• How is the Bible still a best-seller?
• Why did people die to protect it?
• What would God say to me?
• How is the Bible still a best-seller?
There is nothing like the Bible. It is unique in its origin, timespan, authorship, and teachings. It is the best-selling and most impactful book in history. It is unified in its message—the Bible claims to be the inspired word of God and says it offers the only path to salvation for all humankind.
There is nothing like the Bible. It is unique in its origin, timespan, authorship, and teachings. The Bible claims to be the inspired word of God and says it offers the only path to salvation for all humankind.
The Guide below is a starting point for such investigations and provides some history, background info, distinctions, and revelations about how the Bible came to be.
The gospel message, the “good news” of the Bible, is the best news you will ever receive. It has life-changing power. The gospel can change your life for the better immediately.
During a lifetime, it provides for abundant life on earth and eternal life after that. Isn't that worth exploring?
The Guide below is a starting point for such investigations and provides some history, background info, distinctions, and revelations about how the Bible came to be.
The gospel message, the “good news” of the Bible, is the best news you will ever receive. It has life-changing power. The gospel can change your life for the better immediately. Ism't that worth exploring?
The Guide below is a starting point for such investigations and provides some history, background info, distinctions, and revelations about how the Bible came to be.
The gospel message, the “good news” of the Bible, is the best news you will ever receive. It has life-changing power.
There is nothing like the Bible. It is unique in its origin, timespan, authorship, and teachings. It is the best-selling and most impactful book in history. It is unified in its message—the Bible claims to be the inspired word of God and says it offers the only path to salvation for all humankind. It is the instruction manual for those wishing to pursue the salvation it offers.
The Guide below is a starting point for those investigations and provides some history, background info, distinctions, and revelations about how the Bible came to be, how it’s unique, why you can believe it is the inspired word of God, and why reading the Bible yourself every day is so important.
The gospel message, the “good news” of the Bible, is the best news you will ever receive. It has life-changing power. The gospel can change your life for the better immediately, and over time, it provides abundant life on earth and eternal life after that.
It includes many different types of literature, such as history, law, poetry, parables, prayers, narratives, letters, and sermons all combined to make up the 66 books of the Bible.
The 66 books were written individually over a period of about 1500 years, when the average human lifespan was 30 years.
It was written by over 40 authors with:
The authors were spread across three different continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—and wrote in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
The Bible includes two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
BIBLE THEME SUMMARY:
All 66 unique books combine to have one primary and unified theme throughout:
GOD CREATED: God created everything, including humankind in his image.
MAN SINNED: Man rebelled against God and so was condemned to death.
GRACE OFFERED: The Bible is the compiled story of God’s REDEMPTION of humankind.
The Old Testament points to a future MESSIAH, a coming SAVIOR.
The New Testament reveals that Messiah, JESUS CHRIST, and his plan for man’s SALVATION known as THE GOSPEL.
The Bible has proven to be a reliable ancient history book with an external confirmation. Historians and archeologists have confirmed many historical facts contained in the Bible, including Jesus’ life and crucifixion. These experts have confirmed that many events recorded in the Bible though not included in other history books, are accurate based on archeological finds. They have proven that the Bible has important historical content and external confirmation of many of its recorded events.
There are over 14,000 ancient manuscripts copies and fragments of the Old Testament and over 5,300 ancient manuscripts or portions of the New Testament in existence, far more than any other book in ancient history. For comparison, there are about 1800 ancient manuscripts for The Iliad and about 250 for Plato’s writings. By comparing the large number of manuscripts, biblical scholars have determined that the Bible's original text has been maintained.
The time-lapse from the original writings to the earliest known manuscripts is also noticeably short by comparison, giving more credibility to the Bible's historicity. The original Old Testament manuscripts were completed around 400 BC, and some copies date back to 250 BC. The time-lapse from the original New Testament manuscripts to the earliest copies are only around 60 years. By comparison, the oldest fragment copy of The Iliad, written around 800 BC, dates to about AD 200, a time-lapse of 1,000 years.
The Old Testament is full of predictive prophecies that came true over time. Some critics say these prophecies were added after the fact to embellish the story. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947 and include Old Testament texts containing the predictive prophecies that, date back to over 100 years before Jesus’ birth. The age of those texts proves the prophecies were not added after the fact.
