Is The Bible True?

WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE?

It is only natural that we ask this question. SHOW ME! PROVE IT!...we say. BEWARE anyone who says, "You just have to have faith," or "you just gotta believe." "BELIEVE WHAT?," I might ask. Demand answers. Ask questions.
There are several different types of evidence that we can use to determine whether what is written is true or not. There is the:
A. Internal evidence, and, B. External evidence, of the Bible.

THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE
The internal evidence begins with the text itself. Is what it says true? First, we must know what is written before we can determine whether it is true or not. Make sense? OK.
Let me ask you a question:
Do you think it is possible for a human being to write in detail about an event, one thousand years before the fact, and then have it happen EXACTLY as he/she wrote it down in detail? Think about this. Read the question again. What is your answer? Yes or No.
What am I getting at? OK, I assume that most people have heard of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Or, at least heard of Jesus. Also, I assume that most people have heard of David of the Old Testament and how he killed Goliath the giant. He also became King of Israel after this. David also wrote many of the PSALMS in the book of PSALMS.
The PSALM we want to look at is PSALM 22. It was written approximately 950 BC. Do you remember the question above? Keep it in mind. Let's analyze what is written. You decide for yourself.
What is written in PSALM 22? Ever read it?

PSALM 22
1: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

These words were spoken by Christ while he hung on the cross at approximately 33 AD. The book of St. Matthew, written after this, records the events of the Crucifixion. What does the scripture say?
Chapter 27, verse 46: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, [in Hebrew] 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?' that is to say, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'"

2: O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4: Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5: They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6: But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7: All they that see me LAUGH ME TO SCORN: THEY SHOOT OUT THE LIP, THEY SHAKE THE HEAD saying,
8: He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Did you read the above verses 7 & 8 carefully? Keep in mind that David wrote them in about 950 BC. Let's turn back to where the Crucifixion is recorded in
St. Matthew, Chapter 27, verses 38-43: "Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by REVILED HIM, WAGGING THEIR HEADS, And saying, 'Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.' Likewise also the CHIEF PRIESTS MOCKING HIM, with the scribes and elders, said, 'He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.'"

[Back to PSALM 22]
9: But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10: I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11: Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12: Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13: They GAPED UPON ME WITH THEIR MOUTHS, as a ravening and a roaring lion.[As a side-study, see PSALM 69]
14: I am poured out like water, and ALL MY BONES ARE OUT OF JOINT: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15: My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16: For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: THEY PIERCED MY HANDS AND MY FEET.

This is more of the DETAIL I was talking about. Why were his bones out of joint? Simple, from hanging on the cross for hours in the heat of the day, that's why. The very method of Christ's death is explicitly described in verse 16 above. He was crucified, as recorded in
St. Matthew 27:22-24 "Pilate saith unto them, 'What shall I do then with Jesus which is called the Christ?' They all say unto him, 'let him be CRUCIFIED.' And the governor [Pilate] said, 'Why, what evil hath he done?' But they cried out the more, saying, 'LET HIM BE CRUCIFIED.' When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, 'I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.'"

[Continuing PSALM 22 (appr. 950 B.C.)]
17: I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18: THEY PART MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, and CAST LOTS UPON MY VESTURE.

You know what? This sounds familiar. Could this also have happened like it was written by David? Let us check it out for ourself and see. Let's go to a different gospel and see if it agrees with St. Matthew's account. We read in
St. Mark's gospel, chapter 15, verses 22-24 "And they bring him [Jesus] unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, 'The place of the skull.' And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, THEY PARTED HIS GARMENTS, CASTING LOTS UPON THEM, what every man should take."
THIS, is detail my friend. [The wine was also mentioned in PSALM 69:21]

19: But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20: Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21: Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22: I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23: Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24: For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but WHEN HE CRIED UNTO HIM, HE HEARD.

When Christ cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," he was quoting this PSALM 22, because it prophesied of his Crucifixion, teaching US, that the prophecy was being fulfilled, EXACTLY AS IT WAS WRITTEN. God was fulfilling his promise of sending a Savior[ISAIAH 53, is one place].
We see from verse 24 above, that God did not forsake him at all.

25: My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26: The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall LIVE FOR EVER.[ST. JOHN 3:16]
27: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28: For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29: All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30: A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31: They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a PEOPLE THAT SHALL BE BORN, THAT HE HATH DONE THIS.

We are the "people that shall be born" my friend.

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION
Are there sources other than the Bible that record the Crucifixion? Yes. Have you ever heard of Tacitus? He was a Roman historian. He speaks of Christ, his followers and Pilate, the Roman-appointed governor of Judea, in his work: The Annals of Imperial Rome.
You can access the LETTERS OF PONTIUS PILATE, to read his personal accounts of his governorship of Judea, and what he said about John the Baptist and Jesus Christ.
The answers are there, but we have to look for them and MAKE OUR OWN JUDGEMENTS about what we wish to believe. Let's make sure that these beliefs are built upon a good foundation.

LETTERS OF PONTIUS PILATE: --read Pilate's account of John the Baptist and the Crucifixion of Christ.
THE SHEPHERD'S CHAPEL: --study God's Word with Dr. Arnold Murray, book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse, and line-by-line. Find out what the "mark of the beast" REALLY is.

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R. Owen Hatfield
owenhatfield@hotmail.com

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