Is the Bible a Message from God?

Does Evidence Support Divine Guidance for the Bible?

November, 2022

“Jesus said, ‘Believe on the evidence.’” (John 14:11, NIV 2011)

I believe in God, creator of the universe. I believe the Bible contains a message from God to humanity. Some of the Bible is literal history, some of it is allegory. These beliefs aren’t blind faith. I’m a scientist and mathematician with a natural gift for analysis and problem solving who trusts evidence and reason. My beliefs connect together from a chain of evidence and reason. 

Historicity. Historians evaluate the historical reliability of ancient manuscripts by answering a variety of questions such as:

• How long after the events described was the text written?

• How close in time are the earliest manuscripts to the original writing?

• How many copies are there?

• Are the copies consistent (accurately copied)?

• How complete is the text?

• Is anything in the text validated by other manuscripts or archeology?

• How sincere were the authors?

The Bible, particularly the New Testament (NT), far exceeds other ancient manuscripts in the first 5 questions and stands up to scrutiny in other methods too. The closest competitor is Homer’s Iliad and you can see below that it’s not even in the same league as the NT. Historians trust that the writings of Tetralogies by Plato are close to his original works, but his works aren’t even in the same league as Homer.

                                  Time Gap         Copies         Completeness            Accuracy

New Testament         25 years            5750                 99.5%                       99.9%

Iliad by Homer         500 years            643                    95%                           95%

Tetralogies by Plato 1300 years             7                         -                                    -

(McDowell & Jones 2014, 2 -7) (Geisler 2018, paragraph 8) (Geisler 2007, 13)

Timing of when the NT was originally written is vital. We know that early copyists were meticulous in their efforts to copy these sacred writings perfectly, so the most likely time for error to enter the account is before the events were first put in writing. We know this time was short because the book of Acts had to be written less than 30 years from the crucifixion of Jesus (Geiser 2007, 16) since:

• No mention of fall of Jerusalem in AD 70

• No reference to the Jewish War in AD 66

• No hint of Nero’s persecution starting in AD 65

• Apostle Paul still alive, executed around AD 65

• Apostle James still alive, executed around AD 62 (Josephus)

• Jewish Temple still standing with active sacrifices, destroyed AD 70

Most of the epistles and the book of Luke were written before Acts because Acts records events following those writings. Scholars believe Mark was written before Luke because Luke used material from Mark. They also believe Matthew was written before, or close to Luke for similar reasons. Experts date some creeds, such as the one recorded in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, to within a few years after Jesus died (Groothuis 2011, 438-439).

Many historical events are accepted as real based on mention by one writer, but many events in the NT are recorded by multiple writers and some are confirmed by extra-Biblical writings. Most key events of the Gospels are recorded by 4 to 7 NT writers and many are confirmed by at least one non-Christian source such as Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Thallus, and the Jewish Talmud. These non-Christian sources confirm the following 12 historical aspects of the NT.

1. Jesus was from Nazareth.

2. He lived a virtuous life.

3. He performed unusual feats.

4. He introduced new teachings contrary to Judaism.

5. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.

6. His disciples believed he rose from the dead.

7. His disciples denied polytheism.

8. His disciples worshiped him.

9. His teachings spread rapidly, and the number of his disciples grew quickly.

10. His followers believed they (their spirits) were immortal.

11. His followers had contempt for death.

12. His followers renounced material goods. (Geisler 2007, 21)

Archeology. Archeologists for years have been skeptical of the Bible’s historical accuracy because it seemed to contradict many of their findings, but over time, new archeological finds have validated many people, places, and events in the Bible. We’re slowly learning that many things in the Bible that had been assumed false by archeologists are actually true. (Curid, 2018)

Sincerity of Authorship. The NT stands alone in this category. Most ancient historical documents were produced by individuals with a motivation to win the favor of governing officials or profit personally in some way. Early Christians faced rejection from friends and family, excommunication from their religious community and home towns, arrest, torture, and death. Writing these documents never won favorable treatment from government officials.

Even the content of the documents reveals sincerity. The New Testament gives an honest portrayal of the disciples and apostles behaving foolishly with the kind of actions most authors would omit because they want to give a favorable portrayal of their heroes. (Consider Peter's denial, slowness of all the disciples to understand the teachings of Jesus, bickering among disciples, a mother asking for promotion for her disciple sons, Paul and Barnabas separating in a dispute over John-Mark, etc.) The accounts also include honest representation of embarrassing details such as women being the first to discover the empty tomb and see the resurrected Jesus. If they were inventing or embellishing the story one of the key disciples would most likely be the first to find it. In their culture, the testimony of women wasn't considered reliable.

