Is The Bible True? 2025

Is the Bible true in 2025? Although the Bible remains the best-selling book of all time, many still wonder if the Bible is fiction or nonfiction. As with all questions, our answers have consequences. What's the worst thing that could happen if we are wrong? What's the best thing that could happen if we are right? Let's consider those questions in this post.

Is the Bible True in 2025?

"Is That Your Final Answer?" A True Story

I want to share a story with you that may be helpful. Every Spring, graduate students in university counseling programs endure comprehensive examinations. These examinations may be written, oral, or both. They are "high-stakes tests" because they serve as one of several "gatekeepers" to the counseling profession. One examination stands out among the hundreds of comprehensive oral examinations I've administered over the years.   

Many Paths to the Top of the Mountain: Most master's degree programs in counseling teach several approaches (theoretical orientations) to conceptualizing and helping clients with their presenting problems. We teach several approaches because, after all, there are many paths to the top of the mountain of problems clients may have. If one path leads to a dead end, we must be flexible and skilled enough to use another. It's in the client's best interest. 

"Is that Your Final Answer?" So, what makes this one oral examination so remarkable that I write about it to you 20+ years later? Here's what happened. I was one of three professors (gatekeepers) on this student's oral examination committee. We asked a series of questions, beginning with easy ones and becoming more challenging. 

I offered the student a hypothetical client who struggled with anxiety. 

Here's the interaction: 

Me: Choose an approach that best conceptualizes (makes sense of) the client's problem and tell us how you would use it.

Student: "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is best suited for this client with anxiety." They then offered a well-reasoned response. Well done.

Me: "What if that approach wasn't effective? Which approach would you consider next?"

Student: "It will be effective. CBT will help all clients regardless of presenting problem." 

Me: "Just humor the committee and pretend that your favorite approach didn't help your client." 

Frustrated Student: "It is the only approach I will use! It will always work!" 

Professors in Unison: "Is that your final answer?" 

Defiant Student: "YES!"

The student failed the oral examination. They were fully prepared for what to expect in the examination and chose to "do it their way." After one week, the student reconsidered, retested, and passed. 

Consequences and Benefits: Wrong or Right

The consequences of being wrong on a high-stakes examination in graduate school may include failing the exam, humiliation, and thousands of dollars wasted if they don't finish their degree. It's expensive unless you are sure you are right and others are wrong.

The benefits of being right are:

• Graduation.

• Walking across the commencement stage, the crowd goes wild in celebration.

• More high-stakes tests.

• Entering the promised land of your new career. 

How does this relate to the Bible?

Is The Bible True?

As we go about our lives, we make certain assumptions about what is true and false. As students, we assume our teachers and professors have our best interests at heart. Their assumptions are usually, but not always, correct.

What assumptions do we make about God and the Bible? Do we put God on the same level as professors, most wanting the best for us, but not all? Can we assume that if God tells us something to do or not to do, He does so out of love? And do we always accept His instruction, or only when He tells us what we want to hear?

I believe God is always good and loving and wants what is best for us. It's true even when we become defiant when He tells us what's on His "high-stakes test" and exactly how to prepare for it. He tells us in all 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments in the Bible. But we can choose to heed His loving instructions or not.

You might even wonder, 'But what about scientific claims contradicting the Bible?' or 'How can we trust writings from thousands of years ago?' These are valid questions that thoughtful believers have wrestled with for centuries. While entire books are devoted to these topics, consider this: if God is truly all-powerful and all-knowing as the Bible claims, wouldn't He be capable of preserving His message accurately across time? The Bible has withstood centuries of scrutiny, and archaeological discoveries have repeatedly confirmed biblical accounts rather than disproved them. Faith doesn't require abandoning reason—instead, it provides a foundation that makes sense of our world and experiences in ways purely materialistic explanations cannot.

If you require more justification to believe, consider this: The Bible's historical reliability continues to be validated through archaeological discoveries. The Pool of Siloam mentioned in John 9, the existence of Pontius Pilate, and remnants of David's palace are just a few examples where archaeology has confirmed biblical accounts once questioned by skeptics. Additionally, the Bible contains over 2,000 fulfilled prophecies—including detailed predictions about the Messiah written centuries before Jesus' birth. The preservation of biblical manuscripts far exceeds any other ancient text, with over 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts allowing scholars to reconstruct the original text with 99.5% accuracy. This evidence doesn't 'prove' the Bible mathematically, but it offers compelling support for its reliability as a historical document.

