Let me begin by saying that there is indeed a way, or, I should say, are MANY ways to “prove” the existence of God, and the accuracy of the Bible. In fact, many books, web sites, organizations, and lives have been dedicated to answering this very question. With that being said, please understand that giving you all the information available on this subject, in this Q and A, would probably take up all our web space and years to type out.(lol). Seriously though, it would be too much to cover every little thing; therefore, I will attempt to explain each of these methods briefly. Having said that, I would encourage you to take what's here and study further into each of these methods...

As I said, there are many methods which one could use to prove God's existence, and the accuracy of the Bible. However, all these methods fall under one kind of study. This area of study is called apologetics. The word Apologetic comes from the Gr. (Greek) word: "apologetikos" meaning "to defend". Apologetics is a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity. In other words, Apologetics is the practice of proving one’s faith and belief by scientific, logical, or historical means.

The study of Apologetics stems from 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer(apologia) to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." This is an area that's not only useful for witnessing to people, but it will also strengthen your own walk with Christ.

Ok, I suppose the best way to start is probably the historical accuracy of copied Scripture. One of the main arguments skeptics make against the accuracy of the bible is that, through time the text/record has been changed. A good example is, when you tell a story to one person and that person tells it to another and that person tells it to someone else and so on, the story begins to change. Therefore, many skeptic would say that there is no way the Bible has remained accurate in it's text through all these thousands of years.. Can we prove differently? Actually, Yes we can... For example....

Arguably the biggest archaeological discovery of the modern age is the DEAD SEA SCROLLS. The first of the scrolls was discovered in 1947, in an area known as “Qumran” on the northeast corner of the Dead Sea. A sect of Jews called the “Essenes”, from the late 2nd century B.C., until about 68 A.D, inhabited this area. The scrolls were stored in many separate caves on the site, number over 600 hundred scrolls and thousands of fragments, and not all of them were found until the late 1950’s. THESE SCROLLS CONTAIN FRAGMENTS OF ALMOST EVERY OLD TESTAMENT BOOK. The Scrolls contain the oldest known copy of the book of Isaiah, which is A THOUSAND YEARS older than any previously known copy. This manuscript is the oldest known copy of an Old Testament book ever to be discovered. The scrolls line up with today’s scripture by an amazingly accurate degree, and go a long way to prove that the bible we have today consists of texts written many thousands of years ago, and is the same as, "The Author" intended it to be.

This in itself answers a skeptics concern of the text being changed through time. However, most skeptics just change the argument. The other argument skeptics make is, "just because the text remained intact doesn't prove that what it say's is true". Meaning, it only proves that it was copied correctly but it doesn't mean the events, people and places actually happen/exist. There again, we have VERY sound evidence that the bible is INDEED historically accurate in it's claim of events, people and places..

One of the best ways to prove that events in the bible actually happened is to look for secular sources. "Secular" means: anything unrelated to religion/not religious. For example... we know the bible mentions Caesar. However, many believe Caesar existed, not because the bible said so, but because there's a lot of evidence of his existence still around today. Things like, many old manuscripts/documents from Rome, Coins, building remains, and many other ancient texts that testify to it. Therefore, the idea here is to try and find secular (non-religious) sources that can verify what the bible has said to be true.

Perhaps the best known and most accepted of these texts are the writings of Flavius Josephus. Josephus was a Jewish historian who lived in the first century AD. (who would have NO reason to want to validate the claims of the early Christians.) His writings, “Jewish Antiquities”, confirm many of the events as written in the New Testament. Keep in mind that the “scholars” accept Josephus’ and date his writings between 37 A.D. and 100 A.D. Let’s see what he has to say, shall we?

"About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared. "

Now, considering that this man lived while the Apostles were still ministering, it seems only logical that he would know EXACTLY what he was writing. He had EYEWITNESS testimony of the events in question, and certainly was not writing a story which had been re-told and re-told and had been twisted by the re-telling. Also, keeping in mind that Josephus was a Jew, he certainly had no bias towards convincing anyone that Jesus, who was hated by many Jews, was indeed the Messiah. It is certainly powerful evidence! However, this is just one of hundreds "secular" discoveries which gives credence to the Bible's authenticity.