Coherency. The Bible was written over thousands of years by extremely diverse authors, under dramatically different conditions, and in 3 different languages. You would expect such a collection of writings on such a controversial subject to be incoherent and full of contradictions, but the Bible miraculously flows into a coherent story.

Prophecy. The Bible also contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies. The most extraordinary prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. We have copies of the book of Isaiah dated before the birth of Jesus that contain specific details about the life, suffering, and death of Jesus. We have a prophecy from Daniel 9:25-26 predicting the exact day for Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. (J. Warner Wallace, 2019) When the NT was written, no one knew this! Modern research revealed the detailed dates demonstrating this prophecy’s fulfillment. Daniel 9:25-26 not only predicts the time Jesus would come to Jerusalem, but it predicted that Jesus would be put to death. It also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, which happened just a few decades after Jesus died.  This is just one example. The complete record of fulfilled prophecy in the Bible is powerful!

Impact. If the Bible was a message from God, you would expect it to have a positive influence on people who read it, and it does. Nothing in the history of the world has changed so many lives as the Bible. We’re surrounded by believers who can share how the Bible has changed their lives for the good. Walk into any Christian church and ask for testimonies of how the Bible has affected people’s lives and you’ll be overwhelmed.

Variations in Accounts. Many people claim differences among the Gospel stories indicate that they are false, but the types of variations we see in the Gospels actually confirm their validity. When testimonies vary on minor details but agree on major points, that demonstrates that the testimonies are independent and credible. We may not know exactly what happened in the details with variations, but the areas of agreement are more credible because of those variations. The accounts are less likely to be a collaboration of conspirators if the stories vary on minor points. (Wallace 2015)

The gospel accounts agree very effectively on all major Christian beliefs. Variations occur only on irrelevant points such as reporting how many angels were at the tomb of Jesus or whether Jairus said his daughter was dead or dying.

Undesigned Coincidences. There are numerous validating connections between NT writings that clearly weren’t intended by the authors. For example, Matthew writes about King Herod wondering if Jesus could be John the Baptist returning from the dead. Matthew records him sharing this thought with his servants (Matthew 14:2). An obvious question arises as to how Matthew (or whoever wrote this gospel) would know what King Herod said in a private conversation with his servants? Critics cite this as evidence that the story is invented or highly embellished, assuming the author couldn’t possibly know such details. Critics make similar complaints about accounts of Pontius Pilate’s conversations with Jesus and his wife’s warnings about her dream.

Plausible explanations speculate that a servant, guard, spouse or someone else knowledgeable of these events shared them with the Gospel authors. In most cases these explanations are pure speculation because we have no evidence supporting them. But in the case of Herod’s wonderings of John the Baptist we do.

Luke records that “Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household” was a follower of Jesus Christ, supporting his ministry (Luke 8:1-3). The fact that Matthew doesn’t mention Joanna as his source, and Luke doesn’t connect her to the story of John the Baptist’s beheading gives it strong credibility. It’s obviously not a product of collaboration or deliberate embellishment. It’s only by undesigned coincidence that this plausible source of information is revealed. Such undesigned coincidences are common in independent eyewitness accounts, but almost never happen with invented or highly embellished stories. (McGrew, 2017)

Evidence for the Old Testament. Evidence for historical accuracy and divine inspiration of the NT is very strong, but people sometimes dismiss the OT even if they believe the NT. I think this is a mistake because evidence supports trust in the message of the OT, even though it’s not at the same level as the NT.

Connections Between Testaments. If you believe the NT, then Jesus was God in flesh and his word carries more weight than any human being who ever lived. Jesus made it very clear that his “new covenant” (Luke 22:20, NIV 2011) doesn’t make the OT scriptures irrelevant. They are very much a part of our faith.

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,” (Matthew 5:17, NIV 2011) validating the importance of the OT which contains “the Law” and “the Prophets.”  He quoted OT passages in his teaching.

Acts 15 frees Christians from following the OT laws, but it is still a huge part of our heritage and theology. Much of the OT points to Jesus and his mission on earth, so to fully understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ we need to understand the OT messages connected to the NT (Longman 2012, 5).

Jesus refers to himself as “The Son of Man” (Matthew 8:20; 16:13; 17:9; etc., NIV 2011. This phrase appears numerous times in each of the 4 Gospels). To understand this reference, we need the OT book of Ezekiel that it comes from. John the Baptist refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NIV 2011). Without reading the OT passages about sacrificing a lamb as atonement for sin we wouldn’t have a clue what that meant. The NT discusses how Jesus Christ made “atonement” for our sins (Romans 3:25; Hebrew 2:17, NIV 2011), a concept that the OT explains in depth. The Apostle Paul wrote that “Christ redeemed us …” (Galatians 3:13, NIV 2011) referring to the OT principle of kinsman redeemer defined in the law and illustrated in Hebrew history, most notably in the book of Ruth.

