- I'm sure you've
heard this 100 times over,
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the Bible is full of mistakes.
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Today we're gonna look at that
claim and we're gonna look at
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what the skeptics never
seem to get around to saying.
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[mellow music]
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[music continues]
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[music continues]
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If you were with me last week,
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you already know that right
now we're responding to a critic
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who posted questions about
the Christian faith online.
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Or to be more accurate,
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she listed
questions she would ask God
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if she suddenly found herself
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standing before him in judgment.
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Of course,
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she doesn't actually
believe that would ever happen,
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but she'd heard a preacher
challenging skeptics on the
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radio to think about
what they would say to God
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if they ever found
themselves in that situation.
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So last week we addressed
her first two questions,
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which were,
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why did you stay hidden,
and why did you stay silent?
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And we realized that there
was an unfounded accusation
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behind those questions,
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because she then
goes on to criticize
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the contents of the Bible.
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And of course,
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the Bible claims to be
a communication from God.
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I'm guessing she knows that,
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but she doesn't actually like
what this communication says.
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Then we briefly
tackled her other question,
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why did you demand faith
instead of providing evidence?
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And we saw that God doesn't fit
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into neat and tidy categories
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any more than your
other relationships.
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Relationships just
don't depend on hard proof.
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And honestly, when it
comes right down to it,
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most of us would be hard
pressed to actually prove
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the existence of any
historical character,
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from Julius Caesar to Napoleon.
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I mean, let's be honest,
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all you've got is a
bunch of written history,
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which is
precisely the same thing
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we've got for
the story of Christ.
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And yet most of us have
no problem accepting the fact
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that Napoleon was a real
flesh and blood human being.
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I mean, we can see the impact
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of his life on Western culture,
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which of course, is
also true of Christ,
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who undoubtedly
had a bigger impact
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on Western
culture than Napoleon.
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So today we're gonna
move on to her next question.
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And the reason we're
doing this is because
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these are very
common accusations.
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And a lot of
people repeat them as if
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they're some kind of slam
dunk against Christianity.
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The truth is, as
the Bible puts it,
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"There is nothing
new under the sun."
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And none of these
online accusations are new.
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In fact, they've been
around for a really long time
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and none of them has
managed to kill off the church.
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So here it is, the question,
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"Why did you reveal
yourself in a book full
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of historical inaccuracies
and theological contradictions?"
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Now, I can't help
but point out once again
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that she's saying this
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right after
accusing God of being silent,
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which is the reason I think
she's simply unhappy with what
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she's heard about Christianity.
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It's not that God's been quiet,
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it's that she thinks
that God is saying things
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that she doesn't like.
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But let's just dig
into the accusation itself,
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which deals with the historical
accuracy of the Bible.
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Over the years
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a lot of people have told
me that the Bible is supposedly
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full of contradictions.
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But here's what
I find interesting.
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If I ask these people to
point those contradictions out,
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most of the time they can't,
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and that's because they're
simply repeating something
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they've heard from someone else,
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and they've never
actually read the book.
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But then sometimes
they are able to list
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what they think are
historical mistakes,
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or as this lady put it,
theological contradictions.
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But what I've discovered about
that is that most of the time
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these apparent mistakes
are actually the product
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of our own misunderstanding.
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Sometimes the
text gets confusing
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because we're reading
a first century document
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with a 21st century mindset,
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and we're demanding that
people who live 2000 years ago
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think exactly like us.
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Other times,
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we expect the literary
standards of the distant past
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to be exactly the same as ours.
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So for example,
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some people want the gospel
accounts to be sworn affidavits,
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and they're not.
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They're personal, historical
recollections of events
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that these people witnessed.
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Now, one of the
reasons people love
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to bring up
these apparent mistakes
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is because they
realize that Christians claim
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inspiration for these documents.
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They believe that the authors
of the Bible were writing
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under the
influence of the Holy Spirit.
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And of course, the moment
the supreme being is involved,
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they say, we should
expect 100% flawless writing
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as if the apostles were actually
taking dictation from God.
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But if that were the case,
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then you might
expect the four gospels
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to be word for word the
same, and obviously they're not.
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And that's because the Bible
is the product of both divine
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and human effort.
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There's enough of each
author's personality in the text
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that he actually
allows us to guess
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who the author might have
been, if we don't have a name.
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Peter, for example, writes
like Peter, it's identifiable,
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and Paul writes like Paul.
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And what that tells us is that
the Bible is not a transcript
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of divine speeches
that fell from heaven,
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except in some obvious passages
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where the writer actually says,
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here's what the Lord told me.
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So for example,
in Exodus chapter 20
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where we find the 10
Commandments, the Bible says,
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"And God spoke all these words."
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Which tells us that that
part of the Bible is probably
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a literal transcript.
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But otherwise what
we have is the the work
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of the Holy Spirit impressing
the minds of believers
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who then took those thoughts
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and recorded them
in their own words.
00:06:02.62\00:06:05.86
"All scripture is
breathed out by God,"
00:06:05.86\00:06:08.26
Paul explains in 2 Timothy 3,
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"And profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction,
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and for training
in righteousness."
