Answering the Skeptics: A Defense of Biblical Authority
Scripture Foundation: Revelation 22:18-19
In the spring of 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd named Muhammad edh-Dhib was searching for a lost goat among the limestone cliffs near the Dead Sea. Frustrated, he tossed a stone into one of the caves and heard an unexpected sound—the shattering of pottery. Curious, he climbed inside and discovered clay jars containing ancient scrolls wrapped in linen. The teenager had no idea he had just made what many scholars consider the greatest archaeological discovery of the twentieth century. Those Dead Sea Scrolls, hidden for nearly two thousand years, would provide stunning confirmation of the Bible’s reliability. When scholars compared these ancient manuscripts—some dating to 250 BC—with medieval texts copied a thousand years later, they found them virtually identical. The Word of God had been faithfully preserved across millennia.
This remarkable discovery illustrates a profound truth: we can be certain that the Bible is the Word of God. Our faith does not rest on blind acceptance but on a foundation strengthened by evidence, fulfilled prophecy, internal unity, and the life-transforming power that flows from Scripture’s pages. As the renowned pastor John MacArthur observes, “The preacher has authority if and only if he speaks the Word of God…The only authority I have is the Word of God.” This devotional explores why such confidence is not misplaced.
Why Certainty Matters
Before we examine the evidence, we must understand why settling this question is absolutely imperative. Your spiritual foundation depends upon it. Everything else in the Christian life becomes unstable when doubt creeps in about Scripture’s divine origin.
Consider your salvation. The apostle Peter declares that we are “born again…through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). If the Bible is merely human wisdom rather than divine revelation, what assurance do we have of eternal life? Your sanctification—your growth in holiness—depends equally on Scripture’s reliability. Jesus Himself prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Without certainty about God’s Word, spiritual growth becomes guesswork.
Furthermore, your confidence as a witness rests on Scripture’s trustworthiness. John writes, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). We can proclaim the gospel boldly because we stand on the solid rock of God’s revealed Word. When we’re certain of the Bible, we become exclamation points of faith rather than question marks of doubt.
The Battle Over the Book
We live in an age of unprecedented skepticism toward Scripture. This is nothing new—throughout history, there has been a relentless war over the Word. Some despise it outright, viewing biblical Christianity as the enemy of progress. Others deny its divine origin, treating it as merely another ancient religious text, no different from the writings of other faiths. Still others distort Scripture, twisting its clear teachings to support their own agendas, as Peter warned would happen (2 Peter 3:161as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.).
ChatGPT explains:
Today’s skepticism toward Scripture springs less from evidence and more from the spirit of the age. The modern mind, trained to distrust authority and prize personal autonomy, resists any claim that truth comes from beyond the self. Enlightenment rationalism replaced revelation with reason; digital culture replaced contemplation with distraction. Add to that the failures of church institutions and the moral unease stirred by biblical absolutes, and skepticism becomes not merely intellectual but deeply personal. The Bible challenges the modern creed of self-sovereignty, so many reject it before ever reading it. Yet this crisis also exposes a hunger for meaning that relativism cannot satisfy—a silent proof that humanity still longs for the Word it now doubts.
Then some dissect the Bible with cold academic detachment, analyzing it as they would a mathematical theorem rather than receiving it as God’s love letter to humanity. Many disregard Scripture as irrelevant to modern life, relegating it to ancient history while they focus solely on temporal concerns—making, as one preacher memorably put it, “this world a better place from which to go to hell.”
Perhaps most tragically, some claim to believe the Bible but never read it, never study it, never apply it to their lives. Dust accumulates on their Bibles while drought parches their hearts. They give lip service to Scripture’s authority but live as practical atheists, guided by culture rather than the Word.
But there is another group—those who genuinely believe. They know with settled conviction that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of the living God. They trust it daily for guidance, comfort, correction, and hope. They have examined the evidence and found it overwhelming. Let us now consider that evidence together.
