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Dr. Robert Jeffress | Robert Jeffress - How Can I Know The Bible Is True? (Part 2A) | January 14, 2025
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- ♪♪♪
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- Male announcer: from the pulpit of the first baptist church of
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- Dallas, texas, this is "pathway to victory"
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- With dr. robert jeffress.
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- Dr. robert jeffress: hi, i'm robert jeffress, and welcome,
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- Again, to "pathway to victory."
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- In 2 timothy, we read that "all scripture is god breathed," but
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- The bible isn't the only religious text that claims to be
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- Divinely inspired.
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- What makes the bible different?
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- Well, last time we cited three things that pointed to the
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- Bible's uniqueness.
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- First, the claims the bible makes about itself; second,
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- Fulfilled prophecy; and third, unity of theme.
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- Today, we're going to add a fourth and fifth reason.
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- We're answering the question: how can i know the bible
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- Is true, on today's edition of "pathway to victory."
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- ♪♪♪
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- Male announcer: it's okay to have questions about your faith,
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- But you need answers you can trust.
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- In his book "how can i know," dr. robert jeffress addresses
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- Seven of life's most important questions.
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- If you've ever wondered how you can know the bible is true or
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- How you can know if you're going to heaven, this book makes a
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- Compelling case for answers you can embrace with confidence.
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- Request your copy of "how can i know," when you give a generous
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- Gift to support the ministry of "pathway to victory."
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- ♪♪♪
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- Jeffress: your eternal destiny depends upon what we're going to
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- Talk about for the next 35 minutes.
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- Whether you spend eternity enjoying the pleasures of heaven
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- Or you spend eternity in hell separated from god, depends on
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- Whether or not the bible can be trusted.
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- Is it telling the truth?
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- But if you think that's an overly dramatic statement, just
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- Think about this: if the bible is wrong, then it means we're on
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- The wrong path to heaven.
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- The bible teaches, jesus is the way to heaven.
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- If the bible is wrong, then we're on the wrong road, and if
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- That weren't bad enough, the bible gives us no clue whatever
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- Road to take.
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- There are thousands of different ways to heaven, or so we're
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- Told, thousands of religions that claim to offer
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- Eternal life.
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- If the bible doesn't tell us which one to take, other than
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- Christianity, how are we to know the way?
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- Well, i believe the bible can be trusted.
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- And that's why we began, last week, talking about, "how can i
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- Really know that the bible is true?"
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- Last time, we talked about what it means, the bible is true.
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- We use two words, "inerrant," that means it's without error.
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- The bible tells the truth.
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- It's talking about the product.
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- It's truth without any mixture of error.
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- And then, secondly, we looked at the word "inspired."
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- 2 timothy 3 says that "the bible is god
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- Breathed," "theopneustos."
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- God originated the scripture, but he did so, he poured his
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- Message into imperfect men who produced a perfect bible.
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- What are the evidences that the bible is true?
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- Well, first of all, we talked about the bible's claim
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- Of itself.
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- The bible claims to be god's word.
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- Now, that's circular reasoning.
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- I know the bible is true because the bible says it's true.
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- But understand this: the bible tells us that jesus and the
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- Apostles believed in the truthfulness of the bible.
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- They believed it was inspired and inerrant.
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- So when we say the bible is true, we're not claiming
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- Anything for the bible that the bible doesn't claim for itself.
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- Secondly, we looked at fulfilled prophecy, points to the
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- Trustworthiness of the bible.
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- No other religious book--the book of islam, the book of
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- Mormon, none of those books, contains fulfilled prophecy.
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- Prophecies that were written down, hundreds of years before
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- The fact, and can be verifiably fulfilled.
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- You don't have that in the quran, for islam.
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- You don't have that in the book of mormon, or any other
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- Religious book.
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- A third evidence for the reliability of the bible is the
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- Unity of theme in the bible.
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- Other religious books were written by a single person, over
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- A short period of time.
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- And yet, there's not any unity in a lot of those books, but
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- Look at the bible.
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- Think about it, it was written by over 40 authors, from every
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- Background imaginable, most of whom didn't know one another.
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- It was written over a period of 1500 years.
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- It was written in a location of 2,000 miles separated, and yet,
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- In spite of all of that diversity, it has a unity
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- Of theme.