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Now, that's a
relatively modern translation,
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but it's a very accurate one.
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Some of the older versions
actually say that scripture
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was given by inspiration of God,
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which is another way
of saying the same thing,
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and inspired means breathed.
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It kind of goes back
to the story of creation,
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where it tells us
that "The Lord God
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formed the man of
dust from the ground
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and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life."
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In other words,
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you and I became living,
sentient beings because of the
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life that God breathed into us.
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But at the same time,
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you'll notice we're
all unique individuals
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with our own personalities,
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and yet somehow all
of us are still made
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in the image of God.
00:07:01.18\00:07:02.45
And apparently
the same holds true
00:07:03.55\00:07:05.55
for the words of the Bible.
00:07:05.55\00:07:07.29
Each of these 66 books
has its own personality,
00:07:07.29\00:07:10.79
its own
distinct characteristics.
00:07:10.79\00:07:13.19
And that's because
they were written by as many
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as 40 different
people over 1500 years.
00:07:15.30\00:07:20.00
Yet in spite of
all that variety,
00:07:20.00\00:07:21.94
the whole book still
displays the presence
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and the truth of God,
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because he's the one who
breathed his presence into it.
00:07:26.04\00:07:29.78
I like the way that the
second letter of Peter puts it.
00:07:29.78\00:07:33.62
He says,
00:07:33.62\00:07:35.12
"For no prophecy was ever
produced by the will of man,
00:07:35.12\00:07:37.72
but men spoke from God
as they were carried along
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by the Holy Spirit."
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Again, the authors
of the Bible do not say
00:07:43.22\00:07:46.13
that this book was dictated
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or that it's a word for
word transcript from God,
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because it's not.
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That's a caricature of
the Bible that we've applied
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to the text, and it's not how
inspiration apparently works.
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Now, that doesn't mean
the Bible isn't reliable,
00:08:01.58\00:08:03.28
because it is,
00:08:03.28\00:08:04.48
and I still maintain
that most of the people
00:08:04.48\00:08:06.78
who say it's full of mistakes
haven't actually read it,
00:08:06.78\00:08:10.05
and they're just
repeating stuff they heard
00:08:10.05\00:08:11.92
from somebody else.
00:08:11.92\00:08:14.02
They haven't taken the time
to read this for themselves,
00:08:14.02\00:08:17.33
at least not honestly.
00:08:17.33\00:08:19.83
And as soon as I come
back from a really quick break,
00:08:19.83\00:08:22.50
I'll show you why I think the
internal evidence of the Bible
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actually suggests that
the Bible is far more accurate
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than you probably think.
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I'll be right back after this.
00:08:32.21\00:08:35.18
- [Narrator] Here at
The Voice of Prophecy,
00:08:37.78\00:08:39.25
we're committed to
creating top quality programming
00:08:39.25\00:08:41.68
for the whole family like
our audio adventure series,
00:08:41.68\00:08:44.52
"Discovery Mountain".
00:08:44.52\00:08:46.25
"Discovery Mountain"
is a Bible-based program
00:08:46.25\00:08:48.82
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:08:48.82\00:08:51.16
Your family will enjoy
the faith building stories
00:08:51.16\00:08:53.93
from this small
mountain summer camp and town.
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With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:08:56.73\00:08:59.23
and fresh content every week,
00:08:59.23\00:09:01.40
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:09:01.40\00:09:04.64
- Now, I am not an archeologist,
00:09:07.71\00:09:09.58
and I'm not even a
real Bible scholar,
00:09:09.58\00:09:11.88
at least not in the
formal academic sense.
00:09:11.88\00:09:14.92
But I will tell you
that over the last 30 years
00:09:16.02\00:09:18.19
of studying the Bible,
00:09:18.19\00:09:19.69
I have discovered it's more
reasonable to assume the Bible
00:09:19.69\00:09:22.36
is telling the
truth than it is not.
00:09:22.36\00:09:25.36
And far from
disproving the Bible,
00:09:25.36\00:09:27.56
the spade of the archeologist
has usually ended up
00:09:27.56\00:09:30.07
affirming what this book says.
00:09:30.07\00:09:32.63
Take, for example, the case
of King Solomon's copper mines
00:09:32.63\00:09:35.74
in a region known
as the Timna Valley.
00:09:35.74\00:09:38.37
When the mines
were first discovered,
00:09:38.37\00:09:40.31
it was assumed that they
couldn't possibly be Israelite.
00:09:40.31\00:09:43.45
And a lot of people said,
these have to be Egyptian.
00:09:43.45\00:09:46.98
Why?
00:09:46.98\00:09:48.45
It's because a lot of
people thought the stories
00:09:48.45\00:09:50.22
about the splendors of
David and Solomon's kingdoms
00:09:50.22\00:09:52.72
were just fiction.
00:09:52.72\00:09:54.76
At best they said these
men were just local chieftains
00:09:54.76\00:09:58.16
in a tiny village,
00:09:58.16\00:09:59.73
and there was no way
there was an actual kingdom
00:09:59.73\00:10:02.66
like the one
described in the Bible.
