It seems that there is no end to the attacks made by those who hate God, the Bible and all those who love both. For centuries, scoffers have claimed that the Bible is not reliable, nor is it the word of God. Those who make such claims, fail to make their judgments based on logical deduction.
The basis for validating all historical documents is the same, whether they be of religious or secular origin.
Those documents which are held to be authentic and reliable, must come from a source where the accounts are written by those who have first hand knowledge of the events that took place. The proof that God has revealed himself to man by a special revelation, is the claim of those who recorded the events of scripture.
The fact that all men are of spiritual nature, is evident as seen universally in every culture, and during all periods of man’s existence on the earth. It is apparent that man has an insatiable desire to worship. Whether the object of that adoration is the True and Living God, or some other god or object, depends on the personal revelation of the individual. For those who have had access to the old and new testaments of the Bible, their revelation of God brings them to worship the God of the Bible. In other cultures and societies where the Bible has not been known and read, men create in their best imagination, what they presume God to be. The fact remains that every society from the dawn of man’s existence on the earth, has practiced worship. The truth of these facts logically conclude that man was born with this ability for worship, and that it was not acquired by his environment. The manner and place to which a man may live, lends to the type and direction of his worship, but it does not create the origin of man’s insatiable desire for worship.
If man evolved from lower animal life forms, how did he acquire a basic trait that no other animal possesses, that of worship? There are no examples in the animal kingdom of any ape or other primate that gives worship and praise to any god or other object. Only man possess this unique and defining characteristic of worship that must be satisfied.
One might argue that the atheist does not have any knowledge of God, and therefore not all men can be found to desire worship. On the contrary, even the atheist possesses the attributes of worship, and can clearly be seen to direct worship to objects other than God. Christopher Hitchens was a world renowned denier of God, yet gave us a visible example of one who practices worship, without believing in God. Mr. Hitchens worshipped himself, and the world. He was clearly defined as a man totally given over to the practice of any vice that suited HIMSELF. Christopher Hitchens worshiped self and self gratification.
The definition of worship is as follows: “worthiness or worth-ship’— to give, at its simplest, worth to something.”
There is the worship of earth, nature, the stars, animals, statues, people, and money. Man universally will devote himself to anything that he deems “worthy” of his passions and purpose. There is not a human being who has ever lived that has not clearly demonstrated worship in their life. A man can be just as devoted to building model airplanes and the exhibition of these to others, as one who attends church services several times a month in devotion to God. Both have their affections fixed on what they deem worthy of their heart and mind. Worship is defined by anything that preoccupies our thoughts, actions and the spending of our money. If you want to know what you worship, open up your checkbook or look at your bank statement. We place value on those things that we deem worthy of our time and money.
Those who recorded the events found in the old and new testament scriptures, found as the object of their affections, the Living God. Christopher Hitchens found as the object of his affections, the glorification of himself and his own pleasure.
At the time that God called Moses to pen the words of the Bible, he was a pagan, a worshipper of the gods of Egypt. When God called Abraham, he lived in the midst of pagans and was a worshipper of pagan gods himself.
The Living God, called both of these men to direct their worship to Him. As He is the Creator of all things, the worship from those created by Him, is His right and privilege, above all other objects of worship. Men will worship the Sun, Moon, and the Stars, but fail to realize the one who made each of these. Man will often direct his time and attention to foolish and fleeting endeavors. How much time and money have you spent yourself on worthless things that now rest in a dark closet or at the back or your desk drawer? How many vacations did you save and plan for, only to discover that once you took that vacation, most of it was a disappointment? Our ideals are eternal, with their foundation in perfect and eternal things. Everything on earth will always leave us disappointed and empty, no matter how many we may gain or how much we achieve.
Those who are serious about their search for meaning and purpose in their life, will find in the Bible, the source of their existence. The God who created everything, wanted to reveal himself to his creation. He called men to record his words in a single compilation of documents that today are unparalleled in the authenticity. No other document of antiquity has been better established by a multitude of copies for those original texts, other than the Bible. The new testament alone, has over 24,000 copies of the original manuscripts for every book and chapter in the new testament. When a comparison is made of the oldest manuscripts available, many from as early as the first century, they are virtually identical to the new testament in our possession today.
The old testament scriptures as we have them today, were in existence even before Jesus arrived in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. On display currently at the Discovery Times Square exhibit until April 15, are the scroll containing the Ten Commandments from the old testament. This 18 inch long parchment is delicately sewn together on animal skins and is so fragile at over 2,000 years old, that it can only be viewed by the public for a limited time.
“Each piece of the Scrolls is carefully monitored for its current condition,” show curator Risa Levitt Kohn, a professor of religious studies at San Diego State University, told FoxNews.com. Variances in temperature, humidity and light continue to age the parchment, so there are strict rules about how much time the documents can be illuminated. The last time the Ten Commandments scroll was exhibited in Toronto, Canada, in 2009, it was restricted to just 80 hours of public viewing.”
This scroll containing the ten commandments has been dated from around 30 B.C. and had survived for thousands of years in a cave near the Dead Sea in Israel.
The collection of old testament writings found in these caves are nothing short of astonishing. there are in excess of 900 different texts written in Greek, Aramaic and ancient Hebrew, discovered in the 40s and ’50s. The Ten Commandments scroll itself was found in Cave 4, where a majority of the documents were discovered.
“Cave 4 was the motherload of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” Kohn said.
“The only other copy of the Ten Commandments dating from around the same era is the Nash Papyrus. It’s 50 to 100 years older than the scroll copy, but the Nash document does not contain all 10 commandments and is in extremely fragile fragments. The only other ancient records of the Commandments date from at least 1,000 years later.“
Is the Bible reliable? Are the words of the Bible, the words of the Living God? According to the rules used to validate all other ancient documents that are held in high regard and determined to be accurate and reliable, the old testament has been substantiated by greater proofs than any other document in history.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness…
Rob Robinson
