Your question is a good one. And when friends oppose our viewpoint, it’s a good time to look at the evidence once again ourselves.

There’s a lot riding on the question of the Bible’s reliability. If it is indeed untrue, as your atheist friend claims, then those of us who are Christians are staking our lives on a fairy tale. But if the Bible is indeed true, then your friend must face the fact that there’s a God who loves him, sent His Son to die for him, and wants a relationship with him.

No matter what your friend throws your way, you can stand firm on the fact that the Bible is absolutely 100% true. Here are just a few reasons I compiled from various sources:

• Events of the New Testament are supported by writings outside the Bible. Several ancient historians confirm the major events that are recorded in the New Testament, even though the historians were not believers themselves.
• The Gospels, although written by four different men, all reliably account Jesus’ life. Each of these eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John) has a different style of writing but give the same facts about Jesus’ life.
• Archaeology backs up the Bible. Not one archaeological find conflicts with what the Bible records.
• Hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, often many years after the prophetic writer has died.
• Although the Bible is a collection of 66 books written by 40 or more different men over a period of 2,000 years, it is clearly one Book with perfect unity and consistency throughout. That’s amazing!

So these are a few things for your friend to chew on. If you want to take a more comprehensive look at the subject, I recommend Josh McDowell’s classic The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict as well as Lee Strobel’s The  Case for Christ. May your atheist friend ultimately come to know the God of the Bible.

Answered by Amy Campbell, former EPM Support Staff

Photo by Jazmin De Guzman on Unsplash