Why believe the Bible?

Why believe the Bible? is a short apologetic book by John Blanchard published in 2004.

Arguments

• The Bible provokes a wide range of reactions‎
• Atheists are closed minded
• Many accurate copies of my holy book exist
• Arguing against the argument that the Bible is not true because it contains miracles
• Argument from admired religious scientists
• Mentioned at the argument from consciousness
• Argues against all religions share a single message
• Against the existence of Biblical contradictions or historical errors
• Argument from historical sources
• Skeptics have been unable to refute the Bible
• What are your qualifications?
• Argument from the overall message (the book moves be on to the offensive)
• Argument from scripture (this is the centerpiece argument, however it is circular)
  • He then defends circular argumentation saying it is unavoidable (which is not true, see the Münchhausen trilemma)
  • "Tested in every way possible, its integrity remains intact, with witnesses such as history, geography and prophecy providing impressive supporting evidence." Unfortunately, the evidence says otherwise. Also, he assumes these peripheral details authenticate its main religious claims, which is a hasty generalization.
  • "if the Bible is the Word of God, how can it possibly point us to any higher authority in order to authenticate its claims?" Skeptics are asking apologists to authenticate itself based on evidence, which is the only "authority" accessible to use. The Bible fails in this regard.
• The Bible cannot be just a "good book" because of its grand claims. This is a variation of Liar, Lunatic or Lord.
• He rejects the argument from scriptural codes
• Argument from prophecy
• Religious belief is beneficial to society and Religion is beneficial to believers
• My holy book is the most influential in history

The author then describes his interpretation of what the overall message of the Bible entails. He briefly covers the nature of God, the uniqueness of humans in creation, everyone is a sinner, hell and atonement. He concludes with:

• Just hit your knees
• Pascal's wager (a mention)