The Bible: Is it Really Accurate and Reliable?
Is the Bible historically accurate? For a skeptic like me, this question demanded an answer. After all, I was being asked to base my entire life on a book written over 2,000 years ago. It is not like I could find eye witnesses to Jesus’ death and resurrection and ask them to give me an account of what they saw and heard and then compare notes. Somehow, I needed to determine whether the Bible was historically accurate and not just made-up stories. The only thing I had to rely on was what was written in the Bible, and I was not yet convinced that the Bible was a reliable source of truth. I needed to understand why so many people were convinced that the Bible was historically accurate and reliable. So I began searching and here is what I found: THE BIBLE, AN ANCIENT TEXT The Bible is an ancient, historical collection of books. The first book was written around 3,400 years ago and the last book around 1,900 years ago. Historians who study ancient texts like those written by Homer, Plato and Aristotle use certain criteria to determine their reliability. This same criteria can also be (and has been) applied to the Bible. There are three tests that historians commonly use to test the reliability and accuracy of ancient documents: 1. The bibliographical test2. The internal evidence test 3. The external evidence test When these tests are applied to the Bible, there is no doubt that the Bible is an accurate and historical document. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST HAS THE BIBLE BEEN TRANSMITTED ACCURATELY? The bibliographical test helps one determine whether the Bible has been transmitted accurately. This test compares the date the original text was written to the date of the earliest copies found of that same text. The closer these two dates, the more reliable the copies. The New Testament was written between A.D. 50 and A.D. 100. So far, the earliest copy of the New Testament found is dated A.D 130. This means that there is less than 100 years between the original manuscript and the first copy that was found! Compare this to Plato, where the time span between the original and the first copy was 1,200 years and to Homer (Iliad) where there is a 500 year difference. Historians consider Plato and Homer to have been transmitted accurately. Using this same test, the accuracy of the Bible far exceeds the accuracy of these other ancient texts, a fact historians cannot deny. Dead Sea Scroll Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest copy of the Old Testament was dated around 90 A.D., which means there was a time gap of around 1,300 years between the first book written and the earliest copy discovered. This is about the same as Plato, who is considered reliable by an overwhelming majority of historians. In addition to the length of time between the original text and the earliest copy, Historians relied on how the Old Testament was transmitted to bolster its accuracy. The Old Testament was transcribed by Hebrew scribes who were bound to strict laws on how they transcribed the text, meaning mistakes in transmission were very unlikely. But until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, no one knew exactly how accurate these transcriptions were. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in a cave in Qumran. The scrolls contained fragments of every book of the Bible except Esther and were dated anywhere between 250 B.C. and 50 A.D. The entire book of Isaiah, dated 75 B.C., was part of the Dead Sea discovery. This discovery closed the gap between the original text of Isaiah and the earliest copy found. In addition, when scholars compared the previous oldest copy of the book of Isaiah to the Dead Sea Isaiah, they found 95% consistency. Of the 5% variation, most variations involved omitted letters and misspellings. Scholars can confidently assert that the scribal process resulted in a very accurate transmission of the Old Testament. Another facet of the test involves the number of copies found. The more copies found, the more accurate the text is. Seven copies of Plato and 1,757 of Homer (the Iliad) have been found, whereas over 5,500 copies of the New Testament written in Greek have been found. When you add versions written in other languages to those written in Greek, there are over 24,000 copies of the New Testament. Even more impressive is that after comparing these copies, the New Testament was found to be 99.5% accurate! Only 40 lines of the New Testament are in doubt. Historians consider Plato and Homer reliable texts. The bibliographical test shows the Bible to be much more reliable than both Homer and Plato. If Homer and Plato’s authenticity has not been questioned, then why should we question the historical authenticity of the Bible? Internal Evidence Test ARE THE BIBLICAL AUTHORS CREDIBLE? The internal evidence test helps us determine whether the authors of the Bible are credible. An author’s credibility is directly related to their proximity to the reported events and the time between the event and their report. In the case of the New Testament, the authors were either eyewitnesses to the event or relaying the testimony of an eyewitness to the event. John, a disciple of Jesus, was an eyewitness to all he wrote in the Gospel of John. He said in John 21:24, “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.” Other authors of the New Testament wrote based on eyewitness accounts. John Mark, the author of Mark, was Peter’s translator. Mark’s gospel records the teachings of Peter, who, as Jesus’s disciple, had first-hand knowledge of Jesus, his teachings, and his life. Another way to determine an author’s credibility is to examine whether he had any motivation to lie. Early Christians were persecuted and killed for proclaiming Jesus. Their enemies were numerous. Why would the New Testament authors risk their lives
Walk By Faith Not By Sight
Faith compels you to act in ways that you never would have expected like building a boat to save yourself from a flood when it has never even rained, or fighting a giant that everyone is too scared to fight, or believing a promise that in the natural, just doesn’t make sense.
The Bible: Is It the Inspired Word of God?