00:10:02.66\00:10:05.07
And the reason they said that
is because they didn't think
00:10:06.43\00:10:08.77
there was enough archeological
evidence to support the idea
00:10:08.77\00:10:11.61
of an advanced
civilization in Israel
00:10:11.61\00:10:14.48
1000 years before Christ.
00:10:14.48\00:10:16.81
And the mining operation
was sophisticated enough
00:10:16.81\00:10:19.81
that they figured,
well, this has to be Egyptian.
00:10:19.81\00:10:23.92
But then they sent some of
the organic material they found
00:10:23.92\00:10:26.49
to be carbon dated,
mostly seeds they found,
00:10:26.49\00:10:30.43
and the results
destroyed their thinking.
00:10:30.43\00:10:32.73
The site dated back to
1000 years before Christ,
00:10:32.73\00:10:36.67
to roughly the time of
the Bible's King Solomon.
00:10:36.67\00:10:40.17
It turns out it
was his copper mine
00:10:40.17\00:10:43.17
and probably the source
of all the copper they used
00:10:43.17\00:10:45.51
to build the
magnificent temple in Jerusalem.
00:10:45.51\00:10:48.71
Some of the pottery they
found suggested the same thing.
00:10:48.71\00:10:51.55
It also dated to about 1000 BC.
00:10:51.55\00:10:54.62
One of the archeologists
who worked on the site,
00:10:56.25\00:10:58.45
a guy by the name of
Nelson Glueck, said this.
00:10:58.45\00:11:01.79
"As a matter of fact, however,
00:11:01.79\00:11:03.69
it may be categorically stated
00:11:03.69\00:11:05.69
that no archeological discovery
00:11:05.69\00:11:07.66
has ever controverted
a biblical reference."
00:11:07.66\00:11:11.90
So in other words,
00:11:11.90\00:11:13.50
archeology has often
proved the Bible to be true,
00:11:13.50\00:11:17.14
but it has never disproved it.
00:11:17.14\00:11:19.67
Here's another example.
00:11:22.78\00:11:24.28
And this one is linked to an
artifact I once saw on display
00:11:24.28\00:11:27.52
in the British Museum.
00:11:27.52\00:11:29.02
It came from the ruins of
the ancient city of Nineveh,
00:11:29.02\00:11:31.59
and it's known as the Taylor
Prism because it was named
00:11:31.59\00:11:34.92
after a man who
owned the thing for a bit.
00:11:34.92\00:11:37.69
And it's really, really
important because it provides us
00:11:37.69\00:11:41.80
with outside verification
for a story you find
00:11:41.80\00:11:44.70
in the Old Testament,
00:11:44.70\00:11:46.27
the story where the
Assyrian King Sennacherib
00:11:46.27\00:11:48.94
laid siege to
the city of Jerusalem
00:11:48.94\00:11:51.24
during the time of Hezekiah.
00:11:51.24\00:11:53.51
And you'll find the
Bible's version of that story
00:11:53.51\00:11:56.08
in 2 Kings chapter 18.
00:11:56.08\00:11:58.81
So maybe let's start
with the Bible's version
00:11:58.81\00:12:01.48
of what happened so you
can see what I'm driving at.
00:12:01.48\00:12:04.75
Here's what it says.
00:12:04.75\00:12:05.92
"In the 14th
year of King Hezekiah,
00:12:07.06\00:12:08.89
Sennacherib, king of Assyria,
00:12:08.89\00:12:10.69
came up against all the
fortified cities of Judah
00:12:10.69\00:12:13.50
and took them.
00:12:13.50\00:12:14.93
And Hezekiah, king of Judah,
00:12:14.93\00:12:16.33
sent to the king of
Assyria at Lachish saying,
00:12:16.33\00:12:20.00
'I have done
wrong, withdraw from me.
00:12:20.00\00:12:22.24
Whatever you impose
on me, I will bear.'
00:12:22.24\00:12:25.57
And the king of Assyria required
of Hezekiah, king of Judah,
00:12:25.57\00:12:29.14
300 talents of silver
and 30 talents of gold.
00:12:29.14\00:12:33.62
And Hezekiah gave them
all the silver that was found
00:12:33.62\00:12:36.12
in the house of the Lord
00:12:36.12\00:12:37.52
and in the
treasuries of the king's House.
00:12:37.52\00:12:40.46
At that time,
Hezekiah stripped the gold
00:12:40.46\00:12:42.49
from the doors of
the temple of the Lord
00:12:42.49\00:12:44.96
and from the doorpost
00:12:44.96\00:12:46.23
that Hezekiah, King
of Judah, had overlaid,
00:12:46.23\00:12:48.76
and gave it to
the king of Assyria."
00:12:48.76\00:12:51.57
This is a story
about desperate times
00:12:53.00\00:12:56.00
and desperate measures.
00:12:56.00\00:12:57.61
Under any other circumstance,
00:12:57.61\00:12:59.47
it's highly unlikely that a
king of Judah would be willing
00:12:59.47\00:13:03.21
to desecrate the temple
to appease a foreign invader.
