Some modern critics question the Bible’s historical accuracy, its scientific validity and its prophetic predictions. Many point to apparent discrepancies and contradictions that they believe exist in the Bible.
How does the Bible answer the critics? Do we just have to take the Bible on faith?
The Bible does extol the importance of faith in giving solid evidence of our beliefs (Hebrews 11:1 ). But the Bible doesn’t leave us without evidence that is available even to those who do not yet believe.
In fact, Paul encourages people to “test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21 ).
How can we test and prove the validity of the Scriptures? There are a number of ways:
- Study biblical archaeology.
- Compare the Bible and science with an open mind.
- Study fulfilled prophecies.
- Examine apparent contradictions carefully.
- Try it out. Applying the wisdom of the Bible to your everyday life is a vitally important way to prove the Bible to yourself. God wants us to prove whether His way works by doing it (Malachi 3:10 ). He wants us to pray to Him for help, according to His will, and to have our faith strengthened by answered prayers. As we do what He says to do, we will grow in understanding (Psalm 111:10 ).
See more about proofs of the Bible in the articles in this section on “Is the Bible True?”
