1. Not religion, rather, Christianity. Religion teaches what man must do to satisfy God's requirements, whereas Christianity teaches man can't, only Jesus could.
That said, why do I believe the Bible?
1. Historical evidence - It has not been proven wrong histroically on items that are verifiable, e.g. existence of Jeirco and it's walls collapsing, destruction of Sodom and Gommorah, ancient peoples once thought to be imaginations of the Biblical writers, e.g Hittites.
2. Prophecy - the prophecies written about Jesus in Psalms, Isaiah and Micah, specifically his birthplace and time, the circumstances of and manner of his death, manner of burial , and his resurrection, are statistically as impossible to fulfill as abiogenesis, yet they are well attested to.
3. The existence of the Jews, return to their homeland (as prophesied), the resurrection of their language and currency, their maintenance of cultural identity through centuries of exile, etc. is unparralled in human history.
4. The preservation of the New Testament. More ancient manuscripts of this (or parts of) document exist than ALL documents written before 1600 AD, copies of which are constantly being unearthed. Potions of Isaiah were found in Qumram amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating 100 BC, virtually identical to what we have today.
5. The nature of the Bible. Written by 40 authors on 3 continents in 3 languages over 1600 years, and no disagreements or contradictions. We here on FR, with the same beliefs (more or less), same language, and same time period can't agree on much of anything, including the definition of socialism, our mutual enemy!
6. A worldview that consistently explains human nature. Are there absolutes? Are some things wrong (sin)? Is there beauty?
7. The changing power of God in the lives of sinners. I am not who I used to be, because of my belief in Jesus, and His recreation of new life in me. I won't expect anyone to believe this, those who have experienced it.
While the last two a philosophical or metaphysical in nature, the first 5 are not. Science, and it's theories are constantly changing to accomdate new informattion, as is it's nature. But arguing on origins based on theories that can fundamentally change next week is not logical, in my opinion. I prefer to believe in something that has not changed in 2000 years, and has a logic behind it, as I have asserted in 1-5 above.
We must ALL agree that no explanation of origins can be "proven", any one must be accepted on faith, based on ones acceptance of the evidence provided. I am an engineer by training and practice, and spend my carreer engaging companies as a consultant to train them how to solve real business problems logically, based on data, not heresay, theory or conjecture. Having worked with PhD scientists at TRW, AB, and Penn State, I don't give them near the credit, or benefit of the doubt, as other do. Illogical leaps are made by people all of the time, a substantial one being that correlation means causation. Another thing I have learned. Just because everyone believes something to be true does not make it so, ergo, consensus is no guarantee of correctness.
I trust herein I have answered why I believe the Bible, more than just asserting "Because it's the Word of God". (which I believe it is). Christianity is logical, is satisfying both intellectually and emotionally, and provides the best basis for a consistent, ethical and stable worldview.
Jesus claimed to be God's unique Son, said he came to die for our sins, was crucified, dead and buried. On the 3rd day, he rose to prove his claims true! How we individually respond to this truth determines the nature of our existence. We each must decide what to do with this Jesus.
Believe what you want, but just don’t call it science.