There is one book that has stood the test of time like no other in human history. It is a compilation of stories that span over 4 millennia. This book is more durable than stone and has outlasted kingdoms and empires to stand as the number one most recognized book of all time. This seems too incredible to believe, almost supernatural. It sounds like something not made by human hands, but a force created to last as long as the earth itself. What is it?
I would like to share with you what I believe to be the truth about this force. The truth about the compilation of these stories that have stood the test of time. I want to share with you what I believe to be the truth about what we call the Bible. I believe the Bible is no ordinary book and is unlike any other book ever created in the history of mankind. It is, in fact, a supernatural book.
Webster’s dictionary defines “supernatural” as “of or relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe. Especially, of or relating to God. Departing from what is usual or normal, to transcend the laws of nature” and if we look at the Bible’s impact on human existence since its inception, it is a remarkable and unnatural book. It is like nothing else we have ever seen. Take the title for instance. The very first “unnatural” fact about the Bible is it is nameless. What do I mean by this, you ask? Well, every book has a title. Every single book from the beginning of time that has been written, shared, and published all have some sort of title. The Bible has no formal title. It’s simply called “The Bible”. Now you may be thinking, but that is the title, “The Bible”. The word “Bible” is a word derived from the Greek word biblion, which simply means book. Yes, what we Christians carry to church on Sunday and what people customarily place their left hand on to swear under oath in a court of law, is simply called THE BOOK. So, when someone asks you what you are reading you can tell them “The Book”. That is an appropriate name for it, THE BOOK, because it is the most important book you will ever read. It is the undisputed and supreme book in all of human history, there is no other book that can even compare to THE BOOK, THE BIBLE. Because no other book is supernatural. Every other book is secondary. It has paved the way for some of the most outstanding discoveries in human history. Without “The Book”, understanding of oceanography mentioned in the video about Matthew Maury “with his Bible by his side” and other scientists like Louis Pasteur, who was a strong Christian, could not have made the discoveries they did. Christian scientist, George Washington Carver, called the world’s greatest biochemist and the genius of the Tuskegee Institute left us with great contributions to the scientific community.
He is best known for his discovery of hundreds of valuable uses for the peanut. In 1921, Dr. Carver was invited to testify before the United States Senate Ways and Means Committee on the possibilities of the peanut. Initially, he was given ten minutes to speak, but he so captivated the committee that the chairman said, “Go ahead, your time, Dr. Carver, is unlimited.” Carver spoke for one hour and forty-five minutes. At the end of his presentation the chairman asked, “Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?” Carver replied, “From an old Book.” “What book?”, the Senator asked. The famed scientist replied, “The Bible.” As he heard this, the surprised Senator asked, “Does the Bible tell us about peanuts?” “No Sir,” Dr. Carver replied. “But it tells about the God who made the peanut, and I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut. And He did.”(http://www.drpipim.org/features/the-bible/92-the-bible-a-book-like-no-other-1) This supernatural book, the Bible, has done and can do more than all the books on Amazon to advance the human experience and our knowledge of everything around us, but only and I mean only, if we pay attention to it. Without the supernatural power of God and His word, we would be very limited today in our understanding of what He has created. The great statesmen, politician, and philosopher, Thomas Jefferson, also spoke highly about The Book. He said, “I have said and always will say that the studious perusal of the Sacred Volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands… The Bible makes the best people in the world.” No question about it, the Bible does make the best people in the world. It’s a special book, it’s like no other book, and it stands light years above all other books written or ever will be written. See, unlike natural books, the Bible was written over a period of 1600 years, on three continents—Asia, Africa, and Europe—and in three languages—Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. It was written by 40 different authors all from different backgrounds: philosophers, kings, tax collector, vagabonds, poets, statesmen and even a doctor. It is divided into 66 smaller books, yet there is continuity and a consistency with one common theme woven throughout its’ pages. Although today you may not see it on the “best sellers” list, but it should be. If people running the list looked at the sales, the Bible would stay on the best seller list forever. In 2020, the annual sales figures for the Bible were so high, averaging $430m repeatedly – year after year, that it dwarfs the sales of all other books https://wordsrated.com/bible-sales-statistics/. The best any other book in the world can hope for is second place and a very distant second place at that.
People throughout the world read a ton of books, usually finish and then going on to the next one. Not the Bible! People read it over and over throughout their lifetime. They memorize verses, write songs with its words, use biblical phases on t-shirts, and even incorporate it into their vernacular and daily speech. Did you know the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothing” came from what Jesus said in Matt 7? “Do unto others as you would have done to you”, as said by Jesus. In fact, a Roman Emperor eventually put that statement on a gold plaque on his palace and people called it the golden rule. The phrase “See the writing on the wall” came from Daniel 5. Yes, we have been quoting the Bible for centuries and didn’t even realize it.
