Why Should I Trust the Bible?

Series: Test Everything, Hold Fast · Date: August 23, 2026
Primary Texts: John 20:30–31; Luke 1:1–4; 2 Timothy 3:14–17; 2 Peter 1:16–21; 1 Corinthians 15:1–8

Lesson Objectives

• Distinguish inspiration, canon, transmission, translation, and interpretation.
• Explain the public and eyewitness character of the biblical testimony.
• Explain why textual variants do not mean the Bible has been lost.
• Correct the claim that Nicaea created the Bible or Jesus’ deity.

Thesis

The Bible gives us God-breathed Scripture, investigated testimony, a recoverable text, and a recognized apostolic witness that leads us to the risen Christ and calls us to obey Him.

1. Define the Question

Inspiration asks whether Scripture comes from God. Canon asks which writings belong. Transmission asks whether wording survived copying. Translation carries Hebrew and Greek into another language. Interpretation asks what a passage means.

1. When someone says, “The Bible has been changed,” what exact question should be asked first?

2. Why does a disputed interpretation not disprove inspiration?

2. Divine Source and Public Testimony

Scripture identifies itself as God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) and says men spoke from God while moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). Luke investigated sources. John selected witnessed signs. Peter denied invented myths. Paul named witnesses to the risen Christ.

3. What features in Luke 1:1–4 show historical intention?

4. Why is the resurrection the hinge question for confidence in Scripture?

Key Insight

One honestly studied claim is more useful than ten accusations exchanged too quickly.

Why Should I Trust the Bible?

Study Guide — Page 2

3. Copied, but Not Lost

No original biblical page is known to survive. Hand copying introduced differences, but copies spread through different regions and languages. Comparison exposes omissions, repetitions, spelling changes, and larger questions. Responsible translations mark significant variants instead of hiding them.

5. How do many surviving copies help expose a copying mistake?

6. What do the notes at Mark 16:9–20 or John 7:53–8:11 demonstrate about the evidence?

4. Recognized, Not Created at Nicaea

Apostolic writings circulated with authority before fourth-century councils. Churches examined apostolic origin, age, doctrine, reception, and public use. Nicaea met in AD 325 over a dispute about the Son; its surviving rulings contain no list of biblical books. The earliest surviving exact twenty-seven-book list comes from Athanasius in AD 367.

7. What is the difference between a writing’s authority and the church’s recognition of it?

8. Which surviving Nicene document lists the books of the Bible?

5. Examine Honestly—Then Face Jesus

A contradiction affirms and denies the same claim in the same respect. Difference, omission, perspective, and textual variation are not automatically contradictions. State both claims exactly, read both contexts, check the notes, and admit what remains uncertain.

John’s purpose: the written signs identify Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, so that believing we may have life in His name. The Scriptures do not ask us to admire a book while refusing its Lord.

Application

• Personal: Choose one objection. Record what the evidence establishes, what it permits, and what remains uncertain.
• Congregational: Make room for serious questions while refusing weak arguments and careless exaggeration.
• Central response: Give concentrated attention to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Personal Response

Truth to hold:

Obedience to practice:

Error to reject:

Prayer: