Question:

Many non-Christians see the Bible as just another book rather than accepting that it is inspired. What do we say to the non- beliver about the Insipriation of Scriptures? Answer: To be honest with you, Randy, this is really too broad a question for me to frame a reasonable answer.  My simple answer is send them to my web site, and challenge them to look around.  Another answer is that I would give them a copy of my book "Reasons for Belief" (available at www.ipibooks.com) which is a pretty comprehensive, even if basic, introduction to the reasons to believe the Bible is inspired.   Let me give you an outline you can use to start answering this question.  Each point in the outline could be followed up by literally dozens of articles and Q & A’s at my web site or by a book I have written, but in any case, here we go: 1. The Bible is by far, without any even close comparison, the most accurate book of ancient history we have.  This is evidence that the historical content, as well as the other content are inspired by God. 2. Although the Bible is not a science book, it is a God-book, it just so happens that the scientifally relevant information in the Bible is without exception accurate.  This uncanny scientific accuracy, especially when compared to the kind of things written by other cultures, and even the Jews in the ancient world is clear evidence for inspiration. 3. The messianic prophecies (and there are dozens) which are all fulfilled with mind-boggling accuracy in the life of Jesus Christ are very strong evidence for inspiration. 4. The other historical prophecies, especially those in the Book of Daniel are absolutely astounding evidence for the inspiration of the Bible (BTW, I wrote a book on this.  "Daniel, Prophet to the Nations" also available at www.ipibooks.com) 5. The Bible provides what is by far the best answer to the questions which human beings care about.  It answers the question of suffering, the question of free will, the question of death, the question of purpose and a host of other key human questions in a way which no other book no other philosophy, no other religion can come even close to in terms of the quality of the answers. 6.  The Bible, despite being written by dozens of authors over a period of one thousand five hundred years, is fantastically consistent in both message and teaching.  This is evidence for inspiration. 7.  The Bible is the greatest book ever written on philosophy, psychology, relationships and any number of other topics.  All of these are evidence for inspiration of the Bible. 8.  Given the incredible array of prefigures, foreshadows, types and antitypes which connect the Old and the New Testament, this also provides a wealth of evidence for the inspiration of the Bible (see my book "From Shadow to Reality", also at www.ipibooks.com) Like I already said, each of these points are backed up by dozens of articles and Q & A’s at the web site.  I will freely admit that in this extremely short response I am not proving the claims I am making to be true.  Just look around and you will see.  If you have a more specific question, feel free to ask. I hope this helps. John Oakes, PhD