B-I-B-L-E

Bibliographical Evidence | Internal Harmony | Biblical Prophecy | Lord's View | External Evidence

Bibliographical Evidence

The first B stands for bibliographical evidence, which speaks of the thousands of hand written copies or manuscripts that we have in the original languages. No book from antiquity is better supported with manuscript evidence than the Bible. You compare any other literature from that time, any other literature, the writings of Caesar, the writings of Homer, the writings attributed to the great philosophers, any other literature, and there is nothing that stacks up against the quantitative and qualitative manuscript evidence that supports the Bible. In other words, it is far superior not only because we have more manuscripts, but also because we have many copies which are very close to the date of origin.

A. Quantity:
First of all, there's the argument from quantity. For example, we have exactly one copy of the widely acclaimed Roman history by Tacitus, we have 10 extant copies of Plato's Tetralogies, 10 copies of Caesar's Gallic Wars, 643 copies of Homer's Iliad. That's the nearest competitor, 643 copies. And yet we have 5366 copies of ancient Greek manuscripts of part of all of the NT, and we have well over 10,000 manuscripts of the Hebrew OT. Now why is that important? Well the more manuscripts that you have, the easier it is to recreate the autographa, the originals, and check out any transcriptional errors that may have entered through careless copying. And that leads us to the second argument for the superiority of the Bible' documentation.

B. Quality:

And that is the argument from the quality of the manuscript evidence. Now the critics ignore the issue of quantity, what they want to debate is quality. Their questioning goes something like this: "Since they didn't have copy machines, and they had to copy it by hand, aren't there a lot of mistakes and variations?" I can answer that with an emphatic: "No!" And that is especially true when you compare the Old and New Testaments to other documents of ancient history. As I mentioned, there are relatively few copies of the ancient classical works, and yet many are very late and contain wide variations.

Well what about the Bible? How close are the copies to the original writers? Do these manuscripts contain wide variations or errors? Well European critical scholars for a couple of hundred years have believed that the biblical stories were passed down through the generations and with each telling a lot of elaboration and myths were added. Kind of like telling a story to your neighbor and so on until it goes around the room, and it doesn't resemble what was told in the beginning. And in the case of the OT, the earliest manuscripts they had of the Hebrew OT only go back to 1100 AD. Why? Judaism has been around longer than Christianity. Well the Jews took older, worn manuscripts, and destroyed them in an elaborate ceremony, sort of like you would properly dispose of an American flag which has become frayed and worn. Orthodox Jews didn't keep these worn copies until 1100 AD, when the Masoretic Text was established. But the lateness of this evidence gave credence to the theory of these liberal critics...until 1947.

In 1947, an Arab shepherd boy threw a rock into a cave in Palestine, broke a jar, went in and found part of what we call the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contains several copies of OT books. In fact, the book of Esther was the only book they didn't find among the scrolls, but the other 38 books were there. Now the amazing thing about this find is that when you compare the copies of the OT in the Dead Sea Scrolls with the copies we have dating back to the middle ages there are only the slightest of variations. In fact, the only notable variation is found at the end of Isaiah 53:11 where the copy in the scrolls adds the word "light." One word. So for all practical purposes, the Hebrew OT is exactly the same as it was in the time of Jesus, and we have every reason to believe that it is exactly the same is it was when it was originally written.

You say: How could they do that in a day before the copy machine? Well they were so highly trained in techniques of memorization that it was not uncommon for a trained scribe to be able to recite the whole of the OT from memory without error. And yet when they copied the Scripture they didn't rely on memory, they carefully, meticulously, and reverently transcribed every word from a master manuscript. And there were all kinds of checks and balances to ensure that the resultant copy of was flawless.

How about the NT? First of all the NT is far superior than other ancient writings when it comes to the time lapse between the original manuscripts or the autographa and the earliest extant copies. For example, Caesar's Gallic Wars was written about 60 BC, and yet the earliest copy we have only dates back to 900 AD--about a 1,000 years. Plato's Tetralogies was written about 400 BC but the earliest copy we have dates back to 900 AD, a span of 1,300 years. And Homer's Iliad was written about 900 BC, and the earliest copy we have dates back to 500 BC, a span of 400 years. Fairly late in comparison with the original writing.

