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The Bible makes three fundamental claims:
Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Hebrews 11:6 - We must believe that God exists.
Deuteronomy 4:35,39; 6:4 - The God who claims to speak through the Bible is the one and only true God.
[See also Isaiah 43:10-13; 44:6-8,24; 45:5,6,14,18,21-23; 52:6; Matthew 4:10; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Chronicles 17:20; Exodus 20:3-6; 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:13-15; 32:39; Psalm 86:10; Zech. 14:9; Mark 12:29; 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; James 2:19; 1 Timothy 2:5]
2 Timothy 3:16,17 - The Scriptures are inspired by God to provide us with instruction in righteousness and every good work.
1 Corinthians 14:37 - Paul claimed that the things he wrote are commandments of the Lord.
[See also 1 Corinthians 2:10-13; Ephesians 3:3-5; John 16:13; Matthew 10:19,20; Galatians 1:8-12; 2 Peter 1:20,21; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Luke 10:16.]
John 20:26-31 - Jesus allowed Thomas to call him "my Lord and my God." To have eternal life, we must believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God.
John 4:42 - The Samaritans claimed Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
Each person is responsible to consider whether or not these claims are true. This requires giving careful consideration to the evidence, such as is presented in this study. Our eternal destiny hangs in the balance.
If we conclude the claims are true, we are then responsible to learn to present the evidence to others - 1 Peter 3:15; Philippians 1:7,17.
It follows that all people, believers and unbelievers, need to carefully study the evidence for the claims of the Bible.
[See also John 1:1-3,14; 8:24; Luke 19:10; Matthew 16:15-18; 10:37; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:2,8,9; Philippians 2:5-8.]
The purpose of this study is to examine the evidence offered in the Bible itself to confirm the validity of these claims. This is often called "Christian apologetics." We will examine closely the following proofs:
Note: This is a very thorough study of Christian evidences. For a more basic study, please go to /god/why_believe.php
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Copyright 2006 David E. Pratte; gospelway.com
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Scripture quotations are generally from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright 1982, 1988 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. used by permission. All rights reserved.