Yes, it’s time once again to peer into The Doctor’s mailbag to see what Biblical questions are on the minds of our loyal and valued readership! But before we look at our questions for today, The Doctor would like to share some rave reviews that this website has received from a number of major publications here in the United States. Here is just a small sampling of what everyone is saying about The Doctor’s Office…
“Bold and sensational! The Doctor’s Office is a unique and highly entertaining experience. It’s a must see!” (Newsweek)
Gripping… brilliant!! It’s a stunning achievement! The Doctor’s Office represents the World Wide Web at it’s very best!!” (US News & World Report).
“Newly discovered evidence proves that The Doctor’s Office is secretly written by alien space turnips!!” (Weekly World News) (1)
Maybe The Doctor needs to call his publicist about that last one. Anyway, now that that’s over with, let’s get on to our most excellent question for today…
A friend and I were sitting in one of our classes at school when a couple of kids started asking us about our faith... (One) asked us why we believed in the Bible and we told him that we believed it was God's word to us. He then asked how we could think that, when it was written by man. We said that we believed it was God inspired. We quoted the verse saying that All Scripture is God-Breathed.
He then said "So if that one verse is invalid, then is the entire Bible invalid? How do you know that these guys didn't just write something up that sounded good?" We said that it's through faith. We said that we didn't believe God would allow the Bible to contain false words. I am wondering if you know of other verses we can give him to help him believe in the validity of the Bible
Well, it sounds like you’ve made a really good start in answering these questions. For example, many people wonder how Christians can believe that God inspired the Bible when human beings were the ones who were responsible for writing it down. The suggestion seems to be that just because people are imperfect, they can’t be trusted to write down what God wanted to say in the Bible, right?
Well, in answering this objection you might point out that while it’s certainly true that nobody’s perfect, it is still possible for an imperfect person to do something perfectly- like write down exactly what God wanted to say in His Word, for example.
For instance, even though you are an imperfect person, you are still capable of scoring a perfect 100% on a test, right? Well, the same is true for the human authors of the Scriptures. The fact is that just because people do make mistakes, it doesn’t mean that they have to make mistakes. In the case of the Bible, the imperfect human authors that God used to write down His Word did so in a totally perfect way.
The next question is, "how do you know that these guys didn't just write something up that sounded good?" This is a totally reasonable question for someone to ask and there is a very good answer for it. You see, once the New Testament Scriptures began to be passed around between the churches, the men that God used to write the Bible could verify if someone had added to or taken away from what they wrote. The early church leaders who knew the Apostles personally could also do the same thing once the original Biblical writers had passed away. These people then verified the Scriptures for the next generation until the time when the Bible was collected into the form that we know it today.
We should also keep in mind that God is the One who is ultimately responsible making sure that somebody didn’t just make stuff up and try to put it in the Bible. In fact, you pointed out this very thing when you said that you didn’t believe God would allow the Bible to contain false words. As for verses that can help people believe in the validity of the Bible, here’s a few that you might want to look at…
“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:13 NIV).
“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13 NIV).
“For we have not been telling you fairy tales when we explained to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. My own eyes have seen his splendor and his glory” (2 Peter 1:16).
“But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me-and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit-he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you” (John 14:26).
Also, the other girl we were talking to claims that we can't know for sure that people of other religions such as: Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, etc. aren't going to heaven. We argue that the Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life and that nobody comes to the Father but through him
That’s right- that’s just what John 14:6 says. The Doctor is glad to see that you know the Scriptures well enough to be able to use them to respond to a statement like that. Anyway, many people believe that we really can’t know for sure if people from other religions will go to heaven, just as this person does. But as you pointed out, Jesus is the only way to heaven. So how can you support your claim that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that nobody comes to the Father but through him? Well, here’s one way that you could do it…
Q: Why shouldn’t I believe that everybody goes to heaven?
A: Because Jesus is the only way (Acts 4:10-12)
Q: Why should I believe what Jesus says?
A: Because Jesus backed up everything He said by rising again from the dead (John 21:1-14)
Q: Why should I believe that Jesus rose from the dead?
A: Because the Bible says so (Acts 17:31)
Q: Why should I believe the Bible?
A: Because God validated the Bible as His message to humanity by doing something within it that only He could do: predict future events with 100% accuracy before they ever happened! For example, check out these Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus:
- Virgin Birth: Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23)
- Birthplace in Bethlehem: Micah 5:2 (Matthew 2:6)
- Sold out for 30 pieces of silver: Zechariah 11:12 (Matthew 26:15)
- Hands and feet pierced: Psalm 22:16 (John 20:25)
- Crucified with thieves: Isaiah 53:12 (Matthew 27:38)
- Scourging and death: Isaiah 53:5 (John 19:1, 18)
- Buried in a rich man’s tomb: Isaiah 53:9 (Matthew 27:57-60)
- Rose from the dead: Psalm 16:10 (Matthew 28:1-6)
The mathematical odds of one person fulfilling these prophecies by random chance is estimated to be 10 to the 17th power or 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. Yet Jesus also fulfilled many more Old Testament prophecies besides the ones seen above. This should give people confidence in the belief that the Bible came from God and it also gives people a very good reason to follow what the Scriptures tell us.
Related Topics:
The Bible: God’s Message to Us How we got the Bible and why it’s reliable
Does The Bible Contain Mistakes?
(1)The quotes credited to Newsweek and US News & World Report at the top of the page are not real quotes. The Doctor made them up. They should not be taken seriously. The Doctor also wants to mention that the Weekly World News quote is not true either- The Doctor’s Office is actually secretly written by alien space iguanas
Do you have a question for The Doctor? Just send it to the email address above- you’ll get a personal reply and you just might see it answered here.