00:13:03.21\00:13:07.12
And if this wasn't true,
00:13:07.12\00:13:09.25
it's highly unlikely that
any Jew would make this up
00:13:09.25\00:13:12.59
about one of
their very best kings.
00:13:12.59\00:13:15.52
Sennacherib was a
particularly cruel man,
00:13:15.52\00:13:18.03
and he was willing to starve
00:13:18.03\00:13:19.23
the citizens of
Jerusalem to death.
00:13:19.23\00:13:21.53
He'd just been
dealing with a rebellion
00:13:21.53\00:13:23.26
in the city of Babylon,
00:13:23.26\00:13:24.70
which at that time
was under his control.
00:13:24.70\00:13:27.57
But while he was over
there sorting that out,
00:13:27.57\00:13:30.24
the Philistines decided that
maybe they could stage a revolt
00:13:30.24\00:13:33.44
of their own.
00:13:33.44\00:13:34.88
I mean, Sennacherib was
really busy in Babylon, right?
00:13:34.88\00:13:36.98
So he couldn't
come and stop them.
00:13:36.98\00:13:40.05
The Philistines
suddenly deposed their own king
00:13:40.05\00:13:42.42
in the city of Ekron,
00:13:42.42\00:13:43.92
a guy named Padi who was
just a puppet for the Assyrians.
00:13:43.92\00:13:47.82
But they were too afraid to
keep him in town because, well,
00:13:47.82\00:13:50.93
that might bring
the Assyrian armies
00:13:50.93\00:13:52.76
right to their doorstep.
00:13:52.76\00:13:54.40
So what did they do?
00:13:54.40\00:13:55.83
They shipped him to
the city of Jerusalem
00:13:55.83\00:13:58.70
because Hezekiah
00:13:58.70\00:14:00.24
had already stopped
paying tribute to the Assyrians,
00:14:00.24\00:14:03.14
and he was known
00:14:03.14\00:14:04.44
as the leader of the
anti Assyrian movement.
00:14:04.44\00:14:07.38
What better place
to send their prisoner?
00:14:07.38\00:14:10.35
And of course, when Sennacherib
found out about this,
00:14:11.58\00:14:13.55
it made him really, really mad.
00:14:13.55\00:14:15.18
So he traveled to Jerusalem
and laid siege to the holy city.
00:14:15.18\00:14:18.85
And that's where
you get the famous story
00:14:18.85\00:14:21.82
from 2 Kings chapter 18.
00:14:21.82\00:14:23.49
And of course, all sorts
of scholars over the years
00:14:24.86\00:14:26.93
have questioned the story
00:14:26.93\00:14:28.20
because it ends
with this divine miracle.
00:14:28.20\00:14:31.77
185,000 Assyrian troops
were suddenly eliminated
00:14:31.77\00:14:35.60
by the angel of the Lord
in the middle of the night.
00:14:35.60\00:14:38.71
The skeptics said, oh,
that's wishful thinking.
00:14:38.71\00:14:41.84
That never happened.
00:14:41.84\00:14:43.58
But then in 1830,
00:14:44.38\00:14:46.28
as archeologists were
digging through the ruins
00:14:46.28\00:14:48.28
of the ancient city of Nineveh,
00:14:48.28\00:14:50.19
they found this six-sided stone
00:14:50.19\00:14:52.22
that had Sennacherib's
version of the same story.
00:14:52.22\00:14:55.56
And that
version reads like this.
00:14:55.56\00:14:58.36
And I'm gonna
abbreviate it just a little bit,
00:14:58.36\00:15:00.80
or we'll be here all day.
00:15:00.80\00:15:02.40
It says, "As for
Hezekiah, the Jew,
00:15:02.40\00:15:04.97
who did not submit to my yoke,
00:15:04.97\00:15:06.97
himself, like a caged
bird I shut up in Jerusalem,
00:15:06.97\00:15:09.94
his royal city.
00:15:09.94\00:15:11.61
I added to the former
tribute and laid upon him
00:15:11.61\00:15:14.18
the giving up of their
land, as well as imposts,
00:15:14.18\00:15:16.95
gifts for my majesty.
00:15:16.95\00:15:19.65
In addition to
the 30 talents of gold
00:15:19.65\00:15:21.58
and 800 talents of silver,
there were gems, cosmetics,
00:15:21.58\00:15:25.29
jewels, large
sandu-stones, couches of ivory,
00:15:25.29\00:15:28.59
house chairs of
ivory, elephant hide, ivory,
00:15:28.59\00:15:31.63
all kinds of valuable treasures,
00:15:31.63\00:15:33.56
as well as his
daughters, his harem,
00:15:33.56\00:15:36.03
his male and female musicians,
00:15:36.03\00:15:38.13
which he had them bring after
me to Nineveh, my royal city."
00:15:38.13\00:15:42.74
Now it's exactly the same story
00:15:42.74\00:15:44.57
with only some minor variations.
00:15:44.57\00:15:47.18
The Bible says the payment
was 300 talents of silver
00:15:47.18\00:15:50.68
and 30 talents of gold.
