How do we respond to people who claim that the Bible is merely myth and fables? Here are three reasons (along with three short videos below) why the Bible is reliable:
1. Extra-Biblical testimony and archeology confirm verifiable facts
Ancient secular writers confirm details in the Bible.
THE CASE FOR THE BIBLE
EXTRA-BIBLICAL TESTIMONY AND ARCHEOLOGY CONFIRM VERIFIABLE FACTS
Description: Hank Hanegraaff says that biblical manuscripts were written by credible eye witnesses. Also, secular writers confirm details, such as Jewish historian Josephus (Before AD 100), Roman historian Tacitus (AD 120), Roman writer Suetonius (AD 110), and Roman governor Pliny the Younger (AD 110). There are 45 ancient references that Jesus Christ was a real person in history.
2. The New Testament was written soon after the events to prevent myth making
The New Testament wasn’t written hundreds of years after the fact. It was written very close to when the events occurred.
THE CASE FOR THE BIBLE
THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS WRITTEN SOON AFTER THE EVENTS TO PREVENT MYTH MAKING
Description: Dr. Gary Habermas explains that the Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, John), Acts, and Epistles of Paul (Romans, Corinthians, etc.) were accepted at the end of the first century as canon, way too soon for myth making. Three early Christian writers: Clement (95 AD), Ignatius (107 AD), and Polycarp (110 AD) cite these books over 200 times in their writings.
3. There are more manuscripts of the New Testament than any other ancient writing
Due to the incredible number of manuscript copies of the Bible, you can compare them and work backwards to establish and accurate original.
THE CASE FOR THE BIBLE
THERE ARE MORE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT THAN ANY OTHER ANCIENT WRITING
Description: Hank Hanegraaff explains that despite the fact that we don’t have originals of the Bible (no ancient documents have originals), there are around 5,000 manuscripts copies. In contrast, there are only 650 manuscript copies of Homer’s Iliad. Plus, the time gap between the copy and original is 1,000 years for the Iliad. For the Bible it is only 10 years. With Plato there are 7 manuscripts and a 1300 year gap. The 5,000 Biblical manuscript copies differ only in style but not substance. If you wrote an essay and asked 5 friends to copy it, then they asked 5 friends to copy it, and so on, in 5 generations you would have 3,000 copies, each of which could be slightly different. However, the differences will not be the same. Because you have thousands of copies, you can repeatedly compare them, and get back to an accurate copy of the original.
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