Connections between the OT and NT are extensive, appearing on almost every page of the NT. It seems ludicrous to me to suggest the OT is irrelevant or just an ancient myth given its connection to the NT. But even if you don’t accept the divine inspiration of the NT, evidence exists to give the OT historical significance and consider the possibility of divine origins.

Prophecy. I already touched on the prophecy in the OT that has been confirmed fulfilled by independent, secular, historical research. These prophecies justify consideration that the OT was guided, at least in part, by divine inspiration.

Archeology. Archeology also confirms a significant number of events, places, and people recorded in the historical narrative of the OT (Moles and Whitson, 2016). That’s the main reason atheists acknowledge that the OT isn’t entirely myth. They’re more inclined to say some if it is pure myth, and some is historical narrative that’s been exaggerated and modified. But we know the discipline practiced by ancient Hebrews in passing down oral and written history, especially concerning the Holy Scripture. We have ancient documents spanning 1000 years where only a few changes happened, and those were mostly punctuation or spelling; nothing of significant meaning changed (Moles and Whitson 2016, 47).

Some archeological evidence contradicts OT history. Some of these contradictions may come from errors in assumptions made by archeologists and historians, but even if some are errors in the OT, that does not discredit the OT completely. It simply weighs against the traditional view that God controlled the writing of the Bible to make every word true.

Cosmology Confirming Genesis 1. The first chapter of Genesis identifies events of cosmological history in remarkable fashion. We can distinguish ten creation events that correspond with events of cosmological history known to modern science. Nine points appear in an order that matches conditions of cosmological history.

1. Genesis 1:2, formless and empty (nothing before time)

2. Genesis 1:3, sudden appearance of light (the singularity event, big bang)

3. Genesis 1:4, darkness separates from light (shadow casting bodies form)

4. Genesis 1:5, day and night (rotating earth)

5. Genesis 1:7, separation of waters (clouds and ocean)

6. Genesis 1:9, formation of land mass

7. Genesis 1:11, appearance of plants

8. Genesis 1: 20-25, appearance of animals

9. Genesis 1: 26-27, appearance of humans

The tenth event, Genesis 1:14-18, sun, moon and stars, should come earlier to match cosmological chronology, but one event appearing out of sequence does not discredit the remarkable correlation.

This first chapter of Genesis stands in striking contrast to all other creation myths. Nothing else comes close to it in literature style, but even more important, no other origins myth even begins to align with cosmological history as revealed by recent scientific discoveries. There’s no way the authors of Genesis could have written such a match 3000 years ago to align with cosmology revealed within the last century unless they had supernatural assistance. (Ross 2018, 23-25).

Distinction from Ancient Myths. Some opponents of the Bible try to connect it to local religious myths by pointing out similarities in portions of the narrative, but those similarities are minor and superficial. The Hebrew faith documented in the OT stands out with striking distinction from the religious myths of ancient people in the region or anywhere else in the world. The region where Hebrews lived is referred to as the Ancient Near East (ANE) and included Egypt, Greece, Canaan, and numerous other nations. I already discussed alignment with modern cosmology in Genesis 1. No other ancient origins myth comes close to aligning with modern cosmology. The list of additional distinguishing characteristics of the Hebrew faith is long!

1. Transcendence. The God of the Bible is transcendent from the physical universe. He created the universe and exists separate from it; he is over it, precedes it, outlasts it, controls it, and is unchanged by it. This creator is the only God, supreme above all beings. This belief, held by the Hebrews, differs dramatically from other ANE beliefs which held that many gods existed as part of the physical universe. They influence the physical world but did not create it and cannot exist separate from it.

2. Creation. God created the universe. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NIV 2011). No other religion had ever proposed such a thing (Oswalt 2009, 64). All other ANE beliefs held that earth came from some sort of conflict that reordered existing matter, but the OT presents it coming directly from the will of God as a brand-new thing that didn’t exist until God willed it (Oswalt 2009, 66).

3. Satisfaction. God finds satisfaction in the universe; no other ANE god did. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, NIV 2011).

4. Spiritual God. The Bible presents God as a Spirit, existing prior to everything else: “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters …” (Genesis 1:2, NIV 2011) and “God is spirit …” (John 4:24, NIV 2011). All other ANE beliefs had material gods existing within the material universe (Oswalt 2009, 65).

