The Bible is utterly and absolutely unique among all other books for several reasons. It not only refers to itself as “The Word of God,” but offers many infallible proofs that it is.

The “Word” refers to the Living Word—Jesus Christ—and the written Word—the Bible. Upon close examination, the serious student will discover that the Word of God stands alone. There is no possible term of comparison between the Bible and Jesus Christ and any other so-called “holy book” or religious leader in history. Keep reading and you’ll see why.

God made sure no one could ever claim the Bible was a man-made conspiracy. It was written over the course of 1,500 years, on three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was written in three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. It was produced by 40 different writers, and yet it has a beginning, middle, and an end. Its main theme is the redemption of man and its main character is Jesus Christ. It speaks on hundreds of controversial topics in perfect harmony. Completed 1,900 years ago, the Bible tells us how the world began and how it will end; it reveals the purpose of man, and the future of mankind.

Bible prophecy is empirical proof that the Scriptures are divinely inspired. The reason is obvious. No human being can even come close to predicting the future with 100 percent accuracy. Only a person with omniscience can do that.

Dr. Wilbur Smith, who assembled a personal library of 29,000 volumes, concludes,

“Whatever one may think of the authority of and the message presented in the book we call the Bible, there is world-wide agreement that in more ways than one it is the most remarkable volume that has ever been produced in these some 5,000 years of writing on the part of the human race.

“It is the only volume ever produced by man, or a group of men, in which is to be found a large body of prophecies relating to individual nations, to Israel, to all the peoples of the earth, to certain cities, and to the coming of one who was to be the Messiah. The ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, known as divination, but not in the entire gamut of Greek and Latin literature, even though they use the words prophet and prophecy, can we find any real specific prophecy of a great historic event to come in the distant future, nor any prophecy of a Savior to arise in the human race.” ²

The Scriptures also contain metaphysical information that transcends the human intellect. From astronomy, to physics, to biology, to prophecy and more, the unbiased student will be forced to the inescapable conclusion that the Bible is a direct revelation from a vastly superior intelligence. The following are just a few examples of God’s omniscience:

How Miraculous Is Bible Prophecy?

Imagine that I predicted 1,000 years in advance the exact city in which the President of the United States would be born, his exact birth date, his nationality, what family he would come from, what kind of car he would drive, where he would go to school, what his name would be, what his father’s and mother’s names would be, how old he would be when he died, when and how he would die, plus dozens of his most significant accomplishments—all in specific detail—and I was 100 per cent accurate on every count. Would that be a miracle? That is exactly what the Bible did in reference to Jesus.

According to the mathematical science of probability, if a number has more than 50 zeros after it, the odds of that happening by chance is virtually impossible. To put this in perspective, the number of atoms in the known universe is believed to be 10 80. That is 1 with 80 zeros after it. According to Ph.D. astrophysicists and other qualified American science professors, the odds of fulfilling the Bible’s prophecies by chance alone are one out of a number expressed as 1 with 2,000 zeros after it!

Physics in the Bible?

The very first verse in the Bible perfectly parallels one of the greatest and most advanced physics equations ever discovered. Keep in mind that the Scriptures were written thousands of years before scientific research even began.

Einstein’s Theory of Relativity provided a basis for proof that time, space and matter (which is energy) were not only the foundational facts of science, but each had a beginning (as opposed to being eternal). The implications of this mathematical equation (math being a perfect science) were enormous; it left Einstein (and all the rest of us) staring in the face of God.

Incredibly, the Bible begins with these words, “In the beginning (that’s time) God created (that’s energy) the heavens (that’s space) and the earth (that’s matter). And that’s just the first verse! Just 5 chapters later we come to…

Noah’s Ark

In Genesis chapter 6 we have the record of God telling Noah to build the ark. As for the pseudo scientists who mock those who take this story literally, there are a couple of “minor details” they’ll need to explain before we decide who has the last laugh (there is nothing funny about an unbeliever, it’s only a phrase to make a point).

The author of the book of Genesis gave Noah the exact specifications necessary to build the ark, and to build it right. Here is what is recorded in Genesis 6:14-16:

“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.”

A cubit is the length of a man’s arm from his elbow to the tip of his middle finger (about a foot and a half). Based on the Biblical account, we know (within a matter of inches) how long, how wide and how high Noah’s ark was! That means we can test it. Interestingly, it was not until the 20th century that scientists built a scaled down model of Noah’s ark using the exact ratios of height, width, and length found in the Genesis account. They wanted to test the sea worthiness of its design. Estimating the weight for the proper ballast, they put their experiment to the test in a large tank filled with water. Then they produced waves, gradually increasing their intensity.

What they discovered was astounding. It wouldn’t sink! They concluded that a ship built to those specifications would have been one of the most sea worthy vessels ever constructed. What are the odds of Noah guessing how to build a ship of this magnitude and getting it right? About the same odds you would have of being struck by lightning twice in the same spot. How did Noah know this? He didn’t. God did.