00:15:50.68\00:15:52.11
And Sennacherib's
account inflates that number
00:15:52.11\00:15:54.45
to 800 talents of silver.
00:15:54.45\00:15:57.42
But before anybody
jumps to the conclusion
00:15:57.42\00:15:59.19
that it's the
Bible that must be wrong,
00:15:59.19\00:16:00.89
I'd have to ask
the question, why?
00:16:00.89\00:16:03.49
Why would we assume
that the Jews got it wrong,
00:16:03.49\00:16:06.09
but Sennacherib got it right?
00:16:06.09\00:16:08.83
Isn't it possible
that the most powerful,
00:16:08.83\00:16:10.93
the most boastful king in
the region would be prone to,
00:16:10.93\00:16:14.27
well, a little exaggeration?
00:16:14.27\00:16:16.74
Yeah, of course he would.
00:16:16.74\00:16:18.57
And there's no reason to assume
00:16:18.57\00:16:20.18
that the Bible's the one
that got this story wrong
00:16:20.18\00:16:22.44
because these are the
only two sources we've got.
00:16:22.44\00:16:26.48
And the historical
record universally remembers
00:16:26.48\00:16:30.12
that Sennacherib was
arrogant and widely hated.
00:16:30.12\00:16:33.69
Everybody knew that
Sennacherib was an awful person.
00:16:33.69\00:16:37.49
And here's the part of the
story that gets my attention.
00:16:38.83\00:16:41.46
That Taylor Prism makes no
mention of the way Sennacherib
00:16:41.46\00:16:44.90
was defeated at
the siege of Jerusalem.
00:16:44.90\00:16:47.77
The Bible says the
angel of the Lord went out
00:16:47.77\00:16:50.77
and struck down 185,000
in the camp of the Assyrians,
00:16:50.77\00:16:54.88
but the Taylor Prism
says absolutely nothing.
00:16:54.88\00:16:59.01
Now, fortunately,
00:16:59.01\00:17:00.55
there are other sources
that tell us something awful
00:17:00.55\00:17:02.55
happened to the
Assyrians that night,
00:17:02.55\00:17:04.15
including an account
from the writings of Herodotus
00:17:04.15\00:17:07.16
who tells us that
something very strange happened
00:17:07.16\00:17:10.36
when Sennacherib was
campaigning in the region.
00:17:10.36\00:17:13.26
But I see that we're
up against the clock,
00:17:13.26\00:17:16.23
so I'll tell you what
he said right after this.
00:17:16.23\00:17:19.40
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
00:17:23.17\00:17:27.48
Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:17:27.48\00:17:32.05
If you've ever read
Daniel or Revelation
00:17:32.05\00:17:34.22
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:17:34.22\00:17:37.29
Our free Focus on
Prophecy guides are designed
00:17:37.29\00:17:40.19
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:17:40.19\00:17:42.46
and deepen your understanding
of God's plan for you
00:17:42.46\00:17:45.43
and our world.
00:17:45.43\00:17:46.59
Study online or
request them by mail,
00:17:46.59\00:17:48.96
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:17:48.96\00:17:51.90
- The Bible says
that the angel of the Lord
00:17:53.03\00:17:55.80
went into the
camp of the Assyrians
00:17:55.80\00:17:57.51
when Sennacherib was
laying siege to Jerusalem
00:17:57.51\00:18:00.18
and destroyed 185,000 soldiers.
00:18:00.18\00:18:03.85
And wouldn't you know it,
00:18:03.85\00:18:05.51
Herodotus tells
us something similar,
00:18:05.51\00:18:07.88
although he
apparently confuses the story
00:18:07.88\00:18:10.52
with a campaign against Egypt.
00:18:10.52\00:18:12.85
An understandable
mistake because after all,
00:18:12.85\00:18:14.96
he's writing hundreds
of years after the fact,
00:18:14.96\00:18:17.89
and he doesn't exactly
have access to the histories
00:18:17.89\00:18:20.76
we've uncovered since his time.
00:18:20.76\00:18:23.40
But just listen to what he says.
00:18:23.40\00:18:24.87
He writes, "The
enemy approached,
00:18:24.87\00:18:27.37
but then at night there came
a great swarm of field mice,
00:18:27.37\00:18:30.57
which gnawed through
the quivers of the invaders
00:18:30.57\00:18:32.67
and their bows and the
handles of their shields,
00:18:32.67\00:18:35.91
so that in the
morning they found themselves
00:18:35.91\00:18:37.68
quite defenseless.
00:18:37.68\00:18:39.05
They fled and were cut
down in great numbers."
00:18:39.05\00:18:43.28
So he's attributing
the miracle to field mice,
00:18:43.28\00:18:47.12
which seems somewhat improbable.
00:18:47.12\00:18:49.59
And he says that they were
rendered completely defenseless
00:18:49.59\00:18:52.13
so they became easy pickings.
00:18:52.13\00:18:54.83
But 185,000 dead
because of broken bow strings
00:18:54.83\00:18:59.70
and gnawed up handles that
rendered their shields useless?