5. Focus on Humans. The OT brings humans on the picture as God’s greatest achievement or final goal of creation while other ANE beliefs make humans to be a less consequential spin-off from the cosmic conflict (Oswalt 2009, 68). “God created mankind in his own image … God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. … I give you … everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.’  … God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:27-31, NIV 2011)

6. Good God. Other ANE beliefs had gods who were undependable and self-serving (Oswalt 2009, 70). The God of the OT receives the most noble, perfect characterization possible: loving, faithful, true, upright, generous, patient, slow to anger, just, merciful, kind, and true. (Genesis 24:27; 34:6; Deuteronomy 4:31; 32:4; 1 Samuel 9:6; James 1:5; 2 Peter 3:9)

7. Sexuality. The OT gives God male gender pronouns to make him personal, not sexual. He never engages in sexual reproduction or sexual acts of pleasure. The gods of other ANE beliefs all engage in sexual activity and produce offspring through that activity. Nor does the OT allow for sex as a form of worship the way other ANE faiths did. (Oswalt 2009, 71-74, 81)

8. No Sorcery. The OT is the only ANE religion that prohibits magic and sorcery (Oswalt 2009, 75). “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.” (Deuteronomy 18: 10-12, NIV 2011) All these things were practiced in the other ANE faiths as ways to manipulate the gods.

9. Obedience. The OT repeatedly commands the Hebrews to relate to God through obedience. God wants to bless them and will, through his covenant relationship, if they will only obey. “All nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18, NIV 2011) (See also Deuteronomy 11:27; 28:1-2; Luke 11:28 and many other passages.)  Other ANE faiths have gods who don’t really care about humans. Through manipulative practices, humans try to make the gods do favors for them. (Oswalt 2009, 76)

10. Origin of Good and Evil. In the OT, the struggle between good and evil unfolds with the tension between God and humans. God strives to relate to humans and give them all the goodness he created, while humans constantly rebel against God’s will. Humanity is the center of the struggle between good and evil. Other ANE beliefs leave man more as a hapless bystander caught up in the cosmic struggle between good and evil forces beyond their control. (Oswalt 2009, 78)

11. Free Will. The Bible goes completely against ANE norms regarding human choice. Deterministic beliefs dominated throughout the region, portraying human choice as an illusion. In the Bible, “human choices … shape the direction of events on earth” (Oswalt 2009, 126). In scripture, history unfolds through the interaction of choices humans make in their free will and the interventions of God to carry out his plans.

12. Flawed Heroes. The free will concept is why the Bible contrasts so dramatically with other ANE stories in the characterization of its heroes. From Adam to the Apostles, characters in the Bible receive brutally honest accounting of their failures and defeats along with their successes and triumphs. This honest portrayal, and its emphasis on the importance of the individual, stand in “contrast to the rest of the ancient world” (Oswalt 2009, 124). Egypt, for example, portrayed each Pharoah as a flawless leader with divine power.

13. Salvation. The most distinctive feature of the Bible by far is God’s plan of salvation. From the very beginning God knew we humans would rebel and separate ourselves from him, so he worked out a way for us to return to fellowship with our Creator. He took on human form and proved his love by suffering and dying on our behalf. He redeemed us from the guilt of our sin, saving us from the just penalty of our selfishness. He enters into our lives by his Holy Spirit to give us freedom from sin. Nothing resembling this loving gift of our Creator exists in any other religion.

The Bible is so distinct from other ancient beliefs in so many ways as to preclude it from being a natural evolution of religious myth (Oswalt 2009, Ch 1). But even though we can’t dismiss the OT as just another myth derived from older myths, many people are reluctant to accept it as a revelation from the Creator because it portrays his character in contradicting ways.

Psychotic Monster-God? The God of the Bible seems to exhibit conflicting admirable and offensive attributes. Let’s look as some of the admirable attributes first.

1. Creative. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, NIV 2011). God created incomprehensible wonders and beauty in this universe. When I consider its vastness, I’m spellbound. When I consider the intricacies of life down to the molecular machines that run our cells, I’m awestruck. When I consider the physics of subatomic particles and how they produce the chemistry of the universe, I’m overwhelmed. But the most glorious thing in all God’s creation is love, especially when humans with God-given free will, choose to love. The beauty of all that God created leaves me in worshipful admiration.