Jesus says in the Bible that he is the Son of God (the Messiah). He fulfilled many predictive prophecies contained in the Old Testament, many of which he had no control over, such as his ancestors, being born of a virgin, his birthplace, his family fleeing to Egypt just after his birth, his crucifixion, the piercing of his hands and feet while his bones were left unbroken, and his resurrection. It is not entirely clear just how many prophecies Jesus fulfilled, but the range of accepted numbers is between 38 and 300. Even if Jesus fulfilled only eight predictive prophecies, it is statistically impossible (1 in 1017 power) for him not to be the Messiah. Due to statistical probability, we can confidently conclude that Jesus is who the Bible says he is.
BIBLE RELIABILITY SUMMARY:
We have more significant proof of the Bible’s authenticity than any other work in ancient history. Time and time again, the Bible has been proven to be historically right, and there is much external confirmation of the events covered in the Bible. Thousands of manuscripts have been found that date closer to the originals, especially by comparison of other ancient literature.
Numerous predictive prophecies about Jesus—written many years before his birth—are included in the Bible. Jesus fulfilled so many of those prophecies it is statistically impossible that he is not the Messiah.
The Bible is a reliable history book, and Jesus is who the Bible says he is—the Son of God. We should read the Bible as an ancient history book if for no other reason.
The Bible is the most published and best-selling book of all time by a vast margin.
The Bible is still the best-selling book every year, over 1,600 years after is was assembled.
The Bible is the most widely distributed book of all time by a vast margin.
The Bible is the most persecuted and banned book in history.
The Bible was written at a time when writing itself was extremely difficult. Less than 10 percent of the population knew how to read and write. Those who did could not just run to the office supply store and buy some paper and a pen and start jotting things down. Supplies were expensive and extremely hard to come by. The act of writing something was incredibly difficult.
Despite these difficult circumstances, 40 different authors who spoke 3 different languages, were spread out over 3 continents, and separated by about 1500 years of history and changing culture, found it necessary enough to write their inspired messages down. They wrote independently, not knowing that other books would be written or that eventually all those separate books would be combined into the Bible.
Yet when assembled, all 66 books of the Bible contained one unified and divine theme throughout: God’s redemption of humanity through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is God-breathed.” When you look at the circumstances behind the creation of the Bible and the timespan over which it was created, it seems highly unlikely that the Bible could have happened without divine intervention.
How is it possible that the Bible is still the best-seller?
First, I would say it is due to its DIVINE ORIGIN – God himself planned and crafted the Bible over 1,500 years. Back then, the average lifespan was 30 years, so one man could affect the outcome of the whole Bible only so much.
It is also because of its DIVINE MESSAGE – All Scripture is “God-breathed,” meaning the Bible says exactly what God wanted it to say.
And because of its divine origin and divine message, it has received the DIVINE PROTECTION and GOD’S FAVOR throughout time.
In ancient times, each civilization had its own various gods. For example, Rome, Greece, and Egypt each had their own gods. Many families worshiped their ancestors as well. Gods were typically mythological creatures featuring immortal attributes. It seems people have always instinctively known they are part of a bigger picture and in need of salvation and so have searched for it. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has placed eternity in the human heart. Most religions focus on a works-based system of doing more good than evil while trying not to offend your gods.
Believing in Only One God — The Bible teaches there is only one God, the creator and sustainer of the universe. God, the Father, had one son, Jesus Christ. When the Apostles were witnessing the Gentiles (non-Jews) in the early days of the Church, they asked them to give up all their other gods and believe in only one God. This request was very controversial. Judaism is one of the oldest religions, and they have always believed in one God, Yahweh.
Jesus’ Incarnation — God’s only Son, Jesus, became human and came to earth to redeem sinful humans. Jesus became fully human while he was still fully God. Satan tempted Jesus like he does all people, but Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, and so was the perfect sacrifice for sin. He suffered and died as payment for our sins. Jesus traded his righteousness for our sins—including all past, present, and future sins.
Jesus’ Resurrection – While on earth, Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, like many others had before him. Jesus was crucified, died on the cross, and was buried. But Jesus rose from his grave and proved he was the Son of God. The Disciples thought the Jesus movement was over on Good Friday when Jesus died on the cross, and if Jesus had stayed dead, his memory would have quickly faded away. We still worship Jesus today because he rose and he lives, proving he is the Son of God who conquered sin and death, providing us hope and salvation.
The Jews were expecting a Messiah that would crush the Evil One as predicted in Genesis 3. They could not imagine or accept that a simple man like Jesus could be their Messiah or that his death and resurrection was God’s plan of redemption for them. They wanted a conquering Messiah to come and destroy their earthly enemies as God did in the Old Testament. They never understood that their real enemy was their sin.
