II Timothy 3:14-17 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

II Timothy 3:14-17 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

II Timothy 3:14-17 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Higgs’ Boson “God Particle” Does any one recognize the picture on the screen? It was in the Knoxville News Sentinel July 5. # Here is a hint. Does any one recognize Higgs’ Boson? Physicists have been trying to prove it’s existence since the mid 1960s; it is the subatomic particle that physicists believe gives matter mass. A group of 2000 physicists announced on July 4th that they had discovered proof of the particle and are awaiting confirmation by the scientific community. The picture shows the path of high-energy electrons consistent with Higgs boson decay after proton-proton collisions at high speed. # The particle is also called the “god particle”. Recent articles that I have seen really does not explain why it is called this. Some physicists colleagues of mine at Caltech mentioned several years ago about the Higgs’ boson but did not call it the god particle. If they had, maybe I could have gotten an explanation. The best reason I can give you now is because physicists believe its existence is vitally important to understanding the early evolution of the universe. Higgs’ boson likely presents another challenge for those of us that believe God created the universe.

Both teen and adult Christians wonder about potential conflicts between science and religion. What you would say if your son or daughter asked you why you believe in God and the Bible? I had a long discussion with one of our teens a couple years ago who was very concerned about apparent conflicts between creation and evolution. I suspect that almost every Christian has thought about this topic at some point in their life. Many children naturally wonder about faith, religion, science, … as they develop their own personal faith in God. Are you prepared to help them?

Several 2:42 groups have viewed the 24-lesson series on “Does God Exist?”. I know that several of our small groups either have studied or are studying the John Clayton DVD series on “Does God Exist?”. A question arose a few months ago in one of our Bible classes about other gospels that have not been included in the Bible and why

Why should we believe in: God? Jesus? the Bible? So I know that these questions are important to our Hardin Valley family and I believe to all Christians as they determine their own beliefs and as they periodically reconfirm them. Answers to each of these questions could provide material for numerous lessons, but this morning I will just provide some evidence that support why we should believe in the Bible and that it is inspired.

we would not believe by faith, but believe by knowledge Proof Beyond All Doubt? No! If we could, we would not believe by faith, but believe by knowledge God would be subject to our time, space, logic, …, which we know He is not. BTW, atheists can not prove that God does not exist. Can we prove beyond all doubt that God exists, that Jesus was resurrected, that the Bible is true? # No # # Not much of a God if restricted to human constraints. We do have lots of evidence that support our faith, so God did not leave us empty-handed, and this evidence is what we need to consider when we study these questions. # BTW, atheists are not asked to prove that God does not exists; seems like the burden of proof is always on Christians.

Why We Should Believe the Bible Answers to these questions about God, Jesus and the Bible could provide material for numerous lessons, but this morning I will only consider some of the evidence that support why we should believe in the Bible and that it is inspired. # Why should we believe these events occurred? If we believe the Bible and that it is the inspired word of God, then certainly believing in Jesus and God becomes much easier, maybe even a Corollary using mathematical terms. It will become quickly obvious as I present this material that I did not discover these on my own. I have sources for all data presented in these slides. Some reference material was provided by Larry Cline & Dan Spann, and I had several Josh McDowell books and others in my library. Ask me for sources and I will be glad to provide.

“Facts” about Bible Writings Old Testament books written prior to 400 BC & collected prior to 200 BC New Testament books written 50 – 85 AD, accepted in 2nd century & collected in 4th century No original manuscripts (written by authors and called autographs) exist today Dates are approximate

Sources for Today’s New Testament Over 5,600 Greek manuscript copies of NT books documented Nearly 24,000 copies documented including other translations 50,000+ fragments More continuously being documented The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org)

Original-Copy Gap (yrs) Historical Writings Writing Number of Copies Original-Copy Gap (yrs) New Testament Books 5,600 30-100 Homer’s Iliad 643 400 Aristotle’s Poetics 49 1400 Caesar’s Gallic Wars 10 1000+ Josephus’s The Jewish War 9 900 Homer’s Iliad has the 2nd most documented copies – an order of magnitude less than the Bible

Accuracy of Copies Do all of the 5,600 copies say exactly the same thing? Are there any differences? Yes, over 300,000 differences have been found among the NT manuscripts. We have over 5,600 historical copies of the Bible, how accurate are they? Do they accurately provide what the original manuscripts say? Since they span a considerable time line, saying exactly the same thing would provide evidence for a significant amount of trust in their accuracy of the original manuscripts. # On the surface this doesn’t look good. That is a lot of differences. What are these differences?

Differences in Existing Manuscripts Spelling Accounts for 75% of the variances Synonyms (e.g., Jesus, Lord, He) Considering all variations, only about 1% actually affect the meaning of the text.

Variances Affecting Meaning Example: I John 1:4 transcribed as both “Thus we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” and “Thus we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete” Difference in meaning? yes but not in doctrine.

God has preserved His written word. Consensus - There are no theological truths at stake due to any of the variants. In Addition – Biblical accounts are confirmed by manuscripts written by the early church fathers as well as non-Christian writers. God has preserved His written word. We have very strong supporting evidence that the Bible we have today accurately presents the doctrine and principles found in the original manuscripts.

Inspiration of the Scriptures Supporting evidence: Scriptures claim to be inspired Influence of the Bible Unusual style of the Scriptures Unity of Scriptures written by diverse authors Fulfilled prophecies of Scriptures Scientific foreknowledge in the Bible Scriptures refer to the original manuscripts. Technically, the laws of logic do not let you use the first bullet as evidence, but under the uniqueness of the Bible, it is important knowledge. (1 Cor 2:13, 1 Thess 2:13, 2 Tim 3:16, …) I’m only going to look a little closer at a couple of these.

Unusual Style of the Scriptures Brevity of books & events Genesis; Christ on earth after resurrection Omissions Jesus’ physical appearance; only ministry details of Peter & Paul Impartiality No apologies for Peter nor rebuke of Judas; the good & bad of David

Unity of Scriptures Bible written by 40 different men over a period of nearly 1600 years using different languages and living in different countries. Yet, they presented one central theme without variation or contradiction. In many instances, writers had no access to other books, yet they wrote about events in perfect unity, each complementing the others.

Scientific Foreknowledge in the Bible Job 26:7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. Isaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, … Leviticus 13:45 Anyone with such a defiling disease must … cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ No mention of prevalent false superstitions nor erroneous science

Summary We can not “prove” that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Supporting evidence is over-whelming. Even most critics believe that the current Bible accurately reflects the doctrine and principles in original manuscripts.