Is the Bible True?
Objection:
“The Bible cannot be true since it
has so many historical and
geographical errors, internal
contradictions, and is full of
myths and legends.”
1
I.
The Uniqueness of the Bible
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
In its composition
With regard to its circulation
With regard to its translations
With regard to its durability
With respect to the effects on
people’s lives
2
II. The Accuracy of the Bible
Manuscript Integrity
3
Is the Bible Historically
Reliable?
4
Book:
The Gallic War
Commentaries
Author:
Julius Caesar
Date of authorship: 50 BC
SBF 28
5
Understanding Manuscripts
Julius Caesar wrote
The Gallic War Commentaries
Scribal Copying of Manuscripts
400 300 200 50 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------Centuries B.C.
Centuries A.D.
Printing Press
700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
---------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - Centuries A.D.
6
Understanding Manuscripts
Scribal
copying was
done by hand
until invention
of the printing
press, c. 1439.
7
Ancient Manuscripts —How Many?
700
643
Plato
600
Caesar
500
Livy
400
Aristotle
300
Sophocles
193
Homer
200
100
0
49
7
10
20
New
Testament
SBF 31
8
Ancient Manuscripts - How Many?
700
643
Plato
600
Caesar
500
Livy
24,633
400
Aristotle
Sophocles
300
193
200
100
0
49
7
10
20
Homer
New
Testament
The
BEST!
SBF 31
9
Ancient Manuscripts –
How accurate?
Distortion Rate
12.00% 10.30%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.90%
Mahabharata
Iliad
New Testament
The
BEST!
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
0.20%
SBF 36
10
“Scholars are satisfied that they possess
substantially the true text of the principal
Greek and Roman writers whose works
have come down to us, of Sophocles, of
Thucydides, of Cicero, of Virgil; yet our
knowledge of their writings depends on a
mere handful of manuscripts, whereas the
manuscripts of the New Testament are
counted by hundreds, and even thousands.”
— Manuscript scholar Sir Frederic Kenyon
SBF 31
11
Understanding Manuscripts
Aristotle
Virgil wrote
Aeneid
Earliest known manuscript
wrote
Poetics
Julius
Caesar Scribal Copying of Manuscripts
400 300 200 50 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
---------------------------|-------------------------------------------------Centuries B.C.
Centuries A.D.
Earliest known manuscript
Printing Press
700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500
---------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - Centuries A.D.
12
Ancient Manuscripts - How Early?
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
1,450
1,350
Aristotle
1,250
Herodotus
Plato
1,000
900
Tacitus
800
600
400
200
0
Caesar
500
Homer
300
Virgil
15
New Testament
The
BEST!
SBF 34
13
Origin of the New Testament
Early, Eyewitness Sources
for the New Testament
Earliest Gospel
Jesus’ Death
New Testament
Mark, Luke, JohnQuoted by Others
Manuscripts
& Resurrection Matthew,
Eyewitness Time Period
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100 110
------------------------------------------------------------------|----------First Century A.D.
Legends of Jesus Begin
John Rylands
Fragment
120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
----------------------------------------------------------------------------Gospels of Mary, Thomas,
Second Century A.D.
Phillip, Judas, etc.
Late, Legendary Sources
for The Da Vinci Code
14
“The evidence for our New Testament
writings is ever so much greater than
the evidence for many writings of
classical authors, the authenticity of
which no-one dreams of questioning.
And if the New Testament were a
collection of secular writings, their
authenticity would generally be
regarded as beyond all doubt.”
— British scholar F.F. Bruce
SBF 34
15
II. The Accuracy of the Bible
“There is no body of ancient
literature in the world which
enjoys such a wealth of good
textual attestation as the New
Testament.”
- F. F. Bruce
16
II. The Accuracy of the Bible
History & Archeology
Early Chapters of Genesis
Moses - Pentateuch - Writing
Examples:
Hittites
Belshazzar in Daniel 5
Harbor size of Caesarea
Luke’s writings
Jericho
17
Harbor Caesarea
18
Testimonies of Archeologists
“It may be categorically stated
that no archeological discovery
has ever controverted a biblical
reference.”
- Nelson Gluck
19
Testimonies of Archaeologists
“Archaeology has not produced
anything that is unequivocally a
contradiction to the Bible. On the
contrary...there have been many
opinions of skeptical scholars that
have become codified into ‘fact’ over
the years but that archaeology has
shown to be wrong.” - John Mcray
20
Testimonies of Archeologists
“The Bible is supported by archaeological evidence again and again.
On the whole there can be no
question that the results of
excavation have increased the
respect of scholars for the Bible
as a collection of historical
documents.”
- Millar Burrows
21
Testimony of Historian
“Christianity, like the Judaism from
which it sprang, is a historical
religion, or it is nothing. It does
not deal in myths and metaphors
and symbols, or in states of being
and cycles. It deals in facts.”
- Paul Johnson
22
II. The Accuracy of the Bible
Miracles
Distinguish between God
and the Bible
Public nature
Early circulation of N.T.
documents
23
II. The Accuracy of the Bible
Bible Explains Reality
Explains what I know about
myself and the world
around me
24
III. The Inspiration of the Bible
A.
The Bible claims for itself to be
inspired.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking and
training in righteousness.”
II Timothy 3:16
“For prophecy never had its origin in
the will of man, but men spoke from
God as they were carried along by
the Holy Spirit.” II Peter 1:21
“Thus says the Lord...”
25
III. The Inspiration of the Bible
B. Fulfilled Prophecy
Birth of Christ
Example: City of Tyre
Person of Jesus Christ
26