God’s Grace (Is Amazing and Available) — Most religions offer methods for how a person can achieve forgiveness for their sins. The gospel message of the Bible is the only one that teaches that salvation is available from God by his grace only—it is not a product of our works. In other words, we cannot work our way into heaven. Our salvation is a gift from God. The apostle Paul says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus told us to, “repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). The Gospel is that simple.
In Jesus’ time, the Romans were the governing authorities, and the Jewish priests were the religious authorities. Both groups wanted to protect their jurisdiction by expunging the story of Jesus from history. They could only do this by killing or discrediting Christ's early followers (the Way) to destroy the church that would eventually become known as Christianity.
The Jewish authorities convinced the Roman authorities to crucify Jesus.
The Jewish authorities attempted to imprison or kill all the apostles and disciples. Saul of Tarsus was one of their executioners.
The Roman Caesar Diocletian attempted to exterminate Christianity. He issued edicts that required all believers to turn over their Christian literature to be burned. If believers were caught with Christian literature after that edict, the Roman soldiers would execute their entire family in front of them and then killed the believer.
Many wars have been fought over biblical principles since their introduction and continue to be fought over them today.
Jesus’ apostles were the first-hand eyewitnesses to his ministry, sermons, parables, miracles, life, death, and resurrection. JESUS APPEARED to them numerous times over 40 days after his resurrection. Then they were present when JESUS ASCENDED into heaven (Acts 1:9-11) and at Pentecost when JESUS POURED OUT the HOLY SPIRIT on the believers (Acts 2:1-4). They received the GREAT COMMANDMENT (Matthew 22:36-40) and the GREAT COMMISSION (Matthew 28:16-20) directly from Jesus, and set about to carry those out by starting the first Acts 2 church, known as “The Way,” working to spread Jesus’ gospel message.
After Jesus’ death, all 12 Disciples (the apostles) and the apostle Paul were persecuted by the Jews, Romans, and Pagans. Most of the Disciples were beaten or prisoned, and all except one were executed for their beliefs. Yet through all of that, not one of them ever changed their story. All they had to do was say that the Gospel story was a lie, and if they did so, they would have lived, and the authorities would have revered them. But NO, the Gospel was worth dying for, and NOT ONE of them ever denied it.
THE FATE OF JESUS’ APOSTLES
Andrew, Philip, and Simon were crucified. Bartholomew was beaten then crucified. James son of Alphaeus, Judas (not Iscariot), and Matthias were stoned to death. James, son of Zebedee was beheaded. Matthew and Thomas were speared to death. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was flogged, stoned, imprisoned, and eventually beheaded in Rome. John was boiled in oil, but it did not kill him, so they exiled him to Patmos where he died of old age.
Judas Iscariot, an original disciple, hung himself after betraying Jesus. Due to his betrayal, he was disqualified as a disciple, and Matthias replaced him.
It took DIVINE COURAGE and DIVINE CONVICTION for thirteen people to endure extreme persecution and die gruesome painful deaths to protect the Gospel—not to mention that after the first few of them were executed, the rest knew their future fate yet never wavered.
The Apostles were the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry; what they saw changed them forever, and they gladly endured persecution and died to protect the gospel.
BIBLE IMPACT SUMMARY:
We should study the Bible because it is the most impactful book in history. The Bible offers a radically different and much better approach to salvation through the gospel message. It was so different that the religious authorities at the time could not accept it, so they persecuted the members of the early church trying to destroy it.
Quite the opposite occurred; however, as the more they persecuted the believers, the faster the gospel spread to other areas. The disciples were always on the run, so they traveled more than they would have otherwise, carrying the gospel with them.
Jesus lived 2000 years ago yet left such a strong impression that we still worship him today. The biblical principles he taught are woven into our society, government, laws, history, morals, art, literature, music, science, and education. Nobody else has ever had that kind of lasting impact on society. We should know what a book like that says.
We are all searching for the meaning of our lives. The bible has a lot to say about life, from our creation and purpose to our salvation and eternal life. The bible provides answers to many of life's big questions that trouble our hearts, such as: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Is there a God? Is this life all there is? What happens after I die? We should investigate what the Bible says about these questions.
We all need salvation. Instinctively, we know we were created for a relationship with our Creator, and we long for redemption from our sins and salvation for our lives. The Bible says we have all sinned and rebelled and that, the penalty for sin is death and separation from God. We will all die, and therefore we all need salvation. The Bible offers the only path to salvation for humankind, and that path is unique. The Bible reveals the salvation provided to us by Jesus Christ through the gospel.
