EXPLORING THE EVIDENCE: WEEK THREE
How Accurate is the Bible Today?

REVIEW OF LAST WEEK’S LESSON: Is the Bible from God?
1. The Bible claims to be God-breathed, perfect, trustworthy, and right.
2. The Bible demonstrates it is from God through fulfilled prophecy, Jesus’ confirmation of
Scripture, and statistical probability.
3. God is trustworthy and the Bible is from God, therefore the Bible is absolute truth.
4. I should embrace and obey God’s teaching and truth in the Bible.
5. Knowing and trusting God’s promises is truly life-changing!
Review of memory verse #2
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord
are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are
right, giving joy to the heart.
Psalm 19:7-8

TODAY'S TOPIC: How Accurate is the Bible Today?
Last week, we investigated the evidence demonstrating that the Bible is from God. Man physically
wrote the Bible, but God superintended and guided every single word that the authors wrote down.
But how do we know that the Bible that we read today is the same Bible that God gave the original
authors? After all, the books of the Bible were written between 1900 and 3450 years ago and have
come to us through many translations and versions over the centuries. In our lesson, we will
examine the following topics to answer the question, How Accurate is the Bible Today?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Jesus’ words
Manuscript evidence
Archaeological evidence
Process that scribes used to copy manuscripts
Canonization of Scripture
Modern Bible translations
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
23
revised 08/01/01
1. JESUS’ WORDS
Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke that His words are eternal.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Luke 21:33
Jesus also said in the Gospel of Matthew that not a single letter would change in the Bible.
“I tell you the truth, 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.”
Matthew 5:18
If Jesus Christ believed that not a single letter in the Bible would change over time, so
should we!
2. MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE
The original manuscripts of the Bible no longer exist or have yet to be discovered. The same is true
for all ancient literary works. No original manuscripts exist for any ancient literary work. So how do
we determine the accuracy of the Bible today? To evaluate the accuracy of an ancient literary work,
there are two variables that we must take into account:
1. The gap in time between the original writing and the earliest manuscript
2. The total number of manuscripts
The Gap in Time between the Original Writing and the Earliest Manuscript
The closer in time the earliest discovered manuscript is to the original work, the more accurate the
manuscript. For example, a manuscript that was copied 100 years after the original work has gone
through less replication and therefore is more accurate than a manuscript that was copied 1000
years after the original work.
The Total Number of Manuscripts
The greater the number of manuscripts for a literary work and the greater the consistency between
those manuscripts, then the greater the accuracy of the manuscripts. For example, 3 manuscripts of
a literary work that are 75% consistent with each other are less accurate than 1000 manuscripts of a
literary work that are 99% consistent with each other.
In the example involving 3 manuscripts, 75% of the material is exactly the same and therefore is
consistent with the original writing. The remaining 25% of each manuscript differs from the other
manuscripts. How do we know which manuscript best represents the remaining 25% of the original
writing? It is impossible to determine. It could be that one manuscript accurately contains the
remaining 25% or it could also be that parts from the multiple manuscripts, in combination,
accurately contain the remaining 25%. In the example involving 1000 manuscripts, 99% of the
material is exactly the same across all manuscripts and therefore is consistent with the original
writing.
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
24
revised 08/01/01
The Bible Compared to Other Ancient Literary Works 1
Let’s compare the manuscript evidence of the Bible with that of other ancient literary works.
Book
Plato (Tetralogies)
Aristotle’s writings
Caesar’s writings
Tacitus (Annals)
Homer’s Iliad
New Testament
Written
427-347 BC
384-322 BC
100-44 BC
100 AD
900 BC
40-100 AD
Earliest
Manuscript
900 AD
1100 AD
900 AD
1100 AD
400 BC
125 AD
Approximate
Gap
1200 years
1400 years
1000 years
1000 years
500 years
25-100 years
Number of
Manuscripts
7
49
10
20
643
5300 (99.5% accurate)
Sir Frederic Kenyon, one of the great authorities in the field of New Testament textual criticism,
emphatically states that the negligible amount of textual variations does not endanger doctrine:
“One word of warning already referred to must be emphasized in
conclusion. No fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith rests on a
disputed reading…”2
“It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible
is certain. Especially is this the case with the New Testament. The
number of manuscripts of the New Testament, of early translations from
it, and of quotations from it in the oldest writers of the Church, is so large
that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful
passage is preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities.
This can be said of no other book in the world.” 3
“It is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these
discoveries of the authenticity of the Scriptures, is our conviction that we
have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God”4
There is exponentially more manuscript evidence validating the accuracy of the Bible than
any other ancient literary work. If you believe that Plato, Aristotle, Caesar and Homer
