In Part One, we considered a young woman's sincere confusion over whether God's Word, the Bible, is trustworthy. How would we answer her questions and objections? Are we knowledgeable enough in Scripture to defend its authority and authenticity? We have already discussed three areas where we could enlighten someone searching for answers: the Bible's accuracy and transmission to the present day, the biblical canon, and its alleged contradictions. Part Two will cover four more:

Fourth, why do so many scientists reject the Bible? It has taken centuries for mankind to develop its limited and often flawed understanding of the origins of life and the physical laws by which the universe runs. Yet, many intellectuals believe that human science provides the only true answers to their questions about origins, forces, and energies within our reality.

However, through the Bible, which is not a science book, God revealed scientific facts thousands of years before men discovered how they now believe the universe functions. Notice Job 26:7 (English Standard Version [ESV]): "He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them." God reveals He suspended the earth in space like a floating ball and that clouds contain water.

He describes the earth's shape in Isaiah 40:22 (ESV): "It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in." Yet, even with photographs from space, some people still believe the earth is flat, not round or circular, as God reported more than 2,500 years ago.

Leviticus 17:11 contains another scientific fact: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood." Moses wrote this under God's inspiration some 3,500 years ago, but only in the last 300 years have scientists discovered that blood feeds life-giving oxygen to the body as it circulates.

God accurately describes many modern scientists in Jeremiah 4:22: "For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." Conversely, many scientific luminaries have advanced human knowledge because they believed the claims of Scripture.

Fifth, are the Bible's prophecies credible? Skeptics pooh-pooh prophecy as literary sleight of hand, predictions inserted into the mouth of "prophets" after the fact. However, the evidence from prophecy establishes confidence in the Bible's validity. No other book on earth contains such remarkable prophetic material. It is full of a wide variety of predictions, from the beginning of time to the complete fulfillment of God's Plan. Conversely, human efforts to predict the future cannot come close, not even those of the famous Nostradamus.

In Isaiah 41:21-24, God issues a prophetic challenge to men and gods alike:

"Present your case," says the LORD. "Bring forth your strong reasons," says the King of Jacob. "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination."

A little over a decade ago, the world witnessed another challenger fail. The ancient Mayan calendar predicted the world to end in 2012. People watched in anticipation of what would happen. Hollywood even made a movie about it. But the world continues as before.

God inspired His prophets to write prophecies down so that people could prove and recognize the truth of His power. He promises that what He has prophesied will come to pass:

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure," . . . Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. (Isaiah 46:9-11)

Scripture contains abundant examples of God's power to predict and bring to pass. Jeremiah speaks about the captivity of Judah and even that Cyrus the Great would become king of Persia. Daniel prophesies about the world-ruling empires to come on the scene. Over 200 prophecies predict the Messiah's timing, birth, character, ministry, mission, and impact. All of them were fulfilled just as foretold. Only the Creator God could have inspired these men to write in such detail about these future events.

Sixth, does not every religion claim their ancient documents prove their system is the true one? Islam has the Koran; Hinduism, the Vedas; Buddhism, the Pali Tipitaka; Judaism, the Torah; and Christianity, the Bible. Indeed, men have written countless books about humanity's purpose and the way to achieve it, and they have experts who will attest to their accuracy and validity. Their advocates claim that their religious documents are the only true source of knowledge.

But when we put these documents to the tests of accuracy, completeness, purpose, science, history, and archeology, along with prophecy, one book stands out above all the rest: The Holy Bible. The others fall by the wayside, failing this, that, or several of the examinations we can subject them to. Only God's Word passes them all—and with flying colors!

Seventh, what about faith? The young woman failed to realize how critical a part faith plays in trusting the Bible. Faith is God's gift to those He calls who choose to do the hard work of digging out the truth from His Book (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 10:17). Jesus tells His doubting disciple, Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). Such blessed people believe God's Word because, once He has opened their minds to His truth, they have added up the evidence and found Him to be absolutely truthful and trustworthy. Thus, faith is not blind acceptance but a conscious decision.

Nothing may be more important than proving the authority of God's Word. Once we do that—and truly believe it!—we can approach it with confidence and "be[come] doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22). And with continued learning and growth in understanding, we can "be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks [us] a reason for the hope that is in [us], with meekness and fear" (I Peter 3:15).