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Oct 16, 2023 · Christians trust the reliability of the Bible because we consider it divinely inspired, find historical evidence supporting its claims, and see internal consistency as a testament to its authenticity. Subscribe to Dr. Ken Boa's free teaching letter here.
- Is the Bible Reliable? The Evidence We Know So Far - Christianity
Many skeptics today will say the Bible is not reliable. But...
- Is the Bible Reliable? The Evidence We Know So Far - Christianity
- I. The Bibliographic Test
- II. The Internal Test
- III. The External Test
A. The Quantity of Manuscripts
In the case of the Old Testament, there are a small number of Hebrew manuscripts, because the Jewish scribes ceremonially buried imperfect and worn manuscripts. Many ancient manuscripts were also lost or destroyed during Israel's turbulent history. Also, the Old Testament text was standardized by the Masoretic Jews by the sixth century A.D., and all manuscripts that deviated from the Masoretic Text were evidently eliminated. But the existing Hebrew manuscripts are supplemented by the Dead Sea...
B. The Quality of Manuscripts
Because of the great reverence the Jewish scribes held toward the Scriptures, they exercised extreme care in making new copies of the Hebrew Bible. The entire scribal process was specified in meticulous detail to minimize the possibility of even the slightest error. The number of letters, words, and lines were counted, and the middle letters of the Pentateuch and the Old Testament were determined. If a single mistake was discovered, the entire manuscript would be destroyed. As a result of thi...
C. The Time Span of Manuscripts
Apart from some fragments, the earliest Masoretic manuscript of the Old Testament is dated at A.D. 895. This is due to the systematic destruction of worn manuscripts by the Masoretic scribes. However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls dating from 200 B.C. to A.D. 68 drastically reduced the time span from the writing of the Old Testament books to our earliest copies of them. The time span of the New Testament manuscripts is exceptional. The manuscripts written on papyrus came from the seco...
The second test of the reliability of the biblical documents asks, What claims does the Bible make about itself? This may appear to be circular reasoning. It sounds like we are using the testimony of the Bible to prove that the Bible is true. But we are really examining the truth claims of the various authors of the Bible and allowing them to speak...
Because the Scriptures continually refer to historical events, they are verifiable; their accuracy can be checked by external evidence. The chronological details in the prologue to Jeremiah (1:1-3) and in Luke 3:1-2 illustrate this. Ezekiel 1:2allows us to date Ezekiel's first vision of God to the day (July 31, 592 B.C.). The historicity of Jesus C...
Many skeptics today will say the Bible is not reliable. But there are many things Christians can research, both in God's word and externally, to build a good case for the reliability of the Bible. Namely, canonization of the Bible, historical accuracy of the Bible, Messianic prophecies, and New Testament manuscripts.
Jul 15, 2024 · Which is the most accurate Bible translation? Explore the history and accuracy of this topic, from Wycliffe to modern versions such as the NRSV, emphasizing the importance of original Hebrew and Greek texts.
- Does the Bible claim to be uniquely inspired by God? A. The Bible claims that it is uniquely inspired 1. 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”
- What other evidence is there that the Bible is inspired by God? A. Supernatural change. The Bible causes supernatural change in people’s lives when its message about sin and salvation is accepted.
- Hasn’t translating the Bible over and over ruined its reliability? No. The English translations we have are not the end of a long chain of translations; they are translated directly from Hebrew (O.T.)
- How do we know that we have what Moses, David, Jesus, or Paul really said or wrote? Since there were no copy machines, the texts that the human authors wrote had to be recopied by hand as they wore out or as more copies were needed.
Jan 28, 2021 · Today, Stephen Nichols states four reasons why the Bible is absolutely reliable. The truth claims of the Christian faith depend ultimately upon the teaching of Scripture. Can we really trust a book that is thousands of years old?
The reliability and authority of the Bible may be handled by considering Scripture’s (1) inspiration, (2) inerrancy and infallibility, and (3) clarity and sufficiency.