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- There is that scarlet thread of redemption through the bible,
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- Through jesus christ.
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- There's a unity of symbols that you find in genesis and daniel,
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- All the way through the book of revelation, in the
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- New testament.
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- Now today, we're going to look at two more evidences for the
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- Truthfulness of the bible.
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- The first is: the early acceptance of the message.
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- When you look at the rapidity with which the message,
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- Especially the new testament, was embraced, it argues for the
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- Trustworthiness of scripture.
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- You see, one of the standard arguments, by liberals, is this:
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- They'll say, "now, jesus really did exist, there's a kernel of
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- Truth in that.
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- He was a righteous rabbi.
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- He was a good, moral leader.
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- But after jesus died, there were hundreds of years that elapsed
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- Before the gospels were written.
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- And so to keep the flame alive, to keep people interested in
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- Christianity, the writers of the gospel, created all of these
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- Fictitious events, miracles that jesus performed, the
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- Resurrection from the dead, to try to make a good
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- Story better."
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- Now, if that were true, if there had been a gap of hundreds of
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- Years between the actual events of jesus's life and the recorded
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- Events, it's possible that myth could have crept in and
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- Corrupted the story.
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- But here's the problem with that theory: there was no interval.
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- It used to be, i was even taught this, early on, that the gospels
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- And the new testament was written hundreds of years after
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- The events of the new testament, and yet, liberal scholars, now,
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- Like john at robinson, and others, they almost all concede
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- That the new testament was written between 45 and 60 ad.
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- That means you had the bible being written within, not
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- Centuries, or even decades, but single-digit years after the
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- Events they purport to record.
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- Now here's the problem with that: if you've got no interval
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- Of hundreds of years, you don't have a chance for a myth
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- To erupt.
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- Let me show you why that's true.
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- Let's just say that, today, a book came out claiming that
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- Three days after president ronald reagan's funeral--three
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- Days after reagan's funeral, on june 11, 2004, three days later,
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- Ronald reagan arose from the dead.
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- He arose from his grave in simi valley.
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- And not only did he arise from the dead, but he was seen in a
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- New resurrection body by 500 witnesses, in
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- Southern california.
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- And then the book went on to name those eyewitnesses to
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- His resurrection.
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- That book wouldn't last through a single printing.
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- It would be laughed off the shelves.
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- Nobody would believe such a thing, why?
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- Because it's too soon after that event, after a mythological
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- Event, for it to gain credibility.
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- I mean, there are people who are alive, who were at the funeral.
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- There are people who could dispute that anybody saw him
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- In person.
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- You could track down those so-called "eyewitnesses" and
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- Cross examine them, the theory would fall apart.
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- And yet, think about how completely the new testament was
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- Accepted with such speed.
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- We're talking about, just within weeks of jesus reported
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- Resurrection, thousands of mainly jews were converted
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- To christianity.
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- You had 3000 on one day, the day of pentecost, 50 days after
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- The resurrection.
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- Thousands of jews came to faith in christ, and not only that,
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- They gave up their most cherished traditions to
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- Embrace christianity.
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- They, almost overnight, showed-- changed their day of worship
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- From saturday to sunday.
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- They discarded the sacrificial system that had been in effect
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- For 1400 years.
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- They changed the symbol of belief from circumcision
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- To baptism.
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- And they laid aside the mosaic law that they thought was the
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- Way to heaven.
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- In fact, paul would write in colossians 2:17, "these laws are
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- Simply shadows of what is to come; but the substance belongs
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- To christ."
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- How do you explain that earth-shaking change in judaism
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- That occurred over a short period of time?
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- They embrace, not a myth, but the truth.
- 00:09:38.801 --> 00:09:42.371
- Finally, the evidence for the trustworthiness of the bible is
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- The archaeological evidence.
- 00:09:46.242 --> 00:09:48.477
- Now let's be real clear: archaeology can't prove the
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- Bible is true.
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- There are two reasons for that.
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- The archaeological evidence is limited in size.
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- I mean, if you were gonna depend upon archaeology to prove the
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- Bible is true, you would have to have archaeological confirmation
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- For every name, every location, every event in the old and new
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- Testaments, and there's not that much archaeological evidence.
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- There's a lot of it, but not enough to completely prove the
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- Bible is without error.
