Why Was the Bible Written

Before we take a look into the reason behind multiple translations of the Bible and what it means for us, I think it’s important to know why it even matters. Why was the Bible written in the first place?

Jesus said the following:

While some may see this as Jesus saying the scriptures are not important, I would beg to differ. Jesus did not tell them not to search the scriptures and to come to Him instead. Jesus told them to SEARCH the scriptures because they believed they could find eternal life in them. Then Jesus said, AND they testify of Him. So Jesus was telling them that YES, they could find eternal life through them because they point to Jesus!

We need to understand that the scriptures testify of Jesus. They are a witness to tell us about Him. The scriptures are a messenger sent to speak to us in the name of the One who sent the message. This is one of the reasons the Bible is so important.

Not All Messengers Tell the Truth

But the Bible itself is one witness among thousands, all of which seem to say different things. The voices of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and many others give witness to something else. So who is telling the lies, and who is telling the truth?

Abraham had God Himself talking with him. Jacob wrestled with an actual physical representation of the Lord. These people didn’t need the Bible because the Author was right there telling them the story Himself. All of these people met the same God. They all gave testimony about Him that matches who He is. With 66 books in the Bible written by multiple people over multiple centuries all testifying to the same thing, we have a strong agreement on who God is.

As for the other “witnesses,” none of them have nearly the same kind of consistent testimony. Islam, as an example, actually contradicts itself because their scriptures say the Torah is right and incorruptible. But because it is against Mohamed, they have to say it was corrupted. So they contradict themselves.

We can’t simply trust anyone who says they heard from God. Many people think they know God better than anyone else. They are the only ones that know what He really is like. And it’s true—because their god is themselves!

If their god, or your god, is only known to you and no one else, it is not really the one unchanging God. It is a god based on your own desires and ego. The real God will be known by multiple people, and they are going to give testimony that will agree with each other.

The Unknown God

Paul explains that these people worship a God they did not know. They knew He existed because of the creation of the world. They knew He was not a created thing. They knew He gave life. They knew that He had authority over man. They knew a little bit ABOUT Him. But they didn’t know Him.

These people didn’t know what His voice was like. They didn’t know if He was merciful, believed in justice, or if He was involved at all in the lives of people other than giving them life itself. How could they know these things for sure? They had not met Him, nor had anyone told them.

Only those God had been with, such as Abraham, could tell others about Him. Only those who had been eyewitnesses to Him could know Him well enough to instruct others. Only a faithful witness could give them the information they needed in order to call upon Him to meet with Him themselves. This is one reason we have the Bible. It is the eyewitness accounts of multiple people through time, which testify to us who God is.

The Bible Has Many Uses

The Bible is able to test doctrine and give us information in a way that can refute false gods and teachings. We can use the witness of the Bible to rebuke spirits and the doctrines of devils. We may be able to know God without the Bible. But the scriptures are certainly useful to know Him in a more solid way.

Soothe the Itching Ear

This verse is often misunderstood. It isn’t saying people don’t want to listen. It is saying they crave hearing something and heap teachers to themselves to hear it. But what they crave is to be told they are right. They want to hear only what they already believe. Sadly we don’t always want to hear the objective witnesses all around us. Because in our minds we already know what is true. So we immediately shut our ears to anything else.

We think this is safe and that is why we do it. It seems safe because if we DO believe something that is true we can not be tricked if we hear something else. Even if the lie we are told comes from a thousand other people. And being honest, the majority often are actually wrong.

So to shield ourselves we simply shut our ears. We can’t fall for another lie that way. But the problem is we can still fall to our own lie. And there is no way to be corrected.

So we need to have a better way of protecting ourselves from lies, even from our own. We should not shut our ears and pretend there is nothing that could oppose us. It’s like saying I am not afraid of the battle because I am strong, while we hide in a cave. Instead we should be running into the fight. If we fall then maybe it’s because we aren’t as strong as we think?

After we open our ears we will see exactly how strong or weak we are. If we are weak then we will have an opportunity to explore the area of weakness to become stronger. If we are strong then we can rest even more sure knowing that what we believe is true, beyond any doubt.

Again, this is another reason we have the Bible.

Why Is The Bible Important

So what benefit does knowing the scriptures give us? Why were they written?

That you might believe and have life:

That you may know what to believe:

That you would be informed well enough to preach, teach, rebuke, correct, and exhort:

That you would know God and His ways by example:

That you would know how to walk pleasing to God:

To preserve the knowledge of God among the people, lest we forget Him and His word:

To make it known with certainty who tells the truth about God:

That we would become of one mind and one body, all in agreement:

Nothing can a witness faster than the question their integrity. If a witness is caught in a lie then they can not be trusted. Their entire testimony will seem questionable at best and invalid at worst.

The Bible has endured A LOT of testing in this area! In fact, in recent days a visual representation of 439 supposed contradictions in the Bible has been online. The KJV was the translation used to quote from.

This is quite an accusation! But, when you begin to examine these contradictions you begin to understand that they are not contradictions. They are misunderstandings on the part of the one doing the accusing.

In fact, if you absolutely must know each one listed and an explanation of why they are not contradictory then see them here: Answering Skeptics.

The integrity of the KJV has held its own for MANY centuries against this harsh testing. It has been slandered far more than any other writing. So don’t take the word of someone that says it is full of contradictions. Don’t even accept their “examples” without first examining them very closely!

There is also the testing of the integrity of the Bible on moral grounds. This type of testing, however, is a simple “I know better than you” type of thing. Basically, man asserts his morality to be greater than the God of the Bible. Of course, this forgets where morality, right and wrong, come from. So this is not a good test.

The Bible has also been tested based on those who use it. In other words, there is a belief that the Bible is guilty through association with others who are guilty. This test is also an invalid test. The Bible stands on its own and the deeds of men who preach the Bible does not change the message of the Bible itself.

So one of the only valid tests is that of contradictions or falsehoods. The Bible has passed all such tests, even if it is asserted that it hasn’t. If you would like to see a list of things that skeptics say are false in the Bible, with the explanation of how they are actually true, then I recommend finding a course on apologetics. I am currently working on one for On The Line Ministries.

Testing the Message of the Bible

The best test of the Bible is its ability to speak the truth about things at the time of its writing, as well as historical things, and the future. Because the Bible claims to be the word of God it must be able to tell the future with 100% accuracy.

Again, in this test, the KJV is accurate thus far. In fact, even when it seemed impossible for things in the Bible to happen, those things did happen.

Take Daniel chapter 11 for example. While there are still things to come it is clear that much of the chapter has already happened. This includes the rise and fall of empires not yet known at the time of Daniel. Not only does the chapter include kingdom events, but also the specific events in the lives of the kings. View this link for more information on that, and to know where we currently are in the prophetic timeline: Daniel And 70 Weeks.

So the Bible has been tested and proven to be trustworthy. But there is one more problem. One method that Satan uses to hide the truth is by telling lies that look very similar to the truth. In this case, that means Satan will try to bring other witnesses (bibles) that are very close to the proven one and say that they are the same. But they are not.

The next study will explain that in detail.

Unit 1:9 – The Canonization of the Bible OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 1 – The Bible and Faith in God