2. Caring. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him’” (Genesis 2:18, NIV 2011). Genesis shows God’s concern for the humans he created by recognizing and providing for our companionship need. That was only the beginning though. All through the Bible God shows concern for his people, working to provide for their needs and redeem them from their selfish condition. The Gospel accounts show God’s caring through frequent healing, teaching, and provision of Jesus Christ.

3. Compassionate. “In the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him’” (1 Samuel 1:20, NIV 2011). God often responded to the desperate cries of his people. When we suffer, he longs to deliver us from our suffering. The birth of Samuel clearly displays this attribute. Hannah pleaded for a son out of torment over her barrenness, and God responded with compassion, giving her Samuel. This is just one of many times God’s compassion shines throughout the OT and continues into the NT.

4. Loving. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9, NIV 2011). God demonstrates his love over and over again in the Bible, most notably by taking on human form to suffer and die for our salvation!

5. Merciful. “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (Jonah 3:10, NIV 2011). Jonah warned the people of Nineveh that God was going to punish them for their wickedness. When they repented with great regret and sincerity, God had mercy and spared them from the punishment they deserved. Whether you believe this to be a literal event or an allegorical story, it communicates God’s mercy. God always responds mercifully if we repent with contrite hearts. He saves us today through that same merciful response to repentance.

6. Faithful. “’Never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done’” (Genesis 8:21, NIV 2011). The OT is littered with promises God made and never once does he fail to fulfill his promises. After rescuing Noah and his ark full of animals, God promised never to destroy all living things on earth again, no matter what evils humans persist in. Whether you see this story as a literal event or allegory, the Biblical message gives us a faithful God who keeps his promises.

7. Generous. “So God said to (Solomon), ‘Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life’” (1 Kings 3:11-14, NIV 2011). Throughout the OT God blesses the Israelites abundantly whenever they make an effort to do what’s right. This eagerness to bless abundantly is clear when God is pleased with King Solomon, offering to grant him a wish. When Solomon asks for wisdom, God is so pleased that he blesses him and the entire nation of Israel beyond anything they had contemplated.

These 7 items make a small dent in listing God’s attributes, but they’re a good place to start. A critical thinker should already be thinking, “Yes, but, what about …,” and you can list a few negative attributes that we might be impressed with as we read the OT, such as harsh, violent, demanding, etc. God’s promises of terrible suffering for the Hebrew nation if they break their covenant with God cause my heart to shudder. The plagues he poured out on the Egyptians move me to pity for them in spite of the evil oppression they wrought on the Hebrews. The relentless slaughter faced by Israel at the hands of enemies sent by God to punish them make me cringe.

When people like Richard Dawkins say the God of the Bible is cruel and expound on his cruelty with long lists of despicable attributes, I can’t fully blame them. Some passages they cite as evidence of God’s cruelty are taken out of context, treated as literal when the language is actually anthropomorphic or metaphorical. But there are some that simply defy moral sensibility.

I’m convinced from personal experience, evidence, and reason that God is real, God is good, and the Bible is a message from God. So how do I reconcile Bible passages that seem abhorrent in my own eyes? I’ve considered a number of possibilities.

1. Not God’s Word. Perhaps the Bible isn’t perfect. Maybe the passages that portray God as harsh, angry, violent, cruel etc., aren’t really God’s word. Perhaps those portions were written by fallible humans who drifted from their divine inspiration and misrepresented God.

2. Ancient Mindset. Perhaps those portions are messages from God that spoke to people of a different culture and mindset. Perhaps they carried a message vital to a certain time and place in history. We can understand the messages, but they were only appropriate for the culture of the time. Those messages would be irrelevant to us today.

3. Lost Meaning. Perhaps we can’t even understand those portions of scripture because they were written by and to a people with a cultural mindset so far removed from our modern mindset the meaning is lost.

4. Balance. Perhaps those attributes are the balancing side of a loving, just God. Perhaps, as the ancient Chinese yin-yang philosophy implies, true goodness must be a balance of discipline and mercy, just punishment and forgiveness, forcefulness and compassion, etc.

5. Necessity. Perhaps those passages reflect a necessary part of God’s character. It could be that God is loving, kind, compassionate, merciful, generous, and all those great things, but as creator and master of the universe he must, at times, execute harsh, violent responses to events within his creation in order to be righteous, just and holy.

6. For the Best. Perhaps actions by God that seem unconscionable to us were for the best. We can’t see how, because our vision is limited, but an all-knowing God can foresee all possible futures and know what’s best. His actions could be, “like the removal of cancerous growths, threats to Israel’s (or humanity’s) fundamental spiritual health, sometimes require(ing) radical surgery” (Carroll and Wilgus 2015, 50).

