The other day, when as I was loading my laptop, the “news” column had this amongst the headlines: “New Evidence that Jesus had a Brother.” I know I should not be amazed by the great lengths some will go to try to discredit the Bible, but this is a new one.
Things like this ultimately raise the questions: How do we know the Bible is actually the ‘Word of God,’ and ‘Why can we believe it is accurate?’ Everyone who calls themselves a “Christian” must be able to answer these questions. I am not saying you need to have a Master’s in the Bible or Theology, but we are all called to defend our faith (Biblical Apologetics). My church is currently working its way through the Baptist Catechism. Questions 4 to 6 are prime examples of what I mean by being able to answer false rhetoric and questions about the Holy Word of God.
Questions 4, 5, and 6 from the Baptist Catechism
- Q. What is the word of God?
A. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, and the only certain rule of faith and obedience (2 Tim. 3:16; Eph. 2:20). - Q. May all men make use of the holy scriptures?
A. All men are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted to read, hear, and understand the holy scriptures (John 5:38; John 17:17,18; Rev.1:3; Acts 8:30). - Q. What things are chiefly contained in the holy scriptures?
A. The holy scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man (2 Tim. 1:13; 3:15,16).
Below is some more study material I have found useful. I hope the following resources help you too.
STUDY
Is the Bible truly God’s Word? – GotQuestions.org
Is the Bible truly God’s Word?
Is the Bible True? Explaining That the Bible Is God’s Word
How can I trust the Bible is God’s Word?
Trusting the Bible as God’s Word rests on understanding its divine origin and the implications that follow from it. The apostle Paul declares that “All Scripture is breathed out by God,”1 a claim that fundamentally shapes how we approach the text. Peter similarly affirms that the Holy Spirit accomplished the process of inspiration, clarifying how God produced Scripture through human authors.1
This doctrine of inspiration carries three critical consequences. First, the source of Scripture determines its level of authority—if these words originate in God, they carry God’s authority.1 Second, inspiration is inseparably linked to biblical inerrancy and infallibility, which teach that the Bible is absolutely true and absolutely trustworthy.2 Because the Bible is the inspired Word of God, it is free from error.3 Third, this foundation shapes how we interpret and apply Scripture—not as a human collection of reflections, but as God’s communication to us.
The stakes of accepting or rejecting this doctrine are profound. To reject inspiration means abandoning the authority of Christ and the apostles as doctrinal authorities, since they themselves taught this doctrine, and their claims no longer hold weight.4 More fundamentally, rejecting inspiration means rejecting biblical authority itself, since Scripture’s authority is based upon its inspiration—without the latter, the former ceases to exist.4
Practically, the Bible exhibits unity and internal consistency, allowing us to use Scripture to interpret Scripture.3 When people face heartache, sorrow, testing, and trials, the only thing providing real confidence and hope is the inspired Word of God—there is no other anchor that compares.2 Trusting the Bible as God’s Word means accepting its testimony about itself and allowing that conviction to shape both belief and practice.
- 1Jonathan D. Watson, “Trusting and Applying Our Ancient Text,” in Ancient Text, Modern World: Building a God-Centered Worldview in a Me-Centered World, ed. Jonathan Denton (Randall House Academic, 2023), 58–59.
- 2Bill Bright, How Can I Understand the Bible? God’s Word Can Change Your Life (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2016). [See here, here.]
- 3Got Questions Ministries, Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2014–2021). [See here, here.]
- 4Matthew Barrett and R. Albert Mohler Jr., God’s Word Alone—the Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught…and Why It Still Matters, The 5 Solas Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2016), 262–263.
AI LOGOS generated a response to “Is the Bible Inspired?
Why is Biblical Inspiration Important for my Faith?
Biblical inspiration matters fundamentally to your faith because it establishes the reliability of God’s communication to you. Scripture itself teaches that it is divinely inspired, and this doctrine provides the only assurance that the God whose promises you depend on is genuinely the God of history.1 Without this foundation, you’d face an impossible situation: you’d be left choosing which parts of the Bible to accept based on personal preference, leaving moral commands and the offer of grace entirely subjective rather than grounded in divine authority.1
The practical significance becomes clearer when you consider the noise of contemporary life. The inspired word of God cuts through the endless stream of competing messages and speaks with an authority that transcends human opinion.1 This matters because while Christianity’s truth doesn’t depend on biblical inspiration for its historical validity, your ability to know precisely what Christianity teaches does depend on Scripture’s trustworthiness, since a supernatural religion can only be understood through its own account of itself.2
Importantly, theologians distinguish between Christianity’s historical credibility and Scripture’s reliability. The church has consistently affirmed biblical inspiration because it recognizes that the trustworthiness of Scripture underlies both the church’s teaching of doctrine as God’s truth and the individual Christian’s confidence in gospel promises.3 For the average believer—who cannot be a trained historical scholar—faith rests on Scripture’s reliability rather than requiring exhaustive personal investigation into Christianity’s origins.3 This means inspiration isn’t merely an academic doctrine; it’s the bedrock enabling you to trust God’s promises with confidence rather than uncertainty.
- 1Samuel James, Does It Matter What I Believe?, 9Marks: Church Questions (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), 25–27.
- 2William Brenton Greene Jr., “The Inspiration of the Bible,” The Princeton Theological Review (1924), 237.
- 3Benjamin B. Warfield, The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield: Revelation and Inspiration (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 66–68.
AI LOGOS generated a response to “Is the Bible Inspired?
DEEPER STUDY
Divine Inspiration of the Bible
THEOLOGY FOR THE PEOPLE Biblical Doctrine, Plainly Stated THE WORD OF GOD
DEVOTION
Why We Believe the Bible
The Two Witnesses of Scripture
How do we know that the Bible is truly the Word of God? In this thoughtful article, Jeff Johnson explains that Scripture bears witness to itself in two complementary ways. First, the Bible testifies objectively through its divine qualities, its authority, power, and perfect truthfulness, which reflect the character of the God who breathed it out. Second, the Holy Spirit works subjectively in the hearts of believers, opening their eyes to recognize and embrace that truth.
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