Internal Consistency of the Bible
The Bible is the best selling, most quoted, most published, most circulated, most translated, most influential and unarguably the most incredible book in the history of mankind. The Bible is and has always been the authoritative truth and standard for our lives. God gave us His Word, authored by His Holy Spirit, so that we have something to measure everything else against.
It is the Word of Life (Philippians 2:16), It contains all we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), It sanctifies (John 17:17), It cleanses (Psalm 119:9), and obeying It leads to eternal life, spiritual health, hope, joy, comfort and peace. It has a miraculous design and absolute consistency which proves Its divine origin...
- The Bible consists of 66 different books. It might be easy to have harmony of thought in a single book (like the Qur’an, that contains the teachings of a single man), but the Bible is not a single book. It is a compilation of books: 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.
- The Bible was written by approximately 40 different writers. Although the writers had such diverse backgrounds, there is a complete unity of thought throughout the Bible.
- The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1500+ years, covering some 60+ generations. The writers were separated from each other by hundreds of years in time.
- The Bible was written on three different continents: Africa (Egypt), Asia and Europe (Rome for instance). Many of the writers were separated by hundreds of miles geographically and they found themselves in various different situations and places (in jail, in captivity, while travelling, in palaces, etc.)
- Many of the Bible’s writers came from different educational and cultural backgrounds. Peter was a fisherman, Paul was a scholar, Daniel was a prime minister, Asaph was a musician, Matthew was a tax collector, David was a shepherd then a king, Luke was a historian and medical doctor, etc.
- The Bible was written in three different languages. Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek were the languages of the specific times and cultures.
- The Bible addresses life’s most controversial questions. How did the universe come into existence? Does God exist? And if so, what is He like? Why does man exist? What is our purpose for being here? Why is there evil and suffering in the world? What happens to me after I die?
In spite of these seven different factors, when we look at the Bible as a whole, we find It to be a consistent, harmonious, perfectly unified account of how God is seeking to reconcile sinful mankind back to Himself through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ! If you’re not convinced that this is an amazing evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, go through your neighborhood and ask just 10 of your neighbors, what their beliefs are on the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, the origin of evil, the way of salvation, etc. and you’ll immediately see how likely it is to have a variety of contradicting opinions!
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Knowing the Bible 