7. All Knowing Justice. Perhaps the suffering that seems cruel to us is deserved and just. If God sees the hearts of all people, he can administer justice, ensuring no one suffers more than the corruption of their heart deserves. It’s possible that all human suffering is just, and anyone who escapes suffering has God’s mercy to thank.

As an evidentialist, I have difficulty considering these possibilities because they are philosophical in nature and lack validating or invalidating evidence. Some fit better into my personal value system that others, but that’s not a good standard for truth.

Truth exists, but I will not presume to know the truth in this matter for certain. I believe that some, perhaps all, of the ideas above are true, but the complete truth probably stretches beyond these ideas. It’s okay to, “protest divine acts of violence and question divine actions” (Carroll and Wilgus 2015, 50). Some of God’s behavior in the Bible seems, “inscrutable and incredible, and even distasteful … but the divine will is not determined by human sensitivities or values” (Carroll and Wilgus 2015, 49).

For someone on the edge of abandoning their faith, several of these possibilities stand out with sensible reasoning to trust. I’ve long favored the concept that only God knows the future so only he can pass such harsh judgement. He could order complete destruction of pagans in the promised land because he knew how easily the Hebrews would be led astray by their idolatrous beliefs. It’s a terribly harsh judgement, but if God knows all possible future outcomes we can trust that his actions are for good in the end. Also, he created everything so he has the ultimate right to do as he sees fit with his creation. How can I question the wisdom and goodness of the Creator of this vast universe? Who am I to sit in judgement of him?

This explanation is logical, but doesn’t elicit a warm feeling of satisfaction. It’s a severe, but rational possibility. For people struggling emotionally with the harsh realities of the OT and even modern life, this answer isn’t very appealing. That’s the way reality is sometimes. We don’t always find truth giving us a nice, comfortable feeling.

The idea that ancient authors may have misrepresented God rests more comfortably in my soul. Maybe they mistakenly thought God directed them to kill women and children. People perceive God from their cultural context and value system. Understanding the OT from the perspective of the ANE culture can give it a better perspective.

Many apparently merciless characterizations of God would not have appeared that way at all to the ancient Hebrews. For centuries God rewarded the Hebrews when they worshiped and obeyed him, but punished them when they disobeyed and worshiped other Gods. When I read those historical books, God seems quite harsh from my modern perspective, but life was different back then. They saw God’s actions as patient and merciful because he never gave up on them. “But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God” (Nehemiah 9:31, NIV 2011). In the culture of the ANE, any people who rebelled so many times could be annihilated. The fact that God merely punished them and tried again shows great restraint from their perspective. What appears to be a contradiction in the character of God to us isn’t a contradiction at all if you understand the message intended between the authors and their readers.

There’s another aspect of the relationship between God and Israel that most modern people don’t understand. God had entered into a covenant relationship with the Hebrews and they agreed, binding themselves in obedient loyalty to God. Within the ANE culture, a covenant relationship was more serious than a modern contract or treaty. It was even more serious than modern marriages. To break such a covenant was the most despicable thing anyone could do. Under their value system, Hebrews who worshipped gods other than their God, Yahweh, the God they had entered into covenant with, deserved the worst suffering and death. Yahweh is just in executing punishment against Israel and merciful by sparing even a remnant.

This perspective sheds light on the OT portrayal of Yahweh being a jealous god. When I first read the OT as a teenager, the frequent references to God being jealous bothered me. I was taught that jealousy is a sin, but people of the ANE understood it differently. The Hebrews had entered a covenant relationship with the Creator of the universe, and then abandoned him to worship fake gods, pieces of wood, stone, or metal.

I had a friend whose wife left him for a man she’d met on the internet. My friend was very jealous and deeply hurt that his wife would abandon him and their 2 children for a man she’d never even met in person. She only knew him from photos, email, and on-line chat! My friend longed to have his wife back and received her eagerly when she did return, some months later. The man she met on the internet was nothing like she’d imagined.

I see God’s jealousy as similar to that. He longs for a relationship that is rightfully his and is actually good for us too. When we abandon God, he suffers because he loves us, but we suffer too because God is good for us. This reality is illustrated very graphically in the book of Hosea when the prophet’s wife abandons him for a life of prostitution and Hosea ends up redeeming her by paying a slave’s price for his wife. This reflects God’s relationship with humanity.

That is the ultimate message of the Bible. God, our creator, is wooing humanity into the relationship we were created for. There’s reason to believe a few segments of the OT aren’t literally true, such as the first 11 chapters of Genesis and the book of Job, due to the writing style (Longman 2012, 11) and contradictions with evidence revealed by science (Ross, 2018), but we have a solid case to trust that even those stories were inspired by God and are trustworthy for theological application. The diverse historical and metaphorical stories in the Bible speak to the enormous range of human personalities and cultures that have existed around the world. Some resonate with certain people better than others, but the basic message is the same for all.