So What? If The Bible is True, How Does It Change My Life?

How does believing the Bible is true change our daily lives?

• Moral Compass: The Bible provides an unwavering moral compass in a world of shifting values. When faced with difficult ethical decisions, we have guidance that transcends cultural trends. We need a reliable moral compass to navigate our way through the dark woods where the straight way has been lost! (ref. Dante's Inferno).

  
  

• Comfort During Suffering: The Bible offers genuine comfort during suffering, not empty platitudes, but the assurance that God works all things for good (Romans 8:28). Life doesn't come with a happiness guarantee, but God provides opportunities to transcend the suffering.

  
  

• Transforms Our Relationships: The Bible transforms our relationships as we follow Christ's example of sacrificial love and forgiveness. Further, how would our relationships change if we approached them with "Fruit of the Spirit" awareness: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Every relationship would change for the better, no doubt!

  
  

• Eternal Perspective: The Bible gives us an eternal perspective on our temporary challenges, reminding us that our ultimate citizenship is in heaven.

  Throughout history, believers have found that living according to biblical truth doesn't restrict freedom but enables us to become the people we were created to be.

Finally…

All Scripture is God-Inspired: God tells us through the Apostle Paul that the Bible is His Word. Do you believe God when He says:

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV).

At this point, we can either believe the Apostle Paul's words to Timothy or not. According to God, the Bible is His inspired Word expressed through His chosen apostles and disciples. Do you believe it? If yes, continue reading. If not, is that your final answer? It may be.

Now, when we read that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1), we can believe it. There is no need to consult anthropology professors or evolutionists who may try to convince you otherwise. Remember, not all professors have your best interests at heart. Just accept that God does.

Are There Many Ways to Heaven, or Just One? If the Bible is true, and all of it is God's inspired Word, then we can believe there is only one way. Jesus said so Himself. 

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6, ESV).  

C.S. Lewis popularized Rabbi John Duncan's earlier comment about Jesus: "Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord."   This powerful trilemma forces us to confront the claims Jesus made about Himself. If Jesus wasn't who He said He was—the Son of God—then He was either deliberately deceiving others (a liar) or genuinely deluded about His own identity (a lunatic). Given Jesus' profound moral teachings and transformative impact on human history, neither of these alternatives makes logical sense. The most reasonable conclusion, supported by the testimony of witnesses and the resurrection accounts, is that Jesus truly was and is who He claimed to be—the Lord. His divinity validates the truth of Scripture that both foretold and recorded His ministry. 

God Asks the Questions, We Respond

Perhaps instead of us asking the question, Is the Bible True?" maybe it's God asking us the question, "Is the Bible True?" Jesus is asking you and me, 

"But who do you say I am?" (Luke 9:20, ESV). 

This is NOT a question we want to answer incorrectly! If you say, "I don't know, or he was a great teacher," or anything except "the Christ," then you don't believe the Bible is true. Think of Jesus asking this question repeatedly with every heartbeat until you see the Light. He doesn't want to lose a single one of us. 

Concluding Thoughts

We have all taken "high-stakes tests" and will no doubt take more before our lives end. But none has more potential eternal consequences (or rewards) than the question God asks each of us: "Is the Bible true?" There is only ONE acceptable response. "Yes." Get it right, and you'll experience God and the multitude of Angels go wild as you begin a new life chapter. Get it wrong by saying "No" and experience the unmistakable "Is that your final answer?" knawing at your mind, heart, and soul. The lukewarm worldview response "maybe" will bring endless unanswerable questions. Each ending with "Is that your final answer?" Isn't it time to submit to God's authority rather than continue doing it your way? Jesus promises each one of us: 

"For My yoke is easy, and My burden light." "(Matthew 11:30, ESV

When we accept the Bible as God's true and inspired Word, we find freedom, not restriction. Like a student who finally understands the professor's instructions and excels on the exam, embracing biblical truth provides clarity, purpose, and peace in a confusing world. The question 'Is the Bible true?' isn't merely academic—it's the foundation upon which we build our lives and eternity. I encourage you to consider your answer carefully, prayerfully, and with an open heart to what God is revealing to you through His Word.

Continue Your Faith Journey:

- Discerning God's Will: Romans 12 Reflections - Put biblical truth into practical decision-making

- Why Are We Here? - Discover your divine purpose  

- When Faith Becomes Commerce - Distinguish authentic faith from counterfeits