In contrast, the NT was completely written by no later than 100 AD, and we have a manuscript that contains nearly all of it that dates back to 200 AD, a span of just 100 hundred years. But that's not all. We have fragments of John's Gospel dating all the way back to 125 AD. And one German Scholar recently argued that a fragment from Matthew's Gospel dates all the way back to 75 AD. Folks that's very close to the original documents, when you consider that Jesus died around 30 AD and the NT was completed by 100 AD. But the interesting thing is that virtually no critic questions the accuracy of the classical manuscripts, but there are many who question the accuracy of the NT manuscripts because of some variations among those manuscripts.

How about variations? Well those 5,366 or so Greek manuscripts don't always correspond exactly, letter for letter, word for word, which shouldn't surprise us. In fact, there's more variation than with the OT manuscripts, proving that those who copied the NT weren't quite as proficient as the OT scribes. And that is troubling to some folks. But what is amazing is that after 2000 years of copying and transcribing, as renowned textual critic Bruce Metzger contends that out of the 20,000 lines of the NT, only 40 lines are up for debate today. Everything else is a given. And those 40 lines in question don't deal with any major or minor doctrine of the faith. That led Sir Frederic Kenyon, a scholar in the field of textual criticism to write: "The Christian can take the whole Bible in His hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true Word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries."

Bibliographical Evidence | Internal Harmony | Biblical Prophecy | Lord's View | External Evidence

Internal Harmony

Some 40 authors wrote the 66 books of the Bible over a period of some 1500 years in 3 different languages, and yet there is an amazing consistency and unity throughout the whole. Think about it. From a purely human perspective, this book is not the product of one man but there were at least 40 different authors. They were kings and statesmen, they were religious leaders and shepherds, they were fishermen and tax collectors writing over such a long span of time, and yet we have a one amazing story from beginning to end. No other book is like that. Internal Harmony.

Bibliographical Evidence | Internal Harmony | Biblical Prophecy | Lord's View | External Evidence

Biblical Prophecy

The Bible unlike any other book ever written contains some amazing specific prophecies that were literally fulfilled. For example, there are prophecies about ancient cities such as Tyre and Babylon, which were fulfilled, in remarkable detail. But above all, there are 333 specific OT prophecies containing 456 specific details about the Messiah, which were fulfilled in the first coming of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3:15 says that he would be born the seed of the woman. And Isaiah 7:14 tells us that he would be born of a virgin. Genesis 9:18 says that he would be a descendant of Shem, son of Noah. Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18 tell us that he would be the descendant of Abraham. Genesis 49:9-10 tells us that he will be born of the tribe of Judah. 2 Samuel 7:14 and many others tell us that he will be born of the house of David. Micah 5:2 tells us what city he would be born in--Bethlehem. Zechariah 9:9 describes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Psalm 41:9 and Zech. 11:12-13 describe His betrayal by a friend and the amount: 30 pieces of silver. The book of Daniel 9:25-27 even predicts the very year when he would die, 483 years after 444 BC, which calculated according to the lunar calendar comes out to be the same year pegged by historians--30 AD.

Isaiah 53 and other scriptures describe in graphic detail his scourging and his crucifixion. Psalm 22 itself contains 33 specific predictions concerning his crucifixion, including the words he spoke from the cross, the gambling for his clothing, the mockery by the crowd, his terrible thirst, the piercing of his hands and feet, and other striking details. Psalm 16:10 and Isaiah 53:9 speak of his burial. Psalm 16:10, 17:15, the last part of Psalm 22, Jonah 1:17 and other scriptures portray his resurrection. Psalm 8:5-6, 110:1, and others describe his ascension into heaven.