existed; then you have to believe that the Bible is accurate.
Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, pp. 45
Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, pp. 46
3 Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, pp. 46
4 Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, pp. 47
1
2
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
25
revised 08/01/01
How God Chose to Preserve His Word
How would you ensure a document is preserved for eternity?
The Ten Commandments Approach
The first thought you might have is to create the document out of some substance that is
indestructible. There are two reasons why this idea would fail. First, it would be impossible to find or
manufacture such a substance. Second, even if you did create an indestructible document, it is still
only one copy. The document could get lost, stolen, or forgotten about over time. This approach
was used to preserve the Ten Commandments. The results were that one set of the Ten
Commandments was broken (Exodus 32:19) and the other set (Exodus 34:1), which was placed in
the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:14), was plundered and likely destroyed during the Babylonian Captivity.
(Note: This does not mean that God failed or made a mistake. God knew precisely what was going
to happen to the Ten Commandments. The outcome was all part of His plan.)
The Bible Approach
Another approach would be to create as many identical copies as possible. That way if a copy was
destroyed, lost, or stolen, there would still be thousands of identical copies in existence. It also
would be difficult for everyone to forget about the document since the proliferation of the document
would be so great. Even if the original document were destroyed or lost and all of the copies
contained minor inaccuracies, the original document could be recreated by comparing multiple
copies. Each copy would not contain the same errors in the same locations. If a discrepancy were
found between two copies, it would be difficult to determine which copy represented the original
document. But if you compared 100 copies, only one of the copies would have that specific error.
The remaining 99 copies would be consistent and therefore represent the original document’s
content.
This is how God chose to preserve His Word for eternity. Soon after Jesus’ death and resurrection,
the New Testament books were written and copied in great volume. The Word of God spread
throughout the entire ancient world in less than a generation.
3. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
Archaeology continues to help validate the reliability of the Bible. Since the early nineteenth century,
archaeology has confirmed and illuminated passages in the Bible. The evidence is simply
overwhelming. There have been more than 25,0005 sites located in Bible lands showing some
connection with the Old Testament period. Here are just a few archaeological examples 6, which
confirm the Bible’s reliability.
1. Critics claimed that Abraham never existed nor did the culture presented in Genesis exist.
 His hometown Ur discovered
 Sodom and Gomorrah discovered
 Clay tablets from Nuzi record many customs of Abraham’s time to a tee
o A bride was originally chosen for a son by his father.
o The groom had to pay a dowry to his father-in-law, or to work for his father-in-law if he
could not afford the dowry, as Jacob had to do.
5
6
Paul E. Little, Know Why You Believe, Chariot Victor Publishing, Colorado Springs, CO, pp. 72
Lon Solomon, The Reliability of the Bible, Abiding Word Communications, McLean VA, audio tape
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
26
revised 08/01/01
o
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The orally expressed will of a father could not be changed after it had been pronounced,
as in Isaac’s refusal to change the blessings pronounced over Jacob even though they
had been obtained by deception.
o A bride originally received from her father a slave girl as a personal maid, as Leah and
Rachel did when they were married to Jacob.
o A barren wife could ask her husband to produce a child for her by her maid servant, as
Sarah did and later Jacob’s two wives, Rachel and Leah. The barren wife was also not
able to drive off the children of such a union.
Critics claimed that writing was unknown in 1500 BC, thus Moses couldn’t have written the first
five books of the Old Testament. Writing discovered to be practiced by uneducated slaves as far
back as 3000 BC.
“House of David” found inscribed in stone. Hebrew writing from 800 BC.
Priestly benediction (Numbers 6:24-26) from 600 BC.
“House of God”, referring to the temple, found inscribed in stone. Hebrew writing from 550 BC.
Book of Daniel dismissed because there was no evidence that a king named Belshazzar ruled in
Babylon during that period. Later, it was found that the reigning monarch, Nabonidus, appointed
Belshazzar as his coregent while he was waging war away from Babylon.
Pontius Pilate’s name found carved in a cornerstone in 1961 in the town of Caesarea.
Sir William Ramsay, a professor of Classical Art and Archaeology from Oxford University, set out
to disprove the historical reliability of the Bible by following Paul’s journeys as described in the
Book of Acts. The evidence that he found was so overwhelming that he became a Christian and
was one of the strongest defenders of the faith in the early 20 th century.
Noted archaeologist and Jewish scholar Nelson Glueck sums it up best when he boldly asserted,
“As a matter of fact, however, it may be clearly stated categorically that
no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical
reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which
confirm in clear outline or exact detail historical statements in the Bible.” 7
Archaeology has never contradicted the Bible and continues to prove its reliability.