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- It's limited in size, but the archaeological information is
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- Limited in scope.
- 00:10:27.717 --> 00:10:29.485
- There's some things archaeology will never be able to tell us.
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- For example, even if there is archaeological evidence for the
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- Great flood that destroyed the world, and let's say they find
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- Noah's ark someplace, that doesn't tell us who caused the
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- Flood, and it doesn't tell us what the purpose of the
- 00:10:43.666 --> 00:10:46.869
- Flood is.
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- It's limited in what archaeology can do.
- 00:10:48.237 --> 00:10:51.507
- Nevertheless, and here's the important point, there's never
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- Been an archaeological discovery that has disproved any person,
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- Event, or location in the bible.
- 00:10:59.315 --> 00:11:02.718
- There is archaeological evidence for the trustworthiness
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- Of scripture.
- 00:11:06.055 --> 00:11:07.389
- Let me give you a few examples.
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- First of all, from the old testament.
- 00:11:08.724 --> 00:11:10.659
- Take the cities of sodom and gomorrah that were destroyed by
- 00:11:10.659 --> 00:11:15.231
- Fire and brimstone, in genesis 19.
- 00:11:15.231 --> 00:11:18.567
- Clay tablets have now been discovered at ebla, that's
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- Northern syria, that have manuscripts that date back to
- 00:11:21.837 --> 00:11:26.041
- 2300 bc.
- 00:11:26.041 --> 00:11:29.145
- And in those ancient writings, you find the cities of sodom and
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- Gomorrah mentioned.
- 00:11:33.415 --> 00:11:35.117
- Not only that, there's evidence of bituminous pitch in the area,
- 00:11:35.117 --> 00:11:39.221
- And earthquake activity, that together, could explain the fire
- 00:11:39.221 --> 00:11:43.125
- And brimstone, a volcanic eruption.
- 00:11:43.125 --> 00:11:46.362
- You say, "well, that's a natural explanation."
- 00:11:46.362 --> 00:11:48.864
- The fact that it happened at precisely the right time is
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- What's supernatural.
- 00:11:52.001 --> 00:11:53.435
- That god would use a natural event at a supernatural time to
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- Destroy the cities he said would be destroyed.
- 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:00.843
- Or take, secondly, the city of jericho and the walls around
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- Jericho in joshua 6.
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- There have been excavations in jericho from
- 00:12:06.982 --> 00:12:09.318
- 1930 to 1936 that revealed, not only the wall that was around
- 00:12:09.318 --> 00:12:14.657
- That city, but that the wall suddenly collapsed outward, just
- 00:12:14.657 --> 00:12:19.628
- As the bible said.
- 00:12:19.628 --> 00:12:21.664
- Or take the case of ashpenaz, a man named ashpenaz.
- 00:12:21.664 --> 00:12:26.902
- Now, he's found in the old testament book of daniel.
- 00:12:26.902 --> 00:12:31.307
- No book has been criticized more than liberals as being
- 00:12:31.307 --> 00:12:34.677
- Mythology, other than the book of genesis, more so than the
- 00:12:34.677 --> 00:12:38.347
- Book of daniel.
- 00:12:38.347 --> 00:12:39.715
- And the reason liberals want to try to debunk daniel as
- 00:12:39.715 --> 00:12:43.319
- Legitimate is all of the amazing prophecies you find in the book
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- Of daniel, down to the day that jesus would be presented
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- As messiah.
- 00:12:50.893 --> 00:12:52.695
- The dates, the predictions that are made in daniel are
- 00:12:52.695 --> 00:12:55.731
- Truly supernatural.
- 00:12:55.731 --> 00:12:57.733
- And so the critics of the bible want to disprove the reliability
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- Of daniel, and they try to do it in the first three verses of
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- Daniel, because in daniel 1:3, there's a man named ashpenaz
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- Who's mentioned as the prince of the eunuchs.
- 00:13:09.778 --> 00:13:14.216
- Now, we have a lot of material from ancient babylon, and for
- 00:13:14.216 --> 00:13:18.921
- Hundreds of years, there was no evidence that there was any
- 00:13:18.921 --> 00:13:22.691
- Member of the royal household named ashpenaz.
- 00:13:22.691 --> 00:13:26.095
- There was no evidence, until there was.
