The Reliability of Scripture

How do we know that the Bible is reliable? How do we know that the Bible we have is anything like the Bible that was originally written for its original audiences? How much of the accuracy of the Bible has been lost in the ancient multiple copies of it that have been made? How much accuracy has been lost in the many translations that it has gone through? This is an important subject for the serious Bible Student. I recommend two good books on the subject: The New Testament Documents by F.F. Bruce and The Story of the Bible by Larry Stone.

Any ancient writing confirms its authenticity by the number of manuscripts and the accuracy and dating of those manuscripts. The Old Testament is a remarkable collection of documents preserved by the Hebrew people over thousands of years. Archaeological discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm many parts of the Old Testament. These scrolls were preserved for centuries in clay pots, which were remarkably effective at preserving them.

 There are nearly 5000 manuscripts for the New Testament. The amazing thing is that many of these early manuscripts date back only a few hundred years from the original writing. The New Testament has more historical support than many other ancient historical works. For example, Caesar’s Gallic War, Tacitus’s Histories, Thucydides’ History, Herodotus’s History, Plato, and Aristotle, to mention a few, have only a few manuscripts. And these manuscripts were written much later. Rarely do people question the authenticity of these historical works or the classics. At the same time, there are few documents to attest to their authenticity, unlike the Bible, Sir Frederic writes in F.F. Bruce’s book mentioned above: 

The interval then between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.

 How were the sixty-six books placed in the Bible? We owe the first division, the Old Testament to the Jewish People. However, the second division, the New Testament, was chosen or canonized by two church councils, Hippo Regius in 393 and Carthage in 397 AD. However, these books were confirmed by these councils as those that the churches had accepted. They were books that proved superior in their writing, their quality, and acceptance for many years. Truly, it was the work of the Holy Spirit putting the New Testament in its present form.

Christ’s Gift To Us--Intimacy With God

No other religion in the world offers such intimacy with an all-powerful God as does Christianity. C.S. Lewis once said that the one thing that sets Christianity apart from all other world religions is “grace”—God’s grace. It’s grace that offers us the opportunity of intimacy with God. God wants us to know him and as we hunger for him get to know him better. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

David wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God” so my soul pants for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1). We have a longing for Him. We want to experience something of what Job described: “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). We long to experience what great men and women have experienced. One problem for many of us is that we try to imitate others’ experiences while diminishing our own experience with God.

Although this may be good, it can discourage us because it is hard to emulate another person’s experience. Another person shares their journey, with all the wonderful, glowing reports of intimacy with God. We try to duplicate the experience but are unable to, and we are disheartened. Intimacy with God is too personal to be reproduced. We do ourselves a disservice by trying to imitate others.

We are told in scripture to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). We aim to love and worship God from our own hearts and experiences. We can learn from men like David and Job, but we must remember that God loves each of us uniquely. The more we know about God and the more he is revealed to us through his Word and the Holy Spirit, the more we will want to worship him. Our experience is far too personal to be compared to anyone else.

The closer we get to God, the more aware we are of our spiritual needs. Isaiah had a vision of God’s greatness. He saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. There were mighty angels with six wings. They called to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”  The experience led Isaiah to recognize his spiritual need and to cry out to God.  In the vision, God sent an angel with a live coal, touched his lips, and atoned for his sin Isaiah 6:1-8).

True intimacy with God makes us aware of our spiritual needs and causes us to worship and glorify God. Often, people do the opposite; they boast of their intimacy and elevate themselves. God does not share his glory with anyone (Isaiah 42:8).