Some of the violent passages of the Bible contrast with more peaceful passages in extreme ways. When conquering the promised land, the Israelites usually tried to kill all the Canaanites, sparing none (starting at Deuteronomy 2:34), but in the NT, Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek and love our enemies (Matthew 5:38-48). Such contrasts can be consistent with the balance between violence and peace (possibility #4 above). The yin-yang duality makes different actions appropriate for different circumstances. Just because the contrast seems extreme doesn’t mean they are contradictory. Such paradoxical extremes come with the reality of balance between contrasting attributes that can work for good.

Killing everyone during a conquest also falls under the extreme cultural differences I address with possibilities #2 and #3 above. The concepts of God seeing the future to know what’s best (#6) and knowing the hearts of everyone (#7) also apply. Possibility #1 might be the best choice. Genocide was an acceptable practice at that time and the Israelites could have assumed God commanded it when he really didn’t. That’s an attractive possibility for non-fundamentalists willing to accept that the Old Testament may not be a perfect, infallible message from God. That’s the explanation I want to be true in my subjective nature. I prefer to think most of the offensive content in the Bible isn’t really from God at all.

Even as I explain these justifications, my heartstrings tug at my mind, telling me they aren’t good enough. They are logical, and in my mind, I believe they can be true. But in my heart, I feel this response still isn’t complete. I believe the complete truth is better than what I’m presenting here, better than my current understanding. But I’m content with this understanding for now. That too, is Biblical, as the Apostle Paul wrote, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully …” (1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV 2011).

Most people who object to harsh passages in the Bible also object to pain and suffering that permeate all of life. Many books have been written about pain, suffering, evil and all the difficulties we face in life. Most books and articles I’ve read on the topic are very good, offering insightful perspectives that I find thought-provoking and uplifting. A simple, even trite response is that God doesn’t promise us an easy life; he promises to help us through our difficulties. He promises that our struggles make us stronger, better Christians. This answer may not satisfy skeptics who think it’s not good enough, but I believe this simple answer is true.

The idea that suffering improves character turns up in almost every philosophy and religion in the world, and it’s supported by objective psychological studies. It’s a complex topic where outcomes are unpredictable. The same life challenges can produce a person of extraordinary strength and character, or one suffering from serious mental disorders. It seems that if we respond to suffering with selfishness, it brings destruction, but with an attitude of loving sacrifice, especially within a supportive family or community, we can thrive. Scripture speaks this truth clearly:

“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12, NIV 2011)

 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-7, NIV 2011)

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4, NIV 2011)

Most people aren’t very receptive to this message when they are suffering, especially if they struggle with anxiety and depression, but given time, many people do accept it when they can consider it with objectivity.

In the end, personal experience, evidence, and reason lead us to “treasure God’s grace in our own lives and pray for him to extend his grace to others” (Carroll and Wilgus 2015, 50). God has been very good to me. God proved his love beyond doubt through the Gospel events. I confidently trust in his love, mercy, compassion, caring, creativity, faithfulness, generosity, and many other admirable attributes. I can give God a pass on actions that don’t seem consistent with these attributes from my human perspective because evidence for God’s existence and goodness is overwhelming and I know my insight is very limited.

The philosophical objections to harsh passages in the Bible and suffering in creation stand as obstacles for a lot of people, but from an objective, evidential perspective they fail to discredit the possibility of a benevolent creator who communicates to us through the Bible.

Debunked? Not Quite. I occasionally hear claims that the Bible has been “debunked.” I agree that the fundamentalist view of the King James Bible being perfect and error free has been shown false, but claiming that the entire Bible has been “debunked” is baseless. Much of the Bible has been shown to be true. The most important point of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, has been under attack for 2000 years and no one has been able to prove it false. Many people have proposed alternative hypotheses, but none of these prove the Gospel false. They just give those who presuppose nothing supernatural ever happens an idea to hold on to.

Richard Carrier proposed that the gospel story began as fiction but grew into literal belief over time as the originators of the fictional story died off (Carrier, 2014). The problem with this theory is that early epistles such as 1 Corinthians demonstrate literal belief in the resurrection within a few years after Jesus lived when many eyewitnesses were still alive (Groothuis 2011, 438-439). Carrier also claims that the Gospel story borrowed from pagan myths that are actually dated later in time.