- 00:13:26.095 --> 00:13:30.232
- And a few decades ago, a brick was discovered, in ancient
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- Babylon, with the name ashpenaz written on it, and that brick is
- 00:13:33.569 --> 00:13:38.073
- Now in the british museum.
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- Or think about king david, he is a central figure in the
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- Old testament.
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- The davidic dynasty, jesus would come from the line of david.
- 00:13:45.481 --> 00:13:51.253
- He was central, but the problem is for 26, 2700 years there was
- 00:13:51.253 --> 00:13:56.659
- No outside evidence that david even existed.
- 00:13:56.659 --> 00:14:00.896
- That is, until 1993, when a document was found in the city
- 00:14:00.896 --> 00:14:06.402
- Of david, near jerusalem, that mentioned david as being, not
- 00:14:06.402 --> 00:14:11.540
- Only king of israel, but he was the leader of a dynasty, the
- 00:14:11.540 --> 00:14:16.278
- Davidic dynasty.
- 00:14:16.278 --> 00:14:17.813
- All of that was proven through ancient documents.
- 00:14:17.813 --> 00:14:20.683
- Guess what else was proven through these discoveries?
- 00:14:20.683 --> 00:14:23.886
- Israel, the jewish people, were in the land, in 1000 bc.
- 00:14:23.886 --> 00:14:29.124
- That's when these documents were dated, 1000 bc.
- 00:14:29.124 --> 00:14:32.828
- And guess what the capital of israel was?
- 00:14:32.828 --> 00:14:36.231
- David changed it to jerusalem.
- 00:14:36.231 --> 00:14:38.167
- We now have archaeological evidence of that, meaning, this
- 00:14:38.167 --> 00:14:42.972
- Idea that the jews came and stole the land from the
- 00:14:42.972 --> 00:14:46.308
- Palestinians, that is complete hogwash.
- 00:14:46.308 --> 00:14:49.645
- I don't know if that's a biblical term, but it describes
- 00:14:49.645 --> 00:14:52.648
- What the bible says.
- 00:14:52.648 --> 00:14:54.049
- The bible records, and history records, that israel was in the
- 00:14:54.049 --> 00:14:58.253
- Land long before the so-called palestinians.
- 00:14:58.253 --> 00:15:01.523
- It's theirs, it's theirs forever because god gave it to them.
- 00:15:01.523 --> 00:15:05.995
- You find that through archaeology.
- 00:15:05.995 --> 00:15:08.130
- How about the new testament?
- 00:15:08.130 --> 00:15:09.498
- Is there any evidence for the veracity of the new testament?
- 00:15:09.498 --> 00:15:13.268
- One example is the gospel of luke.
- 00:15:13.268 --> 00:15:16.271
- Sir william ramsey was an archaeologist who was
- 00:15:16.271 --> 00:15:20.275
- An unbeliever.
- 00:15:20.275 --> 00:15:21.810
- He wanted to disprove the reliability of scripture, so he
- 00:15:21.810 --> 00:15:25.781
- Centered on the gospel of luke.
- 00:15:25.781 --> 00:15:28.450
- Why luke?
- 00:15:28.450 --> 00:15:29.818
- Because luke contains more names, dates, references to
- 00:15:29.818 --> 00:15:35.391
- World activities, than any of the other gospels and he said,
- 00:15:35.391 --> 00:15:38.827
- "if i could just disprove one of these dates, one of these
- 00:15:38.827 --> 00:15:42.331
- Events, it would destroy the credibility of luke."
- 00:15:42.331 --> 00:15:45.401
- He spent several years researching the gospel of luke,
- 00:15:45.401 --> 00:15:48.637
- And in the process, became a christian.
- 00:15:48.637 --> 00:15:51.407
- And he said, "luke's history," quote, "is unsurpassed in
- 00:15:51.407 --> 00:15:56.145
- Respect of its trustworthiness."
- 00:15:56.145 --> 00:15:58.714
- Secondly, think about caiaphas, the high priest, recorded in
- 00:15:58.714 --> 00:16:02.451
- Matthew 26:57.
- 00:16:02.451 --> 00:16:04.653
- He was the high priest who presided over the first of six
- 00:16:04.653 --> 00:16:07.756
- Trials of jesus, after he was arrested.