Now, to make this easier I'll give you just a few more examples, Some from the New Testament and some from The Old Testament, with brief descriptions..

**According to the Bible, during the time Jesus walked on earth, the High Priest was a man named Caiaphas.(Matthew 26:3) For centuries Skeptics argued against that because there was no proof of any such High Priest named Caiaphas. That is until November/December of 1990.

Archaeologists discovered in a family tomb in Abu Tor, two miles south of Jerusalem, an ossuary (Jewish burial coffin), containing on its side the name of Joseph Caiaphas, written in Aramaic. It dates to First century, which is during the time Jesus walked on earth.

** According to the Bible, When John the Baptist started his ministry Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. (Luke 3:1) Again this person, "Pontius Pilate" was thought to be just a biblical myth, because no records other than the bible existed of this person. That is until 1961.

Found in 1961, this stone plaque bears the name of Pontius Pilate. The stone was a commemoration of Pilate's erection and dedication of the Tiberium, a temple for the worship of Tiberius Caesar, the Roman emperor when Pilate was governor of Judea.

**While staying in Corinth, Paul wrote a letter to the Christians living in Rome. The letter is known in that bible as "Romans". In this letter, Paul gives a list of names that send their greeting to the Church at Rome. In this list Paul mentions the city treasurer, who's name was, Erastus. (Romans 16:23).

Excavations of Corinth in 1929 found this inscription on a pavement which read: "Erastus, curator of public buildings, laid this pavement at his own expense." The pavement dates from the 1st century A.D.

** Luke states that Lystra and Derbe were in Lycaonia, and Iconium was not.(Acts 14:1-6) Archaeologists at first believed Luke’s implication to be wrong. They based their belief on the writings of Romans such as Cicero who indicated that Iconium was in Lycaonia. Thus, archaeologists said the book of Acts was unreliable.

Sir William Ramsay who is regarded as one of the greatest archaeologists ever to have lived. He did not believe the accounts in "Acts" were really written during the first Century like it claims to have been.. Therefore, He set out to prove it! Only in the end, through many discoveries, he became a firm believer and defender of the bible and it's authenticity and dating. One out of many discoveries he made was In 1910. Sir William Ramsay found a monument that showed that Iconium was indeed a Phrygian city.

**I'm sure you've heard of the Assyrian Empire, but what you may not know is that scholars and skeptics at one time disputed even the existence of the Assyrian Empire. There was no proof of such a mighty empire ever existing. According to the Bible this empire Assyrian was a great empire and dominated (for a time) most of the Ancient world of their day. More specifically the bible tell us, the Assyrian Empire crushed Israel in 722 B.C.--(2 Kings 17:5-6) and then they came against the fortified cities of Judah between 703-701 B.C. at which point Hezekiah, king of Judah, paid Sennacherib, king of Assyria, of with gold, treasures, etc. (tribute).(2 Kings 18:13-16) Since there was no proof of such a great empire existing, therefore it could only be a biblical myth. Well, that's what they thought anyways...

"one spectacular decade in the middle of the nineteenth century . . . (when) Austen Henry Layard and Paul Emile Botta rediscovered in northern Iraq the ancient remains of three Assyrian cities (including Nineveh) and evidence of the military panoply that had crushed all resistance from the Tigris to the Nile. The Assyrian empire . . . in all its awesome power had been resurrected through archaeology" (Magnusson, p. 175).

This was an amazing discovery! Skeptics were silenced. There was nothing they could say. The excavations yielded a staggering wealth of evidence that confirmed many details of the Bible account. As if that discovery wasn't amazing enough, in 1850 while excavating ancient Assyria, a hexagonally shaped clay prism was discovered by A.H. Layard. Low and Behold, the prism was an ancient Assyrian record of different administrative/military successes of King Sennacherib. Furthermore, to everyone's surprise, this record speaks of Sennacherib's campaign against Hezekiah. king of Judah!! It gives amazing detail. It even mentions how Hezekiah paid him tribute just like the Bible recorded.

