Can the Bible be Trusted?

Can the Bible be Trusted?
Tuesday, November 19, 2024 by Alicia W. Patterson, MA Religion, Confluence Grief and Loss Coaching and Consulting

It could be argued that the Bible is the most controversial book ever written and that more people have lost their lives over it than any other book. People swear by the Bible and vehemently swear against it. Most people have an opinion about it, and yet so few have read any of it, much less read it in its entirety.

The Bible speaks of a personal, loving God who “did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” It preserves so many comforting promises: such as, you are never alone because God “will never leave you nor forsake you.” The Bible tells us God is for you and not against you, He has “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It tells us who created the world, how it will end, and that we were made on purpose for a purpose.

But how do we know the Bible is telling the truth? What good are promises from a loving God and information about our beginning and end if the Bible can’t be trusted? What evidence is there that it is not just a fairytale or worse, a purposeful lie? Who wrote it? What is its purpose?

I’m glad you asked! Let’s explore some of these questions together.

The Purpose of the Bible

The Bible not only reveals who God is, it exposes us. It presents us as loved but lost and reveals Jesus as the One who comes to find us. The Bible shows a God Who would rather die than be without us. It reveals Jesus as the One Who finds us and brings us back to God. Jesus Christ is the focus of the scriptures (Holy Bible).

Many people have read the Bible to extract rules for living that would assure that they could earn eternal life. But if reading the Bible doesn’t result in a relationship with Jesus, then the reader has missed the whole point. Jesus says this clearly to the Bible rule-followers of His day, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39–40, NIV)

This Unique Book

Here are some interesting facts about the Bible:

It is the all-time best seller.
It is the oldest book in existence.
It took 1600 years to write.
It has 40 different authors, and yet it is still cohesive.
It has been translated into more languages than any other book.
It can have a supernatural effect on people. It brings healing, hope, and eternal life.

More people risked their lives to allow others to have the opportunity to read it than for any other book.

How do we know the Bible is Inspired?

Well, first, what does that even mean? “Inspired” comes from the Latin word spiritus, which means “Spirit” or “breath.” To be “inspired” is to breathe in. To “expire” is to have the breath of life leave. In a letter teaching his young protégé, Timothy, the Christian pioneer, Paul, writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, …” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV)

So, the Bible defines scripture as “inspired,” because God Himself helped each of the 40 authors write. That is what gives the Bible it’s unique continuity in pointing to Jesus as the needed Savior. The historical context of what is written and how it fits into the themes of the whole Bible help us understand passages that are puzzling. Being “God-breathed” is also what makes the Bible personally relevant.

The Historicity of the Bible

Some skeptical scholars have tried to dismiss the veracity of the Bible by claiming that its stories are mythical and not based in historical reality. They have pointed to details of biblical accounts that were, at the time, unsubstantiated by archaeology or other historical texts. However, time and again, new discoveries have shown biblical accounts to be centered in historical reality.

While the Bible is not a history book as we understand it today, there is solid historical evidence to support the Biblical accounts. As the discipline of archaeology has progressed, more and more finds have verified the accuracy of Biblical accounts. There are many examples of this. I will give only a few.

The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in 1879. It provides independent support for the historicity of one of the central events in the biblical narrative, the return of the Jews to Jerusalem after being conquered by the Babylonians. The words carved on this stone cylinder record the unlikely deliverance of the Jewish captives by Cyrus. The cylinder corroborates the prophecy in Isaiah that Cyrus would make a decree to allow the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28, Isaiah 45:1). The cylinder was found to mirror the language as recorded in the book of Ezra, (for example in Ezra 1).

The gospel writer Luke’s account of the life and death of Jesus and the history of the early church is well-researched and meticulous. He interviewed people who knew Jesus personally, huperatai, or “eyewitnesses,” and his books, Luke and Acts, show a personal knowledge of cities, places, political figures, customs, etc. These are not fictitious. Not one of them has been shown to be historically inaccurate, and in fact, the more scholas have looked closely at his books, the more convinced they have become of their historical accuracy.

Biblical claims, such as the crucifixion of Jesus and the loyalty and persecution of His followers, have been corroborated by many outside sources, such as by the Jewish historian, Josephus, a contemporary of Jesus, and Tacitus, a Roman politician and ancient historian. These sources are highly regarded by modern-day scholars.

How Accurately Has the Bible Been Translated?

This is an important question. The writing of the Bible began and ended millennia before English became a language.

