Is the Bible Reliable?

I.   Introduction

A.  Good Question

1.    The reliability of the Bible is often a question that arises in the study of apologetics.

2.    Our English word apologetics comes from the root word ἀπολογέομαι (apologeomai), which can be translated answer, give a defense, etc. (a form of that word is found in 1 Peter 3:15).

3.    Evidence is important when trying to find an answer to a question like this.

B.  Is the Bible Reliable?

1.    Tonight, we will examine some evidence that gives weight to answering this question in the affirmative.

2.    I won’t talk about internal evidence tonight, although it is important. Suffice it to say that the Bible presents itself as the work of God, is consistent in its message (although written by ~40 different authors over ~1500 years), and the writers present their message as coming from God.

3.    Tonight we will focus on a few of the external pieces of evidence that affirm the reliability of the Bible.

II.   The Evidence

A.  Evidence: Manuscripts

1.    We have thousands of manuscripts to support the document that is the Bible.

a.    We have around 24,000 manuscripts of NT writings.

b.    We have around 42,000 manuscripts of OT writings.

c.    This means we have over 66,000 biblical manuscripts.[1]

2.    When you compare the number of manuscripts we have of other ancient texts, there is no comparison.

a.    Homer’s Iliad only has 1900 manuscripts

b.    Tacitus’s Annals has only 36 manuscripts[2]

3.    The earliest of our manuscripts for the NT dates to approx.. 130 AD. It is a fragment of the Gospel of John.[3]

4.    Transcription

a.    Something that often comes up when discussing the accuracy of the Bible as a literary work is whether or not the text of the Bible could have been altered during the process of copying it over and over.

b.    The variants in the biblical manuscripts are minuscule compared to those in other literary works.

c.    For example, in 1946-1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. The caves where they were discovered consisted of over 1,000 scrolls.

d.    Among the scrolls was a scroll of Isaiah that was 1,000 years older than the previous manuscript of Isaiah. What’s interesting is that 95% of the text is identical to what we already had.[4] (click on this link for an interactive tool to examine the Great Isaiah Scroll http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah )

5.    This tells us that great care has been taken over the years to transcribe the text of the Bible with a high degree of accuracy.

B.  Evidence

1.    Some claim that the Bible contains historical errors.

2.    What is interesting is that several parts of the Bible depend on history agreeing with them.

a.    One example of this is Luke’s use of the title proconsul in Acts 18:12 (of Gallio).

b.    Critics cited that the correct term should have been praetor, and if a first-century author had truly written Acts, they would have known this.

c.    Early in the 20^th century, a collection of nine fragments (referred to as the Delphi Inscription) was discovered, including the title of Gallio as proconsul.[5]

3.    The Bible is historically accurate.

C.  Evidence

1.    Archeology can help solidify the narratives of the Bible by providing proof that the events we read are true.

2.    Sites like Jericho, the Pool of Bethesda, the Siloam Inscription, etc., are discoveries that prove what was once thought to be oral traditions or just stories made up by the authors of the Bible.

D.  Why Does It Matter?

1.    Because truth matters.

a.    If we claim that we must live by this book, we should be able to verify its truth.

b.    God’s Word does a good job defending itself, but external evidence can validate its claims.

2.    Because there will always be skeptics.

a.    There will always be people looking to disprove the Bible.

b.    What’s interesting is that, many times, the harder someone has tried to disprove the Bible, the more they’ve helped us prove it to be true.

III.  Conclusion

A.  Reliable?

1.    Yes, the Bible is reliable.

2.    We have bibliographic, historical, archeological, etc., proof that the Bible is indeed reliable.

B.  The More Important Question

1.    The more important question is, “Is the Bible true?”

2.    We must journey beyond the Bible’s verifiability.

3.    If the Bible is true, then all that is in it should direct our lives.

C.  Invitation