Bart Erhman proposed that Jesus led a small group of revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow Roman rule, but over time “false memories” crept into the story (Erhman, 2016). The problem with this theory is the degree that the story changed. The few decades between the death of Jesus and the writings about him aren’t nearly enough time for such extensive change to happen. There would also be alternative gospels that contradict each other, but such alternatives didn’t arise until much later.

Consider three common hypothesis as explanations for the New Testament:

• Original myth that grew to become believed (Carrier)

• Original history that developed into myth, false memories (Ehrman)

• Perfectly true, infallible word of God dictated by the Holy Spirit (fundamentalism)

Unless you have a presuppositional bias against the supernatural, Jesus rising from the dead is by far the most reasonable explanation for the NT documents. I also reject the presupposition that the Bible is the perfect, complete, literal word of God. Most likely the NT authors recorded historical events reliably with some minor errors. Divine guidance seems to have minimized the frequency of errors.

Conclusion.

Current evidence supports the idea of divine guidance in the Bible but not complete divine control. Intellectual integrity compels me to acknowledge the likelihood of error in the Bible and to live with the additional difficulty that creates in understanding how to apply it to my life. The evidence for divine guidance compels me to search for truth and goodness in the pages of the Bible, hoping God will guide me in my efforts. I remain open and tolerant toward people with different viewpoints.

That brings me full circle. I’ve examined evidence to logically justify trust in a God who created everything and trusting the Bible as a message from God even if it’s not perfectly infallible. We’ve covered overwhelming evidence that:

• God, the creator of the universe, exists;

• The New Testament is historically trustworthy;

• The New Testament is inseparably linked to the Old Testament;

• The Old Testament could not have evolved from other ancient myths;

• The Bible contains historical and metaphorical messages from God;

• The Bible is philosophically plausible, and

• God is good 

It all points to God’s ultimate plan of salvation, provided through an extremely personal act of sacrifice that proved his love.

The Bible says a lot of things, but one message strikes me most clearly. God wants us to turn from selfishness, choosing love and respect. That’s one thing this evidentialist trusts in with great confidence. Thank you for reading.

Reference List

Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). Biblica Inc. (Original work published 1973) https://www.biblegateway.com/

Allison, Scott T. (2015). Psychology Today, “Want to Be a Hero? Embrace Suffering and Sacrifice”. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-we-need-heroes/201504/want-be-hero-embrace-suffering-and-sacrifice.

Carrol R., M. Daniel, and Wilgus, J. Blair. (2015). Wrestling with the Violence of God: Soundings in the Old Testament, Eisenbrauns

Carrier, Richard. (2014). On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt. Sheffield Phoenix Press.

Currid, John D. (2018). 10 Crucial Archeological Discoveries Related to the Bible, Crossway. https://www.crossway.org/articles/10-crucial-archaeological-discoveries-related-to-the-bible/

Deemer, Roger. (2017). The Farming Physicist, GoogleSites. https://sites.google.com/site/thefarmingphysicist/

Ehrman, Bart. (2016). Jesus Before the Gospels. HarperCollins.

Geisler, Norm. (2007). A Popular Survey of the New Testament. Baker

Geisler, Norman. (2018). Has the Bible Been Accurately Copied Down Through the Centuries?, Southern Evangelical Seminary & Bible College. https://ses.edu/has-the-bible-been-accurately-copied-down-through-the-centuries/

Groothuis, Douglas (2011). Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith. Intervarsity Press.

Longman, Trempter, III. (2012). Introducing the Old Testament, Zondervan

McDowell, Josh D., & Jones, Clay. (2014). The Bibliographical Test, https://www.josh.org/wp-content/uploads/Bibliographical-Test-Update-08.13.14.pdf, (Adapted from an earlier article by Clay Jones, The Bibliographical Test Updated, Christian Research Journal, Vol. 35, no. 2 (2012).)

McGrew, Lydia. (2017). Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts, Deward Publishing

Moles, Dennis and Whitson, Ryan. (2016). Reasons to Believe, Aneko Press

Oswalt, J. (2009). The Bible among the Myths: Unique Revelation or Just Ancient Literature?, Zondervan

Ross, Hugh. (2018). The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Latest Scientific Discoveries Reveal God, 4th Edition, RTB Press

Wallace, J. Warner. (2015). Why We Should Expect Witnesses to Disagree, Cold-Case Christianity. https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-we-should-expect-witnesses-to-disagree/

Wallace, J. Warner. (2019). Perhaps the Greatest Old Testament Prophecy of All, Cold-Case Christianity. https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/perhaps-the-greatest-old-testament-prophecy-of-all/