Is the Bible Reliable?

(1) The books of the Bible come out of a very literate environment. Bible scholars from the late 19th and early 20th centuries turned the study of the Bible on its head suggesting among other things that the Bible was written relatively late. Generally, their approach to the Bible created the impression that the society of Jesus' day was largely illiterate and therefore, that the records themselves were based on exaggerated oral tradition, and that they were written years and years after the events they recorded. This is pretty much the impression that all of those PBS and Discovery Channel Bible specials leave you with. This is not exactly the kind of stuff that inspires faith, but it is an earnest attempt at truth on the part of the scholarship that inspired it. However, this picture is not at all accurate. For one thing, Jesus' society was a fairly literate culture. After all, they were a people of God's Word. They centered their lives and their government around the books that we know of as the Old Testament. All the men had some facility with written Hebrew. And the teachers, scribes, rabbis and many merchants would have probably been well educated and at least trilingual. They would have been familiar with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Greek was the educated man's language of Jesus' day. And we know that Jesus himself spoke Greek. The biographies record an incident where Jesus dialogues with a Greek-speaking Syro-Phonecian woman (Mark 7:24-30). In another incident, Jesus is involved in a dispute about paying taxes to Caesar and his answer includes a play on words that only worked in Greek. Jesus' disciples were not completely illiterate, unschooled ruffians either. For one, Matthew as a tax collector would have been skilled in short hand. Perhaps this is how he could record the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, the evidence suggests that Jesus' words and works were fairly well documented. At the very beginning of his biography, Luke says, "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us."

(2) The books of the Bible were written surprisingly early. As we said, this was a fairly literate culture. And we know that it was not uncommon practice for communities of faith to have their own libraries of sacred writings. So early Christian fellowships would have clamored for copies of the writings of the apostles.

The earliest writings from the hands of the apostles came from Paul beginning sometime just after 50 AD. The latest writings from the apostles were probably John's writings which would have been completed sometime before 100 AD. All that was written by early Christian teachers and by Jesus' biographers would have been passed from church to church. And taken their respected places in the libraries of local fellowships. There was no collected Bible at this point, just a library of holy works.

(3) But it was clear from the very beginning that the writings of the apostles were given special significance.

We know from other sources that by 125 AD, quotations from Peter, Paul and the four biographies of Jesus were considered Scripture or Holy writings. In fact, Peter equates Paul's letters with Scripture in one of his letters. "Bear in mind," he said, "that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." (2 Peter 3:15-16)

In fact, direct apostolic authorship or influence became the principle determining factor for what books were considered sacred.

(4) The affirmation of the books of our Bible as the Word of God evolved as a result of (a) popular opinion based on how God used those books in the lives of the readers, and (b) the recognition that they owe their existence to the direct influence of the apostles themselves. The work of an early author named Marcion helps illustrate this. Writing in 140 AD, Marcion defined the God-inspired, sacred writings as: Luke, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Philemon.

Interestingly, it is almost certain that Marcion knew of the other biographies and the writings of Peter as well as the Revelation. He simply rejected them as sacred. Marcion believed in 2 Gods. He believed the Old Testament God was creator God and that He was vengeful and angry. He did not worship this God. The God of the New Testament was loving and kind. Marcion worshipped this God and he rejected all books that testified to the Old Testament God.

Marcion and his followers were pronounced heretics and in the process all of the legitimate works of the apostles were affirmed as holy Scripture. By 200 AD, one fragmentary list of inspired books comes from the Muratori parchment. This list included: Matthew, Mark. Luke, John, Acts Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 and 2 John, Jude, Revelation and the Revelation of Peter.

We don't know exactly when it happened but by 367 AD, the influential bishop of Egypt would write an Easter letter in which he listed the Christian books that were written under God's special inspiration. These are the books we know of as our New Testament.

(1) The extraordinary number of copies of New Testament material defies the imagination.

DATES AND NUMBER OF MANUSCRIPTS BY SECULAR WRITERS

There are several kinds of Greek manuscripts. The oldest were written on papyrus and are called papyri. To date 88 papyri have been catalogued. They were copied between the second and the fourth centuries. Some of them are whole books some are partial. The oldest that we have dates from about 120 AD and is five verses from John 18. By the way, when translated it says exactly what your John 18 says.

The second kind of manuscripts are uncials, so-called because they are written in all capital letters. These were copied between the fourth and the 15th Centuries. The last kind of manuscripts are the miniscules. These were written in lower case letters and are written between the 9th and 15th Centuries.

(2) When all of these manuscripts are compared, over 85% of the texts completely agree on wording and phrasing. Of the remaining 15% most of it is obviously misspelled words, or words that are left out or occasionally changed word order. An example would be from Luke 17:22-23 where Jesus says, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. People will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them." This is how the older manuscripts read. But a majority of the manuscripts, read, "Here he is! Or There he is!" Another example can be found in Matthew 13:55 where some manuscripts give the name of Jesus' brother as Joses. Others list it as Joseph. The difference is one letter in Greek. Not exactly faith shattering stuff. And typically, the original version is very easy to spot.

(3) In fact, not a single variation affects the basic tenets of Christian faith one iota. The differences result from human error in copying. There are, of course, instances where the actual wording of the original is debated, but no where in the entire New Testament does this involve anything critical to our faith. Perhaps the most critical difference a variant reading makes occurs with the end of the book of Mark.

(1) They had nothing to gain by fabricating this story and everything to loose. This goes to the question of motive, and any one of our lawyers can tell you that it would be very, very difficult to convict someone of lying if their story brings hardship and persecution. Why would they lie?

(2) Their stories confirm one another. Remember this book was not written by one human author. It was not even a collaborative effort. The Bible is really a library of different works. The New Testament alone was written over a period of at least 40 years and across 2 continents and yet it is consistent with itself. When we take the Old Testament into account, the Bible has over 40 authors stretching over 1000 years and still it gives a consistent picture of God.

(3) Their writing has regularly inspired real, dynamic change in its readers across centuries and cultures. Something is going on with the Bible that defies logic.

(1) It claims to be God's revelation of himself to us. Hebrews 1:1 "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Hebrews 1:1-3 So in the Bible we experience God.

(2) The Bible claims to be a guide for us. "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105 So from the Bible we get guidance.

(3) The Bible claims to cut deep into our souls. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 So studying the Bible brings healing and change.

(4) The Bible claims to promote success and prosperity. "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Joshua 1:8 So by living according to the Bible, we will arrive at success and prosperity.