Bible Series - Part 1
How Do I Know The Bible Is God's Word?
The Christian faith entirely rests upon the credibility of the Bible. Christians
believe that it is the source of all special revelation from God about the needs of
humanity, our spiritual separation from God, and how a person comes into a right
relationship with God through Jesus Christ. All the world religions claim to possess
divine truth. So how do we know the Bible is different? Is there any evidence to
demonstrate the Bible is true in what it affirms and teaches? If the Bible is not true,
the Christian faith falls apart. We are left with no standard by which to determine what
God requires of us or what His plan for humanity is. However, if the Bible is the way in
which God has chosen to communicate His truth to humanity, we indeed possess the very
thoughts and ways of God revealed within its pages...
How do I know what I read today is actually what was written?
Many people believe the Bible has been changed down through the centuries. We cannot know
for sure what we read today is what actually happened. Some critics of the Bible would
tell us that many passages from the Bible were rewritten, added to or altered by different
people so that we cannot know for certain what we read today is what was originally
written. In response to this accusations we must ask, "Is there any evidence that
demonstrates that the Bible has been accurately copied down through the centuries so that
I can know what I read today is what was originally written?"
Number and Time Span of copies
Since we do not possess the original documents of the Old or New Testaments, we rely on
copies of these works to determine what the original authors wrote. With most ancient
literature there exist very few ancient copies of the works to use in determining the
original reading of the text. In addition, the time span between the original writing and
the oldest surviving copy is usually quite large. For example, consider the following
ancient works...
CHART
Most ancient works have very few copies from which to construct the original reading. In
addition, there exists a substantial time gap between the originals and the oldest
surviving copies.
This is not the case with the biblical documents. Consider the following...
The Old Testament
- The OT was written over a period of approximately 1100 years (1500BC to 400BC). There are several thousand ancient copies (complete and fragments) of the Old Testament in various languages.
- The Septuagint (LXX) is the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT composed around 250 BC. This was the version of the OT studied and quoted by most of the NT authors. There exist thousands of copies (complete and fragments) of the LXX dating from as early as 200 BC.
- In 1947 the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. These scrolls contained copies of OT books in Hebrew that were 1000 years older than any copies in Hebrew in existence up to that time! There was a complete copy of the book of Isaiah and partial copies of all the other OT books except Esther.
The New Testament
- There exist today more than 24,000 copies (complete and fragments) of the New Testament in various languages. For an ancient document, this amount of material is overwhelming. Next to the New Testament, Homer's legendary work, the Iliad, is a distant second in respect to the number of surviving ancient copies with only 643 such copies in existence.
- We possess copies of the New Testament that are very close to the date of their original writing. For example, the oldest existing copy of any NT material is that of the John Rylands Manuscript. This fragment contains five verses from John 18:31-33, 37-38 and dates from approximately 130 A.D. Most scholars would date the writing of the gospel of John between 50-80 A.D. This is only a forty to seventy year gap! In addition, there exist today several full and partial copies of the New Testament from the fourth and fifth centuries. Examples of these include the Chester Beatty Papyri (200 AD), Codex Sinaiticus (340 AD), and the Codex Vaticanus (325-350 AD).
- There are thousands of citations of the NT in letters written by early Christians who lived within 150-200 years from the time of Christ. When combined, these citations quote all but 11 verses of the entire New Testament!
In summary, there exists far more manuscript evidence for the biblical documents than
for any other ancient work. In fact, in comparison to other ancient documents, the
biblical evidence is overwhelming to the point of embarrassment.
Someone might say, "So we have a lot of copies. How do they compare? Are there
errors? From all of these copies are we able to come up with a precise wording of what the
original authors wrote?"
Comparison of Copies for Accuracy in Transmission
The Old Testament
- In copying the Old Testament, Jewish scribes took incredible care to copy the text precisely. They believed they were dealing with the very words of God and thus were controlled by strict religious rituals. Copied versions were compared with the originals in counting every word, letter and syllable to ensure accuracy.
- With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars had a unique opportunity to study the accuracy of copying through a thousand year time span. Upon comparison of the Dead Sea Scrolls (200 BC-100 AD) with the next oldest Hebrew texts, the Masoretic Texts (900 AD), there was found incredible agreement. Differences were present but virtually all of them had no effect on the meaning of the text.
The New Testament
- In comparing the over 24,000 copies of the NT in existence, it can be determined with tremendous accuracy as to what the original reading of the texts were.
- For example, of the roughly 20,000 lines in the NT, only 40 are in doubt as to the original wording. This means that we know for certain the original wording for 99.5% of the NT. Of the parts in question, none have to do with major doctrinal issues. By contrast, most other ancient works do not have enough copies to make a comparison possible.
Conclusion
We can know with more certainty the original reading of the Bible than of any other ancient work. Further, almost all modern translations alert the reader to alternative readings where there are questions as to the original reading. It can be stated with confidence that what we read is what was written by the biblical authors.
HOWEVER...this does not make the Bible reliable nor prove that it is the Word of God. After all, myths and fabrications could have been faithfully and accurately copied down through the centuries just as well as historical truth. Therefore, the next logical question to ask is, "How do I know what was written is what actually happened or was said?" (See Part 2)
Bibliography
Blomberg, Craig. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1987).
Bruce, F.F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? 5th ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1983).
Little, Paul. Know What You Believe (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977).
McDowell, Josh. More Than A Carpenter (Wheaton: Tyndale House Pub., 1977) & Evidence That Demands A Verdict (San Bernardino: Here's Life Pub., 1979).
Moreland, J.P. Scaling The Secular City: A Defense of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1987).