All of these predictive prophecies and others come together to form a thumbprint and the prophets were whispering: "When you find the One who matches this prophetic thumb-print, you have found the Messiah, the Son of God." Throughout history, only Jesus has had that thumbprint. That's why I not only believe there is a God, but that Jesus is the Son of God, and that's why He could say: "I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me." He is the only way of salvation. He is the Savior and the Lord and confirmed by fulfilled prophecy. And God is the only one who can say: "I am He who knows the end from the beginning, and tell from old those things which are not yet done."

Some people say: "Ah, that's just coincidence." Coincidence, huh? Dr. Peter Stoner, former professor of science at Westmont College, used over 600 graduate students and examined the statistical probability of these prophecies being fulfilled in any individual. They chose 8 specific details about the coming Messiah. Keep in mind that all of the OT was written from 1500 BC to 300 BC, originally in Hebrew and Aramaic, then translated into Greek about 150 BC. No one claims that any of the OT was written after Jesus was born. In fact, the Dead Sea Scrolls are proof that Christians wrote none of these prophecies back into the OT Scriptures.

But to have just 8 out of the 456 specific prophecies fulfilled in any individual, Dr. Stoner and his students said that the chances were 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Well, that doesn't mean a lot to those of us who are mathematically challenged. So how likely is something to happen that is 1 in 10 to the 17th power? That's 1 in 10 with 17 zero's after it. Here's how likely it would be.

Dr. Stoner said: If you took little white tile, an inch and a half square, and covered the entire land mass of the earth solid with these little tiles, and on one of them, just one of them, you painted the bottom red. Then one person could spend his entire lifetime, going from continent to continent, could look them over, and then have one chance at trying to find that one inch and a half tile painted red on the bottom. If he could pick up the right one, with one try, that's the chance that just 8 of these prophecies could be fulfilled in one person yet to be born. But not only 8 were fulfilled in Jesus, 436 were fulfilled. These fulfilled prophecies prove without question, that there is a God, Christ is His Son, and the Bible is His Word.

Bibliographical Evidence | Internal Harmony | Biblical Prophecy | Lord's View | External Evidence

Lord's View

Jesus Christ had a high and exalted view of the OT, which was the Bible of his day. He said: "I came not to destroy the law or the prophets (i.e., the OT Scriptures), I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth that until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished." In John 10:34, He said that the Scriptures cannot be broken. He believed these OT Scriptures came from God, they were infallible, and were the final authority for faith and practice. But then compare what He said about the OT and what he said about His own words. In Mark 13:31, He said: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

So if Jesus was the Messiah, as confirmed by the 436 specific details of 333 predictive prophecies that were fulfilled in His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension, then by inference, the NT which contains His words and the words of those who were eyewitnesses to His resurrection, then the NT has the same quality of infallibility, the same authority as the OT. It is all therefore Holy Scripture.

Bibliographical Evidence | Internal Harmony | Biblical Prophecy | Lord's View | External Evidence

External Evidence

We come to the last letter, E which stands for external evidence. And this would include both archaeological findings and extra-biblical historical writings such as the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus. It might surprise you to know that we know quite a bit about the life of Christ apart from what the Bible alone. In fact, there are about 20 different non-Christian sources which record parts of the life of Christ. Most of them contain little fragments of historical evidence, and they are written from a biased point of view sometimes. And there's just a sentence here and a paragraph there, but when you put them together and there's around 60 facts concerning the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus. You can get an outline of his life from these sources and never open the NT.

But not only is there external evidence from extra-biblical sources, there is evidence from archaeology. Many details that had been questioned by liberal critical scholars, we suddenly confirmed by archeology beginning back during the mid-1800's and continuing to today. For example, in the book of Daniel there was a King named Belshazer (he was the one who saw the handwriting on the wall, and was told that his kingdom was going to be divided and given to the Medes and Persians). Well scholars scoffed at that idea and said that the book of Daniel is a fabrication because the ancient Babylonian records show that the last king of Babylon was not Belshazer but a man named Nabonides. The record clearly showed that Nabonides was the last king of Babylon.

