Chapter 1d:

Some Brief Comments
About the Bible

Before we move on to Section 2 of Angelfall, it is going to be very important that we understand the difference between the Bible and religion.

The true Bible is not true religion. Although much of todays organized religion is in many ways associated with the Bible, once you understand what the Bible is all about, you will clearly see the fact that the Bible (from God’s perspective) has nothing to do with man's religion.

The ultimate Bible is something completely different than anyone out there has ever imagined.This remarkable fact will become evident in the next chapters, and the evidence proving this point will thoroughly astound you.

No religion (including fundamental/evangelical Christianity), has ever seen the true depth and full meaning of the Bible. Historical Christianity by no means has the complete revelation or understanding of truth (yet it does contain the skeleton of truth).

The Apparent Side of the Bible

The Bible claims for itself that it was written by God, the Creator of all things, and that all scripture was literally God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16 and 2 Pet. 1:21). For this reason, no one can partially accept or believe the Bible—it is either entirely true or entirely false—the coin must land on either heads or tails. This exclusive Book demands either total acceptance or total rejection.

If true, it can be safely assumed that the Bible is the ONLY written message from God. All other religions or belief systems must therefore be false and totally unacceptable to God.

We will concede that a dogmatic statement of this nature is not politically correct in our modern day society. Sorry. Jesus was not politically correct either when He stated,

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

If the Bible is a hoax, then Jesus Christ’s apparent claim to divinity would make Him the worse liar and impostor that ever walked the face of the earth. If untrue, the Bible would be nothing more than a book of Jewish fables and the aberrant teachings of some first century "Christian" zealots and mystics—all of whom deliberately perpetrated the hoax that their Messiah had risen from the dead.

All the incredible stories (like Noah’s flood and Jonah swallowed by a "whale"); all the supernatural manifestations (when Moses parted the waters of the Red Sea and Elijah called fire down from heaven); the many healings (blind eyes opened, lepers cleansed, paralized people leaping and running); the many miracles (such as Jesus changing water to wine and walking on water); numerous resurrections (Jesus raised Lazarus after he was dead four days)—all of these things would be a complete fabrication and nothing more than fiction and fantasy; that is, if the Bible was a man made book.

The word "history" can actually be said to be "His-story," as even the very basis of our calendar (B.C. and A.D.), pivots on the birth of Christ. Easter is universally recognized and celebrated the world over. Even the most hardened skeptics admit that historically, at the time of the "resurrection," something definitely took place in Palestine that turned Jerusalem and the then known world upside down.

The physical and biological resurrection of Jesus Christ from physical death (after being in the tomb three and one half days) is the one fact that separates the Bible and Christianity from every other religion. No other belief system has a resurrected and living Saviour. Mohammed is in his grave. Buda is in his grave. After Jesus rose from the dead, He was seen by numerous of His followers including over 500 brethren at once (1 Cor. 15:6).

The historical accuracy of the Bible is beyond debate. No glaring or fatal flaws and inaccuracies have ever been found (only ambiguous nit picky stuff that skeptics desperately try to come up with). The Bible is an accurate historical account in every respect. If you are truly interested in all the arguments related to this, there are literally hundreds of apologetic web sites that can help you understand.

Yet putting all the historical and testimonial evidence aside, it still does not constitute scientific proof. Or does it? We’ll talk about that in the next section.

But first, in comparing the Bible to other religious works and writings, we discover some remarkable and distinquishing characteristics. Consider the following facts.

• The Bible was written over the span of 1600 years, coming from three different continents.

• It was written in two completely different languages and cultures (the Old Testament in the ancient Hebrew language, and the New Testament in Greek.)

• It is a compilation of 66 different books written by over 40 individual men. There are no significant contradictions between any of them. Yet few of these individuals had any direct contact with the other authors. There were shepherds, military officers, farmers, government leaders, fishermen, a doctor, a servant, a king, and a tax collector, to name a few. Imagine all of these authors getting together to write a book. That book would be a mess? Not if that book is the Bible.

• There is a common and consistent theological theme throughout the entire context of the Bible. For example, the first and last books (Genesis and Revelation), parallel each other extensively. Anyone who studies this book with any degree of open mindedness, cannot help but see the fact that one volume (penned by over 40 men over 1600 years), was actually orchestrated by One Intelligent Mind.

• The books of the Bible not only agree and complement one another, but they promote one huge central theme—the redemption of man through God’s Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

• Unlike the Koran or Book of Mormon, nobody ever planned the Bible—it did not come from a single source (Mohammed or Joseph Smith). The pieces came from all over the geological map, and then just fell into place. Only a single intelligent Mind could orchestrate and be in control of such a harmonious "haphazard" process. UNLIKE ALL OTHER WORKS, THIS FACT PROVES THAT MAN COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE AUTHOR.

While the Bible is not a textbook on science, it does contain scientific statements, all of which are true. Consider these.

• The Bible says that the earth is spherical or round, when for centuries every civilization taught that the earth was flat. (Prov. 8:27, Isa. 40:22).

• The Bible says that the earth hangs on nothing (Job 26:7). Before 1000 AD the Egyptians said that the earth was held up by five pillars.

• The Bible says that the universe is decaying (Isa, 51:6, Heb. 1:10-11). This scientific statement is evidenced now by the recently discovered Second Law of Thermodynamics.

• The Bible says that the stars cannot be numbered (Jer. 33:22). Early scientists thought they could count the stars. In 150 AD, Ptolomy counted 1056 stars and announced that there could not possibly be more than 3000. In 1608 AD, Galileo announced that stars are innumerable after his observations with a telescope.

Consider these few Old Testament prophecies predicting the birth of Christ, hundreds of years before the events took place. The Bible is full of hundreds of very specific prophecies that all came to pass. Not one of them missed the mark.

• His virgin birth (Isa. 7:14, fulfilled Mat. 1:22-23).

• His birth in the town of Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2, fulfilled Mat. 2:1).

• Infants slain at time of Christ’s birth by Herod (Jer. 3:15, fulfilled Mat. 2:16-18).

• Christ would also come out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1, fulfilled Mat. 2:14-15).

Likewise there are over 30 specific prophecies concerning the death, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Christ, all of which came to pass. You can view those at the bottom of this page.

Conclusion

This brief discussion is simply provided so that the reader can see that there are plenty of basic and common sense reasons to take the Bible and its truthfulness at face value. This is in preparation for the powerful and newly discovered scientific evidence you are about to see demonstrated in Section 2 of Angelfall.

GO TO THE SYNOPSIS - BACK TO TITLES PAGE

Addendum:

The following shows all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the birth, life, and death of Christ, that were fulfilled in the New Testament. This list is just amazing.

Taken from: http://www.webzonecom.com/ccn/bible-s/ins83.txt