Scientific Accuracy: When Scripture Led the Way
Skeptics frequently charge that the Bible is riddled with scientific errors, betraying its human origin. Yet this criticism reveals more about the critics than about Scripture. Those who make such claims often understand neither science nor Scripture adequately. The Bible was never intended primarily as a science textbook—its purpose is to reveal God and His plan of redemption. Yet remarkably, wherever Scripture touches on scientific matters, it proves accurate, often anticipating discoveries by centuries or even millennia.
In Hindu and some Asian traditions, the earth rested on the back of a great turtle—sometimes supported by elephants—symbolizing stability amid cosmic waters. Certain Native American stories echo this “world turtle” motif. In contrast, Greek mythology portrayed the Titan Atlas not holding the earth itself but bearing the heavens as punishment from Zeus. Other civilizations imagined the sky as a dome or goddess stretched above a flat earth. Yet Job 26:7, written thousands of years before modern cosmology, declares that God “hangs the earth on nothing.” How did Job know this? The same Holy Spirit who spoke through him later inspired the entire canon of Scripture.
For centuries, some uneducated or isolated groups held that the Earth was flat. Yet Isaiah, writing 750 years before Christ, revealed that God “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” (Isaiah 40:22). The Hebrew word translated “circle” can also mean “sphere” or “globe.” Isaiah understood our planet’s true shape long before sailors feared falling off the world’s edge.
When Ptolemy meticulously charted the heavens in the second century AD, he counted 1,026 stars. Yet Jeremiah, writing around 600 BC, proclaimed that “the host of heaven cannot be numbered” (Jeremiah 33:22). How could Jeremiah know about the billions of stars invisible to the naked eye? Divine revelation provided knowledge that telescopes would not confirm for another twenty-five centuries.
During the Black Plague of the 14th century, the Church played a complex role in Europe’s response. While medieval people did not understand germs, clerics often invoked Old Testament laws—such as instructions in Leviticus 13:46, where God commanded Moses: “As long as they have the disease, they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.” Monasteries, convents, and city authorities sometimes quarantined plague victims and organized burials, offering care and ritual guidance. These measures were unevenly applied and not systematic public health, but they provided structure, moral authority, and partial containment. Modern science eventually discovered the mechanisms, but Scripture had the answer all along.
The God of salvation and the God of creation are the same. Science never takes Him by surprise. When apparent conflicts arise between current scientific consensus and Scripture, patience and further investigation consistently vindicate God’s Word. We can trust the Bible because its Author is the Designer of the universe itself.
Historical Vindication: Archaeology Confirms Scripture
While the Bible is not primarily a history book, it records history with meticulous accuracy. For generations, critics attacked Scripture’s historical claims, only to be proven wrong by archaeological discoveries. Each time scholars have dug into the soil of the ancient Near East, the Bible’s accuracy has been confirmed.
Nineteenth-century linguists rejected the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, insisting that writing had not yet been invented in Moses’ time. Then archaeologists discovered the Tel Elarmona tablets in northern Egypt—business records from Palestine written centuries before Moses was born. The discovery of the Amarna Letters in 1887 provided evidence that writing was indeed in use in the 14th century BCE, contemporaneous with the time traditionally ascribed to Moses. These clay tablets, written in Akkadian cuneiform, document correspondence between Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III and various Canaanite rulers, including those in regions like Shechem and Jerusalem. The Bible was right; the critics were wrong.
For years, scholars dismissed the book of Daniel as fiction because it mentioned a Babylonian king named Belshazzar whom secular history did not record. The last king of Babylon, they insisted, was Nabonidus, not Belshazzar. Therefore, Daniel’s account was fabricated. However, archaeological discoveries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided evidence that Belshazzar was indeed a historical figure. Notably, inscriptions from the period revealed that Belshazzar served as co-regent with his father Nabonidus, who was absent from Babylon for extended periods. These findings corroborated the biblical account of Belshazzar’s role in Babylon’s administration.
Archaeological research across the ancient Near East has provided extensive evidence that aligns with the historical narratives of the Bible. Excavations at cities such as Jericho, Hazor, and Nineveh have uncovered city walls, fortifications, inscriptions, and artifacts that correspond with the biblical accounts of their existence, destruction, or governance. For example, the siege layers at Hazor reflect destruction during the Late Bronze Age, consistent with the conquest narratives in Joshua. Similarly, cuneiform inscriptions from Nineveh confirm the reigns of kings like Sennacherib, corroborating passages in Kings and Isaiah. Across numerous sites, the convergence of names, locations, and chronological markers with biblical descriptions supports the reliability of Scripture as a historical document, demonstrating that its narratives are grounded in verifiable events and civilizations. No other ancient religious text can claim such verification.