But when they continued to dig, the archeologists found a cylinder, and guess whose name was on it? It was the name Belshazer. And they dug up more documents concerning Belshazer and Nabonides, and they found that Nabonides was the last king of Babylon, but he wasn't the only last king. Belshazer was also king. Nabonides was the father, Belshazer was the son and they were co-regents, the reigned together. That explains why when Daniel was told that if he could read the handwriting on the wall, he would be made the third ruler in the kingdom. Belshazer couldn't make him the second ruler, because there were already two, he had to make Daniel the third ruler. Folks, the Bible is confirmed by historical facts.

Another doubter was S.R. Driver, a linguistic scholar. Dr. Driver claimed that there was no way in this world that Moses could have written the first 5 books of the Bible because people didn't know how to write back in Moses' day. So how could Moses have written Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy? Well then archaeologists dug up some tablets made of clay at Tel Elamarna in Northern Egypt that contained letters sent from people in Egypt to people in Palestine dated before Moses was even born. So not only did they know how to write, they had a postal system, they were sending letters back and forth. May have even got there quicker than ours... Again the Bible is confirmed by the historical facts.

Well suppose they had never found the Tel Ela Marna Tablets or the cylinder with Belshazer's name on it. Or the stone monument that has King David's name on it or the clay tablets that mention Abraham and his brothers Nahor and Haran. Or the inscription bearing the name Pontius Pilate, who sentenced Jesus to death. I mean what if we didn't have these significant pieces of historical evidence and hard facts that confirm the Bible? Would that make the Bible any less true? No. But they sure do give you even more confidence that the Bible that you hold in your hand is historically accurate and reliable. Nearly every time the archaeologists spade is turned, new evidence is unearthed that confirms it. In fact, archaeologist Nelson Glueck, pointing to over 100 years of archeology in over 25,000 sites, made this statement: "It may be stated categorically that no archeological evidence has ever controverted biblical evidence."

Bibliographical Evidence | Internal Harmony | Biblical Prophecy | Lord's View | External Evidence

Conclusion

Based on the evidence presented above, we find that the Bible is based on historical facts, not a bunch of fables. Speaking of the Bible, Christian Apologist Dr. Ravi Zacharias said: "No book in history has been so scrutinized, so studied, so opened up by its antagonists, and you'd think that one simple geographical or historical fact could be shown to be contrary to what happened. But they are not able to do that."

Now there are lots of reasons why people don't want to believe that the Bible is true. And the biggest reason is that they don't want to give up their immoral lifestyle. In fact, a prominent evolutionist said as much. Asked why the scientific community so quickly accepted the theory of evolution, Biologist, Sir Julian Huxley told a British TV show, quote: "I suppose the reason why we leaped at the Origin of the Species was because the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores."

See if the word of God is true, then they will have to answer to the God of this Book, and they don't like that at all. So they give their lives trying to prove it that it's a hoax, just a bunch of fables. But that begs the question, doesn't it? Is the Bible the word of God? Or is it just another book? Based on the staggering amount of corroborating evidence presented above, I believe that the Bible is the word of God. It is therefore good news for a world that is filled with bad news. The psalmist spoke to God about the Bible and said: "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path." The Bible can help guide you on your spiritual journey. You can be sure that the written word of God will lead you to the living Word of God, to Jesus (John 1:1-4, 14).

Karl Barth, the great German theologian of the 20th century, was privileged during the latter part of his life to take a trip around the world. He visited the great cathedrals and preached in some of them. He walked along the beaches of the world's oceans. He sat in quiet mountainside monasteries. He spoke in universities and seminaries around the globe. And when he returned, some of his good friends welcomed him back home. And one of them asked: "Dr. Barth, what was the most profound thought you had on your trip?" Everyone quietly anticipated his answer. He said: "Hmm...most profound thought...." With a twinkle in His eye, he said: "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Simple truth, but oh so profound, isn't it? When its all said and done, if it weren't for the Bible, I wouldn't know that Jesus loves me. And neither would you. Our faith stands or falls on the reliability of the word of God. The Bible tells us that Jesus left heaven's glory to die for our sins, He was raised from the dead, He is reigning in heaven, and He will return in power and great glory!

Do you know Him? Do you want to? You can. Please continue on your journey with "How Can I Have a Relationship with God."

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