Here is another inexplicable fact (humanly speaking) about Noah’s flood. Scientists have discovered marine fossils on mountain peaks all over the world, including Mt.Everest, the highest point on earth. How did the fossils of sea creatures ascend 29,000 feet above sea level? Do our atheistic “scientists” have an explanation for this? Were they flying fish? Or, maybe they came from another planet! The Bible provides the answer in Genesis 7:17-20:

“Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.”

Go to Answers in Genesis on the World Wide Web, to learn everything you ever wanted to know about Noah’s flood.

History and the Bible

Another unique thing about the Bible is the fact that God’s plan of redemption (the whole point of the Book) is interwoven in and through actual historical events. The Bible’s historical accuracy has been verified not only by secular historians, but by more than 100 years of painstaking research by archeologist’s. Most of the great Bible stories (names, dates, times, places and events) have been discovered by this scientific method and proven to be accurate time and again.

The Bible does not start out, “Once upon a time.” The origin of man begins in a real geographical location called the Garden of Eden. Its exact location is revealed in Genesis chapter 2 where we read,

“Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.”

In Genesis 2:11-14, the Word of God identifies the names and the location of these rivers!

“The name of the first is Pishon … the name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole. And the name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.”

Here we are today, approximately 6,000 years later and two of those rivers still exist. The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers meet in a place called “Al Qurnah”, which is located in southeastern Iraq.

Ancient history and the Bible

Herodotus, the Greek historian, is known as the “father of history” and was a contemporary of Malachi, the writer of the last Old Testament book. But the Bible records events going as far back as Abraham (2,000 years before Christ), and for that matter, it takes us all the way back to the creation of the world! There is no other book that can make such a claim.

Reading the Bible, we learn of the Mesopotamian world through the lives of the patriarchs. We see God’s plan of redemption played out in the epic drama of the Hebrew people being delivered from slavery in Egypt. What follows is the fascinating account of the children of God marching through the Red Sea, the revelation of God giving the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai and the beginning of the nation of Israel.

We learn the rich history of Israel’s rise to power under Kings Saul, David and Solomon. We also learn ofIsrael’s downfall because of her sin. The Bible does not cover up the dark side of its greatest characters. The Word of God tells it like it is. Three of its greatest heroes, Moses, King David and the Apostle Paul were all murderers.

Through the life of Daniel we read the history of the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was born during the reign of King Josiah of Judah, who was followed by his son Jehoiakim, who was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel’s prophecies concerning the future kingdoms that would rule the world were so precise, secular historians and skeptics insist they had to be written after the fact.

Through the eyes of Queen Esther we learn of the Persian Empire under King Ahasuerus and how God used Esther to save her people from annihilation.

It is no coincidence that the hero of the story (Jesus Christ) does not appear until the Roman Empire came to power. The phrase, “All roads lead to Rome,” was coined because Rome built roads that made travel much easier. Thus, another phrase was coined. With travel being vastly improved, so were communications. As a result, the Disciples of Christ were credited with “turning the world upside down” with the Gospel!

The New Testament begins in Bethlehem of Judea, in the time of King Herod. Hundreds of names, dates, times, places and events are recorded, leaving an obvious trail for us to follow.

Why did God choose to write the Bible this way? God has revealed Himself and His plan of redemption through history (the past) and through prophecy (the future) so that the nations may know that He is the Lord.  In Isaiah 46:9-10 God says,

“Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; {I am} God, and there is no one like me, Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.’”

Astronomy and the Bible

The ancient Egyptians believed that the earth was suspended on five pillars.

The Greeks believed Atlas held the earth on his shoulders.

The Hindus taught that the earth was held up by an elephant, the elephant was on a tortoise, the tortoise was on a serpent, and the serpent was swimming in a cosmic sea. They don’t tell us what held up the cosmic sea!

And, it was just a few hundred years ago that most people thought the earth was flat! In fact, The Flat Earth Society still does!

In Sura 18:86, The Koran says, “the sun sets in a puddle of mud!”

Yet in chapter 26 of Job, the Bible says, “God hangs the earth upon nothing.” And in 750 B.C., the 40th chapter of Isaiah told us that “God sits upon the circle of the earth.” But, man didn’t know that until Columbus sailed around the world without falling off!

Before Galileo came along, star gazers believed there were about 2,500 stars. And, just about 2,500 years before Galileo, the prophet Jeremiah said, “The host of heaven cannot be numbered” (Jeremiah 33:22). How could Jeremiah possibly have known that? He didn’t. God did.

The Old and the New Testament

Just to make sure no one could ever claim the Bible was a man-made conspiracy, there are 400 years of silence between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Through fulfilled prophecy, both testaments point back and forth to the other as positive proof of their divine authenticity and perfect unity.