- 00:16:07.756 --> 00:16:11.193
- There was no confirmation of caiaphas as a high priest, until
- 00:16:11.193 --> 00:16:15.164
- His tomb was discovered in jerusalem, in 1990.
- 00:16:15.164 --> 00:16:19.268
- Many of us have been to that tomb before.
- 00:16:19.268 --> 00:16:21.870
- He was not only high priest, but the tomb indicates he was high
- 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:25.274
- Priest during the time of jesus's arrest, and trial,
- 00:16:25.274 --> 00:16:29.011
- And crucifixion.
- 00:16:29.011 --> 00:16:30.846
- Another figure in the crucifixion was pontius pilate,
- 00:16:30.846 --> 00:16:34.516
- Mentioned in matthew 27:2.
- 00:16:34.516 --> 00:16:37.319
- In 1961, an italian archaeologist, named antonio
- 00:16:37.319 --> 00:16:41.790
- Frova, discovered an inscription on a stone slab at caesarea by
- 00:16:41.790 --> 00:16:46.628
- The sea that said pontius pilate was the roman procurator and
- 00:16:46.628 --> 00:16:51.667
- Gave the years which coincided with the trial of jesus.
- 00:16:51.667 --> 00:16:56.071
- Today, many of us have gone to caesarea by the sea and seen
- 00:16:56.071 --> 00:16:59.775
- That replica of what is called the "pilate stone" that mentions
- 00:16:59.775 --> 00:17:04.580
- Pontius pilate.
- 00:17:04.580 --> 00:17:06.248
- Or fourthly, think about the theater in ephesus.
- 00:17:06.248 --> 00:17:09.451
- You remember, that in acts 19 there was a great theater,
- 00:17:09.451 --> 00:17:12.521
- Described in luke chapter 19.
- 00:17:12.521 --> 00:17:15.757
- It was a place where the citizens came together, they
- 00:17:15.757 --> 00:17:18.594
- Were angry.
- 00:17:18.594 --> 00:17:19.962
- They wanted to kill paul and his associates because paul was
- 00:17:19.962 --> 00:17:23.132
- Killing their business of making idols.
- 00:17:23.132 --> 00:17:26.268
- Well, you can stand in that very theater where paul's associates
- 00:17:26.268 --> 00:17:31.306
- Were threatened.
- 00:17:31.306 --> 00:17:32.674
- Now again, the size and the scope mean the archaeological
- 00:17:32.674 --> 00:17:37.179
- Record can never prove that the bible is true, but there's never
- 00:17:37.179 --> 00:17:42.117
- Been an archaeological discovery that has disproved any event,
- 00:17:42.117 --> 00:17:46.688
- Location, or person in the bible.
- 00:17:46.688 --> 00:17:49.291
- Now we've talked about all the evidence, the internal claims of
- 00:17:49.291 --> 00:17:52.694
- The bible, fulfilled prophecy, unity of theme, early acceptance
- 00:17:52.694 --> 00:17:57.299
- Of the message, archaeology.
- 00:17:57.299 --> 00:17:59.868
- Why do people object to the idea that the bible is true?
- 00:17:59.868 --> 00:18:05.073
- Let me mention today three common objections to the
- 00:18:05.073 --> 00:18:08.644
- Trustworthiness of the bible, and remember, again, whether
- 00:18:08.644 --> 00:18:13.248
- What i'm saying is true or not determines your eternal destiny.
- 00:18:13.248 --> 00:18:17.819
- It determines whether we're trusting the right book to lead
- 00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:21.623
- Us to the right way to heaven.
- 00:18:21.623 --> 00:18:23.892
- So why do people have trouble with the bible?
- 00:18:23.892 --> 00:18:26.662
- Well, one excuse is, people say scribes must have made numerous
- 00:18:26.662 --> 00:18:31.600
- Errors in copying the text throughout the centuries.
- 00:18:31.600 --> 00:18:36.371
- Remember the old game of telephone you used to play as
- 00:18:36.371 --> 00:18:38.974
- A kid?
- 00:18:38.974 --> 00:18:40.342
- You'd get in a circle with your friends, and the first person
- 00:18:40.342 --> 00:18:42.711
- Would whisper a message to the second person, and on down the
- 00:18:42.711 --> 00:18:46.882
- Line it went to the last person, and the last person would get
- 00:18:46.882 --> 00:18:50.319
- The message, and it was completely distorted from what
- 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.922
- The first message was.
