The Bible is unlike any other religious book. Despite forty authors writing from three continents over nearly two thousand years, it maintains a perfect consistency of message. Its words point unerringly to Christ, whose work on the cross was ordained by God—the true author of the Bible—before the world began.
Among all the books ever written, the Bible is absolutely unique. Actually, it is not just a book—it’s 66 books. And one of its most remarkable qualities is the complete unity of the overall message despite having so many different authors writing over many centuries on hundreds of controversial subjects. Natural explanations fail to account for the supernatural character and origin of Scripture.
The Bible was written over a period of roughly 2,000 years by 40 different authors from three continents, who wrote in three different languages. These facts alone make the Bible one of a kind, but there are many more amazing details that defy natural explanation.
1. God’s Character
2. Claims of Divine Authorship
3. Unity of the Bible
4. Fulfilled Prophecy
5. Scientific Accuracy
6. Archaeological Finds
7. Life-Changing Power
Shepherds, kings, scholars, fishermen, prophets, a military general, a cupbearer, and a priest all penned portions of Scripture. They had different immediate purposes for writing, whether recording history, giving spiritual and moral instruction, or pronouncing judgment. They composed their works from palaces, prisons, the wilderness, and places of exile while writing history, laws, poetry, prophecy, and proverbs. In the process they laid bare their personal emotions, expressing anger, frustration, joy, and love.
Yet despite this marvelous array of topics and goals, the Bible displays a flawless internal consistency. It never contradicts itself or its common theme.
From Genesis to Revelation, we see man’s repeated rebellion against his holy Creator. God made a perfect world, but mankind has continually rejected His authority and sought to decide truth for himself. Nevertheless, God promised to extend His love, grace, and mercy to unworthy people who deserved to be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.
Early in Genesis after Adam and Eve sinned, God made known His plan of redemption, which He repeatedly promised and expanded upon throughout the Old Testament. The promises were fulfilled in a surprising but predicted way: by the Savior’s sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection, as recorded in the New Testament. The Bible then announced the future culmination of the Savior’s redemptive work in Revelation.
Both the Bible and history weave together in seamless harmony, as though the Creator ordained this plan and recorded it in Scripture even before it unfolded in history. And that’s exactly what the Bible claims took place! God says that He alone can declare the future (Isaiah 42:9), and hundreds of His prophetic predictions have been fulfilled with absolute precision, while others await fulfillment.
The unity of Scripture demonstrates its supernatural inspiration. Only the one true, holy God could provide us with such a flawless Bible that reveals such a matchless message: the Lord’s staggering love for His creation.
Despite writing in radically different times and contexts, the Bible’s many authors all told the same message about God’s eternal plan, from Creation and the Flood to Christ’s work on the Cross and the consummation of God’s plan. You can find the same truths stated by Moses and the Old Testament prophets, Christ Himself, and Christ’s apostles.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” —Moses
“By God were all things made.” —the apostle John
“At the beginning God made them male and female.” —Jesus Christ
“Noah went into the ark, and the waters increased greatly, and all flesh died that moved upon the earth.” —Moses
“The world that was then, being overflowed with water, perished.” —the apostle Peter
“Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and took them all away.” —Jesus Christ
“You will not leave my soul in the grave; neither will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption.” —King David
“Christ was buried and rose again the third day.” —the apostle Paul
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” —Jesus Christ
“I will make a new heavens and a new earth, says the Lord.” —the prophet Isaiah
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” —the apostle John
“I go to prepare a place for you.” —Jesus Christ
Find more answers to the most common claims of “contradictions in the Bible” at Answers Magazine’s online apologetics toolkit for defending the Bible.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v6/n2/unity-bible