From: denmckinnon@halls1.cc.monash.edu.au (NEIL MCKINNON)
Subject: Re: Proofs of the Bible (Long, but filled with information)
Organization: Halls of Residence, Monash University 
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 06:48:13 GMT


>  Proof for the Bible being the Word of God:
>1) It claims to be - as I said, every man is allowed to testify on his own
>    behalf, so the Bible's claim must be counted as evidence, even if that
>    evidence is taken a little more lightly than some of the exterior evi-
>    dence.  I trust we can agree that the Bible claims to be the sole rev-
>    elation of God to man; no Apocrypha, no additions, etc.
>2) The unity of the Bible - A unity of facts, purpose, and teaching.  Its
>    theme is that of the salvation from sin.  It begins with the creation,
>    sin marring it, and God conceiving a great plan to redeem man from his
>    sins, and goes from there.
>3) The great moral teachings of the Bible - No other book has ever
>    condemned immorality so severely or demanded as high a standard of
>    righteousness.  It is virtually unique among religious documents.
>4) Its Unparallelled Impartiality - "Human books extol the virtues and
>    suppress the vices of their heroes.  Not so with the Bible.  It makes
>    no attempt to conceal, minimize, or apologize for the weaknesses,
>    mistakes, and wrongdoings of even its greatest characters.  It tells of
>    the sins of friend and foe alike." (Jimmy Thomas - I could think of no
>    better way to phrase it in my own words).
>5) The Brevity of the Bible - So much, virtually a history of the world, is
>    packed into so few pages.  It tells the 33-year life of the most
>    important man ever to walk the earth in four short books.
>6) The Life of Jesus - That Jesus existed is virtually indisputable.  The
>    testimony of those closest to him indicated His sinless perfection.
>    Such a perfect person could never have been so perfectly created by any
>    man.
>7) The Fulfillment of Prophecy - Modern self-proclaimed "prophets" usually
>    get about 10-20% right; the Bible's all come true in exactly the way
>    predicted.  The odds of Jesus fulfilling (whether accidentally and/or
>    by design) the prophecies applying to Him are beyond calculation.
>8) The Bible's Scientific Foreknowledge - One of the areas I personally
>    find fascinating.  Being pre-scientific, it should attribute the
>    workings of nature to colorful myths and be woefully inaccurate - if it
>    was written by man. In the 19th century, Herbert Spencer first
>    announced the 5 fundamental facts of science; yet the Bible covered all
>    5 in the first 2 verses: "In the beginning [time - jdb] God created the
>    heavens [space] and the earth [matter].  And the spirit of God moved 
>    [force] upon the face of the waters [motion]."
>      The Bible said the earth was round (Is 40:22, Prov 8:27, Lk
>    17:34-36).  Not too long ago, great minds were convinced the earth was
>    held up by Atlas or something like him; read Job 26:7 to hear what the
>    Bible claimed.  Moses knew about a plurality of seas, all with one 
>    common bed (Gen 1:9-10).  Solomon knew about the rain/evaporation cycle
>    (Eccl 1:7), as did Amos and Job (Amos 9:6; Job 36:27-28).  After read-
>    ing Psalm 8:8, Matthew F. Henry charted the sea currents which are still
>    recognized today.  Until recently, doctors had no idea how that blood
>    contained, in essence, the life of man, but the Bible did (Lev 17:11,
>    14).  Scientists cannot distinguish between the blood of races of 
>    people, just like God said in Acts 17:26.
>9) The Bible's Undeniable Influence for Good - When taken in its purity
>    (I do not consider the adulterated version pushed by denominations
>    to be pure), it has done nothing but good.  It makes those who
>    would obey it the model parents, friends, neighbors, and citizens, if 
>    obeyed.

To the author of this crock.  Try thinking about the title of this posting, 
and then try thinking about the sort of statements 1-9 are.  It might be a 
worthwile exercise.

Neil.