4. PROCESS THAT SCRIBES USED TO COPY MANUSCRIPTS8
The process that scribes used to copy manuscripts was a complicated system of safeguards to
virtually eliminate any errors in their work. By the time scribes had finished copying a manuscript
and validating all the safeguards, they believed the copy was an exact duplicate and therefore gave
the new copy equal authority.
Here are some of the rules used by the scribes when copying a manuscript:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
7
8
The copyist must sit in full Jewish dress.
He must wash his whole body.
He must not begin to write the name of God with a pen newly dipped in ink.
Should a king address him while writing God’s name, he must take no notice of him.
No word or letter, not even a yod, must be written from memory.
They counted the number of times each letter of the alphabet occurred in each book.
They calculated the middle word and the middle letter of each book.
They pointed out the middle letter of the Torah and the middle letter of the whole Hebrew Bible.
They numbered the verses, words, and letters of every book.
Norman Geisler, When Skeptics Ask, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, pp. 179
Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, pp. 53-56
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
27
revised 08/01/01
No other ancient literary work has been so accurately transmitted throughout history. The
books of the Bible have not changed since they were originally written.
5. CANONIZATION OF SCRIPTURE9
God did not just give the entire Bible to one person at a single point in time. Instead, He provided
the information to approximately 40 authors over a 1500-year span. So how do we know these 66
books should be included in the Bible? How do we know some books weren’t left out of the Bible?
The answers to these questions lie in the process of canonization.
The word canon comes from the Greek word that means a “straight rod” or “bar” used especially to
keep something straight. Hence, it was used by masons and carpenters for dependable, straight
measurements. The word canon, when referring to Scripture, means the standard list of books that
make up the Bible. Before investigating the criteria used during the canonization process, we need
to understand one thing. Whatever God inspired is Scripture and whatever God did not inspire is
not Scripture. God has already determined what should be included; man’s problem is recognizing
what writings God has inspired.
Old Testament Canonization
Soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the canonization of the Old Testament was
determined by the Jewish priests at the Council of Jamnia. Josh McDowell explains:
“The Jewish sacrificial system was ended by the destruction of
Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. Even though the Old Testament
canon was settled in the Jewish mind long before that year, there was a
need for something more definitive. The Jews were scattered, and they
needed to determine which books were the authoritative Word of God
because of the many extra-scriptural writings and the decentralization.
The Jews became a people of one Book and it was this Book that kept
them together. Christianity started to blossom, and many writings of the
Christians were beginning to be circulated. The Jews needed to expose
them vividly and exclude them from their writings and use in the
synagogues.”10
Jesus also confirmed the Old Testament canon. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus
told the disciples that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the Law of
Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Himself. These are the three
main divisions of the Hebrew Bible. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the
Psalms (or Writings) was a common term used to refer to all of the books of the
Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you.
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses,
the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Luke 24:44
Also in Luke, Jesus uses the phrase “From the blood of Abel to the blood of
Zechariah” Jesus here confirms His witness to the extent of the Old Testament
9
Norman Geisler, When Skeptics Ask, Baker Books, Grand Rapids MI, pp. 152-154
Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville TN, pp. 35
10
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
28
revised 08/01/01
canon. Abel was the first martyr (Genesis 4:8). Zechariah was the last martyr to
be named (2 Chronicles 24:21) in the Hebrew Bible book order. Genesis is the
first book in the Hebrew Bible and Chronicles is the last book.11
“Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the
prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, from the
blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar
and the sanctuary.”
Luke 11:50-51
New Testament Canonization
The canonization of the New Testament occurred in 393 AD at the Synod of Hippo. F.F. Bruce
states that:
“When at last a Church Council – The Synod of Hippo in 393 AD – listed
the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, it did not confer upon
them any authority which they did not already possess, but simply
recorded their previously established canonicity. (The ruling of the Synod
of Hippo was re-promulgated four years later by the Third Synod of
Carthage.)”
Josh McDowell states:
“Since this time, there has been no serious questioning of the 27
accepted books of the New Testament by either the Roman Catholics or
Protestants.”
The main focus of these meetings was not to decide what books to include or exclude from the
Bible. Instead, the main focus was to officially state what already was generally accepted as the
canon of Scripture. The criteria used to determine if a book was inspired by God was as follows:

