You may hear a statement like the following: "The Bible is just a book that was written by man."

This is a bit of illogical thinking since it is based on circular reasoning. The person who says this first assumes that God does not reveal anything to anyone. The person may even assume that God does not exist. Then, from that assumption, they seek to use the assumption to prove to themselves that their original assumption is true by simply stating it a bit differently: "The Bible was just written by men."

Is The Bible just a book written by Men or is it the inspired Word of God?

The idea in this question is that, since the authors were fallible human beings, the Bible is fallible.  

Many people try to define exactly how the process of divine inspiration works. This is not wise. We can know some things about the inspired Word of God and how it was inspired.  

The purpose of this question:

The scoffer reasons: "If the Bible were just the opinions of men, then would not my opinions just as valid? So if that is true, then I can do what I want and continue in my rebellion against God. I can claim that God never made it clear that I was to obey." The reason that people want an unreliable Bible is because they don't want to do God's will. For many people, they want to disobey one or two of God's precepts (for instance: perversions of marriage, greed, or cruelty). Some people want the ability to judge others for disobeying one part of God's Word and, at the same time, have an excuse for their own disobedience of another part of God's Word.  

For most, it is just a desire to run their own lives separated from God, making their own decisions and not seeking complete unity with The Almighty God and His Love. This is the definition of iniquity. God has a plan for every aspect of our lives and He has designed us to be joined to Him in a wonderful way where we are constantly in submission to His will and He guides, directs, and empowers every thought, word, and action of our lives every moment of the day and night. That is the purpose and the goal.

This evil purpose is defeated in the fact that it is the Bible that reveals. God reveals through the Bible. He speaks to everyone who reads the Bible. No one can read the Bible without being exposed to the Almighty, but many people, even people who wear the tag, Christian, are so calloused against God that they cannot hear His voice.  

The Answer:

The reason we believe that the Bible is the Word of God without error is because of direct revelation.  This belief is NOT worthless rationalized faith, which is based on physical evidence and raw human reasoning (the reasoning of the human mind without the Intelligence of the Creator flowing through the human mind).  This revelation is given directly by God to everyone who will receive it.  

Ask for their hard evidence that shows that God did NOT reveal anything to the apostles and the prophets. If they are going to make such a rash statement, they ought to at least have some basis for believing it to be true. You will find that they will have nothing except hot air and wishful thinking. When they realize this, invite them to receive Jesus as their Savior. If they refuse, then you have a person who just is not open to truth. Their problem is that they do not want to do the will of God. In other words, they are committed to evil. When they refuse to hold God in their knowledge, God turns them over to a reprobate, a useless, mind. The human mind cannot function properly without the Love of God flowing through it. You may as well move on to someone who is not so closed-minded and hardened toward all that is good.

See also: Is the Bible a Book Just Written by Men?