How do you know the Bible is True?

What Makes The Bible So Special?

Bible writers claimed that the words they wrote were inspired through God himself, thus infallible and unquestionably reliable.

16All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.1 (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Bible consists of 66 books written by 40 human authors from a wide variety of backgrounds and locations over a period of 1,600 years in three different languages and yet there is a consistent flow of thought and a unifying theme.

3I passed on to you right from the first what had been told to me, that Christ died for our sins just as the Scriptures said he would, 4and that he was buried, and that three days afterwards he arose from the grave just as the prophets foretold. 5He was seen by Peter and later by the rest of "the Twelve." 6After that he was seen by more than five hundred Christian brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. 7Then James saw him, and later all the apostles. 8Last of all I saw him too, long after the others, as though I had been born almost too late for this.2 (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

The Old Testament was copied by professional transcribers, trained to copy documents. They used special techniques to ensure the accuracy. R. Laird Harris concluded, "We can now be sure that copyists worked with great care and accuracy on the Old Testament, even back to 225 B.C."

The texts they had were all in capital letters

There was no punctuation nor paragraphs

They numbered all of the verses, words and letters of each book..

Comparisons of Massoretic texts of the 10th century with Greek and Latin versions of the first century show remarkable agreement.

The New Testament boasts 5,500 existing copies. "The 5,500 copies are far and away the most we have of any ancient work. Many ancient writings have been transmitted to us by only a handful of manuscripts (Catullus-three copies; the earliest one is 1,600 years after he wrote; Herodotus-eight copies and 1,300 years).

Not only do the New Testament documents have more manuscript evidence and close time interval between the writing and earliest copy, but they were also translated into several other languages at an early date. The number of copies of the versions is in excess of 18,000, with possibly as many as 25,000. This is further evidence that helps us establish the New Testament text.

The entire Bible is a unity with each part needing the others to be complete. Dr. W. F. Albright puts it this way: "To the writers of the New Testament, the Hebrew Bible was Holy Scripture and they were the direct heirs of its prophets. It is, accordingly, quite impossible to understand the New Testament without recognizing that its purpose was to supplement and explain the Hebrew Bible.

"Any attempt to go back to the sources of Christianity without accepting the entire Bible as our guide is thus doomed to failure" (cited by Roger T. Forster and V. Paul Marston, That’s a Good Question, p. 67).

Lest anyone think this isn’t something marvelous, we’d like to give you this challenge. Find ten people from your local area who have similar educational backgrounds, all speak the same language, and all are from basically the same culture, then separate them and ask them to write their opinion on only one controversial subject, such as the meaning of life.

When they have finished, compare the conclusions of these ten writers. Do they agree with each other? Of course not. But the Bible did not consist of merely ten authors, but forty. It was not written in one generation, but over a period of 1,500 years; not by authors with the same education, culture, or language, but with vastly different education, many different cultures, from three continents and three different languages, and finally not just one subject but hundreds.

And yet the Bible is a unity. There is complete harmony, which cannot be explained by coincidence or collusion. The unity of the Bible is a strong argument in favor of its divine inspiration.

The unity of the Scriptures is only one reason among many which supports the Bible’s claim to be the divine Word of God. Others which could be explained in detail are the testimony of the early Church, the witness of history and archaeology, and the evidence of changed lives throughout the centuries, to name but a few.

These factors led the great archaeologist, W. F. Albright, to conclude, "The Bible towers in content above all earlier religious literature; and it towers just as impressively over all subsequent literature in the direct simplicity of its message and the catholicity of its appeal to men of all lands and times" (The Christian Century, November, 1958).

The Bible is special. It is unique. No other book has any such credentials. No other book even comes close. "England has two books, the Bible and Shakespeare. England made Shakespeare, but the Bible made England" (Victor Hugo, cited by Mead, Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations, p. 49).3

Archaeological Evidence

What archaeology has done in the past 100 years is to verify some of the history contained in the Bible. For instance, two of the cities mentioned in the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah, have been for many years considered mythological.

However, recent excavations at Tell Mardikh, now known to be the site of Ebla, uncovered about 15,000 tablets. Some of these have been translated, and mention is made of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Other archaeological verifications include proof that there was a ruler named Belshazzar; the Hittites not only existed but also had a vast empire; King Sargon also ruled; and the matters that touch upon history in the Book of Acts are demonstrably accurate. So far, the findings of archaeology have verified, and in no case disputed, historical points of the biblical record.4

Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls discovery in 1947 by a young Bedouin herdsman in a cave near the valley of the Dead Sea has been hailed as the most outstanding archaeological find of the 20th Century.

The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrated unequivocally the fact that the Jews were faithful in their transcription of Biblical manuscripts. This reverence for the Scriptures was summed up long ago by the first century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus:

"We have given practical proof of our reverence for our own Scriptures. For, although such long ages have now passed, no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable; and it is an instinct with every Jew from the day of his birth to regard them as the decrees of God, to abide by them, and, if need be, cheerfully die for them.5

God has communicated his plan for us all in a clear, objective manner-THE BIBLE. Now that you have seen some of the evidence that demonstrates the soundness of the Bible’s claims, shouldn’t you consider what this book has to say about life and eternity?
 

16"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.6

1. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennesee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

2. The Living Bible, (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1997.

3. Josh McDowell, Answers to tough questions: Skeptics ask about the Christian Faith (computer file), electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1993 by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart

4. Josh McDowell, Answers to tough questions: Skeptics ask about the Christian Faith (computer file), electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1993 by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart

5. Josh McDowell, Answers to tough questions: Skeptics ask about the Christian Faith (computer file), electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1993 by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart

6. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennesee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

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Last modified: October 21, 2004