Why Should I Trust the Bible?

Claire Black: This is True Girl a podcast for girls and their moms. Together, we’ll explore God’s Truth for us one drive at a time!

You’re about to grow closer to each other and closer to Jesus! And just a heads up about today’s podcast . . . it’s a very fluffy episode!

As we continue in this season’s Great Bible Investigation, Dannah Gresh author of Lies Girls Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free and her friend Staci Rudolph are detectives. —Bible detectives.

They’re investigating questions people have about the Bible . . . questions like, Who wrote the Bible really? and What’s with all those different versions of the Bible? If you’ve been wondering about things like that, you’re definitely not the only one! 

Today, our investigation destination is a very unique kind of cafe: a cat cafe! It sounds kind of weird, but I have actually seen one once, so they are legit. 

So, let’s join Dannah and Staci for this PURRR-fect third episode of season 6, titled, “Why Should I Trust the Bible?” Here’s Staci.

Staci Rudolph: Dannah, I have always wanted to go to one of these places! What a great idea!

Dannah Gresh: Yeah. It’s my first time at a cat cafe, too, Staci. Hey, did you take your allergy medication? 

Staci: You know I did! 

Dannah: Let’s go sit on that cozy couch next to that huge, white, fluffy cat.

Staci: Man, that is a BIG cat! 

Do you think he’s yelling at us for sitting here? I mean, it does look kind of like he owns this couch.

Dannah: Maybe, or maybe he just likes your detective hat.

Barista: What can I get you two ladies to drink today?

Dannah: Hi, I’ll have the Meow-Meow Macchiato, please.

Barista: Okay, and you?

Staci: I’m gonna try the Purrrr-fect Chai.

Barista: So that’s one Meow-Meow Macchiato and one Purrr-fect Chai. Great choices! And it looks like you’re already making friends with our biggest cat, Samson! But I’ve gotta warn you, he’s a little unpredictable, aren’t ya, Samson? So, just play by his rules, and you’ll be fine.

I’ll have your drinks ready over on the cafe side of the building in a few minutes.

Dannah: Oh, you mean we don’t drink our coffee and tea with the cats?

Barista: Umm, not unless you want a hairball latte! I’ll see you on the other side.

Staci: Hey, is that guy from the donut shop?

Dannah: He kind of reminds me of him, I don’t know. 

Anyway, Samson, that’s funny! My mom has a cat named Samson, but she calls him Sammy. I have to say, I never know if I can trust him or not. He has quite the little cat-itude! 

Staci: Ha ha . . . “catitude” . . . very funny! I feel like most cats are that way. They’re kind of hard to read. Not like a dog. You can usually pretty much pick up on a dog’s mood. But cats, not so much.

Dannah: Yikes! That wasn’t hard to read. You know, cats are not easy to trust. But do you know what is?

Staci: Ummm….I feel like you’re setting up today’s Bible mystery, so I’m gonna say, “The Bible?”

Dannah: You guessed it!

Staci: Okay, hang on a sec.

Dannah has brought me to a cat cafe. I repeat, a cat cafe, to teach me something about the Bible. End Note.

Staci: Okay. Now I’m ready!

Dannah: Purrfect! The question we’re answering today is, why should I trust the Bible? 

Staci: That’ll be so helpful because people who question Christianity definitely ask about that.

Dannah: Definitely. Alright. Let’s get to today’s key verse; it’s in 1 Thessalonians.

Staci: Our next clue in the great Bible investigation! First Thessalonians 2:13 is part of a letter Paul was writing to the people of Thessalonica. It says, 

Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

Dannah: Let me start by saying that we need to accept God’s Word as exactly that—God’s Word! Just like we learned last week, He inspired it in the hearts and minds of the humans who wrote it down for Him. His Word has been working in human hearts since then and it continues to work in our hearts today.

Staci: That really gets me excited, Dannah! I love knowing that God’s Word is that powerful! What do you think about that, Samson?

