We can ask this question about just about anything. Take an online article about something happening on the other side of the world, for example—why do we believe it? I guess we could say we trust the website we found it on. And if other newspapers and sites were reporting the same event, then that would also help convince us the story was true. On the other hand, if the article was actually fake news, we’d be able to find out pretty quickly because we could check with our mates or even other people online.

There may not have been the internet when the Bible was written, but the idea is the same. Many of the books in the Bible were written by people who went through the stories and situations themselves. They were there at the time! Take the books about Jesus: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These accounts of Jesus’ life were written by eye-witnesses, close friends of his and one was put together by a historian who lived around the same time.

That means the stories would have been checked out and discussed just like the news articles of today. Anything that was ‘fake news’ would have been quickly deleted by the people who lived in Israel and had met Jesus for themselves. Only the truth would have stood the test of time. These accounts were widely read and believed by the people who had ‘been there’! Like news articles, the interest in these books increased because they weren’t make believe—they were accurate records of what Jesus said and did.

Should we believe the Bible? Yes—it tells us God’s story from the people who actually lived through different parts of it for themselves!

— Chris, an Our Daily Bread reader