Statistics of the Bible's Power
Amazingly Consistent Theme of the Bible
The Bible contains 66 books, written by approximately 40 different writers, over 1600 years, on 3 different continents, in 3 different languages, on thousands of different subjects, yet with one central theme—God's redemption of mankind from sin won for the whole world by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Logical Consistency of the Bible
For a successful debate, show that your opponent's views are arbitrary or inconsistent, and that your position is consistent and not arbitrary. The Bible is internally consistent ("self consistent" or "logically consistent"). Some debating points:
- Life after death in heaven or hell may be, in one sense, difficult to believe, but it is entirely internally consistent with the rest of the Bible. If there is a truly just God, justice is only certain if there is ultimate justice. The non-biblical view, in contrast, is inconsistent when it holds that we came from nowhere and go to nowhere, but life is filled with meaning in between. Thus only the biblical worldview is internally consistent.
- The statement that "there are no moral absolutes" contains two mistakes:
- The declaration itself is an absolute statement, thus it contradicts itself.
- A person cannot live his life without moral absolutes. Examples: fairness vs. unfairness; kindness vs. hatred.
- For another example, the doctrine of original sin is consistent with the need for a savior.
- If there is an omnipotent God, the miracle of creation, as well as the other biblical miracles, is very plausible.
A logical thought progression to make sense of the Christian faith:
Is there a God? If so,
- Is it logical to believe that God knows what is going on down here? If so,
- Is it reasonable to believe that He cares about what is going on down here? If so,
- Is it reasonable to believe that He cares enough to communicate His concerns to us? If so,
- How might He communicate truth to us? Can the Bible demonstrate that it is indeed God's Word?
Geisler lists these criteria for establishing if a book was from God:
- It would claim to be God's Word.
- It would be historically accurate when it speaks on historical matters.
- The authors would be trustworthy.
- The book would be thematically unified and without contradictions.
- We would have received accurate copies of the original manuscripts.
- It would make statements that would reveal knowledge about the way things work beyond the knowledge of its day. (See Geisler Encyclopedia pages 692-693.)
- It would make predictions about the future that could not be known through natural means.
- The message would be unique.
- The messengers would be confirmed by miracles.
- The words would have a transforming power.