[loud purring]

Dannah: God’s Word truly is powerful, and one reason it’s powerful is because it’s trustworthy; it’s reliable. One word we use to describe that is “credibility.” Which is a fancy word that means “able to be believed or trusted in.” And there are some pretty amazing facts that establish the Bible’s credibility.

Staci: Cool! True Girl, I bet you’re just as excited as me to hear some awesome facts about the Bible, aren’t you?

Dannah: Okay, I want to introduce you to the big three of Bible credibility. You might call them the ABCs of Bible credibility. Number one: acceptance

Staci: Acceptance?

Dannah: I can explain. You remember when you talked about who wrote the Bible—we’ll get to them in a sec because they’re super important. Well, when they finished writing it, they read it to people. I can just imagine Isaiah reading what he wrote about Jesus in Isaiah chapter 7.

The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’). 

Well, people listened to those readings. Some of them were people whose lives honored God. These were men and women who really loved God and spent time with Him. 

Staci, when you spend time with God, you begin to recognize His voice. It actually says so in John 10:27:

Jesus said, "My sheep know my voice . . . and they follow me.” 

You get to know Jesus’ voice when you follow Him. Those kind of people “accepted” what the writers wrote because it sounded like the familiar voice of God to them.

Staci: Voila, you have acceptance!

Dannah: Precisely, my dear Watson . . . well dear, Staci!

Staci: Note: When investigating the trustworthiness of the Bible, look for the ABCs of credibility. Clue #1: A stands for Acceptance. When people heard the writing of the authors read, they accepted it because it sounded like God to them. End Note.

Dannah: And the B. It stands for biographers.

Staci: Hmm, that’s a weird word. The Bible is a collection of lots of different styles of writing, not just the stories of someone’s life.

Dannah: True! The authors wrote in many different styles, not just biography-style. But all together—don’t ever forget this—the Bible is one continuing story of God’s love for people. It’s one great big love story. God’s love story. 

So I’m going to choose to use the word “biographers.” Well, let’s be honest, because it gives us a B word to remember this important criteria.

Not to repeat what we learned last week, but the writers of the Bible came from lots of different places, different backgrounds, and different periods in history over the course of about 1,500 years. They were all very different, but they had one thing in common: they were on special assignment from God. They were chosen by Him. The Old Testament was written by prophets and others especially assigned by God. And the New Testament was written by men who saw first-hand the life and impact of Jesus Christ on the world!

Staci: Note: Clue #2 when investigating the Bible’s credibility. The B in ABCs of credibility stands for Biographers. The writers were assigned by God or first-hand witnesses to the life and impact of Jesus. End Note.

What’s the C stand for, Dannah?

Dannah: Well, this one is super cool and kinda miraculous! It’s actually my favorite. C Stands for content. There are lots of qualities about the content that makes the words in the Bible unique. Let me just tell you about one: unity and harmony. And I kind consider them as one even through they’re two words. 

There’s a very special unity and harmony to what we read in the Bible. Even though the Bible’s many authors wrote in very different times and places, they all told the same message about God’s eternal plan and in the same way. They “sounded” alike. This is totally amazing since you couldn’t look a book up in a library back then. You had to have an ancient papyrus scroll to read the original copy and the pieces of the Bible, the books, weren’t in a collection yet. In fact, some of them were actually hidden for safe keeping. So, it’s not like someone could read a piece of it any time he or she wanted.

But you can find the same stories, facts, and truths written by Moses—one of the earliest writers—and the New Testament writers, Christ’s followers. 

Staci: So, you have different writers, over a long period of time in different places writing the same things. Hmmm! Not to be suspicious, but we’re investigating here, Dannah. 

Right, True Girl? 

So, Ma’am, what example do you have of “unity and harmony”?

Dannah: Well, one I really love to talk about is the promise of heaven. 

So, the prophet Isaiah . . . Let me find it here. Ah, yes, there it is. Isaiah 65:17 recorded God communicating this, “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.”