00:18:59.70\00:19:03.97
I think in this case,
00:19:03.97\00:19:05.61
the Bible offers us a
much more likely scenario.
00:19:05.61\00:19:09.51
It was an act of God.
00:19:09.51\00:19:11.15
So again, as
Nelson Glueck pointed out,
00:19:12.28\00:19:14.58
the spade of the archeologist
has never falsified a story
00:19:14.58\00:19:18.42
from the Bible.
00:19:18.42\00:19:19.55
In fact, the
opposite has happened.
00:19:19.55\00:19:22.06
Archeological finds
have verified the Bible
00:19:22.06\00:19:25.06
and occasionally even
silenced the skeptics.
00:19:25.06\00:19:28.36
So this idea
00:19:28.36\00:19:29.86
that the Bible is full
of historical inaccuracies,
00:19:29.86\00:19:32.73
it's just not true.
00:19:32.73\00:19:34.67
What we found is an
awful lot of corroboration
00:19:34.67\00:19:37.21
from outside sources,
00:19:37.21\00:19:38.91
significant evidence
to suggest that the Bible
00:19:38.91\00:19:41.58
really is telling the truth.
00:19:41.58\00:19:44.51
In fact, the more you
study the content of the Bible,
00:19:44.51\00:19:48.28
the more you begin
to realize that it has
00:19:48.28\00:19:50.62
all the hallmarks of being true.
00:19:50.62\00:19:53.89
You might still
choose to believe
00:19:53.89\00:19:55.52
that the people
who composed this book
00:19:55.52\00:19:57.83
were just conspiring together
to write national propaganda.
00:19:57.83\00:20:02.06
But as you make your way
through the various books
00:20:02.06\00:20:04.07
of the Bible, you find
all these little details
00:20:04.07\00:20:07.77
that suggest
exactly the opposite.
00:20:07.77\00:20:10.61
Back in the 19th century,
00:20:11.67\00:20:13.17
a scholar by the name of
JJ Blunt took it upon himself
00:20:13.17\00:20:16.41
to catalog a bunch
00:20:16.41\00:20:17.58
of what he called
undesigned coincidences,
00:20:17.58\00:20:21.78
details that just
happened to be in the text
00:20:21.78\00:20:24.62
and weren't deliberately
designed to prove anything,
00:20:24.62\00:20:28.22
and yet somehow still
corroborate the truth of the
00:20:28.22\00:20:32.26
story. So for example,
00:20:32.26\00:20:33.83
he noticed something
peculiar in Matthew's story
00:20:33.83\00:20:36.87
about the trial of Christ
before Caiaphas and the Council.
00:20:36.87\00:20:40.70
Here's what Matthew says,
00:20:40.70\00:20:42.74
"Then they spit in
his face and struck him
00:20:42.74\00:20:45.77
and some slapped him saying,
prophesy to us, you Christ,
00:20:45.77\00:20:49.64
Who is it that struck you?"
00:20:49.64\00:20:51.98
Now, this seems like a
very strange challenge.
00:20:51.98\00:20:54.02
They're slapping
Jesus across the face
00:20:54.02\00:20:56.85
and making fun of his
claim to be the son of God.
00:20:56.85\00:20:59.72
And after each person slaps him,
00:20:59.72\00:21:02.39
they're telling him to prophesy
00:21:02.39\00:21:04.33
and tell them who
the assailant was.
00:21:04.33\00:21:07.23
It's a strange request
because it's not hard to see
00:21:07.23\00:21:10.70
who's slapping your face,
00:21:10.70\00:21:13.20
but it turns out that Matthew
didn't give us one tiny detail
00:21:13.20\00:21:16.30
that Luke did
when he told his story.
00:21:16.30\00:21:18.91
Here's the way he
records it in Luke chapter 22.
00:21:18.91\00:21:22.88
He writes, "Now, the men who
were holding Jesus in custody
00:21:22.88\00:21:26.41
were mocking him
as they beat him.
00:21:26.41\00:21:29.25
They also blindfolded
him and kept asking him,
00:21:29.25\00:21:32.75
prophesy, who is
it that struck you?"
00:21:32.75\00:21:36.32
Now, you'd think that if Matthew
00:21:36.32\00:21:38.43
was just making this story up,
00:21:38.43\00:21:39.86
he'd bother to tell us
that Jesus was blindfolded.
00:21:39.86\00:21:43.47
Because if there's one
thing good writers love,
00:21:43.47\00:21:45.63
it's making their
stories consistent.
00:21:45.63\00:21:48.14
Being blindfolded would
be a really important part
00:21:48.14\00:21:51.24
of the story if it was fiction.
00:21:51.24\00:21:55.24
But if it really happened and
it's not a manufactured tale,
00:21:55.24\00:21:58.78
then suddenly this
falls right in line.
00:21:58.78\00:22:00.75
Matthew's giving us an
actual memory of what happened,
00:22:00.75\00:22:04.12
and he forgets to
mention the blindfold.
00:22:04.12\00:22:06.59
And it's only when you
compare his story with Luke
00:22:06.59\00:22:09.76
that the whole thing
suddenly makes sense.
