It’s been way too long since I did an installment in this series, and we’re not even half way through yet. I am passionate about the Bible because I am passionate about the God that it tells me about. Since it has been so long, it makes some since to have a look back at what we’ve covered thus far:
- Introduction to Series [07/29/2009]
- #1 – The Bible’s Claims About Itself (Inspired By God)
- #2 – The Bible Call Us to Test It
- #3 – The Bible is a Book of History
- #4 – The Bible is Internally Consistent
- #5 – The Bible is Unique Amongst Books (Literary Uniqueness)
- #6 – The Supernatural Survival of the Text
- #7 – The Reliability of Transmission of the Old Testament
- #8 – The Bibliographic Evidence for the New Testament
- #9A – The Process of Canonization (Old Testament)
- #9B – The Process of Canonization (New Testament)
- #10 – Eyewitness Evidence
- #11 – The Honesty of the Bible About Its Authors and Heroes
With that brief recap, it’s time to move on to reason #12 that I believe the Bible is true and that is the hardships that found its authors and their unwillingness to renounce anything that they had written.
Church history tells us that 11 of the 12 disciples dies a martyr’s death because they refused to renounce the story they were spreading of Jesus Christ. James, Bartholomew, Andrew, Phillip and Simon were crucified. Peter requested that he be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy of dying the same way as his Lord. James and Mathias were stoned to death. Matthew, James and Thomas died by the sword. Even Paul was beheaded for his believe in Christ. John was the only disciple to escape martyrdom, and it wasn’t for lack of trying. Church tradition tells us the he was boiled in hot oil before being exiled to Patmos. Many of these disciples penned much of the New Testament, but rather than denounce what they had preached and avoid persecution, they chose to die for what they believed. In and of itself the martyrdom of these men does not prove the Bible to be true. However, while it is possible that one man may choose to die for a lie, it is hard to believe that so many would die and none would recount their story if it were not true.
Here is another article I published over on