NO ORDINARY BOOK The Bible is not just any ordinary book. Its message has caused people from all generations, all walks of life and all nationalities to radically change the direction of their lives. Written words on their own do not have this kind of power. However, if the Bible is the inspired word of God, then its words have the weight and power to affect such profound change. In The Bible: Is It Really Accurate and Reliable?, we concluded that the Bible is truth and not fiction – that it is historically reliable and its authors are credible. For those reasons, we can look to the Bible to answer the question: Is the Bible the inspired Word of God? GOD BREATHED The Bible was written by ordinary men with no extraordinary power or authority. The authors did not profess the words they wrote as their own, but claimed they were the words of God. Paul, in 2nd Timothy 3:16 says that “All scripture is inspired by God.” Inspired comes from the Greek word theopneustos which means God-breathed. Over and over again, both the Old and the New Testament make reference to scripture as the Word of God. PROPHECY In the Old Testament, God spoke through prophets like Moses and Jeremiah. These prophets were chosen by God to communicate His message to the world. Jeremiah provides a great example of how prophets were chosen and used by God. Jeremiah 1: 5-10 says: “The Lord said to me, ‘Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you…I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.’ I answered, ‘Oh, Lord God, I really do not know how to speak well enough for that’…The Lord said to me…’But go to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you…’ Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. Know for certain that I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.” The Old Testament is filled with prophecies relating to the rise and fall of nations and kingdoms. Prophecies in the Old Testament were written hundreds, if not thousands of years before they came to pass. An example of an Old Testament prophecy relating to the fall of a nation is recorded in Ezekiel. Between 587-586 B.C. Ezekiel predicted that many nations would come against the city of Tyre and that eventually Nebuchadnezzar would destroy it. In Ezekiel 26:12, Ezekiel predicted that the stone, timber and rubble of the ancient City of Tyre would be thrown into the sea. “They will plunder your wealth and loot your merchandise; they will break down your walls and demolish your fine houses and throw your stones, timber and rubble into the sea.” This prophecy came to pass when Alexander the Great attacked Tyre in 333-332 B.C. His armies threw the stones, timber and rubble of the City into the sea to make a land bridge. This bridge is still there. There are hundreds more prophecies recorded in the Old Testament that later came to pass. The accuracy of these prophecies is uncanny and the likelihood of them coming to pass is low, unless of course, they were given by God to the prophets supernaturally. In addition to prophets predicting the rise and fall of people and nations, the prophets predicted the coming of Jesus Christ. There are over 300 prophecies concerning Jesus. There are prophecies which told when he would be born, “A period of seventy sets of seven has been decreed for your people and your holy city to finish their rebellion, to put an end to their sin, to atone for their guilt, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to confirm the prophetic vision, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. Now listen and understand! Seven sets of seven plus sixty-two sets of seven will pass from the time the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem until a ruler—the Anointed One—comes…” Daniel 9:24-25 his lineage, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” 2nd Samuel 12-16 that he would die and rise again. “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:8-11 ONE MAN FULFILL ALL THESE PROPHECIES? What are the chances that one man would fulfill these prophecies? College students decided to conduct a scientific study to help answer this question. They used only 8 of the prophecies concerning Jesus. Upon completion of the study, they determined that the chance that one man would fulfill just 8 of these prophecies was 1 in 1017 . I have trouble imagining that number, so I’m going to use the visualization that Peter Stoner in his book Science Speaks used: Imagine that we took 1017 silver dollars and laid them across the entire state
The Bible – Don’t Just Visit It, Live in It
I love to read. I used to easily read 4-5 books a week. Most of which were filled with mindless escape, passion, and puzzling ‘who done it’ plots. There’s a wonder and mystery contained in books that have the ability to take us to different places, meet different people and go on a journey all between page one til “the end”. I don’t read that many books in a week any longer and while I’ve become more selective in my reading material, I still love a good adventure and engulfing plot. To date, I haven’t found a book that offers all of it quite like the Bible. While the Bible reads like a well-written novel with adventure, love, war, betrayal, forgiveness, and a hero with an enemy, ultimately, it is a true account of the fall of man, how evil came to be, and the Savior who overcomes it. The wonder and beauty of it is that Scripture takes us on a journey. It is meant to be read in its entirety, enjoyed, studied, learned from, and applied to our lives. It tells us how Eve and Adam didn’t trust God completely, how they fell for temptation, how in the very beginning of time, even with clear instruction, humans chose poorly. It tells us how Satan started his reign on earth, and how even though this would be allowed for a period of time, it does not go on forever. It tells us how God offers to save us, in spite of ourselves and because of His deep love for us, through the life, death, and resurrection of his only son. If only we turn away (repent) from our poor choices (sin). It tells us we have a choice in choosing to follow Jesus or not, this is free will. God wants us to choose Him but as a gentleman won’t force us to do so. This wonderful book is filled with instruction and wisdom that He provided. It tells us how the chaos of this world and the fickleness and failings of humans is temporary and the end, heaven, is better than we can fathom. A non-fiction book that offers us hope. Where we get ourselves into trouble is by not applying what we read, not believing the Bible is real or that only parts of it matter. Our biggest challenges in living the beautiful book of the Bible… We read scripture and discard the ones that make us uncomfortable with our behavior or our actions. Psalm 119:160 “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” Revelation 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this scroll.” We allow current culture to dictate our point of view. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound teaching but having itching ears will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” We don’t trust God. Revelation 22:6 “The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” Psalm 118:8 “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” We mislead ourselves into thinking we know best or know all the facts (the big picture). Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” We ignore who God is and His promises. James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” Romans 16:20 “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Dear God, thank you for the Bible, for leaving all the generations a book of instruction and wisdom. Lord, if I am passionate about anything let it be my faith in You and my loyalty to You. You always know every person’s heart and motive, may I constantly remember You see me and know me, that I am accountable to You. Lord when doubt comes, help me trust that You have a strategic, best timed out plan that benefits those who chose You for you are trustworthy. Lord, thank you for knowing exactly how the book ends and giving us a glimpse of it. In Jesus Name. Amen. This weeks playlist: Bryan & Katie Torwalt – Prophesy Your Promise (Acoustic Video) – YouTube Prophesy Your Promise Bryan & Katie Torwalt Dante Bowe – joyful ft. Dante Bowe – YouTube Joyful Dante Bowe Michael W. Smith – Surrounded (Fight My Battles) – YouTube Surrounded Michael W. Smith