The Bible is a collection of 66 books divided into two main segments; the 39 books of the Old Testament written from approximately 1,500BC to 400BC, and the 27 books of the New Testament written from approximately 40AD to 90AD. It’s made up of various literary styles: historical, law, proverbs, poetry, parables, prophecy, and letters–on dozens of controversial topics. These writing were authored by approximately 40 people of diverse backgrounds (shepherd, doctor, fisherman, farmer, king, general, tax collector, priest, etc); over a period of more than 1,500 years; in various circumstances; from diverse locations; on three different continents; and in three different languages.
The Bible claims to be inspired by God–giving men both the thoughts and the words to write.
Though it’s vast diversity in authorship, language, location, times, and subject matter; the Bible has one theme, telling one, complete story from beginning to end. And it speaks on dozens of controversial subjects–without contradiction or error.
The Bible has not changed.
There are more than 5,600 Greek manuscripts (of The New Testament) in existence today. A manuscript is a handwritten copy of an original writing. By comparison, the next eight most represented books in antiquity, added together, only have about 1/6th as many manuscripts as the New Testament.
In 1947, portions of every Old Testament book were discovered in clay jars in a cave near the Dead Sea–the Dead Sea Scrolls. These manuscripts were copies of large portions of the Old Testament and were a thousand years older than any other existing copies at that time. Study of the scrolls has revealed that the Bible has not been changed down through the ages.
There are many translations of the Bible.
Using the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic manu-scripts, groups of scholars sought to translate the Bible into as many different languages for people groups around the world. Read a translation in your language.
There are many versions of the Bible.
Using the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic manu-scripts, groups of scholars (down through the ages) have sought to bring the teachings of the Bible into the modern day language of the people. The King James Version for example was translated in 1611. We speak a ‘different’ English in today’s world, than in 17th century England. Some words used then have ‘gone out of style’ or had a totally different meaning than they do today. So at times, scholars and translators have come up with newer, more appropriate versions for contemporary man so that the teachings of the Bible remain intact and as accurate
and true to their original meanings as intended.
There are different interpretations of the Bible.
Certain scriptures have been interpreted in different ways. This, in no way, undermines the authenticity of the scriptures, it’s authorship, reliability or it’s original meaning. The different denominations within Christianity arose out of these differences. There are primary teachings which are essential to Christianity–which all true Christians have in common. And there are many secondary, non-essential issues, which we can ‘argue our case’ and ‘agree to disagree’ upon.
Prophecy:
The prophecy of the Bible has no equal. Prophecy is the ‘forth-telling’ of an event before it happens. There is no other book that claims divine inspiration and then goes to great lengths to prove itself. About 27% of the text of the Bible is made up of prophecy–future events foretold in great detail, hundreds of years before they came to pass. There are over 300 specific prophecies regarding Jesus. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is completely
made up of prophecy that is yet to take place.
Archeology:
There have been thousands of archeological finds over the last many centuries which have substantiated the accuracy of scripture. And there has never been one
archeological find to disprove it.
Search and you’ll find a mountain of evidence to support the Bible’s authenticity. Read it for yourself, the best-selling, most-translated book of all-time. If there were a 1 in a 1,000 chance that the Bible is reliable and that what it claims is true, you owe it to yourself to check it
out? Your eternity may hang in the balance.
Read your Bible every day and obey what you read.
