Click here (or right click and select "save as") to download "Answering Our Culture, Pt. 3" Click here to watch service. Answering Our Culture #3:  "You Can't Trust the Bible." Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God stands forever." Matthew 24: 35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." I.  Is the Bible we have today accurate? "inerrant” –in its original autographs the Bible contains no mistakes. -Scripture itself claims to be inspired by God. 2Tim. 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Peter 1:21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. -The Old Testament claims 3,808 times to be transmitting the very words of God. -The Gospels confirm O.T. Mt. 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Rev. 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. -Jesus bore witness of the scriptures. Mt. 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Luke 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." A.  Can we trust the copying process? The importance of this is that copies existed within the generation of those who wrote it, and within the lifetimes of those who could have disputed the information of the New Testament. Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell.                                     Lee Strobel -Lawyer and Journalist for Chicago Tribune; all about facts. B.  How did the Bible come together? The test used to determine the Canonicity: “Canon”Gk.- measuring stick or rule. 1. Apostlicity. 2. Spiritual Content. 3. Doctrinal Soundness. 4. Usage. 5. Divine Inspiration. C.  Aren't the stories of Jesus just legends? First, they were generally eyewitness accounts. Second, the writers of the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament were willing to die for what they wrote.