Did any of these men know that they were writing the Word of God?
Did any of these men write with the intention of creating our Bibles?
Did any of these men deliberately make sure what they wrote agree with the others writers?
The Construction of the Bible.
The Bible is how many books?
The Bible is made up of how many books?
Is the theme, the original intention, of each book the same?
Can, or should, each book of the Bible stand on its own?
Can each book of the Bible be thoroughly understood entirely on its own?
If a set of books was written by more than fifty different authors was thrown together without any thought, would you expect it to be a cohesive collection?
What would it take to make a set of fifty different books a cohesive unit?
How many authors contributed to the Word of God?
The Scope of the Bible.
History.
How much of the history of creation is given to us in the Word of God?
How much of the history of humanity is given to us in the Word of God?
How much of the history of Israel is given to us in the Word of God?
How much of the history of the United States is given to us in the Word of God?
How much of the history of sin is given to us in the Word of God?
How much of the history of salvation is given to us in the Word of God?
How much of the history of God is given to us in the Word of God?
If all the history books about the United States were collected would it be larger or smaller than the Bible?
If all the history books about World War II were collected would it be larger or smaller than the Bible?
If all the books about “Nine Eleven” were collected would it be larger or smaller than the Bible?
What does this say about the Word of God?
The prophecies contained in the Word of God.
Are there any differences between predictions and prophecies?
Is – making something known before it takes place – a part of predicting? Prophesying?
Can something be predicted without any rational reason for predicting it?
Can something be prophesied without any rational reason for prophesying it?
What differences in details are there between predictions and prophecies?
Which usually has the most distant fulfilment – a prediction or a prophecy?
Which is usually more precise – a prediction or a prophecy?
Do any of the prophecies of the Bible have longer than a hundred years before their fulfilment?
Do many prophecies in the Bible have longer than a hundred years before their fulfilment?
Do any of the prophecies of the Bible have longer than a thousand years before their fulfilment?
Have you ever predicted correctly something that took place 24 hours later?
Have you predicted correctly three or four things?
Have you ever predicted a hundred things correctly without any mistakes?
What should we surmise about the 100% accuracy of the predictions of the Word of God?
Describe five great Biblical predictions which were fulfilled years later.
About how many prophecies did Jesus Christ fulfil during His lifetime (19, 29, 59, 109)?
During the 24 hours ending with Christ’s burial how many prophecies were fulfilled (5, 10, 15, 20, 25)?
Were any of those prophecies over 100 years old?
What were the mathematical probability that all of those prophecies would be fulfilled (100 to 1; 1,000 to 1; 1,000,000 to e; 33,554,432 to 1)?
Can history be recorded before it takes place?
Conclusions.
If 40 men, some highly educated and some not so much,
over a 1600 year period in different countries and different cultures all wrote a book,
What would be the likelihood that when put together, their books would form a much larger complete and cohesive book?
If 40 of the smartest people in America got together in 1776 and made 100 predictions about what the United States would be like in 2013 how accurate do you think that their predictions would be?
Would you expect them to have 50% accuracy?
Would you expect them to have been 25% accurate?
If as some people say, the Bible is a book of fiction and fables, why haven’t the world’s smartest people written something better during the last 2,000 years?
What should we conclude about the origin and source of the Bible?