Is The Bible Authentic?
The writers of the Bible could in no way themselves be deceived; therefore they could not, or would not deceive others. The writers were many and lived at such a distance apart in time and place that it would have been impossible for them to carry on any forgery or fraud without being discovered. The writers of the New Testament in particular were plain, honest, uneducated men; men earning their livings in humble occupations and utterly incapable of carrying on any complicated system of fraud.
Moses could never have persuaded some 600,000 men to whom he appeals for the truth and reality of facts, Deut.11:2. These men had seen for themselves, in Egypt: rivers turned to blood, frogs filling the houses of the Egyptians; their fields destroyed by hail and locusts; their land covered with prolonged darkness; the firstborn of the Egyptians slain in one night; the Red Sea forming a wall on the right and on the left giving them passage on dry land, than closing upon their enemies. This followed by a pillar of cloud and fire that conducted them on their journey; manna falling from heaven to feed them; water gushing out of the rock to quench their thirst and so many other miraculous events.
And concerning the New Testament, how could these writers of the gospels have succeeded in persuading their countrymen and contemporaries that a man named Jesus whose death was public and publically know had risen from death; that darkness had come upon the land at the time of his execution; that the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom; and that there had been an earthquake at the moment of his death? If these events had not taken place how could anyone be convinced? But the evidence is overwhelming.
These men sought neither riches nor glory; and they bear the clearest marks of truth, openness of heart and impartiality. The writer’s flattered no-one, never attempting to conceal anything, and altered nothing. They gained nothing; no pleasure, profit or power.
To conclude, the Scriptures give to us clear and unquestionable proofs both of time, genuineness and authenticity. No forger would mention so many particulars, since this would put into the hands of critics and doubters many criteria by which they would be found out.
Phil LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com