Many years ago I was helping the church with a door-knocking campaign. Late one morning I knocked on a door in a small apartment complex, and was greeted by a young, middle-eastern man. I smiled, introduced myself, explained our door-knocking campaign, and offered him a Bible. He declined the gift of the Bible, then leaned over to pick up a book from a side-table next to the apartment’s front door. While bringing the book into view, the man stated that he was Muslim. He held up a copy of the Koran so that I could see its cover, and pressed it to his lips. The thought that came to mind was, “He kissed the book?”. I’ll never forget that unabashed physical expression toward the book of his religion. Sometimes I wonder if we love the Bible as much as Muslims seem to love the Koran. We should love the Bible much more; we should fervently embrace the Bible!

Here’s a few reasons why: the Bible’s design is a miracle in itself. It’s a book written over 1,500 years by 40 very different authors. The compilation of 66 distinctive Bible books cover an array of topics, such as; prophecy, poetry, human psychology, history, theology, military strategy, and geology. However, the message that “transverses its independent books” is incredibly consistent, both in theme, as well as objective – regardless of their complexity, dissimilar writing styles, and far-reaching time periods (Houdmann, Rose, Niles, 2002). Researchers, historians, and literature professors agree that no group of humans could have proliferated such an elaborate combination of books over a 1,500 year period of time with such continuity, consistency, and absolute harmony. This is an unobjectionable Bible fact that hundreds of historians, both religious and non-religious, unanimously agree upon.

Consider the following evidences; one way the Bible validates its divine authenticity is through fulfillment of prophecy. Amazingly, 668 prophecies have been fulfilled; none have ever been proven false! Anyone willing to conduct an honest evaluation of Bible prophecy will find inarguable proof for its divine origin and inspired authorship. Archeology also validates, as well as supports, many biblical accounts.

Finally, consider the original manuscripts, which have survived persecution, weather, mobility, negligence, and time. Do you realize that almost all ancient, non-biblical manuscripts have vanished, while Bible manuscripts like the Dead Sea Scrolls (dated before the time of Christ) have survived? Let me illustrate this point – many copies of the Gallic Wars (by Julius Caesar) were written around 949A.D, but only about 10 copies exist today. Compare this to the New Testament manuscripts; there are approximately 24,000 original manuscripts (some dating to around 57A.D.) which have survived to this day (Ibid)! Most honest folks come to the same conclusion – something more than “mere coincidence” has influenced the preservation of these ancient documents.

No other piece of literature comes close in the volume of supporting evidence, and no other book can match the Bible’s fulfillment of prophecy, archeological support, longevity, or its ability to literally transform the lives of its readers in such dramatic and positive ways. Some choose to minimize the facts that support the validity and divine authenticity of the Bible, but denying the divine origin and truthful message of the Bible requires antagonistic effort, as well as a certain amount of intellectual dishonesty on their part. Regardless of your current perception, I invite you to investigate the Bible, the gospel of Christ and God’s unique plan of salvation.

Michael J. Shank is a full-time Pulpit Minister, Bible Instructor, and Author. His church’s website can be found at http://www.metropoliscoc.com and his site contains “eye-opening” content that is designed to reveal the first century church of the Bible, as well as providing a host of multi-media content designed to make the Way clear to anyone with an honest heart! If you want to find out how to become a true, first century Christian, investigate his topics. If you wonder why there are so many churches today, take a look at his video found on his site!

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