This historical accuracy matters profoundly because Christianity is not a philosophy or a set of abstract principles—it is rooted in actual events that occurred in real time and real places. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, ministered in Galilee and Judea, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and rose from the dead on the third day. These are historical claims that can be investigated, and when investigated, they withstand scrutiny. The Bible’s proven historical reliability gives us confidence in its theological teachings.
Wonderful Unity: One Story, Many Authors, Divine Orchestration
Another compelling reason to trust Scripture as God’s Word is its remarkable unity. The Bible is actually a collection of sixty-six separate books written by at least forty different authors over approximately sixteen hundred years. These writers came from vastly different backgrounds—shepherds and kings, soldiers and scholars, fishermen and physicians. They wrote in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), across three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), addressing different audiences in different contexts.
Given these enormous disparities, we might expect a disjointed, contradictory collection of religious writings. Instead, we find a unified narrative that flows seamlessly from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible tells one continuous story: God’s redemptive plan for humanity. From the promise of a coming Savior in Genesis 3:152I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. to the fulfillment of all things in Revelation, Scripture maintains perfect thematic coherence.
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The Book of Revelation presents a profound vision of the culmination of God’s plan and the final closure of human history. Central to its message is the repeated title of Christ as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 21:6; 22:13). This designation underscores His sovereignty over all time, affirming that history originates with God and concludes under His authority. The declaration “It is done” (21:6) marks the fulfillment of divine promises, the cessation of the old order, and the inauguration of the new creation, where sin, death, and suffering are finally abolished.
Throughout Revelation, the narrative emphasizes God’s final judgment and the ultimate reward of the faithful. In 11:15, the text proclaims that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever,” signaling a permanent transfer of authority from human powers to divine sovereignty. Revelation 22:12–13 reiterates that Christ is coming to repay each person according to their deeds, confirming that the moral arc of history aligns with God’s righteous standards. The repeated calls for vigilance and readiness, culminating in 22:20–21, invite believers to anticipate the consummation of history and the establishment of God’s eternal kingdom.
Revelation portrays human history as a divinely orchestrated narrative, beginning with creation and reaching fulfillment in Christ’s eternal reign. Its visions remind readers that the apparent chaos, suffering, and injustice of the world are temporary, and that God’s ultimate plan will bring perfect order, justice, and restoration. By emphasizing Christ as both origin and completion, Revelation closes the biblical story with clarity: God governs all history, and the final chapter culminates in His eternal kingdom, where righteousness, peace, and divine presence reign supreme.
How can this be explained apart from divine orchestration? What Master Architect designed this intricate tapestry? The answer is self-evident: God Himself superintended the entire process through His Holy Spirit, ensuring that His Word would be preserved accurately and unified perfectly.
The Bible has one central theme: salvation through Jesus Christ. It has one hero: Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world. It has one villain: Satan, the adversary of God and destroyer of souls. It has one ultimate purpose: to glorify God and reveal His nature to humanity. This unity is not the result of careful human editing—many of the biblical authors never knew each other existed. It is the fingerprint of divine inspiration.
The deeper one explores Scripture, the more unified it becomes. There are no hidden flaws to discover, only hidden beauties. Passages separated by centuries illuminate each other perfectly. Themes introduced in the Old Testament find their fulfillment in the New. Types and shadows point forward to spiritual realities. The more you study, the more you marvel at the supernatural unity that pervades every page.
Fulfilled Prophecy: Predictions Only God Could Make
Perhaps the most powerful evidence for Scripture’s divine origin is fulfilled prophecy. The Bible contains hundreds of specific predictions made centuries before the events occurred—predictions that have been fulfilled with stunning precision. No other religious text comes close to this level of prophetic accuracy.
