What proves the Bible is true?

External evidences are poor things to rest one's faith upon. Yet in the case of the Bible they are by no means lacking.

The marvellous and detailed fulfilment of its prophecies; the perfect harmony between its various parts, indited as they were under varying circumstances and at different epochs; the utter failure of its critics to substantiate their charges of imperfection; the impossibility of the human mind, trained and cultured though it be, to fathom and exhaust its teachings—all these, and many other facts, testify to the divine authorship of the Bible.

But is it that we despise external evidences? Far from it. We delight in them. We value every argument and every evidence calculated to strengthen the foundations of the heart's confidence in the divine inspiration of holy scripture; and, most assuredly, we have abundance of such material. The very history of the book itself, with all its striking facts, furnishes a broad tributary stream to swell the tide of evidence. The history of its composition; the history of its preservation; the history of its translation from tongue to tongue; the history of its circulation throughout earth's wide domain — in a word, its entire history, "surpassing fable, and yet true," forms a powerful argument in defence of its divine origin. Take, for example, that one fact of most commanding interest, namely, its having been kept for over a thousand years, in the custody of those who would have gladly consigned it, if they could, to eternal oblivion. Is not this a telling fact? Yes; and there are many such facts in the marvellous history of this peerless, priceless Volume.

These figures are feebleness itself when used to illustrate the egregious folly of submitting the Holy Scriptures to the judgment of any human mind. No, the Word of God speaks for itself. It carries its own powerful credentials with it. Its own internal evidences are amply sufficient for every pious, right-minded, humble child of God. It needs no letter of commendation from men. No doubt external evidences have their value and their interest. Human testimony must go for what it is worth. We may rest assured that the more thoroughly all human evidence is sifted, and the nearer all human testimony approaches to the truth, the more fully and distinctly will all concur in demonstrating the genuineness and integrity of our precious Bible.

But when we come to the Bible and find some forty writers, extending over a space of some 1,500 years, who, in some cases, describe scenes and operations they could never have witnessed, and prophesy events, which are beyond the power of the subtlest intellect to have foreseen; when we find, we repeat, some forty writers encompassing this feat without confusion or contradiction, there is only one conclusion to come to, and that is, one intelligence inspired the whole of their writings. And this is what the Bible claims for itself.

Scripture presents undeniable prophecies of our Lord’s incarnation, as we have shown in this pamphlet. We ask, Is it likely, or even possible, that prophets not knowing what each other wrote, living in different centuries, and sometimes in different countries, should tell the most horrible lies on sacred subjects, and that these lies should have a consistency about them, as if they had been concocted around one table in collaboration one with another. It takes very clever rogues to tell lies. Lies are generally found out. It is easily discovered where one statement is inconsistent with another statement, and even contradictory. But in the case of prophets not knowing what each other wrote, the possibility of successful lying is ruled out. Does it commend itself to the Unitarian mind to charge the prophets with lying in the circumstances we have described? No, the Bible is not built up on lies. It has commanded respect and trust of the best of mankind all down all centuries. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jer. 15:16). So said the Prophet Jeremiah.

How, then, we repeat, can we know the things of the Bible to be true? Can we know? or shall we take the banal ground of the agnostic and say, We cannot know, no one can tell, it is impossible to be sure? We Christians know; we "know we have passed from death unto life"; "we know we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"; "I know that my Redeemer liveth," the believer can say (1 John 3:14; 2 Cor. 5:1; Job 19:25). All this and much more we know; and we know it beyond the shadow of a doubt. But how? Well, how was it known by the students finally that it was not the janitor who fired the shot but a man posted for the purpose at a near-by window? It was by credible verbal testimony, the statement of trustworthy men, the word, the assurances of men who they knew would not, in this matter at least, deceive them.

In like manner, if for, say fifty years, the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has fed, spiritually, on the truths of the Bible, and has found in them food, drink, light, life, joy, instruction, comfort, correction, guidance, and richest blessing to his soul, he may not be, indeed, deaf to that which adverse criticism may have to say against such a well-known and well-tried guide (though he is persuaded that it will stand any and every test), but experience renders to him the repose of confidence in the unerring accuracy and truth of the Word of God on which he has leaned all that time, and which has never failed, nor deceived him by any false light, in shade or sunshine, defeat or victory. His best defence of that Word, if defence were needed, is simply the fact that he himself has proved it.

I was speaking to a man a few moments ago, who denied that the Bible was the Word of God. I pressed upon him that his opinion was not formed by a true and accurate knowledge of the Bible. I said to him that if the Bible was not what it purported to be, it was the very worst of of books. I then asked him, “if a man really governs his actions by the Bible, is he not a man you can absolutely trust for honesty, truthfulness, virtue, morality, kindness, consideration?” He had to admit that this was so. I then said, “A bad book will not produce lives like that. It has produced thousands and tens of thousands of such lives.”

Yes, my beloved friend, I do believe the internal evidences of the Word of God are, at once, the most precious and powerful of any that can be produced. If it be true, as one of our own poets has told us, that "God is His own interpreter" in providence, it is none the less, but very much more true that He is His own interpreter in Scripture. If God cannot make me understand what He says, no man can; if He does, no man need. When this solid ground is clearly seen and firmly occupied, we are, through grace, prepared to meet the insolence of infidelity, the ignorance of superstition, and the feebleness of many of our modern apologies for the written Word of God. And, in addition to this, we are in a position to estimate at their proper value all the external evidences that can be produced in proof of the divinity of our precious Bible. Such evidences are of the deepest interest. Who, but the most thoughtless, can fail to be arrested by the very history of the Book? Take that one fact of its having been, for over a thousand years, in the custody of a corrupt and apostate church that would, most willingly, have crushed it into annihilation. There lay the peerless volume, buried in the dark cloisters of Rome, chained, like a hated prisoner, in the gloomy vaults of her monasteries. Who watched over it there? Who preserved it? Who warded off the destructive hand? Who but the One Whose Spirit penned its every line? Who can fail to see the Hand of God in the preservation of the Book, just as distinctly as we recognize His Spirit in its inspiration?

Many rationalists state that they cannot believe the Bible because of the numerous, difficulties in the word. On the contrary, I say that I should be very surprised indeed to find no difficulties the Author is divine, I am but human, and can I be expected to understand all? "The very difficulties of scripture, philological and historical, afford cogent internal proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the Bible," says Dr. Angus (Bible Handbook, p. 271). Let me say if I did not understand a passage that its meaning being doubtful to me, not that the meaning itself is doubtful, then let me wait on God to teach me its meaning.