Realistically all of creation and all our lives hinge on this question.  If it’s really, really true then heaven or hell is real and we need to get serious about this whole Jesus thing. So, let's explore the subject...

I. Bibliographical Reliability

New Testament Manuscript Evidence
This addresses the question how do we know we still have the original stuff that was written. First let’s look at the manuscript evidence.  When we do a survey of the facts we find huge differences in the reliability of the New Testament and other historical documents.  See for yourself, the Bible is more reliable than some of Plato’s writings, Homer’s Illiad, and Caesar’s writings.  So what’s the bottom line?  What does these charts show and prove?  Plenty of things.

1. Quantitatively:There is no other document from this time period that has more bibliographical evidence than the writings of the New Testament.  We can be sure that the writings of the New Testament are pure.
2. Qualitatively: Secondly the time span between the writing and the earliest manuscripts is very short. 
3. Realistically: With these two points we can be sure of the accuracy and purity of the New Testament.

Old Testament
Before 1947, the earliest copies of the Old Testament that we had dated to approximately AD  900.  However in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls (manuscripts of the Old Testament) were found in the Qumran caves around the Dead Sea. These documents are dated to approximately BC 200 – AD 70.  This discovery predated our documents by about 800-900 years and this discovery confirmed the accuracy of the Old Testament.  Also we have the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament which dates to approximately BC 200, and which again confirms the accuracy of the Old Testament.

II. The Bible is a Historical Record (External Evidence)

The Jewish historian Josephus lived during the biblical times.  He was a contemporary of Jesus and wrote about Jesus and John the Baptist.  He also referred to other persons recorded in the bible.  Other civilizations contain evidence of the existence of the Hebrew people of God as described in the bible.  The bible makes countless references to rulers and their time periods as well as geography, (mountains, rivers, cities, etc.) Archaeological records and findings have proven the truthfulness of the bible.  Recent findings have helped to prove the truthfulness of the bible. There are too many archealogical digs and findings to list. Also there has never been one archaeological finding that negates the verity of the bible - not one!

III. Seamlessness of Scripture  (Internal Evidence)

a. Prophecies: Messiahship
Why do we believe that Jesus was the Messiah, or anointed one?  The Old Testaments describes the Messiah clearly and in the New Testament we clearly see that Jesus was this Messiah.  The odds that anyone could embody all the prophecies are staggering.   There are about 29 major prophecies and the chances of Jesus fulfilling 7 major prophecies are  1 out of  1017.  That number contains plenty of zeros. It’s 1 out of 100,000,000,000,000,000.  

Here is a short table of some of the prophecies that He fulfilled.
The first verse citation is from the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible.  These descriptions were written at least 400 years before Christ was born!  The following verse citations show how Jesus fulfilled the prophecy in the New Testament.

1. Born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23)
2. A descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 22:18; Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16)
3. Of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10; Luke 3:23, 33; Hebrews 7:14)
4. Of the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Matthew 1:1)
5. Born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-7)
6. Taken to Egypt (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:14-15)
7. Herod´s killing of the infants (Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:16-18)
8. Anointed by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Matthew 3:16-17)
9. Heralded by the messenger of the Lord (John the Baptist) (Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 3:1-3)
10. Would perform miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6; Matthew 9:35)
11. Would preach good news (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:14-21)
12. Would minister in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:12-16)
13. Would cleanse the Temple (Malachi 3:1; Matthew 21:12-13)
14. Would first present Himself as King 173,880 days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25; Matthew 21:4-11)
15. Would enter Jerusalem as a king on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:4-9)
16. Would be rejected by Jews (Psalm 118:22; I Peter 2:7)
17. Die a humiliating death (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53) involving:
    - rejection (Isaiah 53:3; John 1:10-11; 7:5,48)
    - betrayal by a friend (Psalm 41:9; Luke 22:3-4; John 13:18)
    - sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 26:14-15)
    - silence before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:12-14)
    - being mocked (Psalm 22: 7-8; Matthew 27:31)
    - beaten (Isaiah 52:14; Matthew 27:26)
    - spit upon (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 27:30)
    - piercing His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Matthew 27:31)
    - being crucified with thieves (Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 27:38)
    - praying for His persecutors (Isaiah 53:12; Luke 23:34)
    - piercing His side (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34)
    - given gall and vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:21, Matthew 27:34, Luke 23:36)
    - no broken bones (Psalm 34:20; John 19:32-36)
    - buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60)
    - casting lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18; John 19:23-24)
18. Would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Mark 16:6; Acts 2:31)
19. Ascend into Heaven (Psalm 68:18; Acts 1:9)
20. Would sit down at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:3)

b. The Message of many authors – yet No Contradictions

Its message is pure and simple.  From creation to the end of days, God is the center and focus of the bible.  God created the world.  He alone is worthy of your worship. He provided his son, Jesus as a sacrifice for the sin of the world.  In a sentence, every author and every book of the Bible affirms that: We are created to be in a real relationship with the King of the world and because our whole life depends on Him, He is the very thing we need.  There is clearly in the message of the bible from Genesis to Revelation.

