The “Truth and Sufficiency of Scripture” is a core value of the Navigators, reflecting the deep worth and love the Word receives. While “sufficiency” means that Scripture contains everything we need for a relationship with God, this article focuses on truth: how can we rely on the Bible in our postmodern world?
The Philosophical Angle: Is Truth Subjective?
We often hear phrases like “Live your truth” or “You do you”. These suggest that truth is subjective—that your truth shouldn’t dictate my life, and mine shouldn’t dictate yours.
However, this creates a problem. If truth is purely subjective, how can we agree on what “good,” “harm,” or “progress” actually means? Sin further compounds the problem—because we are all corrupted by sin, none of us can fully understand (nor do we want to understand) truth. For us to agree on concepts like “good” or “harm”, there must be an external reality beyond our own opinions. If this world has a Creator, then He is the one who establishes truth and meaning beyond our limited understanding.
The Historical Angle: Can We Trust the Records?
God could have left us to figure Him out through nature alone, but He loved us enough to make Himself known personally. He spoke through the Law, the Prophets, the apostles, and most clearly through His Son, Jesus Christ. Scripture is the physical, written record of these interactions. In the same way that we read news articles and seek photos as proof that these articles are real, the written word has been that same proof for most of human history.
The New Testament is incredibly robust. We have more surviving copies of it than many other ancient histories we consider authoritative. Consider the works of Plato—our primary source for the life and teachings of Socrates. Plato’s earliest surviving copy dates to around 900 AD, a gap of some 1,200 years from the original, with only seven manuscripts known for centuries. By contrast, we possess over 5,600 Greek New Testament manuscripts, plus more than 19,000 copies in other languages. As Professor F.F. Bruce of the University of Manchester observed, the evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning.
Luke, the author of Luke and Acts, dated his writings to specific events and Roman rulers. This allowed his readers to dispute him if he was lying, as many witnesses were still alive. It would be like writing that the Christchurch Earthquake never happened—something a resident of that city would immediately disprove. Furthermore, secular historians like Tacitus and Josephus mention Jesus, despite having no religious incentive to do so.
The Old Testament also provides physical evidence through archaeology:
- King Hezekiah’s Tunnel: A 2,700-year-old water system you can still walk through today.
- The Cyrus Cylinder: Confirms the decree allowing exiles to return home, as recorded in Ezra.
- The Burial Plaque of King Uzziah: Physical evidence of a king whose historical existence was once disputed.
- Shishak’s Invasion: Secular Egyptian records that cross-check the biblical account.
Even “impossible” prophecies—like Isaiah naming King Cyrus 200 years before his birth—are logical if we believe in a Creator who exists outside of time. If the Bible has proven true in the areas that can be verified, can we trust it in the areas that we cannot yet verify?
A Choice to Make
We live in a world that tells us truth is something we create for ourselves. But if the Creator of the universe has spoken through history and Scripture, then Truth isn’t something we “do”—it’s someone we follow.
Consider the reaction of those who witnessed the birth of Jesus firsthand. Luke records that Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart,” while the shepherds “spread the word concerning what had been told them” (Luke 2:17–19). Two people, the same event, the same truth—one quietly pondering, one urgently telling. Both responses were born from an encounter with something undeniably real.
If the Bible is reliable, are you willing to trust it in the areas of your life that feel uncertain today?