1. Acts 17:3 …

2. A Series On Evidences H Acts 17:3 H

3. Acts 17:3 H Acts 17:3 H Lesson 5 The Bible’s Reliability

4. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Continuity  Re: the credibility of the Bible, one must consider its continuous “flow of thought”  How continual is it throughout?  Compare to other written works written by only 1 author  The Bible isn’t like any other book! The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

5. Acts 17:3 Biblical Characteristics (Factors That Work Against A “Continuous Flow Of Thought”)  Time Over 1,500 years 40 different authors

6. Acts 17:3 Biblical Characteristics (Factors That Work Against A “Continuous Flow Of Thought”)  Time  Place Diverse places (wilderness, palace, prison, on the road)

7. Acts 17:3 Biblical Characteristics (Factors That Work Against A “Continuous Flow Of Thought”)  Time  Place  Human perspective All walks of life (royalty, peasant, fishermen, doctor, tax collector)

8. Acts 17:3 Biblical Characteristics (Factors That Work Against A “Continuous Flow Of Thought”)  Time  Place  Human perspective  Language 3 languages (Hebrew, some Aramaic, Koine Greek)

9. Acts 17:3 Biblical Characteristics (Factors That Work Against A “Continuous Flow Of Thought”)  Time  Place  Human perspective  Language  Types of writing Law (criminal, civil, ethical, sanitary, moral) History Poetry Prophecy

10. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Continuity  Despite all this “divergence”…the Bible does not contain 1 “hiccup” of inconsistency  It seamlessly follows its 1 continuous flow of thought from start to finish The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

11. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics  Namely, we’ll focus on 3…  Inspiration  Infallibility  Inerrancy  Characteristics that stand and fall together The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

12. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics Ê INSPIRATION  Its source or origin 2 Pet 1:20-21  The Bible is “God-breathed”…a product of “verbal plenary inspiration” -- “Verbal” (words) 1 Cor 2:12-13 -- “Plenary” (wholly; extending to all parts) 2 Tim 3:16 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

13. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics Ê INSPIRATION  Compare to other ideas re: “inspiration” -- Partial (which parts?) -- Natural (like an author or painter) -- Mechanical dictation (writer was only a “glorified stenographer”) The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

14. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics Ê INSPIRATION  Compare to other ideas re: “inspiration” -- Thought (only thought conveyed… writer chose own words) Doesn’t take into account when the writer was unsure about what he wrote 1 Pet 1:10-11 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

15. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics Ë INFALLIBLE  Incapable of error by deception  God cannot lie Heb 6:18  If so, then His “God-breathed words” must be of the same nature (not knowingly deceptive, injurious to man) The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

16. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics Ì INERRANT  Cannot be proven false; no mistakes  Written works of men contain errors (knowingly, unknowingly)  A detraction from a written work’s reliability (an issue of credible trust) The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

17. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics  The Bible claims inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy in numerous ways The Old Testament  “Thus says the Lord” 400 times Ex 4:22 5:1  God’s word in man’s mouth Jer 1:9  Fulfillment of prophecy Isa 44:7, 28 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

18. Acts 17:3 Fulfillment Of Prophecy True prophecy must meet certain “criteria”  Must be beyond man’s power to foresee  Prediction must precede the event itself  Prediction must apply to the event  Unambiguous language (specific)  Prediction has unmistakable fulfillment

19. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics  The Bible claims inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy in numerous ways The New Testament  The 1st Christians 1 Thess 2:13  What the apostles wrote 2 Pet 3:16 1 Cor 14:37 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

20. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics  The Bible claims inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy in numerous ways The New Testament  Curses pronounced upon any who would change their writings Rev 22:18-19 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

21. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics  The Bible claims inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy in numerous ways Jesus’ View Of Scripture  The O.T. was authoritative Mt 4:1-11  The O.T. was factual Mt 19:4-5 Jn 3:14  His own words were authoritative Mt 5:31-32 24:35 Jn 12:48 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

22. Acts 17:3 The Bible’s Characteristics  The Bible claims inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy in numerous ways Jesus’ View Of Scripture  What His apostles would later write would be “truth” Jn 14:26 16:13 The Reliability Of The Bible – Part A

23. Acts 17:3 …