Here's a sample from the Prism: "As for Hezekiah the Judean who did not submit to my yoke, 46 of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small cities in their neighbourhood, which were without number, by escalade and by bringing up siege engines, by attacking and storming on foot, by mines, tunnels, and breaches, I besieged and took...Himself like a caged bird I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city. .... Hezekiah himself did send me, later....30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver....." To read more on this Prism do a search for Sennacherib Prism, also known as Taylor’s Prism.

**The Hittite people/empire played a prominent role in Old Testament history. They interacted with biblical figures as early as Abraham and as late as Solomon. They are mentioned in Genesis 15:20 as people who inhabited the land of Canaan. 1 Kings 10:29 records that they purchased chariots and horses from King Solomon. The Hittites were a powerful force in the Middle East from 1750 B.C. until 1200 B.C.. However, for centuries, nothing was known of the Hittites outside the Bible, and many critics/skeptics claimed that they were an invention/myth made up by the biblical authors. That is until the late 19th century.

In 1876 a British scholar named A. H. Sayce found inscriptions carved on rocks in Turkey. He suspected that this might be evidence of the Hittite nation. Ten years later, more clay tablets were found in Turkey at a place called Boghaz-koy. German cuneiform(script like hieroglyphics) expert Hugo Winckler investigated the tablets and began his own expedition at the site in 1906. Winckler's excavations uncovered five temples, a fortified citadel and several massive sculptures. In one storeroom he found over ten thousand clay tablets. One of the documents proved to be a record of a treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite king. Other tablets showed that Boghaz-koy was the capital of the Hittite kingdom. The Hittite nation had been discovered!

**Gen 19:1-29 speaks of two very big cites known as Sodom and Gomorrah. God sent His angels down to destroy these two cites because of how evil and corrupt they were. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah has long been viewed as a legend by skeptics. They assume that it was created to communicate moral principles. However, throughout the Bible this story is treated as a historical event. The Old Testament prophets refer to the destruction of Sodom on several occasions (Deut. 29:23, Isa. 13:19, Jer. 49:18). These cities also play an essential role in the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles (Matt. 10:15, 2 Pet. 2:6 and Jude 1:7). What has archaeology found to establish the existence of these cities? Well......

Archaeologists have searched the Dead Sea region for many years in search of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 14:3 gives their location as the Valley of Siddim known as the Salt Sea, another name for the Dead Sea. In 1924, renowned archaeologist Dr. William Albright excavated at this site, searching for Sodom and Gomorrah. He discovered it to be a heavily fortified city. Although he connected this city with one of the biblical "Cities of the Plains," he could not find conclusive evidence to justify this assumption.

More digging was done in 1965, 1967, and 1973. The archaeologists discovered a 23-inch thick wall around the city, along with numerous houses and a large temple. Outside the city were huge grave sites where thousands of skeletons were unearthed. This revealed that the city had been well populated during the early Bronze Age, about the time Abraham would have lived.

Most intriguing was evidence that a massive fire had destroyed the city. It lay buried under a coating of ash several feet thick. A cemetery one kilometer outside the city contained charred remains of roofs, posts, and bricks turned red from heat.

Dr. Bryant Wood, in describing these charnel houses, stated that a fire began on the roofs of these buildings. Eventually the burning roof collapsed into the interior and spread inside the building. This was the case in every house they excavated. Such a massive fiery destruction would match the biblical account that the city was destroyed by fire that rained down from heaven. Wood states, "The evidence would suggest that this site of Bab edh-Drha is the biblical city of Sodom."

Well, I'll stop there.. These are a very, VERY small portion of secular evidence/archaeological discoveries that shows that what the Bible says is true. New discoveries are being made regularly which continue to solidify the bibles historical accuracy. Like I said, to give you all the findings would take up to much space, but again, I encourage you to look further into these discoveries and the hundreds of others that are out there.