- 00:18:53.922 --> 00:18:55.591
- A lot of people think that's what happened with the bible.
- 00:18:55.591 --> 00:18:58.427
- They think, "okay, the originals, which we don't have,
- 00:18:58.427 --> 00:19:00.762
- By the way, the original manuscripts were without error,
- 00:19:00.762 --> 00:19:04.533
- But surely copyists made mistakes through the centuries."
- 00:19:04.533 --> 00:19:09.204
- Well, let's look at that possibility.
- 00:19:09.204 --> 00:19:11.173
- First of all, in the old testament.
- 00:19:11.173 --> 00:19:13.575
- There is a plethora of manuscript evidence for the
- 00:19:13.575 --> 00:19:18.647
- Reliability of the copyist.
- 00:19:18.647 --> 00:19:21.183
- For example, do you realize that most ancient literary works had
- 00:19:21.183 --> 00:19:26.088
- Very few manuscripts to support them?
- 00:19:26.088 --> 00:19:28.557
- There are only seven manuscripts for plato, eight for herodotus,
- 00:19:28.557 --> 00:19:33.729
- Ten for caesar's gallic wars, and 20 manuscripts for the
- 00:19:33.729 --> 00:19:38.000
- Historian tacitus.
- 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:39.835
- And yet, there are over 10,000 manuscripts for the
- 00:19:39.835 --> 00:19:44.673
- Old testament.
- 00:19:44.673 --> 00:19:46.008
- The most amazing of those manuscripts was discovered in
- 00:19:46.008 --> 00:19:49.044
- 1947, in qumran, the caves of qumran, near the dead sea.
- 00:19:49.044 --> 00:19:54.750
- It was the discovery of what we call the "dead sea scrolls."
- 00:19:54.750 --> 00:19:58.587
- A young bedouin accidentally discovered these clay pots that
- 00:19:58.587 --> 00:20:02.824
- Contained scrolls of most of the old testament, including a
- 00:20:02.824 --> 00:20:08.664
- Complete copy of the old testament book of isaiah.
- 00:20:08.664 --> 00:20:13.135
- Now what was amazing about the dead sea scrolls is, they were
- 00:20:13.135 --> 00:20:16.471
- Dated to be 100 bc, in age.
- 00:20:16.471 --> 00:20:20.475
- They were copied 100 years before christ.
- 00:20:20.475 --> 00:20:24.112
- What is interesting is, before the dead sea scrolls, the
- 00:20:24.112 --> 00:20:27.949
- Earliest manuscript we had of the old testament was 980,
- 00:20:27.949 --> 00:20:34.289
- Nearly 1000 years later.
- 00:20:34.289 --> 00:20:38.160
- 1000 years separated the massoretic text, the text we had
- 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:43.198
- Of the old testament, 900 ad, and the dead sea scrolls, 1000
- 00:20:43.198 --> 00:20:47.636
- Years earlier in 100 bc.
- 00:20:47.636 --> 00:20:50.205
- Why is that significant?
- 00:20:50.205 --> 00:20:51.807
- Because it gave us the ability to see how accurate the copyist
- 00:20:51.807 --> 00:20:55.477
- Had been, over 1000 years.
- 00:20:55.477 --> 00:20:57.612
- Was there a lot of variation in the message?
- 00:20:57.612 --> 00:21:01.283
- Not at all, it's amazing.
- 00:21:01.283 --> 00:21:03.585
- 95% of the text of the dead sea scrolls match what we had 1000
- 00:21:03.585 --> 00:21:10.125
- Years later.
- 00:21:10.125 --> 00:21:11.493
- 95%, take isaiah.
- 00:21:11.493 --> 00:21:15.664
- Isaiah chapter 53, a key chapter in the old testament.
- 00:21:15.664 --> 00:21:19.668
- It has 166 words.
- 00:21:19.668 --> 00:21:22.404
- The dead sea scrolls revealed that out of those 166 words,
- 00:21:22.404 --> 00:21:27.843
- There were only 17 letters in question.
