Can We Trust Anything These Days?

First, congratulations to the winners of last week’s book give away!  You were notified by email, so check those inboxes! 🙂 And now for a little encouragement…

 

“Believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see.”

Edgar Allan Poe penned this is statement in November, 1845. In case you’re counting, that’s 175 years ago.

I guess it’s true; the more things change, the more things stay the same. Today, more than ever, we’re left wondering what to believe.

Which leads to the question: Is there any place we can find reliable, unchanging truth?

Yes. Absolutely, yes.

I’m about to make a case for the reliability of the Bible based on nothing more than current events. Of course, entire books have been written on the evidence for the Bible’s authority and reliability (I’ll suggest a few at the end of this post), but a quick examination of today’s cultural wars validates the Bible and it’s reliability in ways you might never have considered.

To set the stage, let’s start with a few facts about the Bible:

1. The Bible is one book which contains 66 separate books.
2. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years.
3. The Bible was written by 40 + authors.
4. The Bible was written in three languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic).
5. The Bible was written on three continents.
6. The Bible was written by authors from widely diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, socio-economic levels, educational backgrounds, and occupational choices.

In short, Biblical authors were not a homogeneous group. Imagine the disparity between a person born on one continent 15 centuries before one born on another continent. Language, culture, values, trends–virtually everything would be different between the two.

Now consider two people born in the United States in the same time period who both speak English, watch Netflix, have laptops, depend on i-phones, and root for a favorite sports team. Their world views should be roughly the same, right?

But as we look at our cultural climate, we see that’s not necessarily the case. Even with all the commonality of two people who live in the same year, in the same country, world views could be (and, in fact, likely are) lightyears apart.

Their thoughts on Covid-19? Probably different.

Their thoughts on politics? Likely divergent.

Their thoughts on almost anything? Or everything?

The chances of their opinions lining up are about as accurate as a role of the dice.

And yet, the Bible, which was written by over 40 authors, who spoke three different languages, and wrote from three different continents over a period of 1500 years, all wrote with complete unity in their message.

The Bible contains one continual thread from the first word to the last: God reaching down in love through the promised Messiah, Jesus, to save us all.

If we, who live in the same country, speak the same language, and watch the same entertainment, can’t unite around one message, how on earth could the Biblical authors do it?

Simple. Their message wasn’t their own.

It was God’s.

Only a divine explanation makes sense.

Don’t believe it?

Look around. Listen for the myriad of voices, opinions, solutions, blaming and name-calling going on in just one day in our culture. Now look at God. Look at His love shown in Jesus Christ. Then remember the consistency of His Word. It’s nothing short of miraculous–but would you expect God’s Word to be anything less?

So, back to our question: is there anything we can trust these days?  Some truth that won’t change, even as culture does?

The Word of God is reliable enough to build our life on. Today. Tomorrow. And for the rest of our life.

In the midst of all the chaos in our world, the Bible is worth a read, don’t you think? If you’re not sure where to start, check out the post I wrote on how to read the Bible, here.

For more information on the reliability of the Bible, check out these resources:

1. Searching for the Original Bible By Randall Price
2. More Than A Carpenter By Josh McDowell
3. Seek: A Woman’s Guide to Meeting God By Donna Jones
4. Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels By J. Warner Wallace

And if you are looking for a dose of spiritual encouragement during this very difficult season, I’ll be one of 15 speakers at the online virtual conference July 24-25, Rebound Your Highest; Coming Back Stronger After The Struggle. 

You’ll have 30 days of access to the content. To register, click here.

Did you know Donna shares “Weekly Wisdom” videos on Instagram and Facebook?  Follow her @donnaajones on Instagram or Donna Jones, Speaker & Author on Facebook.