Can I really trust the Bible?

Can I really trust the Bible? By Barry Cooper

This little booklet on the trustworthiness of the Bible is a rich resource devoted toward helping people stand squarely on the Bible as truth. Barry Cooper, author and speaks, gets into the heart of the issue of the Bible’s reliability by looking at its contents, what it says about God, and how the canon came about. This little booklet turns out to be a wise work in discerning the truth of the Bible amidst scholar’s claims that the canon is riddled with errors, inconsistencies, and aberrations.

Barry gets started by giving us a picture of God’s world as revelation but seeing in this revelation not a full picture of God’s truth. The Scriptures from the very beginning claim that they are written by God, just as he claimed also to make the world (14). Secondly, Jesus rested on the Scriptures, he quoted them, he fulfilled them, and he also speaks to the truthfulness of the Bible’ characters (15-18). At the end of the first chapter, Barry responds to the argument of circularity against the Bible (i.e. The Bible says that the Bible is trustworthy) with a careful response that even those who employ rationality worship at the altar of circularity. Instead, he points that we should test the claims of the Bible and see what it claims for itself (22-23).

The most impressive chapter is chapter 4 which deals with canon, contradictions, and criticism. Barry concludes the chapter with some key points: namely that the 66 books of the Bible bear within them an ongoing theme with one central figure, fulfilled predictions reside in them, there is eyewitness testimony of the NT, the writers faced torture and death for their truth in what they wrote, and there was remarkable agreement between the early church and which books to be included (65). These points are outlined in a very succinct manner.

I hope this book helps readers understand the truthfulness of the Bible and the unique way it came into existence through many writers carried along by the Holy Spirit. The only drawback I found in the book was no further reading section for those who want to dive deeper into the subject.

Thanks to the Good Book Company and Cross Focused Reviews for the book in exchange for review.

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