GRACE BIBLE CHURCH

#3  Is the Bible Reliable? 

Allow me to change directions and discuss the Bible for a moment.  The Bible is a compilation of 66 books.  It was written by many different authors over a period of about 1600 years.  Yet all of the Bible “fits” together as if it were written at one time.  Unfortunately, some people disregard the relevance of the Bible while at the same time rely on other history books as factual, such as writings about the roman empire, the pharaohs of Egypt, the history of the United States, and so on.  What evidence can be presented to establish the Bible as an accurate and reliable document?  WHY not archeology? 

We are fortunate to live in a time of history that is so very rich in archeological discoveries.  Since the middle of the 19th century, the number of “digs” have increased dramatically.  Much of the work, or digs, have been in the area mentioned in the Bible.  There have been uncountable locations, names and treasures that are indicated in the Bible that have been verified with these archeological digs.  Not one of the archeological findings have shown the Bible to be wrong.  On the contrary, when a dig involved an area of the Bible, it verified in detail, the description in the Bible.  For example: A dig in 1923 discovered, without doubt, Ur of the Chaldees.  Also found were clay tablets with Biblical names of that era. Another find: Even though the Hittites are mentioned 47 times in the Bible, scholars doubted that they existed because no historical evidence of such people had been found.  Then in 1876, Hugo Winckler uncovered 5 temples and 10,000 clay tablets.  They were deciphered and shown that the Hittits did really exist in the area described in the Bible. ??  Also, the location of Christ’s trial, the “Pool of Bathesda” and the fact that there was a “census” at the time of Christ and that Quirinus was governor have all been verified with archeological discoveries.  Obviously, we could list many more, however, that is not the purpose of this paper. 

History tells us that the early Jewish historians were extremely careful in copying  existing documents (i.e. the Torah).  In the early centuries after Christ’s Resurrection, the rapidly growing number of churches and home groups required an increased supply of copies of the Old and New Testament books.  The Gospels and Letters in the New Testament, which were written from 50 A.D. to 95 A.D., were transcribed with every bit the same accuracy as the Old Testament books by the early Jewish historians.

The oldest Greek version of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint.  It was completed at the end of the 2^nd Century B.C. In 405 A.D., Jerome translated the Bible into Latin which was called the Vulgate.  In 1380 A.D., John Wycliff used the Vulgate to translate the Bible into English.  In 1456 A.D., the gutenberg Bible was printed.  In 1517 A.D., Martin Luther posted his 95 theses (The Reformation).  From 1520 to 1530 A.D., Tyndale studied Greek and Hebrew for a translation into English.  Through the years, there were translations into many languages.  In 1901 A.D., the American Standard edition changed England’s dialect to American dialect. 

Another source that shows the reliability of the Bible are the  “Dead Sea Scrolls”.   These scrolls were first discovered in 1948 in some caves in the area of Qumram, near the Dead Sea in Israel. It is believed that the scrolls were placed in clay jars around 70 A.D. at the end of the uprising against Rome. These scrolls have been reviewed for content and discovered to be the same as the Bible of today. In other words, our Bible has not changed in 2000 years. WHY? 

Besides the “Dead Sea Scrolls”, many historical writings have been found to verify the reliability of the Bible.  We will discuss the writings in the next section.  

There are three principles in determining the historical reliability of any document.  These principles are the bibliographical test, the internal evidence test and the external evidence test.  

The Bibliographical Test as explained by Josh McDowell is an examination of the textual transmission by which documents reach us.  Since we do not have the original documents, we should ask, how reliable are the copies we have in regard to the total number of manuscripts and the time interval between the original and the extant copy.  This time frame in some cases is less than 50 years.  When comparing the original manuscripts of the New Testament with those of ancient secular history, you will see that the quantity of New Testament manuscripts are abundant.  Let’s take a look at these numbers: 

The Internal Evidence Test is that, one should consider the claims of the document and not assume error unless there are known inaccuracies.  For example; Luke says “I myself have carefully investigated everything . . . ”; Peter said; “ . . . we were eyewitnesses of His majesty”; John said “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard”.  The internal testimony of the New Testament contains eyewitness testimony of the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.   

The External Evidence Test  The primary-source of Matthew and Mark are verified by non-biblical sources using the external evidence test.  What historical secular writers and materials confirm the external evidence test?  Due to lack of space, only a few will be noted here:

• Epistle of Pseudo-Barnabas A.D.70
• Clement A.D.95
• Ignatius A.D.110
• Papias A.D.130
• Tacitus A.D.112
• Lucian & Josephus 2nd century
• Suctonius A.D.120
• Pliny A.D.112 .

As was stated previously, nothing has been “proven” here.  However, the evidence for the Bible being an accurate document is far beyond reasonable doubt.  It’s not hard to understand WHY?   

Let’s look at more evidence.  Besides the question of accurate transcription of the Biblical books, another question that is usually  brought up is one of reliability of  the Bible “stories.”  I will mention only one such “story” here.  Many people do not believe the story of Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego, Daniel’s friends, who where thrown into a fiery furnace.  They were not harmed by the fire.  That story seems a bit hard to believe, I’ll admit.  However, in the year 168A.D., Polycarp, the leader of the church in Smyrna, was ordered to be burned alive.  He was tied to a stake and the fire was set.  According to eyewitnesses, Polycarp did not burn.  Then the executioner stabbed him and his blood poured out and quenched the fire.  Unlike Shadrach, Mechach and Abednego, Polycarp did die, but from the stab wound not the fire.  WHY?

So, what can ”Jesus do for You” concerning Bible Reliability (Inerrancy)?  We can be assured that the entire Bible is “God inspired”, the Bible is Inerrant and should be used as a “Truth” document in all phases of your life. ( 2Tim 3:16)  See the “Scriptures” section on the ProJesus web site for further information.  

Jesus recorded the Bible because He knew that we would need the information it contains. 

Here are a couple of questions to get you thinking. If you would like to discuss these questions, or what is written above, please email Al at .

1.  What Science has helped us most to understand the Bible? 

2.  Are all the stories in the Bible really true?  Explain? 

To be Continued