Another area of Apologetics is the logical approach. To truly understand this you will need to gain an understanding of ancient manuscripts and how historians use these to prove or disprove secular and biblical history.. To explain how manuscripts play a major role would make this response extremely long. Therefore, I'll just explain the logical approach. However, if you would like us to explain how ancient manuscripts work just send us another question and we would be happy to answer it for you or you can research it yourself via books, internet, etc....

So, what is meant by logical reasoning? Well, it means that by simply reasoning it out, one should be able to come to the conclusion that there is a God who created this world. Some very basic examples of this line of reasoning include, but CERTAINLY are not limited to:

“Jesus claimed that he was God. So, if He indeed said it, that leaves us with 3 possibilities. He was crazy, he was a flat-out liar, or he was telling the truth. If He was crazy, he certainly didn’t seem to be so in any of the rest of the gospels. If he was a liar, he sure didn’t have anything to gain by it. His claim got Him to the cross, a very painful death. That leaves only one option: that He really was, and is, God.”

“Why would the disciples have died if they didn’t ABSOLUTELY know that Jesus had risen from the dead? Would tons of people die for a lie? Would tons of people believe a lie when they can easily check the evidence themselves?”

Of course, these arguments are very, very basic, and only serve to illustrate the method used to logically come to the conclusion that there is a God. Many books have been written on this subject alone. Here again, resources are provided by TRM for your further study. Josh McDowell has written many books on the subject, and he himself was an atheist, who was converted to faith in Jesus Christ by looking for evidence to DISPROVE the bible! Amazing! Another great writer is Lee Stobel. Like McDowell, Strobel struggled with believing the Bible to be true. After his wife became a Christian, he set out to disprove Jesus, only to end up accepting Christ as his Savior in the end. If you're able to, try and check out his two books, "Case for Christ" and "Case for Faith".

Another major area of apologetics is the scientific end of it. Here, we deal with how scientific discoveries and theories relate to God’s existence. For one example: The “Creation” debate

Of course most of us know the story. God created the earth in 7 days. This is a closely held belief by most Christians, and of course, TRM believes this as well. However, what many non-believers (or believers, for that matter) DON’T know is that there is a startling amount of scientific evidence that this is indeed the case, and that the Earth was created around 10,000 years ago. This of course would be disastrous for any evolution theories, “big bang” theories, and the like, which hold that the earth has been around for millions, if not billions, of years! Many scientists are firm believers in Evolution. Obviously, this contradicts scripture, so how can we argue this? It could take years upon years of study to fully understand both sides of this debate, and new evidence found almost everyday to support the idea of Creation. I will use this one example, which is taken from www.christiananswers.net:

According to evolutionary theory, comets are supposed to be the same age as the solar system, about five billion years. Yet each time a comet orbits close to the sun, it loses so much of its material that it could not survive much longer than about 100,000 years. Many comets have typical maximum ages (on this basis) of 10,000 years.

So you see, we do not merely have to accept things on blind faith. Christianity does not contradict known scientific fact, as many would have us believe. Now, I am not a scientist. But everyone knows what comets are, and here is a good example of something scientific that we all can understand, and with today’s science-minded society, these proofs can go a long way in leading someone to Christ.

Yet another aspect of Apologetics is the study of those prophecies made by the bible, which have already been fulfilled. If we can prove that a book was written at a certain date, and an event predicted by that book occurs at some point in the future, I would say that is pretty convincing evidence of the Author of that book being God! We see this many, many times in the Bible. This approach will only work, of course, once you establish the historical accuracy of the book where the prophecy is written. (Which we have already covered). So, what are some of the prophecies that have been fulfilled? TONS!

This method was used in the New Testament to prove to Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed the promised Messiah.. Reference Acts 18:28 "For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ” So, let us do the same, and take a look at some basic prophecies and fulfillments concerning the Messiah. This is an excerpt from an article written by the Christian Research Institute:

“For example, it was not only prophesied that Christ would be a descendant of Abraham, (Gen.12:1-3), but that He would be from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10) and the house of David (Ps. 110:1); that He would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:1 4), betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12), and also that His hands and feet would be pierced (Ps. 22:16). It is noteworthy that this last prediction was made long before crucifixion was invented as a form of capital punishment by the Persians and a thousand years before it was made common by the Romans.

