1. BIG QUESTIONS Q1. THE BIBLE
What is it? And how can I trust a book that was written over 2000 years ago?
2 Corinthians 4:1-6

2. ‘If you wish to know God you must know his Word
‘If you wish to know God you must know his Word. If you wish to perceive his power, you must see how he works by his Word. If you wish to know his purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by his word.’

3. ‘Tell a devout Christian that his wife is cheating on him, or that frozen yoghurt can make a man invisible, and he is as likely to require as much evidence as anyone else, and to be persuaded only to the extent that you give it. Tell him that the book he keeps by his bed was written by an invisible deity who will punish him with fire for eternity if he fails to accept its every incredible claim about the universe, and he seems to require no evidence whatsoever.’

5. 1. What is the Bible?
2. Our Cultural Moment.
3. Evidence.
4. The Glory of God’s Word.

6. What is the Bible?

7. Our Cultural Moment Makes it hard to trust the Bible
2 Corinthians 4:2 ‘the god of this age has blinded the unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of Christ.’
‘Why was it virtually impossible NOT to believe in God in the 16th century, while in the 21st century many of us not only find this easy, but even inescapable?’

8. Our Cultural Moment Post Truth – Preference over Truth
We live in an Individualistic Culture
The Bible Offends our Culture
History is Written by Winners

9. EVIDENCE

10. 1. Firstly, The New Testament was written too close to Jesus’s life to be made up.

11. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5
For what I received I passed onto you as of first importance. that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve.’
Sir Fredrich G Kenyon, former director and principal of the British Museum,  
‘The interval between the dates of the original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the new Testament may be regarded as finally established.’

12. 2. Secondly, The New Testament is too detailed to be a myth.
Mark 3:16-19
16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

13. 3. Thirdly, The Gospels are too counter-intuitive to be made up.

14. 4. There is even corroborating evidence.
‘they were in the habit of meeting up on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang an anthem to Christ as God, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to commit any wicked deed, but to abstain from all fraud, theft and adultery, never to break their word, or deny a trust when called upon to honour it.’

15. The Glory of God’s Word

16. 2 CORINTHIANS 4:5-6
For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

17. ‘The glory of God in scripture is reflected in his people: they are transformed from self-centered, self-exalting people to God-centered, Christ-exalting servants, who live by others.’

18. The Glory of God’s Word

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