On average, there are 100 million Bibles printed each year making a staggering total of over 6 billion in print, and that is 140% more than the 2.5 billion copies in print back in 1975 (https://wordsrated.com/bible-sales-statistics/). In 2022 alone, the number of Bibles sold in the US is conservatively estimated at 25 million. Barna research indicates that 92% of all American households have at least one Bible. Those statistics are even more impressive when you consider the fact that of all the new books that are written and published every year, less than one percent, are still being produced just seven years later (http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/odds-of-being-published/). Just seven years later, only 1% are reproduced… let me put that in perspective for you. The first printed book was completed in 1455 by the Gutenburge press. It was The Book, The Bible. That’s almost 600 years ago and The Bible is still going strong. Over 100M are printed every year worldwide. The Book has survived bans, burnings, ridicule, and criticism. Kings, princes, and rulers have all tried to eradicate the Bible and have been unsuccessful. The Bible has been subjected to more abuse, perversion, destructive criticism, and pure hate than any other book. Yet, it continues to stand the test of time while its critics are refuted, dead, and forgotten. As one author said, “The Book has come down to us floating upon a sea of blood—every page stained with the blood of martyrs.” (http://www.drpipim.org/features/the-bible/92-the-bible-a-book-like-no-other-1) The Bible is the single most translated book in history. It is written in 2,123 different languages. No other book comes close to the Bible’s availability. Today, we hear, read, and watch science shows that try to discredit the Bible, especially the Old Testament. I’ve heard on many occasions and I’m sure you’ve heard them to. People say the stories in the Bible are too farfetched, there’s no way all that happened. Adam and Eve, The Flood, King David, King Solomon and all his riches. No way that happened. It must all be allegory like the stories the Greeks would write about their gods. People have made it their life passion to try and discredit the Bible and prove that it is not the word of God. People think they can find contradictions all through the Bible, and that archeological findings prove the contradictions in the Bible. One example is in Daniel 5 the Bible references a man named Belshazzar as the King of Babylon. But the historical records held that another man was King of Babylon. This was held up as a clear-cut contradiction for years. However, in 1956, archaeologists unearthed three stones that contained the inscribed information that solved the problem. It seems that the man who was King decided to lead his armies into battle and so he temporarily installed Belshazzar as King. So, the Bible was proven to be more accurate than our historical records up until 1956 had indicated. A more recent discovery was unearthed around King David. The Bible says the young David slew the Philistine giant, Goliath, and went on to found Jerusalem. David’s story is an exciting tale of murder, adultery, deceit, and extraordinary faith and courage. The story is so fantastic, many Biblical scholars had long thought, that even David must have been made up because other than the Bible there was no record of him existing. Then came “one of the greatest finds of the 20th century.” In 1993, Israeli archaeologists, digging in the Golan Heights unearthed a piece of stone from an ancient monument. Inscribed upon it, in ancient Aramaic, were the words “King of Israel” and “House of David”.(https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9612/961208/12090110.htm) It’s funny, time and time again the Bible is proven true and with each archeological dig, each ancient document unearthed, or each ancient king discovered points directly to the accuracy of the Bible. Okay, fine that’s stuff in the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? A lot of grandiose stories there as well. Jesus and all His miracles, Paul’s miraculous conversion, Pentecost, and the saving of 3,000 people. How could all of this be true?
A man by the name of Sir William Mitchell Ramsay a Scottish archaeologist doubted the reliability of the New Testament and the writings of Luke. When he first went to Asia Minor, many of the cities mentioned in Acts had no known location and almost nothing was known of their detailed history or politics. The Acts of the Apostles was the only record and Ramsay fully expected his own research would prove that Luke was hopelessly inaccurate. He set out to put the writer of Acts on trial. He devoted his life to unearthing the ancient cities and documents of Asia Minor. After a lifetime of study, here is what Ramsay concluded: “Further study … showed that the book could bear the most minute scrutiny as an authority for the facts of the Aegean world, and that it was written with such judgment, skill, art and perception of truth as to be a model of historical statement”. He went on to say, “I set out to look for truth on the borderland where Greece and Asia meet, and I found it there. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment…”(The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament pg.366) William Ramsay’s extensive archaeological and historical studies convinced him of the accuracy of Luke’s writing in the New Testament and that Jesus Christ existed. When he died in 1939, he had become the foremost authority on the history of Asia Minor and the leading scholar in the study of the New Testament. The King of England knighted him in 1906 because of the work he had done. Sir William Mitchell Ramsay called Luke the greatest historian to ever live. Without question the Old and the New Testament are the most accurate 2 volumes of God’s history you will ever read and the most precise historical 2 volumes you will ever encounter in your lifetime. So, how is it possible that 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, written over 1600 years and across 3 continents retain its accuracy to the original writings? Over time people add things and miss things and lose things. How has it possibly held its’ authenticity down through history?