- 00:21:27.843 --> 00:21:32.214
- Ten of those letters could be explained by difference in
- 00:21:32.214 --> 00:21:35.784
- Spelling, four letters related to minor things over which
- 00:21:35.784 --> 00:21:40.055
- Conjunction, and or but, i mean, minor things like that.
- 00:21:40.055 --> 00:21:43.792
- Only three letters out of 166 words were in dispute, and those
- 00:21:43.792 --> 00:21:49.498
- Letters spelled "light," and they have nothing to do with the
- 00:21:49.498 --> 00:21:52.868
- Meaning of isaiah chapter 53.
- 00:21:52.868 --> 00:21:56.371
- It's just amazing how god has protected the manuscript,
- 00:21:56.371 --> 00:22:00.308
- Through the years.
- 00:22:00.308 --> 00:22:01.643
- What about the new testament?
- 00:22:01.643 --> 00:22:03.011
- There's even more evidence for the veracity of the
- 00:22:03.011 --> 00:22:05.747
- New testament.
- 00:22:05.747 --> 00:22:07.082
- Without doubt, the books of the new testament were the most
- 00:22:07.082 --> 00:22:10.652
- Quoted books of antiquity.
- 00:22:10.652 --> 00:22:13.588
- Today, we have nearly 25,000 manuscripts.
- 00:22:13.588 --> 00:22:18.093
- Think about it, 25,000 manuscripts for the
- 00:22:18.093 --> 00:22:21.663
- New testament.
- 00:22:21.663 --> 00:22:22.998
- ♪♪♪
- 00:22:22.998 --> 00:22:28.103
- Jeffress: my prayer is for anyone watching, right now, who
- 00:22:28.103 --> 00:22:31.440
- Has never come to grips with the authority and credibility of
- 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:34.776
- The bible.
- 00:22:34.776 --> 00:22:36.144
- Perhaps, for the first time, you're beginning to understand
- 00:22:36.144 --> 00:22:39.481
- That the bible is truly god's word to you.
- 00:22:39.481 --> 00:22:42.584
- It reminds me of someone who contacted "pathway to
- 00:22:42.584 --> 00:22:45.787
- Victory," recently.
- 00:22:45.787 --> 00:22:47.456
- Jim listens to us in texas, and he wrote, "pastor jeffress, i
- 00:22:47.456 --> 00:22:52.160
- Haven't been to church in about nine years.
- 00:22:52.160 --> 00:22:55.063
- When you teach, i know the word of god is taught properly and
- 00:22:55.063 --> 00:22:59.100
- Not watered down.
- 00:22:59.100 --> 00:23:00.669
- I'll admit, my life isn't where it needs to be, and i am not
- 00:23:00.669 --> 00:23:04.706
- Walking right.
- 00:23:04.706 --> 00:23:06.041
- But god is working through your program to help bring me back
- 00:23:06.041 --> 00:23:09.478
- To him."
- 00:23:09.478 --> 00:23:10.812
- Jim, that's a wonderful encouragement, to me.
- 00:23:10.812 --> 00:23:13.615
- I love your honesty and your transparency.
- 00:23:13.615 --> 00:23:16.685
- You're headed, now, in the right direction.
- 00:23:16.685 --> 00:23:19.855
- And friends, if you've given a financial gift to "pathway to
- 00:23:19.855 --> 00:23:23.058
- Victory," and especially if you're one of our "pathway
- 00:23:23.058 --> 00:23:25.961
- Partners," you need to know that your generosity is touching men
- 00:23:25.961 --> 00:23:29.931
- And women, just like jim, all across the country and around
- 00:23:29.931 --> 00:23:33.702
- The world.
- 00:23:33.702 --> 00:23:35.070
- Thank you so much for your continued generosity.
- 00:23:35.070 --> 00:23:38.240
- Now, stay right there, i'll be back with more "pathway to
- 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:41.076
- Victory," in just a moment.
- 00:23:41.076 --> 00:23:44.346
- Male announcer: if a friend, or one of your children came up to
- 00:23:44.412 --> 00:23:46.915
- You and asked, "how do you know christianity is the
- 00:23:46.915 --> 00:23:49.618
- Right religion?"
- 00:23:49.618 --> 00:23:50.986
- Could you give a clear and credible answer?