The Jewish scriptures or “Old Testament” were written primarily in Hebrew.

The books which record the coming of the prophesied Messiah, Jesus, and the early development of the Christian church are referred to as the “New Testament” and were written primarily in Greek.

So how do we know our English translation is accurate? One way came when two shepherd boys discovered the “Dead Sea Scrolls,” ancient manuscripts of 38 of the 39 books of the Old Testament. These manuscripts were written on sheepskin or papyrus paper, rolled up into scrolls, and placed in pottery jars. Comparison of the Dead Sea Scrolls with later manuscripts of the Old Testament show the carefulness with which they had been copied.

The accuracy is not just amazing, it seems miraculous. Another interesting aspect of these scrolls is that they contain prophecies that were fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These manuscripts were copied about 100 years before the birth of Jesus, which shows the prophecies were not “redacted” or added back in after the fact.

There were no printers or copiers in the ancient near east. When we speak of “manuscripts” we mean copies of the original that were written or “scripted” by hand (manu like “manual”). Scribes copied the originals and then copies of copies and copies of those copies were made by scribes.

So, what are the potential problems of handwritten copies? Well, if a mistake was made, it could continue to be copied from that time forward. What else? Someone could just add or delete whatever they wanted to the manuscript.

So again, how do you know that what was written in the copies that came down to us today was anything like the original? To answer that question, one must look at the ways that scholars attest to the accuracy of other ancient books.

Scholars compare copies with copies to see what, if anything, has changed. The more copies they have to compare, the better—and the closer the later manuscripts are to the original document and older copies, the easier it is to see where changes may have come in.

So, how does the Bible compare to other ancient manuscripts by this approach? Let’s look at three other ancient documents, well-known to scholars. You have already been introduced to the first two. The Annals of Imperial Rome by Tacitus is a key source for our present understanding of the history of the Roman empire. The Jewish War, by the Jewish-Roman historian, Josephus, is a primary source for scholars’ understanding of Jewish culture and Roman military tactics during the time of Jesus. The Iliad, the epic poem written by the blind Greek poet, Homer, has long been an honored source of insight into the values and mindset of the Greeks. No one thinks to challenge the veracity of these manuscripts.

How does the Bible compare to these books in terms of the number of manuscripts in existence and how close they are to the original document?

Tacitus—The Annals of Imperial Rome: 1 manuscript, 700 years removed from the original.
Josephus—The Jewish War: 9 manuscripts, 1,000-1,200 years removed from the original.
Homer—The Iliad: 650 manuscripts, 1,000 years removed from the original.
The Holy Bible: 5,000+ manuscripts just of the New Testament, less than 100 years removed from the events. And 24,633 copies in other ancient languages besides the original Greek.

As you can see, the other Bible books are not even close in the number of manuscripts or nearness to the original. As for accuracy, the scholars, Norman Geisler and William Nix have concluded: “The New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great book, a form 99.5% pure.”

This impressive accuracy as well as the other significant things we have mentioned—the Bible’s cohesive unity over 1,600 years and 40 authors, the numerous fulfilled prophecies about Jesus, the Messiah and Savior, the well-substantiated historical context, and the power of this book to effect hearts and minds—are valid reasons we can have confidence that the Bible is trustworthy.

I would posit that the Bible is not only a trustworthy ancient book, but that it is the Word of God and alive.

The same Spirit that “inspired” or “breathed life” into the authors of the Bible as they wrote, is available to us to help us understand its original meaning as well as to help us see how it applies to our present circumstances. We don’t just read the Bible, it reads us. As it says in the book of Hebrews: “For the word of God is alive 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, NIV)

What Will You Conclude?

At the beginning of this blog, I wrote “Most people have an opinion about [the Bible], and yet so few have read any of it, much less read it in its entirety.”

I encourage you to be different. Read the Bible for yourself and form your own opinion. Tell God, “I’m going to give this a try. If You are out there, please reveal yourself to me. Please send the Holy Spirit to help me understand what is important for me to know right now. Please speak to me through these words.”

If you would like to do that, also let James know. He has some good tools that will help you become confident in understanding the Bible for yourself.

I can tell you personally that the Bible is my True North. It helps me understand Who God is and how to have a relationship with Him. The Bible gives me a way to view the world that makes sense to me, brings me comfort and instruction—and peace.

I am praying for you to pick up a Bible—for the first time or again—and am excited by the journey you are about to take. God will be right by your side, showing the way. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105, NIV)