The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest known records of the Old Testament. When they were found in the Qumran caves in the West Bank near the Dead Sea, they contained fragments of every book in the Old Testament except the book of Esther. More than 10 scrolls were beautifully preserved intact including 2 copies of Isaiah. Before we discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1946, we thought we had the oldest known copies called The Masoretic text, but archeologists found the Dead Sea Scrolls were written 1,000 years before The Masoretic Text. When the 2 were compared together. The Masoretic Text and The Dead Sea Scrolls guess what was discovered? They matched together perfectly. No other ancient writings can claim this level of accuracy. But, what about the New Testament? Historians and scholars who study ancient writings and ancient text say, the higher the number of copies, and the greater the similarity between the copies, the more likely that the copies are true to the original writing. In the case of the New Testament, the number of ancient manuscripts is overwhelming evidence of its authenticity. In fact, there are more ancient copies of the New Testament than any other document in all of literature. The New Testament has 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today and the accuracy of all of those text matching is 99.5%. Scholars call this “textually pure”. That means there are no flaws or miss quotes from any of the originals and that .5% that keeps it from being 100% perfect is because of misspellings, and differences in the phraseology. There are no other writings in existence that come close to the number of manuscripts and the level of accuracy than the New Testament writings. Here is an example of another ancient writing that has gone through the copy machine a few times.
Let’s see how “textually pure” it is. The book we all had to read in high school. The “Iliad” by Homer is second to the New Testament with only 643 copies and is 95% accurate, or “textually pure” to the originals. So, if anybody tries to dismiss the reliability and accuracy of the New Testament, then they must also dismiss the reliability of the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, and Homer. Without a doubt when reading through your version of the New Testament you can be sure it is virtually identical to the original writings that came from Matthew, Paul, Luke, James, Peter and all the other writers of the New Testament.
All of what I have told you point to the Bible being a supernatural book, but I want to share with you one more example of why the Bible is without question unlike anything ever written or ever will be written.
There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that were literally fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. What are the chances that 300 prophecies foretold of this man Jesus going back in time from 400 to 4000 years before He came onto the scene could come true?
Peter Stoner in his book, Science Speaks, says, “…the probability or chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled just eight of the 300 prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That’s 1 with 17 zeros after it. Folks, that is 100 quadrillion, and in order to comprehend the odds of just 8 of the 300 prophecies written thousands of years before they came true imagine taking 100 quadrillion silver dollars and laying them on the face of the state of Texas. If you could do that, they would cover the entire state two feet deep. But, before you lay them out mark one of the 100 quadrillion silver dollars with a red check, just 1 and then somehow stir the whole pile thoroughly, mixing them up all over the whole state of Texas. Now, put on a blindfold, travel as far as you wish, to anywhere in Texas, and, on the first try you pick up the one silver dollar with that red checkmark. The chance of that happening is the same as the chance of just 8 messianic prophecies coming true in any one man. Not all 300 prophecies, but 8 of those 300. As Peter said in 2 Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”. The Bible is a supernatural book without question. The one-time professor of English at Princeton University, author and diplomat Henry Van Dyke said this about the Bible, this supernatural book.
“Born in the East and clothed in Oriental form and imagery, the Bible walks the ways of all the world with familiar feet and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. It comes into the palace to tell the monarch that he is a servant of the Most High, and into the cottage to assure the peasant that he is a son of God. Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight, and the wise men ponder them as parables of life. It has a word of peace for the time of peril, and word of comfort for the day of calamity, a word of light for the hour of darkness. Its oracles are repeated in the assembly of the people, and its counsels whispered in the ear of the lonely. The wicked and the proud tremble at its warning, but to the wounded and the penitent it has a mother’s voice. The wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad by it, and the fire on the hearth has lit the reading of its well-worn page. It has woven itself into our deepest affections and colored our dearest dreams; so that love and friendship, sympathy and devotion, memory, and hope, put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech, breathing frankincense and myrrh. . . No one is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own. When the landscape darkens and the trembling pilgrim comes to the valley named “of the shadow,” he is not afraid to enter he takes the rod and staff of Scripture in his hand; he says to friend and comrade, “Good-by; we shall meet again;” and comforted by that support, he goes toward the lonely pass as one who walks through darkness into light.” Brothers and sisters, the power of God is manifested in this book, and you will never understand the full character and power of our All Mighty this side of heaven without reading it. I have dedicated CrackABible.com to this cause of studying and spreading the message of this supernatural and amazing book. Study it and make it a part of your life because there is never a better time to crack a Bible.
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