Salvation is a personal matter between you and God. We cannot rely on understanding someone else’s version of God. We are all unique, so God gives the Bible the distinctive ability to speak to our needs differently through the Holy Spirit. Your needs are not the same as my needs, so your biblical revelation through the Holy Spirit will not be the same as my revelation. The big picture is always the same salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ, but in daily application, all our spiritual walks and needs are different. The Holy Spirit knows your situation because God knows every heart, and the Holy Spirit will meet you where your needs are.
Most of what we know about God comes from the Bible. God reveals himself to us when we read his word in the Bible. If you seek salvation and are considering placing your faith and eternal future in Jesus Christ, you owe it to yourself to get to know him by reading the Bible.
Reading the Bible gives us the ability to hear the voice of God anytime. If you desire to listen to the voice of God, read his word, and you will.
When we read the Bible, we get to know the one true God. Reading the Bible gives us a complete view of God’s essence available, and we cannot rely on others to teach this to us. It is too important, and I cannot overstate this point.
We cannot rely on learning the whole Bible by only attending church. It takes a long time to read the entire Bible. Studying the Bible is meant to be a lifelong pursuit, and if you are abiding in Christ, you will want to read it repeatedly. You will never spend enough time in church or a group Bible study to cover it all. You must read it yourself.
You cannot rely on your pastor to preach to you the whole essence of God found in the Bible. We simply do not give them enough time per week to accomplish that. I attended church services and Bible studies for 20 years, believing I knew what the Bible said. When I read the Bible myself, I was astonished by how little I knew and how much I learned. The experience was similar to seeing a movie instead of reading the book—when you watch the movie, you get the highlights, but you absorb all the details when you read the book. The details matter when it comes to understanding the Bible and our salvation. We need to understand who God is and what he requires of us to become mature Christians, and we can only do that by reading the whole Bible ourselves.
When we read the Bible, one of the exciting things we find is that the Bible’s heroes are presented with all their weaknesses and sins on full display. Their character flaws were not removed in the editing process. God wanted it all on display to give us hope.
Sometimes we even find that God is not always portrayed favorably in the Bible. There are times when God does not seem like unconditional love and is not likable at all. There are things he does we cannot understand or comprehend. There are times when Moses, David, and even Jesus seem angry with God. God put all of this in his Bible on full display, and it is there to teach us and serve his purposes.
When we prioritize God and read the Bible, God promises us that he will also prioritize us and go to work in our lives. There is no better time than now to start because none of us knows what tomorrow holds or if we have a tomorrow. You do not have to change your behavior before reading the Bible. God knows every heart, and he already knows everything about you and welcomes you just as you are. There is no sin too big for God’s forgiveness.
This decision is not just a Christian decision or a Muslim decision or even a religious decision. It is a decision that is relevant to every human being because:
The Bible clearly says it offers the only path to salvation for humankind, so EVERYONE should thoroughly evaluate the Bible on its merits and decide it's validity for themselves. Here is how to start reading your Bible today:
Focus on daily consistency first, rather than quantity. Reading one chapter every day is better than reading seven chapters once a week.
Making this your first priority of the day makes it more meaningful. The Bible says, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you." (James 4:8) When you prioritize God consistently, he will also prioritize you.
If you do this, the Holy Spirit will speak into your life through the Word. This simple practive will:
Try this challenge for 7 days. Give God a chance. What do you have to lose?
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8).
A while back, my family took a vacation to California, and one day we drove from the Bay Area to Yosemite. That drive reminded me of my experience when I started reading the Bible every day.
We started the drive before daybreak in the dark and couldn’t see anything. A short while later, the sun came up, but it was foggy, so we could only see a little better. The fog eventually thinned and lifted, providing more visibility. Then we started ascending into the mountains, and every few minutes, we would catch a fantastic view out over the horizon. They were just brief glimpses but were spectacular.
We eventually arrived at a place called Tunnel View in Yosemite, and the glory of God’s creation was on full display. The majesty displayed here is incredible and nearly indescribable without a picture.
When you start reading the Bible for the first time, it will be similar to that drive. At first, you won’t understand much, but if you keep reading a chapter a day, it will start making sense. As you read on, and things begin to relate, you start connecting some dots. After a while longer, you begin catching beautiful glimpses of things you don’t fully understand, but you want to know more.