00:22:09.76\00:22:11.59
You've got one author
inadvertently filling in details
00:22:11.59\00:22:15.90
that another author left out.
00:22:15.90\00:22:18.57
And when you find that happening
00:22:19.60\00:22:21.10
over and over and
over and over and over,
00:22:21.10\00:22:24.21
as JJ Blunt noticed, well,
00:22:24.21\00:22:27.51
it's got all the
earmarks of authenticity.
00:22:27.51\00:22:29.61
It doesn't look like collusion.
00:22:29.61\00:22:33.15
So this idea that the Bible
is somehow wildly inaccurate,
00:22:33.15\00:22:36.85
well, the internal evidence
actually suggests the opposite.
00:22:36.85\00:22:40.02
It appears to be the
recollections of real events
00:22:40.02\00:22:43.59
recorded by real people.
00:22:43.59\00:22:45.89
And I know that today it's
become popular in some circles
00:22:45.89\00:22:48.66
to say that Jesus
never existed at all,
00:22:48.66\00:22:51.57
that his character and
the stories in the Bible
00:22:51.57\00:22:54.07
are absolute fiction.
00:22:54.07\00:22:56.40
But honestly,
00:22:56.40\00:22:57.91
that appears to be wishful
thinking on the part of people
00:22:57.91\00:23:00.31
who find it
easier to ignore Jesus
00:23:00.31\00:23:02.91
than to wrestle with who
or what he claimed to be.
00:23:02.91\00:23:06.82
The truth is, there are no
serious historical scholars
00:23:06.82\00:23:10.39
today who find
any reason to doubt
00:23:10.39\00:23:12.52
that Jesus was a
real historical person.
00:23:12.52\00:23:15.32
They might reject
his claim to deity.
00:23:15.32\00:23:17.96
They might reject the idea
that he was God in human flesh.
00:23:17.96\00:23:21.26
But they know for sure
that he was absolutely real.
00:23:21.26\00:23:26.33
And before you're tempted
to join the chorus of people
00:23:27.70\00:23:28.87
who say the Bible is fiction
00:23:28.87\00:23:30.34
or that it's
incredibly inaccurate
00:23:30.34\00:23:32.01
or full of
theological contradictions,
00:23:32.01\00:23:34.54
maybe, maybe just read it.
00:23:34.54\00:23:38.08
Because once you
set aside the stuff
00:23:38.08\00:23:40.18
the skeptics
have been telling you,
00:23:40.18\00:23:41.85
I'm guessing you might be
surprised at what you find.
00:23:41.85\00:23:45.32
It might just be the case
that their criticisms are driven
00:23:45.32\00:23:49.22
by a desire to
eliminate the claims
00:23:49.22\00:23:51.53
that God would have on us if
this story proved to be true.
00:23:51.53\00:23:56.26
I'll be right back after this.
00:23:56.26\00:23:58.07
- [Narrator] Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:24:02.14\00:24:04.54
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:24:04.54\00:24:07.94
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:24:07.94\00:24:10.38
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:24:10.38\00:24:13.45
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:24:13.45\00:24:14.98
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:24:14.98\00:24:17.15
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:24:17.15\00:24:18.79
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:24:18.79\00:24:21.22
and provide answers to many
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00:24:21.22\00:24:24.26
and they're absolutely free.
00:24:24.26\00:24:26.33
So jump online
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00:24:26.33\00:24:28.60
and start your
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00:24:28.60\00:24:30.90
- One of the claims this
unlike skeptic was making
00:24:32.27\00:24:34.40
during her rant
against the Christian faith
00:24:34.40\00:24:36.37
was the idea that the Bible
00:24:36.37\00:24:38.14
is somehow
theologically inconsistent.
00:24:38.14\00:24:42.01
Now, on one hand,
I'd have to admit,
00:24:42.01\00:24:43.55
I can see how somebody might
have come to that conclusion
00:24:43.55\00:24:45.88
when they watch some of the
disagreements that Christians
00:24:45.88\00:24:47.95
have with each other.
00:24:47.95\00:24:49.42
And some of them might
point to the fact that we have
00:24:49.42\00:24:51.52
thousands of
Christian denominations
00:24:51.52\00:24:53.52
who all think they're right.
00:24:53.52\00:24:56.52
But what they never seem
to mention is the way that
00:24:56.52\00:24:58.23
Christians tend to agree
on the essentials, the basics.
00:24:58.23\00:25:02.06
When it comes to the big stuff,
00:25:02.06\00:25:03.80
you'll find a lot more
agreement than disagreement.
00:25:03.80\00:25:06.53
Things like the deity of Christ,
00:25:06.53\00:25:08.50
the sufficiency
of the atonement,
00:25:08.50\00:25:10.14
the importance of discipleship,
00:25:10.14\00:25:12.21
and the need to
surrender your pride
00:25:12.21\00:25:13.94
and repent of your sins.
00:25:13.94\00:25:16.08
There may be a lot of
Christian denominations,
00:25:16.08\00:25:18.38
but when you get
these people together
00:25:18.38\00:25:20.32
the way I've done
all over the world,
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it's remarkable how
much agreement you find
00:25:22.92\00:25:26.02
when they just open a
Bible and study it together.