Despite what many have said, the bible is not a book that is full of error and contradictions.  The books of the bible form a cohesive witness or message of who God is, what we are, what He desires of us, and the meaning to life. The bible does not contradict itself.  The Koran and the Book of Mormon and other sacred writing have one author.  There is one major shortcoming to the single authorship of sacred writings.  Unfortunately the sole authors of the Koran and the Book of Mormon can’t verify their own authenticity.  There is no way to tell if what they have said is true. There are no other witnesses.  However the bible’s numerous authors verify each other.  For instance Matthew verifies Jesus life and Jesus verifies Isaiah.  This article would be numerous pages if I recorded how every time each biblical author or writing verifies another author or writing. It is countless. 

Here’s a bottom line illustration.  If we are in a court of law and someone committed a murder, how are we to judge this man?  A man is on trial for murder.  Will we, the jury, be convinced of the identification of the murder from one man’s testimony or will we, the jury, be convinced if at least 30 people came forth to provide a unanimous testimony of who the murderer is?  Well the answer is obvious.  In conclusion the number of biblical authors established a convincing quality and quantity of testimonies to the Bibles total truth.

c. Canon of Scripture (Internal Evidence)
The composition of the Bible that we have today did not always exist in its current form.  For example, the New Testament books: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not accepted as Holy Scripture in BC 700.  (The authors weren’t even alive yet.)  So what’s canonization?  The process by which the Holy Spirit led the church to accept or deny scripture.

1. The Old Testament:  These books of the bible were accepted first by the Jewish community of the first century.  They appear in the Christian bible.  The Jewish community never considered the books of the Apocrypha to be scripture.  They weren’t even written in Hebrew.  They excluded these books from their collection of scripture.  Years later, the Christian church adopted the writings of the Jewish community into their scriptures.  As a matter of fact, the Jewish scripture was the Bible used to teach people who Jesus is. Years later the inspired writings of the New Testament were added.

2. New Testament: After the time of Christ, apostles wrote letters to churches and individuals to disclose more about Jesus, doctrine, and about Christian living.  In response to rising heresies, the early church saw the need to establish a list of books that would serve as the collection of books to be considered Holy Scripture. 

Mini-Conclusion: Was the Bible edited by one man?  Not at all!  Many have been integral in completion of the bible.  However the true editor was the Holy Spirit who guided this slow process to completion.  One again we see this thematic reality of God working through many people to say one thing.

III. Authority of Scripture

The Bible alone is the supreme measure and standard of God’s truth.  There are numerous places in scripture that shows that God considers the writings contained in the bible to be holy and supernaturally powerful.  Well doesn’t this sound like a circular argument?  God’s Word is authoritative and true because it says it is? 
Here is the limitation of this truth.  When you make claims of ultimate authority, there is nothing else or no other earthly thing that can verify its truth except what is above.  Logically it is something that cannot be fully proven. One is defining a standard by the author of the standard.

The authority of the bible requires a measure of faith that a supernatural being did a very natural thing and gave us His Word, truly.

Hasn’t the Bible been translated and reinterpreted over and over again?

The Bible that most Christians read and use has been translated once.  It has not been “tampered” with however!   Here is how we should understand the purity of the process:

The original Greek or Hebrew manuscript then
Careful, meticulous copies of the original manuscript are made then
They are stored and preserved and regarded as sacred then
Bible societies study all available manuscripts to ensure accuracy then
The Bible society will publish the accurate Greek or Hebrew Bible then
Separate committees translate the Greek or Hebrew text then
The Holy Bible in English is made available to you by one of many publishers.

In many routes of this process that spans at least 4 millennia, the bible is translated only once!  There are some versions of the bible that may have been translated thrice or more but they are not likely to be trusted. 

IV. Testimonies and Stories of Others - External Evidence

One of the most convincing proofs for the existence of the bible is the Apostle Paul.  In scripture, he was the ultimate human opposition to early church but something happened.  He made a complete reversal and treasured Jesus more than his very own life.  He eventually gave up his life to die for Jesus.  Something happened to make this "church destroyer" transform into a "church builder."   The truth of Jesus transformed his life and we have the evidence of it today.

What about Jesus’ disciples.  They followed Jesus for about three years.  Their existence and identity was now formed around Jesus but when their master and lord died like a shameful despicable criminal, what did the disciples do.  All but one fled from Jesus and they basically went into hiding.  If they choose to be recognized with Jesus during his suffering, they too might be tortured for hours and/or left to die in a slow public execution.  The hope of these cowards died.  Jesus died.  But something happened that transformed their lives.   We have a church today and these disciples gave their lives to spreading the news about Jesus.  The reason for this complete reversal was the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.  His resurrection proved that everything wasn’t just a lie and that Jesus truly is God.  The disciples didn’t die for a lie. The truth of Jesus transformed their lives and we have evidence of it today.

The Bottom Line?

The presence of the church today all over the world bears in part that the bible is true. We can date the beginning of the church back to the time of Jesus very easily.  We know that there was a real Jesus who lived on earth. We can prove it very easily with outside historical documents.  We have provided a few arguments to relay that the bible is true and reliable.

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