Was the book written by a prophet?
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came
about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 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.
2 Peter 1:20-21

Was he confirmed by an act of God?
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to
us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders
and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to
his will.
Hebrews 2:3b-4

Does the book tell the truth about God?
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other
than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
11
Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, pp. 36
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
29
revised 08/01/01
Galatians 1:8

Does the book have the power of God?
For the word of God is living 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

Was the book accepted by the people of God?
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the
Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word
of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who
believe.
1 Thessalonians 2:13
In 2 Peter, Peter equates all of Paul’s letters with Scripture.
Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear
brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He
writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters.
His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which
ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to
their own destruction.
2 Peter 3:15-16
6. MODERN BIBLE TRANSLATIONS
Modern Bible translations are based on the original Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New
Testament) manuscripts. However, there are times during the translation process when a Greek or
Hebrew word cannot easily be translated into a single English word. For example, the Greek
language contains four words to describe different types of love: brotherly love; passionate, romantic
love; parental love and affection; and unconditional love.
Modern Bible translations are generally based on one of two translational approaches: a thought-forthought translation or a word-for-word translation. In a thought-for-thought translation, the Bible
version contains multiple words to convey the meaning of the original Hebrew or Greek word. In a
word-for-word translation, the Bible version contains the best possible word to convey the meaning
of the original Hebrew or Greek word.
Some Reliable Modern Bible Translations
 New International Version (NIV) – thought-for-thought translation
 New American Standard Bible (NASB) – word-for-word translation
 King James – word-for-word translation

APPLICATION
The quality of our relationship with God is directly proportional to the degree that we trust and apply
the Bible to our lives. The more we trust the Bible, the more we trust God’s promises. The more we
trust God’s promises, the more we wish to obey and apply His Word to our lives, and the deeper our
relationship with God becomes!
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
30
revised 08/01/01

