Can you trust the Bible? - Manuscripts & Texts
The Bible is a collection of 66 books written to all people by some specific men chosen by God, but authored (dictated & directed) by God Himself (2 Tim 3.16-17). The Old Testament (Genesis to Malachi) was written before Jesus Christ's human birth, while the New Testament (Matthew to Revelation) was written after Christ's birth. The Bible, sometimes referred to as Scripture or the Word of God, was written on 3 different continents over roughly a 1,500 year period. The last book was written around 95 AD.
The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew & Aramaic while the New Testament was written in Greek. Consequently, numerous manuscripts of the New Testament have been found in Greek & other languages. When used to cross-check one another, they were found to have astounding accuracy. These manuscripts are unparalleled in quantity & quality compared to other well respected writings of antiquity such as Plato, Aristotle, Caesar & Homer.
Apart from the Bible’s New Testament, manuscripts of any kind from that era are hard to find simply due to lack of preservation methods & antiquated materials. How much more so for texts earlier than that. In fact, it would be extremely unrealistic to expect to find any original document to have survived from say 3000 or 4000 BC. But, in order to preserve God’s words for future generations, Jewish scribes would meticulously duplicate the Scriptures in an extremely religious fashion. They would use methods such as word counting & letter counting to avoid any potential blasphemy. Some Old Testament manuscripts found in 1947 known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were dated to 150 BC & are now the oldest known of their kind. These showed that fidelity had been preserved in later manuscripts (former oldest - 900 AD) as well as our modern translations. Here are a few links that expound upon Biblical manuscripts.
carm.org/manuscript-evidence
home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Manuscript.html
www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/archaeologyandhistory.shtml
www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/deadseascrolls.shtml
The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew & Aramaic while the New Testament was written in Greek. Consequently, numerous manuscripts of the New Testament have been found in Greek & other languages. When used to cross-check one another, they were found to have astounding accuracy. These manuscripts are unparalleled in quantity & quality compared to other well respected writings of antiquity such as Plato, Aristotle, Caesar & Homer.
Apart from the Bible’s New Testament, manuscripts of any kind from that era are hard to find simply due to lack of preservation methods & antiquated materials. How much more so for texts earlier than that. In fact, it would be extremely unrealistic to expect to find any original document to have survived from say 3000 or 4000 BC. But, in order to preserve God’s words for future generations, Jewish scribes would meticulously duplicate the Scriptures in an extremely religious fashion. They would use methods such as word counting & letter counting to avoid any potential blasphemy. Some Old Testament manuscripts found in 1947 known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were dated to 150 BC & are now the oldest known of their kind. These showed that fidelity had been preserved in later manuscripts (former oldest - 900 AD) as well as our modern translations. Here are a few links that expound upon Biblical manuscripts.
carm.org/manuscript-evidence
home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Manuscript.html
www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/archaeologyandhistory.shtml
www.livingwaters.com/witnessingtool/deadseascrolls.shtml
Furthermore, because the teachings of the New Testament are consistent with & related to those of the Old Testament, the New Testament often quotes the Old Testament. In fact, it’s directly & indirectly quoted over 1,000 times which not only authenticates the accuracy of the Old Testament content, but validates it as God’s Word. This is because Jesus Christ (God in the flesh – Jn 1.14) gives credence to the 3 major portions of the Old Testament in a single statement, let alone many other passages.
He (Jesus) said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. – Lk 24.44-45
And if such quotes point back with authority, then Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by the New Testament times point forward to solidify the trustworthiness of the Bible. Even Jesus’s statement above is referring to His fulfillment of Old Testament predictions of His resurrection. Altogether, Jesus fulfilled scores of Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. The statistics that anyone could do so are extremely improbable - even impossible - for anyone to engineer because most were out of one’s control – unless the Bible is true & Jesus is who He says He is.
But he (Jesus) continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” – Jn 8.23-24
But the Bible was written by people who were eyewitnesses to real events (2 Pt 1.16) & by those who painstakingly sought to make accurate historical accounts (Lk 1.1-4). Not only that, but numerous others witnessed things like Jesus’s miracles (Mt 14.13-21) & were around when the New Testament writings were circulated & could have refuted them if they had not been true. In fact, there are even non-Christian historical accounts that affirm Biblical people & events as are noted in the following link.
http://carm.org/non-biblical-accounts-new-testament-events-andor-people
The Bible tells us that it is Scripture which means that it is God-breathed (2 Tim 3.16-17). That is, the authors were Divinely inspired & wrote as God lead them (2 Pt 1.20-21). For example, the Bible specifically claims the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah (Dn 9.2), King David (Ps 110.1 quoted in Mt 22.41-45) & the Apostle Paul (2 Pt 3.15-16) are Scripture as well as the other books in the Bible. It is additionally noteworthy that many of these authors suffered great persecution & even died for their teachings, but were so convinced that the teachings of Scripture were true that they were willing to die for them.
He (Jesus) said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. – Lk 24.44-45
And if such quotes point back with authority, then Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by the New Testament times point forward to solidify the trustworthiness of the Bible. Even Jesus’s statement above is referring to His fulfillment of Old Testament predictions of His resurrection. Altogether, Jesus fulfilled scores of Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah. The statistics that anyone could do so are extremely improbable - even impossible - for anyone to engineer because most were out of one’s control – unless the Bible is true & Jesus is who He says He is.
But he (Jesus) continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” – Jn 8.23-24
But the Bible was written by people who were eyewitnesses to real events (2 Pt 1.16) & by those who painstakingly sought to make accurate historical accounts (Lk 1.1-4). Not only that, but numerous others witnessed things like Jesus’s miracles (Mt 14.13-21) & were around when the New Testament writings were circulated & could have refuted them if they had not been true. In fact, there are even non-Christian historical accounts that affirm Biblical people & events as are noted in the following link.
http://carm.org/non-biblical-accounts-new-testament-events-andor-people
The Bible tells us that it is Scripture which means that it is God-breathed (2 Tim 3.16-17). That is, the authors were Divinely inspired & wrote as God lead them (2 Pt 1.20-21). For example, the Bible specifically claims the writings of the Prophet Jeremiah (Dn 9.2), King David (Ps 110.1 quoted in Mt 22.41-45) & the Apostle Paul (2 Pt 3.15-16) are Scripture as well as the other books in the Bible. It is additionally noteworthy that many of these authors suffered great persecution & even died for their teachings, but were so convinced that the teachings of Scripture were true that they were willing to die for them.
God-Breathed: The Undeniable Power and Reliability of Scripture Experience God's Word in a powerful new way. Recapture the awe, mystery, passion and power of scripture in God-Breathed - where you'll personally experience a life transformed by the One who spoke everything into existence, including you. Through the story of a centuries-old Torah and other scriptural artifacts he's acquired, McDowell highlights the Bible's unique history. Learn how these writings were made, what makes an ancient document reliable, and why the Bible is the most trusted. Includes color photos of McDowell's biblical manuscripts. |
From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible Understanding basic facts about the origin of the Bible is essential for every Christian. Using simple and clear explanations, this guide offers insights into inspiration, the biblical canon, major manuscripts, textual criticism, early translations, and modern versions. Revised and expanded with the addition of helpful charts and an index of subjects, persons, and Scripture. 432 pages, softcover from Moody. |