- 00:23:50.986 --> 00:23:53.455
- We'd like to send you a book from dr. robert jeffress
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- Containing answers to life's seven most important questions.
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- It's titled, "how can i know?"
- 00:24:00.195 --> 00:24:02.397
- Jeffress: if we're honest, every one of us has questions about
- 00:24:02.397 --> 00:24:05.300
- Our faith.
- 00:24:05.300 --> 00:24:06.668
- Questions like, "how can i know the bible is true?"
- 00:24:06.668 --> 00:24:09.337
- Or, "how can i know god exists?"
- 00:24:09.337 --> 00:24:12.040
- In my book "how can i know?"
- 00:24:12.040 --> 00:24:14.042
- I tackle seven important questions and provide
- 00:24:14.042 --> 00:24:17.145
- Biblically-based answers, you can embrace with confidence.
- 00:24:17.145 --> 00:24:21.182
- Male announcer: seven straightforward answers to seven
- 00:24:21.182 --> 00:24:23.451
- Pressing questions.
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- The book, "how can i know?"
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- Is yours, today, when you give a generous gift to support the
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- Ministry of "pathway to victory," or when you sign up to
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- Become a "pathway partner."
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- And when your gift is $75 or more, you'll also receive the
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- Complete series on dvd and audio disc, with newly updated content
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- For 2025.
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- Jeffress: it's not a sin to have doubts.
- 00:24:45.807 --> 00:24:49.077
- Sometimes doubt is a prerequisite to genuine faith.
- 00:24:49.077 --> 00:24:53.048
- Male announcer: thank you for investing, financially, in
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- "pathway to victory."
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- Your partnership will help our ministry broadcast god's truth
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- On television, on radio, and online, addressing doubts,
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- Clearing confusion, and transforming lives through the
- 00:25:04.993 --> 00:25:08.196
- Bold, biblical teaching of god's word.
- 00:25:08.196 --> 00:25:11.232
- Jeffress: today, i explained how the early acceptance of god's
- 00:25:13.902 --> 00:25:17.172
- Word, and the overwhelming archaeological evidence also
- 00:25:17.172 --> 00:25:21.142
- Point to the bible's credibility.
- 00:25:21.142 --> 00:25:23.645
- And next time, i'll address some common objections to the
- 00:25:23.645 --> 00:25:27.015
- Trustworthiness of scripture.
- 00:25:27.015 --> 00:25:29.050
- For example, "how do you explain the so-called contradictions in
- 00:25:29.050 --> 00:25:32.520
- The bible?
- 00:25:32.520 --> 00:25:33.855
- What about the gnostic gospels?
- 00:25:33.855 --> 00:25:36.458
- How do we know that the scribes and copyists didn't make
- 00:25:36.458 --> 00:25:39.160
- Any mistakes?
- 00:25:39.160 --> 00:25:40.495
- And how can we know that we have the right books of the bible in
- 00:25:40.495 --> 00:25:44.699
- Our bibles?"
- 00:25:44.699 --> 00:25:46.034
- Well, stay tuned for a preview of what's coming up next in our
- 00:25:46.034 --> 00:25:49.471
- Series, "how can i know?"
- 00:25:49.471 --> 00:25:52.874
- Jeffress: just think about it, our heavenly father has gone to
- 00:25:52.941 --> 00:25:56.778
- The trouble to send a written communication to us, because
- 00:25:56.778 --> 00:26:01.182
- More than anything else, he loves us.
- 00:26:01.182 --> 00:26:04.019
- He wants us to know his message.
- 00:26:04.019 --> 00:26:05.887
- "for god so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that
- 00:26:05.887 --> 00:26:09.457
- Whoever believes in him will never perish, but have
- 00:26:09.457 --> 00:26:12.627
- Eternal life."
- 00:26:12.627 --> 00:26:14.262
- Male announcer: set your dvr and join us next time for part two
- 00:26:14.329 --> 00:26:17.098
- Of the message, "how can i know the bible is true?"
- 00:26:17.098 --> 00:26:20.602
- Here on "pathway to victory."
- 00:26:20.602 --> 00:26:22.537
- Male announcer: if you could go back in time and walk with the
- 00:26:26.441 --> 00:26:28.810
- Apostle paul on one of his journeys, would you do it?
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- Jeffress: this may, let's go together, on the life changing
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