Consider the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ. The Old Testament contains over three hundred specific predictions about the coming Messiah, all written centuries before Jesus was born. These prophecies specify His birthplace (Bethlehem, per Micah 5:2), His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), His ministry beginning in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1-2), His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12), His crucifixion (Psalm 22), and His resurrection (Psalm 16:10).
A skeptic might suggest Jesus deliberately arranged to fulfill these prophecies. But how could He arrange to be born in Bethlehem to a virgin? How could He control the Roman government’s decision to crucify Him or the soldiers’ decision not to break His legs (fulfilling Psalm 34:20)? How could He cause Judas to betray Him for precisely thirty pieces of silver? Most importantly, how could He arrange His own resurrection from the dead?
The truth is that Jesus did arrange all of it—not as a man trying to fulfill Scripture, but as God revealing His plan through the Old Testament prophets and then accomplishing that plan in history. The disciples who witnessed these events were so convinced of their truth that they willingly died as martyrs rather than deny what they had seen. People do not sacrifice their lives for what they know to be a lie.
Fulfilled prophecy offers compelling evidence that the Bible is divine revelation rather than mere human wisdom. Josh McDowell, in Evidence That Demands a Verdict, points out that “No other book claims to foretell the future with such accuracy and then verifies those claims through history.” Consider, for example, the prophecies concerning the Messiah: centuries before His birth, texts in Isaiah predicted that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), suffer for humanity’s sins (Isaiah 53), and be rejected by His own people. McDowell notes that “the probability of one person fulfilling even a few Messianic prophecies is astronomical; fulfilling dozens is virtually impossible by chance.” Other examples include predictions about the rise and fall of empires, such as Babylon, Persia, and Greece, which align precisely with historical events recorded long after the prophecies were written. Such evidence, McDowell emphasizes, is “available for anyone willing to investigate honestly,” inviting readers to see the Bible as a trustworthy record of God’s sovereign plan.
The Ever-Living Quality: A Book That Cannot Die
Another distinctive quality of Scripture is its indestructibility. No book in human history has faced such sustained, vicious opposition. The Bible has been mocked, burned, banned, and outlawed. Powerful rulers have made possession of Scripture a capital crime. Skeptics have preached its funeral countless times. Yet the corpse has consistently outlived its pallbearers.
During the Roman Empire, Emperor Diocletian ordered all Christian scriptures destroyed and Christians killed if they refused to surrender their Bibles. Yet Christianity not only survived—it eventually became the official religion of the empire that tried to exterminate it. The Bible endured.
Communist regimes throughout the twentieth century banned the Bible, imprisoned those who possessed it, and tried to eliminate Christianity entirely. Yet when the Iron Curtain fell, believers emerged with their faith intact, having memorized Scripture and passed it down orally when physical copies were unavailable. The Bible endured.
Even today, in nations where Christianity is illegal, people risk their lives to obtain copies of Scripture. They treasure it, memorize it, share it secretly, and willingly suffer for it. Why? Because they have discovered that the Bible is alive—it is not mere paper and ink but the living Word of the living God.
The ancient religious texts of Greece, Rome, Babylon, and Egypt have vanished into obscurity, studied only by scholars. The philosophical writings of great thinkers are forgotten by each new generation. But the Bible remains the world’s bestselling, most translated, most influential book. It has shaped Western civilization, inspired countless lives, and continues to transform hearts today. This enduring quality is itself evidence of divine preservation. God intends for humanity to have His Word, and no human opposition can thwart His purpose.
Life-Changing Power: Evidence Written in Hearts
The final evidence I offer is perhaps the most personal: the Bible’s power to transform lives. Scripture describes itself as “living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). It compares God’s Word to dynamite—explosive power that breaks through human hardness. Millions can testify that these descriptions are not metaphorical but literal.
The Bible possesses unique power to convict of sin and lead to salvation. No other book, no human philosophy, no psychological technique can remove the crushing weight of guilt that sin produces. Only Scripture, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, can regenerate the human heart and create a new creature in Christ. I have witnessed the most hardened sinners melt under the Word’s conviction and emerge as transformed followers of Jesus.