Eventually, you arrive at a place like Tunnel View, where you start to see God’s glory and majesty, and you can’t live without it any longer. You will know when you arrive because you will realize you cherish your time with God every morning hearing his Word.
I hope you start reading your Bible daily and stay with it long enough to get there and see his glory. If you look, you will find it, and once you do, your life will change because the HOPE and PEACE you will have in JESUS surpasses everything else.
This decision is not just a Christian decision or a Muslim decision or even a religious decision. It is a decision that is relevant to every human being because:
The Bible clearly says it offers the only path to salvation for humankind, so EVERYONE should thoroughly evaluate the Bible on its merits and decide it's validity for themselves. Here is how to start reading your Bible today:
Focus on daily consistency first, rather than quantity. Reading one chapter every day is better than reading seven chapters once a week.
Making this your first priority of the day makes it more meaningful. The Bible says, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you." (James 4:8) When you prioritize God consistently, he will also prioritize you.
If you do this, the Holy Spirit will speak into your life through the Word. This simple practive will:
Try this challenge for 7 days. Give God a chance. What do you have to lose?
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8).
A while back, my family took a vacation to California, and one day we drove from the Bay Area to Yosemite. That drive reminded me of my experience when I started reading the Bible every day.
We started the drive before daybreak in the dark and couldn’t see anything. A short while later, the sun came up, but it was foggy, so we could only see a little better. The fog eventually thinned and lifted, providing more visibility. Then we started ascending into the mountains, and every few minutes, we would catch a fantastic view out over the horizon. They were just brief glimpses but were spectacular.
We eventually arrived at a place called Tunnel View in Yosemite, and the glory of God’s creation was on full display. The majesty displayed here is incredible and nearly indescribable without a picture.
When you start reading the Bible for the first time, it will be similar to that drive. At first, you won’t understand much, but if you keep reading a chapter a day, it will start making sense. As you read on, and things begin to relate, you start connecting some dots. After a while longer, you begin catching beautiful glimpses of things you don’t fully understand, but you want to know more.
Eventually, you arrive at a place like Tunnel View, where you start to see God’s glory and majesty, and you can’t live without it any longer. You will know when you arrive because you will realize you cherish your time with God every morning hearing his Word.
I hope you start reading your Bible daily and stay with it long enough to get there and see his glory. If you look, you will find it, and once you do, your life will change because the HOPE and PEACE you will have in JESUS surpasses everything else.
This decision is not just a Christian decision or a Muslim decision or even a religious decision. It is a decision that is relevant to every human being because:
The Bible clearly says it offers the only path to salvation for humankind, so EVERYONE should thoroughly evaluate the Bible on its merits and decide it's validity for themselves. Here is how to start reading your Bible today:
Focus on daily consistency first, rather than quantity. Reading one chapter every day is better than reading seven chapters once a week.
Making this your first priority of the day makes it more meaningful. The Bible says, “Come near to God, and he will come near to you." (James 4:8) When you prioritize God consistently, he will also prioritize you.
If you do this, the Holy Spirit will speak into your life through the Word. This simple practive will:
Try this challenge for 7 days. Give God a chance. What do you have to lose?
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Psalm 34:8).
A while back, my family took a vacation to California, and one day we drove from the Bay Area to Yosemite. That drive reminded me of my experience when I started reading the Bible every day.
We started the drive before daybreak in the dark and couldn’t see anything. A short while later, the sun came up, but it was foggy, so we could only see a little better. The fog eventually thinned and lifted, providing more visibility. Then we started ascending into the mountains, and every few minutes, we would catch a fantastic view out over the horizon. They were just brief glimpses but were spectacular.
We eventually arrived at a place called Tunnel View in Yosemite, and the glory of God’s creation was on full display. The majesty displayed here is incredible and nearly indescribable without a picture.
When you start reading the Bible for the first time, it will be similar to that drive. At first, you won’t understand much, but if you keep reading a chapter a day, it will start making sense. As you read on, and things begin to relate, you start connecting some dots. After a while longer, you begin catching beautiful glimpses of things you don’t fully understand, but you want to know more.
Eventually, you arrive at a place like Tunnel View, where you start to see God’s glory and majesty, and you can’t live without it any longer. You will know when you arrive because you will realize you cherish your time with God every morning hearing his Word.
I hope you start reading your Bible daily and stay with it long enough to get there and see his glory. If you look, you will find it, and once you do, your life will change because the HOPE and PEACE you will have in JESUS surpasses everything else.
Jesus already knows you personally — and he has a plan for you. Meet Jesus now!
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