This letter came from a guy named Alastor, and I want to take this oppurtunity to answer his inquiries.
Dear Bro. Eli,
Would there be any possibility that what you teach is wrong? Or what people read is wrong? Because isn’t that the Bible was written by man. And man may commit mistakes (typography, choices of words). And man being man may have written additional, or omitted lines in the Bible. Moreover, why should we follow the teachings in the Bible? Isn’t there any other book from GOD and/or by GOD?
I am a person asking to be free from worries if what we’re reading, the Bible, is the book that will save our souls. I want to know why we should believe in the BIBLE. I want to know why I should invest my soul on a book. And if there is any other GOD given MATERIAL that could save my soul. Please tell me.
What knowledge has man been pushed to live in/with/by the Bible? Because sometimes at the back of my mind (without any CONCRETE basis), it comes to my mind that GOD is good, and because HE is good, HE gave man freedom (to do as he like, to decide, to… etc.) And for that, man will be judged by what he was before judgment day. I believe that there is a SUPREME BEING (GOD) far more greater than of this world.
But I am confused. So what, if there is a SUPREME BEING? “Ok, there is a Supreme Being. Now what should I do?” Is there any guideline? Then, it comes to my first paragraph on top. Again, why the Bible? Isn’t there any other guide? I am lost. I am sorry.
Thank You. I believe that somehow you can help me. I hope my presence is not your burden.
Alastor (alastor_trigex@yahoo.com)
Dear Alastor,
Why the Bible? The Bible is the one and only book on earth that carries with it an authority and authentication not coming from any human person, but from somebody whose knowledge is above nature and humans. This person is God. I will ask you some questions and try to answer them carefully and honestly.
- What is the primitive belief of man regarding the shape of the earth?
- Do you believe that it is not bad to cry?
- Do you believe that it is good to laugh and be happy?
This belief that the earth is flat was shared even by powerful people up to the middle ages. It was only very recently that we have had physical evidences showing the picture of the earth caught from outer space by the cameras of the series of Apollo spaceships that were sent to the moon that prove that the earth is round and spherical in shape. This truth is already revealed in the Bible, less than 3000 years before it was seen by man.
(Isaiah 40:22) “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in...”
And again…
(Amos 9:6) “The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth, The LORD is His name.”(NASB)
http://www.airspacemag.com/issues/2007/december-january/FEATURE-FirstPhoto.php
These informations were present in the Bible long before man had seen physical evidences with his eyes that the earth is round. This truth can not come from any human source, but from Somebody dictating to prophet Isaiah what to write. Just like the prophet Daniel, Isaiah may not know or have any idea of the physical reality of the truth he is writing, but it was written for us to realize that wisdom in the Bible came from a Supernatural Being.
(Daniel 12:8-10, 4) “And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand…But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
The prophet Daniel wrote these passages, but did not have the slightest idea of what a cell phone, a television, or a computer would look like when the fulfillment of the words
“Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased…” came into reality. This further proves that there is Someone who has the capacity to see what will happen in the future, and had dictated Daniel what to write in his book of the Bible. There is no possibility whatsoever that these advanced information, which the Bible calls ‘prophecies’, can come from human mind, but from Someone far more superior than humans in understanding and wisdom.
The Bible is the only book on earth that tells us things that will happen before they happen, many centuries ahead.
(Isaiah 42:9) “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
And the intention of the Almighty God in putting these information in the Bible is for us to believe that the Bible came from Him.
(John 13:19) “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.”
Not only science, but also medical knowledge that man has learned very lately, and history, can attest to the authenticity of this one and only book.
The Bible tells us that it is good to cry.
(Ecclesiastes 7:2) “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.”
(James 4:9) “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.”
Medical findings have proven that what the Bible says is true. See related link: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2437469.ece
Equally true is: We must not indulge in too much weariness and crying.
(1 Corinthians 7: 29-30) “But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not…”
This will mean that we have to laugh also and be merry.
(Proverbs 17:22) “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”
There is no contradiction in the preceding verses that I have cited. We have to laugh. We have to cry. It depends upon the situation. It is natural. It is healthy. So, the Bible speaks the truth! Why the Bible? Think it over and over again.
History and archeology also prove the authenticity of the Bible. Findings in archeology have proven so many times that what is recorded in the Bible are actual facts and truth. Roman coins found in Samaria authenticates the records.
(Matthew 22:17-21) )“And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
(2 Kings 20:20) “And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"
The discovery of a limestone with the inscription that bares the name of Pontius Pilate is another proof of the Bible’s authenticity.
(John 19:6) “When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.”
The same account was mentioned in the history of the Roman Empire (Annals 15:44).
The Roman historian Tacitus wrote concerning the Great Fire of Rome, in book 15, chapter 44 of his Annals (c. 116): Auctor nominis eius Christus Tibero imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat…
Translated in English as:
Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius:
Even in the book of Jewish antiquities, we can find this account:
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.
– Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63 written by Flavius Josephus
I may commit mistakes. Men are prone to errors. But what I teach is the truth because it did not come from any man, but from God. The inerrancy of the Bible in the wisdom that it has, and the knowledge that it teaches are glaring evidences to prove that it came from God. Believe in it, and you are not alone. With you are all the smart and intelligent people of the world, the respected, the responsible, the peaceful, and the morals, and all the presidents of the United States of America.
God bless,
EFS
Published on May 24th, 2007 at esoriano.wordpress.com