The Bible sanctifies believers, setting them apart for holy living. As Christians meditate on Scripture, they find their thoughts, desires, and behaviors gradually conformed to Christ’s image. This sanctifying work is not mere behavior modification but a deep heart transformation. You cannot grow spiritually strong without feeding regularly on the Word of God—it is the milk for new believers and the solid food for the mature.
Scripture offers sufficiency to those who suffer. Throughout decades of pastoral ministry, countless individuals in deep anguish—grieving parents, terminal patients, abandoned spouses, and souls burdened with despair—have experienced comfort that nothing else could provide. While medical science, psychology, and the support of caring friends each play a valuable role, only Scripture penetrates the depths of human suffering with divine healing.
The Bible brings satisfaction to the scholar. It is a book so deep that one can swim in its ocean forever without touching bottom, yet so accessible that even a child can wade safely in its shallows. After decades of rigorous study aided by the finest academic tools, new treasures continue to emerge with each reading. The deeper the understanding grows, the clearer it becomes that Scripture’s inexhaustible richness reflects its infinite Author.
Responding to God’s Word with Certainty
Having examined the evidence—scientific accuracy, historical vindication, wonderful unity, fulfilled prophecy, enduring quality, and life-changing power—we return to where we began: you must be certain that the Bible is the Word of God. This is not optional for a vibrant Christian life. Your faith, your growth, your witness, and your hope all depend on this settled conviction.
God Himself declares in Revelation 22:18-19 that we must neither add to nor subtract from His Word. We are to receive it reverently, study it diligently, believe it completely, and obey it faithfully. When you are certain that the Bible is God’s Word, you read it differently—not as suggestions from ancient sages but as commands from your Creator. You apply it differently—not picking and choosing what suits your preferences but submitting every area of life to its authority.
Some may say, “I need more evidence before I can believe.” Yet the evidence is abundant and compelling. The real question is whether we are willing to submit to Scripture’s authority once we recognize its divine origin. Faith always involves trust, but it is not blind trust—it is confidence based on substantial evidence.
Others may say, “I believe the Bible intellectually, but it doesn’t affect my daily life.” This reveals a fundamental misunderstanding. Genuine belief always produces transformation. If you truly believe the Bible is God’s Word, you will hunger to read it, meditate on it, memorize it, and live by it. Your Bible will show wear, not dust. Your heart will show vitality, not drought.
Conclusion: Standing Firm on Solid Ground
We live in a relativistic age that questions all truth claims. Yet Christianity stands or falls on the reliability of Scripture. If the Bible is merely human wisdom, our faith is groundless. But if—as the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates—the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, then we stand on the firmest foundation imaginable.
Josh McDowell
I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents written down by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They reported supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed that their writings are divine rather than human in origin. (Grace Quotes)
Voddie Baucham
The Bible is a supernatural, spiritual, sovereign, surviving, sustaining, super-charged book about my Savior. (The Gospel Coalition)
Adrian Rogers
The Bible is a supernatural, spiritual, sovereign, surviving, sustaining, super-charged book about my Savior. (The Gospel Coalition)
John Wenham
Jesus himself quotes Scripture and implies that its words are true and trustworthy—wholly reliable. (C.S. Lewis Institute)
Like that young shepherd who discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, we have been given a precious treasure. The scrolls confirmed what believers had known all along: God has faithfully preserved His Word across millennia. When we open our Bibles today, we read the same truths that Isaiah proclaimed, that Jesus taught, and that the apostles preached. The words have been translated, but the truth remains unchanged.
This is God’s precious gift to us—His revealed Word, given so we may know Him personally and find eternal life in His Son, Jesus Christ. We can read it with confidence, teach it with authority, live it with conviction, and share it with boldness. The Bible is not like any other book. It is living, powerful, eternal, and true.
You can be certain that the Bible is the Word of God. The evidence demands a verdict, and the verdict is clear: Scripture stands vindicated by history, science, prophecy, unity, endurance, and transforming power. May we treasure it, study it, believe it, and obey it all the days of our lives. For as the prophet Isaiah declared centuries ago, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
Stand firm on this solid ground. Be an exclamation point of faith, not a question mark of doubt. Know with certainty that when you hold your Bible, you hold in your hands the very words of the living God.