“The Bible presents no mere philosophical or moral message, but is the gripping account of the plan of redemption promised, accomplished, and applied by God himself. God shows himself to be at work on the stage of history, and with sovereign mastery lays out an intricate plot concerning the birth, life, death, and resurrection of history’s Protagonist (Jesus Christ). In its multi-colored splendor, the Bible speaks with one voice; it uniformly declares redemptive grace centered in Jesus Christ – the only sinless Man who is also the very Son of God, the Savior of sinners.”

The search is on. Can we find confidence in anyone or anything at all? Or are we left to our own devices and just dumb luck? Is life a meaningless series of serendipitous events, weaving moments of happiness into an ethereal fabric of emptiness?

Having begun to probe with a series of questions,[1] we then introduced a bold claim: that the Bible is reliable, wholly reliable.[2] It is worthy of our trust. But why is it so? And how can we know?

To be sure, more must be said to explain why you and I can know for sure.[3]

What is the Bible?

What is the Bible? This question could be (and has been) answered numerous ways. Speaking about its formal qualities, the Bible (from the Greek, “books”) or, as it is also called, the Holy Scriptures (from the Greek, “the holy writings”), consists of 66 books written over a period of approximately 1500 years, by the pens of 40 different human agents. At the hands of these writers, an assortment of different historical, cultural, linguistic, and educational contexts along with a variety of literary genres combine to produce a deliciously diverse flavor in the biblical texts.

But notably, through this vast historical, literary, and stylistic diversity comes a unified message of how God forgives sinners. The Bible presents no mere philosophical or moral message, but is the gripping account of the plan of redemption promised, accomplished, and applied by God himself. God shows himself to be at work on the stage of history, and with sovereign mastery lays out an intricate plot concerning the birth, life, death, and resurrection of history’s Protagonist (Jesus Christ). In its multi-colored splendor, the Bible speaks with one voice; it uniformly declares redemptive grace centered in Jesus Christ – the only sinless Man who is also the very Son of God, the Savior of sinners.

So when we say that the Bible is the Word of God, we mean that its Source is God, its message divinely given, and as God’s revelation, its character unlike any other document in the world. This does not mean that the Bible dropped from heaven like a parachute oblivious to human context and history. On the contrary, it is, as we will see in the next section, an earthy book. But in its earthiness, it is marked by stooping grace: God enters the human context, accomplishes redemption and speaks in understandable words to explain it.

Yet, though manifestly in human language and for humans, the Bible is nothing less than the very Word of God. While not a novel assertion, it is a sweeping one. The implications of this claim are comprehensive, categorically (re)shaping the way in which we should think about our lives and our world. Or put more properly, as God’s Word it is to be trusted – completely and confidently. Truly God’s Word, it demands our undivided attention.

But how can we be so sure? What makes the Bible different than other so-called holy books? What sets it apart from other religious, moral, and philosophical writings?

History attests to those who have believed the Bible unreservedly. To be sure, many have found the biblical redemptive message compelling enough to give their lives for it. Having understood what Christ’s death and resurrection meant to them, the sacrifice of their own lives seemed little to offer. Others, to be sure, have mocked the Bible and its message. As we consider the truthfulness of the Bible, it is surely important to remember that human response does not establish biblical truthfulness. The apologetic[4] of zeal can carry us only so far, as martyrs have died for many causes.

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