Staci: Hey, that reminds me of a verse I know, Revelation 21:1 when John says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.”

Dannah: Exactly! And 2 Peter 3 says this, ”We are waiting for fnew heavens and a new earth gin which righteousness dwells.

Staci: That is pretty amazing! These men—Isaiah, John, and Peter—never knew each other but they wrote almost the same thing with the same language. That’s awesome.

Dannah: Isn’t it? And then Jesus says something very similar. And that’s just one subject! The Bible’s authors do that with lots of other subjects and events, too. Because, as I said, it’s really just one big story—a love story with the same themes showing up over and over again, like: kingdom, creation, and life.

Staci: Note: Clue #3 when investigating the Bible’s credibility. The C in ABCs of credibility stands for Content. The qualities of the content—like unity and harmony—are possible only if one author—God—was inspiring these words. End Note.

Are there other ways to show the Bible is credible and trustworthy?

Dannah: Looks like Samson wants to know that, too! So, can you explain to our True Girl friends what a Bible prophecy is, Staci?

Staci: Yup! It’s when God revealed to one of the authors of the Bible something that was gonna happen in the future. For instance, when in Micah 5:2 it was prophesied that Jesus would be born in the town of Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:1 says that’s exactly what happened!

Dannah: Right! Are you ready to have your mind blown, Staci? 

Staci: Yes!

Dannah: What about you, True Girl? Samson, what about you?

[meow]

That is just one of the prophecies the Old Testament prophets wrote about Jesus that actually came to be. Jesus Christ fulfilled over 300 prophecies written in the Old Testament part of the Bible! Everything written about his birth as a baby and His life as our Messiah came to be true!

Staci: Oh man, Dannah, that sounds impossible!

Dannah: Yeah, Staci. Imagine we covered all the land on earth with silver dollar coins 120 feet deep. And we asked a blindfolded person to pick out one particular silver dollar we had marked with red paint. The mathematical odds of that actually happening are actually more possible than a normal human fulfilling just ten of the prophecies Jesus fulfilled!

Barista: Hey, I’m sorry for eavesdropping on your conversation, ladies, but that really is amazing! I guess I’ll dust off my Bible tonight and read a little bit of it before I go to bed. 

Also, your Meow-Meow Macchiato and Purrr-fect Chai are waiting for you in the cafe area. 

Staci: Well, that’s purrr-fect timing! 

You know, Dannah, I think the Barista just gave us a great assignment for the week. Why don’t we each determine to make reading the Bible the very last thing we do before we fall asleep tonight? 

Dannah: That’s a great idea, Staci, I’m in! And we can pray this before we read, “Lord, help me to believe that Your Word is 100% trustworthy.”

Staci: Hey, Samson. Is there anything you want to say into my tape recorder before we go get our drinks?

[meow]

Staci and Dannah: Cats! 

Claire: Have you ever been to a cat cafe? I’d love to meet Samson! 

If you love learning more about the Bible, you and your mom might want to check out the True Girl subscription box! It is packed full of fun and meaningful things all centered around a theme. 

Right now, we’re shipping the Pajama Party Box to explore what the Bible says about Positive Peer Pressure! The box includes items like a fuzzy sleep mask, a music box button that plays True Girl original music, and an updated and revised copy of Dannah Gresh’s True Girl Pajama Party book! It’s full of ways to make partying in your pjs a chance to draw closer to Jesus while you and your friends grow closer to each other! Of course, the box puts mom in the driver’s seat of the conversation. That’s really important to us at True Girl!

You can subscribe today at MyTrueGirl.com/Subscription. 

Have you ever wondered, “Why are there so many translations of the Bible? What’s the difference between a translation and a paraphrase? We’ll address those questions on the next episode of the True Girl Podcast, when Dannah and Staci—and you—continue with the Great Bible Investigation. 

Our next investigation destination: a Bible museum!

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