The very first verse in the New Testament forces us to this inescapable conclusion. Matthew 1:1 shows us two things. First, that God always keeps His promises, and secondly, that the Bible is one book!

“This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”

This verse says in effect, “If you are starting here, you have to go back to Genesis, man!” Who would pick up any other book and start reading right in the middle? Yet, people do that with the Bible, and wonder why they have trouble understanding it.

“Starting in Matthew is like walking into a movie half-way through. It’s like thinking you are telling a good joke when all you can remember is the punch line.”³

Without knowing the covenant promises that God made with Abraham and David, Matthew 1:1 would be utterly boring. Yet to those who understand it in the context of the promises made by God in the Old Testament, this verse explodes with excitement! Matthew announces to the world that the promise of a Savior begins now!

This same principle holds true for more than 1,200 verses in the New Testament. What is the significance of Christ dying on Passover and being raised on First Fruits, were it not for the book of Exodus? What sense would John have made when he said of Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” or, of Jesus when He said, “This is the new covenant in My blood,” were it not for the doctrine of the blood atonement in Leviticus?

The sacrificial system of ancient Judaism provided the world with 1,500 years of literal, historical, and theological context, so when Jesus came along and offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world, this would all make sense.

The Exclusive Story on Jesus Christ

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”. But, He did not just say, “I am the light of the world,” He said, “I am the light of the world” and He gave sight to a man born blind! He said, “I am the bread of life.” But He did not just say, “I am the bread of life,” He said, “I am the bread of life”, and He fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish! He did not just say, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He said, “I am the resurrection and the life” and He raised Lazarus (and many others) from the dead!

Each of the “I Am” sayings was accompanied by a miracle, which in turn revealed His deity. The one miracle He performed more than any other was that of giving sight to the blind. In Exodus 4:11, God is speaking to Moses,

“And the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes {him} dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?’”

The “I Am” sayings show that Jesus not only claimed to be God, but offered empirical proof of being the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Redeemer of mankind. He proved His verbal claims with literal miracles. Jesus said, “Peace be still” and the winds and the sea obeyed Him! He said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it.” He was speaking of the temple of His body!

Jesus claimed to be God. He not only said He was God (anyone can say that), He offered proof of His claim by doing things only God could do. If God came to earth as a man, you would expect Him to say and do things that would clearly distinguish Him from all other men. Jesus did!

As the french skeptic Ernest Renan admitted,

“It would take a Jesus to forge a Jesus, and if it is true that what we have in the Bible is a giant forgery, then let us worship the individual who was so brilliant as to think up a picture of a person like Jesus of Nazareth and the story of the Word of God.”

James T. Fisher from: A Few Buttons Missing: The Case Book of a Psychiatrist:

“If you were to take the sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene, if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out all the excess verbiage, if you were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, and if you were to have these unadulterated bits of scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, you would have an awkward and incomplete summary of the Sermon on the Mount. And it would suffer immeasurably by comparison.”

The Ultimate Proof of His Divinity Was His Love

Another outstanding basis for proof that the Bible is divinely inspired is its unparalleled teaching on love. How is this proof of divinity? We are social creatures. God made us that way. One of man’s greatest needs is to love and be loved. The Bible reveals the most comprehensive teaching on love that there is.

 You cannot find a more comprehensive teaching on love in any other religion, philosophy or system of thought. Not even close. Love is more than an emotion, it’s proactive and it’s powerful enough to soften the hardest heart when nothing else will. Love is one of the attributes of God (1 John 4:8).

No one has ever taken love to the level Jesus did. It was Christ who said, “Love your enemies.” But He didn’t just say, “Love your enemies.” He said, “Love your enemies”, and while He hung on the cross, in unimaginable pain from the top of His head to the tips of His toes, He prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” No mere man has ever loved like that. This love was so profound, so completely antithetical to human nature, the thief on his right recognized His divinity, and said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “This day you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  No one could make up such stories and expect anyone to believe them.

Christianity is not a religion, it’s a revelation. And once you have had the revelation, it leads you to a personal love relationship with God. It is both the law of God and the love of God that draw us to Christ. Our relationship with God is based on faith, hope and love in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

If everyone loved God and loved their neighbors as themselves we would live in a perfect world! The opposite of love is not just hate, it’s also selfishness. For God so loved the world He gave! Selfishness is the essence of sin, and giving is the fruit of love. Man will never solve his own problems because man is the problem. Man (without God) is inherently selfish.

How Powerful is the Love of Jesus?

“I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of people would die for him.”

-Napoleon Bonaparte

This kind of love cannot be found in any other religion, philosophy, or system of thought. Jesus Christ was incarnate love. For more on this, order Phil’s new book, Where Did God Come From?