00:25:26.02\00:25:29.19
Yeah, there's room for some
disagreement on the small stuff,
00:25:29.19\00:25:32.29
and there are times when
the Bible doesn't give us
00:25:32.29\00:25:34.36
all the details we want.
00:25:34.36\00:25:35.86
So sometimes we start
to invent our own theories
00:25:35.86\00:25:38.90
of how things work,
00:25:38.90\00:25:40.14
and that leads to a
lot of unnecessary debate.
00:25:40.14\00:25:43.74
So I'll give this
skeptic points on this,
00:25:43.74\00:25:46.64
because a lot of the
image that Christians
00:25:46.64\00:25:48.81
have been branded with right
now, well, it's our own fault.
00:25:48.81\00:25:52.65
Now, if we had time today,
00:25:53.45\00:25:54.95
I could show you how the
Bible actually anticipated
00:25:54.95\00:25:57.52
the fragmentation of the church,
and how it reveals that God
00:25:57.52\00:26:00.52
actually plans to reverse that.
00:26:00.52\00:26:02.76
Some people say that the
divisions in Christianity are
00:26:02.76\00:26:05.76
proof that somehow the
Bible got things wrong.
00:26:05.76\00:26:08.33
But when they read it, they'll
see that our current mess
00:26:08.33\00:26:10.93
was actually
predicted in the Bible.
00:26:10.93\00:26:13.67
You know, if the Bible is
just a work of propaganda,
00:26:13.67\00:26:16.17
it's a bad one.
00:26:16.17\00:26:17.61
In the Old Testament,
00:26:17.61\00:26:18.77
God points out the
sins of his own people,
00:26:18.77\00:26:20.81
and he calls them
spiritual prostitutes,
00:26:20.81\00:26:23.65
people who sold themselves
00:26:23.65\00:26:25.38
to a bunch of violent
and sadistic pagan deities.
00:26:25.38\00:26:28.42
Then in the New Testament,
00:26:28.42\00:26:29.62
the Bible predicts
that the Christian Church
00:26:29.62\00:26:31.49
was going to do
exactly the same thing.
00:26:31.49\00:26:34.36
I mean, just consider the
language you find in Revelation
00:26:34.36\00:26:37.46
17 and compare
that with Ezekiel 16,
00:26:37.46\00:26:40.43
and I think
you'll see what I mean.
00:26:40.43\00:26:42.60
As I've often told people,
00:26:43.47\00:26:45.20
the biggest problem
described in the Bible
00:26:45.20\00:26:47.04
isn't the
outsiders, but the insiders,
00:26:47.04\00:26:50.37
the people who actually claim
to be members of God's church.
00:26:50.37\00:26:53.81
And that's the point
the skeptics usually miss.
00:26:53.81\00:26:56.21
They assume that the Bible
00:26:56.21\00:26:57.45
speaks really well
of religious people,
00:26:57.45\00:26:59.55
and then they present the
behavior of supposed Christians
00:26:59.55\00:27:03.92
as proof that the
Bible must somehow be wrong.
00:27:03.92\00:27:07.02
So you can
imagine they're surprised
00:27:07.02\00:27:08.49
when they read the whole
thing and discover the Bible
00:27:08.49\00:27:10.23
actually predicted bad
behavior from Christians
00:27:10.23\00:27:13.46
and condemns it.
00:27:13.46\00:27:14.93
Now, I think I'll pick
that up again another day
00:27:14.93\00:27:16.83
because we have
00:27:16.83\00:27:18.10
some more claims
against our faith to talk about.
00:27:18.10\00:27:20.60
But for now, let
me just say this.
00:27:20.60\00:27:23.17
You can't really say
the Bible is historically
00:27:23.17\00:27:26.07
and theologically inaccurate
if you've never read it.
00:27:26.07\00:27:30.55
"Scripture," Jesus
said in John chapter 10,
00:27:30.55\00:27:33.08
"Cannot be broken."
00:27:33.08\00:27:35.42
And over the years
I've discovered Jesus
00:27:35.42\00:27:37.72
was absolutely right.
00:27:37.72\00:27:39.85
But you know,
00:27:39.85\00:27:41.36
you're never gonna know that
unless you actually study it.
00:27:41.36\00:27:43.69
And if you want,
00:27:43.69\00:27:45.03
just head on over to
biblestudies.com and have a look
00:27:45.03\00:27:46.86
at some of the free resources
00:27:46.86\00:27:48.50
provided by the
Voice of Prophecy.
00:27:48.50\00:27:50.73
Take a look at the
Discover Bible guides
00:27:50.73\00:27:52.73
because that's a series
of studies that will actually
00:27:52.73\00:27:55.27
take you all the way through
00:27:55.27\00:27:56.77
all the major themes of
the Bible in an easy way.
00:27:56.77\00:28:00.14
Thanks for joining me today.
00:28:00.14\00:28:01.91
I'm Sean Boonstra, and
this has been "Authentic".
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