OBJECTIONS
1. Objection: How can the Bible be reliable? It’s full of contradictions and mistakes.
Answer: It is important to have the right perspective when dealing with apparent contradictions
in the Bible. There is substantial evidence to prove that the entire Bible is God-breathed by God.
Therefore, the Bible should be “assumed innocent until proven guilty.” There have been many
cases where the Bible appears to be inaccurate, but with further information, is proven to be
accurate. For example, the earth was once thought to be flat. Far before the discovery that the
world was round, the Bible claimed the world was round.
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like
grasshoppers.
Isaiah 40:22a
In this case, the Bible was accurate even though it took hundreds of years for science to confirm
God’s Word.
When dealing with difficult passages, here are some practical guidelines:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Be sure you view a passage in light of its context.
Be sure you know what the text says.
Be sure you know what the text means.
Don’t confuse error with imprecision.
Don’t confuse error with personal perspective.
Remember the Bible records things that it does not approve.
2. Objection: The Apocrypha are found in Roman Catholic Bibles and so should be included in all
Bibles.
Answer: The 14 Apocryphal books did not meet the strict criteria of the canonization process in
the Early Church councils and hence, historically, are not considered canonical books of
Scripture. Therefore, the Apocrypha are not God-breathed and are not stamped with divine
authority and power. The Roman Catholic Church, however, does include the Apocrypha,
viewing them as books which still have some spiritual and moral value.
Geisler and Nix give a succession of ten testimonies of antiquity against accepting the
Apocrypha:12
1. Philo, Alexandrian Jewish philosopher (20 B.C. – A.D 40), quoted the Old Testament
prolifically and even recognized the threefold division, but he never quoted from the
Apocrypha as inspired.
2. Josephus (A.D. 30 – 100), Jewish historian, explicitly excludes the Apocrypha, when
numbering the books of the Old Testament. Neither does he quote these books as
Scripture.
3. Jesus and the New Testament writers never quote the Apocrypha although there are
hundreds of quotes and references to almost all of the canonical books of the Old
Testament.
4. The Jewish scholars of Jamnia (A.D. 90) did not recognize the Apocrypha.
5. No canon or council of the Christian church for the first four centuries recognized the
Apocrypha as inspired.
12
Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, pp. 40
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
31
revised 08/01/01
6. Many of the great fathers of the early church spoke out against the Apocrypha, for example,
Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius.
7. Jerome (A.D. 340 – 420), the great scholar and translator of the Vulgate, rejected the
Apocrypha as part of the canon. He disputed across the Mediterranean with Augustine on
this point. He at first refused even to translate the Apocryphal books into Latin, but later he
made a hurried translation of a few of them. After his death, and literally “over his dead
body,” the Apocryphal books were brought into his Latin Vulgate directly from the Old Latin
Version.
8. Many Roman Catholic scholars through the Reformation period rejected the Apocrypha.
9. Luther and the Reformers rejected the canonicity of the Apocrypha.
10. Not until A.D. 1546, in a polemical action at the Counter Reformation Council of Trent, did
the Apocryphal books receive full canonical status by the Roman Catholic Church.
Wrap-up: Some Key Points
1. Jesus Christ believed that the Bible would not change over time.
2. There is exponentially more manuscript evidence validating the accuracy of the Bible
than any other ancient literary work.
3. Archaeology continues to validate the reliability of the Bible.
4. Since God is Truth and since God is trustworthy, and since the Bible is from God, the
Bible is absolute truth, and we can trust it completely.
5. I should embrace and obey God’s teaching and truth in the Bible, applying it to my daily
life.
6. Knowing and trusting God’s promises is truly life-changing!
Now What?

ACTION POINTS
1. Review today's class notes. Look up all Scripture references.
2. Read chapter 6 – Are the Bible Documents Reliable? and chapter 7 – Does Archaeology
Help? from Know Why You Believe by Paul Little
3. Learn memory verse #3,
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”
Luke 21:33
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
32
revised 08/01/01

NEXT WEEK’S TOPIC
Did Jesus Christ Exist and are the Biblical
Accounts of His Life Accurate?
 McLean Bible Church 1999
Exploring the Evidence, Week 3
33
revised 08/01/01