Questions: Is the Bible True?
So much hinges on one little book. Think about that for a second. As a Christian – we place so much hope in what the Bible says is true. That is why it is amazing to me that so many Christians have never really read the book in its entirety. We as Christians state that we believe the Bible is inerrant – meaning that it is without error. We state that it is the inspired Word of God – written words that we can base our life upon. Yet, how do we truly know that the Bible is true? Is their evidence that we even have the same scriptures that were originally copied thousands of years ago? These questions are essential to answer if we are going to continue our apologetic series.
Let me start by making a disclaimer I must make during every blog of this series – I don’t have every answer. Instead, I want to give you a base to continue your search for answers – a candle that will help you reach the spotlight of truth that God has revealed to us in His word and world. Now, back to the matter at hand: does the Bible document truth and do we have the same Bible that was written thousands of years ago?
We start off by noticing something unique in the Bible – it claims that the writings preserved in it are inspired. Think of the moments that the Bible claims to be inspired. In the Old Testament – we see that the book of Deuteronomy was called “The Book of the Law” and that when King Josiah discovered it in the temple he wept “for great is the LORD’s wrath that is poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD in order to do everything written in this book.” (2 Chronicles 34:21 – emphasis mine) Also, we see that the prophets of the Old Testament consistently claim “This is the Word of the LORD” when they start their prophecies (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel are just a few examples of books that use this terminology). And when we look into the New Testament – we read that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16 – emphasis mine) One last question before we jump off of the beaten horse – what about the writings by Paul – does the Bible claim anywhere that his works are inspired? Peter actually equates Paul’s letters as scripture in his epistle – stating: “Also, regard the patience of our LORD as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you. He speaks about these things in all his letters, in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15-16 – emphasis mine).
Alright, so we now know that the Bible claims to be the inspired Word of God but does that mean that it actually records truth? After all, hasn’t history proven the Bible wrong time and time again? Many sceptics look at stories such as the Exodus and claim there is not any evidence of such an event outside of the Bible. However, it might amaze you to know that there were once many other events not believed to be true by sceptics which have now been proven by archeology. Skeptics once claimed that the character of David and his dynasty recorded in 1st and 2nd Kings were fictional – yet in 1993-1994 the House of David Inscription (also known as Tel Dan stele) was found which is a stone slab that is inscribed with the phrase: “House of David” and talks about specific kings of Israel and Judah (read 1 Kings 16 thru 2 Kings 9 to see the the individuals mentioned in the stele). Skeptics also once claimed that the last king of Babylon, Belshazzar, never existed and that the book of Daniel had to be mistaken. However, the “Cylinder of Nabonidus” was found in 1854 and mentions Belshazzar as “the eldest son” – the future ruler of Babylon.
The New Testament also has archeological finds that support its writings. The Pilate Stone Inscription found in 1961 confirmed the existence of Pilate (the governor that crucified Jesus). The Caiaphas Ossuary found in 1990 confirms the existence of the high priest Caiaphas. The Skeleton of Yohanan found in 1968 is a body of a man crucified by the Roman Government and corroborates the Biblical narratives describing crucifixion. Jesus Himself is mentioned in other historical narratives of the time. The Jewish historian Josephus, the Roman historian Tacitus, and the Stoic philosopher Mara are just three people that mention Jesus in their historical works. In fact, Tacitus actually writes about Christians stating they are “called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.” (Annals [AD 116], book 15, chapter 44).
However, what if the Bible that was originally written is not the same book that we now have translated in modern English? Could passages have been lost in translation or could changes have been introduced in the two thousand years that have taken place since the resurrection of Christ? Critical scholarship tells us that this is not true – the Bible we now have on our desk is the same book constructed all those years ago. There are actually over 5,600 original language manuscripts of the New Testament – compare that to only 7 of any one of Aristotle’s original works. Plus, the span of years between the composition of the entire Bible and the oldest copy we have on record is only 90 years. This might seem like a decent amount of time but not when you see that the span of years between the composition and oldest copy of the Plato Tetralogies is 1,300 years – a book that no historian questions in authenticity.
Get ready for something else that is super cool: there was a fragment of Mark found in 1955 that was carbon dated no later than AD 68 – pretty amazing when you take into account that the original book of Mark could only have been written twenty to thirty years earlier. Fragments of John’s gospel have been found that are universally accepted to be dated at AD 125 – only around 30-40 years after John wrote his Gospel. Oh, and don’t forget the Dead Sea Scrolls – providing the oldest known copies of almost all the books of the Old Testament. When performing comparative studies of the book of Isaiah we read in our current Bible and that found in the Dead Sea Scrolls – it was found that only 13 small changes were discovered between the narratives – and all of these were minor and did not change the message of the book. That is simply remarkable and unheard of when comparative analysis is performed. Norman Geisler writes: “The vast number, early dates, and unmatched accuracy of the OT and NT manuscript copies establish the Bible’s reliability well beyond that of any other ancient book.”
I truly could go on and on but I don’t want to bore you or overwhelm you. And if you get nothing else out of this note – at least remember this: the Bible you hold in your hand is amazing. Take the time out of your day to dive into it – having confidence that it is historically accurate and inspired by God. I end with one last scripture:
“Help me understand the meaning of Your precepts so that I can meditate on Your wonders, I am weary from grief; strengthen me through Your word.” Psalm 119:27-28
