I believe that the Bible is a message from God himself, designed to lead humanity to peace with God through belief in Jesus. However, you may not agree with me. Perhaps you instead believe the Bible is corrupted, or that it is a work of fiction. Therefore, let me share with you how one can know that the Bible is, in fact, what it claims to be. First, consider how the Bible is constructed. It is not just one book, but a collection of 66 harmonious books penned by 40 different men (many of whom were willing to die for what they had written) of diverse backgrounds over the course of about 1500 years. All of these books follow a singular theme containing a broad variety of genres including historical, narrative, law, epic, poetry, prophecy, wisdom and letters. Add to this the fact it is made up of books written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek and contains writings from three different continents, and one can begin to see how it should have been nearly impossible to keep a common story throughout the entire Bible without any true contradiction. Despite these odds, the Bible is a perfectly unified work.
Second, archaeology continues to support the places and events in the Bible, while discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls (ancient manuscripts discovered in the 1950’s) continue to confirm the accuracy of the Bible we have today. As well, all but 11 verses of the New Testament (the 27 most recently written books of the Bible) were quoted and affirmed by scholars within the first 300 years after Jesus’ death. To put it in perspective, no one would argue that the works we attribute to Plato or Homer were not written by them, yet the Bible is far more authenticated than they are!
Finally, the Bible has the ability to impact people at a personal level like no other book in history can. It has changed the behaviour of drunkards, murderers, molesters, and the common man. If one approaches the words of the Bible with humility, it will speak to him or her on a deeply personal level. If you don’t believe me, read the first four books of the New Testament with an open heart and mind and see what happens. Truly, the Bible is like no other book—inspired by God and revealing His plan for humanity. It is a book of hope and promise, a book that I pray you will come to see as God intended.
--Pastor Stephen Valcourt 
This article originally appeared in the Pincher Creek Echo