THE BOOK OF LOVE: PART FOUR

There is a temptation to defend the authenticity of the Bible by showing the hundreds of Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. But alas, that is worthless because of it being circular reasoning. There is, however, a way that the Bible can be used to prove it is the God-inspired writing Christians claim it to be. And just as showing the scientific accuracy of the Bible long before the discoveries of man supports the supernatural authorship, so do its prophecies which were later fulfilled in our History books.

Certainly, there is much evidence within its pages that demonstrate its own accuracy which believers point to as verifying its authorship, there is also external historical proof. Let's suppose that a man, living over twenty-five hundred years ago, wrote you a letter that said a specific group of people were going to take up residence in your back yard; when it occurred, would you believe he was given special knowledge of the future? Well unfortunately, the Palestinians do not, because when the United Nations gave the Jews the home of their ancestors in 1948, instead of accepting it as being God's will, they have continually tried to exterminate them.

Daniel, writing in about 600 B.C., prophesied that there would be four empires which would follow one another in controlling the known world. He named them in order, even using the actual names of the first three, and identified the fourth by context. He was writing during the first empire's existence, and told the King of Babylon that his kingdom (Dan. 2:37-38) would fall to the Medes and Persians (Dan. 2:39 w/ 5:31; 6:8, 15; 8:20). Then, Medo-Persia would fall to the Greeks (Dan. 8:21-26), followed by an unnamed empire which would use a false peace to conquer (Dan. 8:23-25 - Pax Romano - the peace of Rome). By comparing Daniel 2:40, 8:23-25, and 9:24-27, it should be clear that the fourth empire is Rome. It is possible for a man to see the eminent danger from a nation which is threatening (Medo-Persia), but it is not possible to name the nation who would destroy that nation (Greece). The span of over six hundred years makes it highly unlikely that the man could prophesy the destruction of the capital city of another nation by the fourth empire (Rome destroyed Jerusalem in A.D. 70).

There are many who deny the authenticity of Daniel, claiming it was written much latter, even after all the events it purports to foretell, but even if they were partly correct, it still had to have been written prior to the translating of the Hebrew Bible into the Greek Septuagint in around 200 B.C. And of course, that predates the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Bible speaks of future things which would occur that were impossible for the writers to comprehend. For two bodies to lie for three and a half days in the streets, and be seen by the entire world, requires a satellite and televisions (Rev. 11:9). Yes, Science and History serve to demonstrate the miraculous reality of the Word of God. I know it is true; it turned this atheist in to a fanatic with one reading!