It was also prophesied that Christ would be crucified with transgressors (Isa. 53:9, 12); that none of His bones would be broken (Ex. 12:46; Ps. 34:20); and that He would cry out from the cross, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1). Moreover, Christ’s resurrection (Ps. 16:8-11), His ascension (Ps. 68:1 8), and hundreds of other details were predicted in minute detail. These prophecies do not deal with vague generalities (as is so often the case with modern-day “prophets” and psychics); they are specific and verifiable. Each was literally fulfilled down to the smallest detail in the person of Jesus Christ.”

This is not something that can be easily dismissed, yet many people fail to realize the significance of such specifics. We have very solid evidence that these books were written hundreds of years before Christ walked this earth. There is no way Christ could have purposefully fulfilled these prophecies as some argue, they were simply OUT OF HIS CONTROL as a human being. This can be some of THE most convincing evidence that we can use. In fact, the book of Isaiah contains so many irrefutable prophecies concerning Jesus as the Messiah that many Jewish synagogues will not read it or use it in their services!

For more information concerning fulfilled prophecies, please refer to “THE FACTS” section of TRM’s website. It contains many examples of prophecies being fulfilled before our very eyes!

I will cite one last example of evidence, which, though it may fall under the above categories, is SO significant that it demands its own. First, lets take a look at a passage in the bible, where God is addressing the nation of Israel. Jeremiah 30:3“For behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, "that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. "And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it."'

For thousands of years, Jews remained scattered among the people of the earth, as punishment for turning away from the Lord. They suffered and were persecuted. Then an amazing thing happened. In 1917, the Balfour Declaration was issued. The Balfour Declaration was Britain’s support for a Jewish State to be created in Palestine. This laid the foundation for the events to follow, the culmination of which was UN Resolution 181, adopted in 1947. This resolution officially created the Nation of Israel! Here are the Jews, who, since ancient times, have had no nation of their own. They have managed to keep their own identity, customs, religion, and way of life for over 2000 years, while being scattered among the nations! Even the most powerful empires in the world could not do this. Think of the Roman Empire, who had control of Israel in Jesus’ day. They were one of the most powerful empires ever in existence, but now they no longer exist as one people. Yet the Jews survived. They remained one people, one race. And God, as He promised, called them back to their homeland. We can turn on CNN any day and most likely see headlines about Israel! Think of the significance of this, as the existence of Israel is absolutely IRREFUTABLE, and the existence of this nation is nothing short of a miracle. Even the biggest skeptics and critics admit this should have never been possible, that's why many of them avoid the issue.

Please understand that these are merely very simple, basic examples of Apologetics, and are merely intended to give you an idea of the methods and arguments used, and to point you in the right direction. I encourage you to use our “Resources” link to enhance your knowledge of the subject and/or feel free to write us if you would like more information on a specific section of this response.

Keep in mind, even when no one asks you questions such as these, EVERY Christian should always know why he or she believes what they believe. When studying Apologetics, I am always amazed by the amount of overwhelming evidence that, not only does God exist, but that the Bible is His Word, and that it is accurate to the letter!

Now, having said all that, there is something else that you need to understand. No matter how many intelligent arguments you make to someone, they still may never accept the truth. This is noting new. Even Jesus dealt with people who refused to believe even though they saw all the miracles and heard His teachings. John 10: 25-30²²Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. ²⁶But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. ²⁷My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰I and My Father are one.”

It is a sad fact that some people do not WANT to accept the truth, so they simply create an excuse not to believe it. As Christians, we need to take every opportunity to witness, but we also must keep in mind that facts and logic are not what truly goes to the heart. The Holy Spirit is what moves men to be saved, and we should always pray that God will move in a person’s heart, so that they will hear and respond to the truth.. (1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 ^4”For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, ⁵because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.” )

Ask that the Holy Spirit to give you the words to speak to your friends. The Lord will often speak through us when we ask Him, and convict your friends of their need for Him. We pray that he will bless your efforts in your attempts to minister!