The Reliability of the Bible Text
By Dan WiesnerBack to Historical and Textual Evidence | Apologetics and Answers
Can you really believe the Bible? Was it not written until 200 years after Jesus lived? Has the Bible been changed and manipulated over the past 2000 years? How many of us have heard these things, and not just heard them but believed them? And even held them as reasons to not look seriously into the Bible text, but have we researched the facts?
As I sat in my marijauna, alcohol and sexually immoral state, staring at my book shelf, the Bible kind of crept forward a bit and dusted itself off slightly and said to me, "Hey, Dan, you will not enter the kingdom of God if you continue in your drunkenness and non-sobriety in pot smoking and your sexual immorality." I said, "well, well, well Bible, let me tell you something, you weren't even written until two hundred years after the fact, and more than that, you've been changed and manipulated over the past two thousand years, by the Catholic church, and, yea, like by the popes and stuff. Take that Bible." The Bible, dusting itself off a little more said, "oh yea, prove such statements if they be true."
So I took up the challenge and started to see what some of the so called "studied" or intellectual scholars had to say. Those who say they have "reason" for what they believe. I started looking into the bible itself, and even took some classes in college and listened to what the professors , and hit the historical texts in the library myself.
Related to the second and third question above, here's some of what I found: I found a repository of quotes from the Bible outside the Bible in sources that are not disputed concerning their contents, and little debate concerning their dating. These texts are in a massive collection of writings of the early church. Amongst these writings are found letters, sermons, teachings with dates such as 90 A.D., 105 A.D., 125 A.D., 150 A.D. In these writing that are dated to these times, we have quotes and quotes of quotes of Jesus and the Apostles; essentially numerous quotes of the New Testament. Now if Jesus' words were not written down until 200 years after He lived, then how did His words get into these writings that predate the year 230 A.D. (which would be about 200 years after He was around), by more than 100 years? Well the answer is simple: IT IS NOT HISTORICALLY NOR TEXTUAL TRUE THAT HIS WORDS WERE WRITTEN DOWN THAT LATE AFTER HE LIVED, DIED, ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND ASCENDED TO HEAVEN. So much for the "legend theory" that was the impetus behind such a historically innaccurate statement.
Within these extra-biblical (outside the bible) writings is so rich a data base of quotes of the N.T., that by the year 300 A.D. , the N.T. can virtually be rewritten simply from these extra-biblical writings. Since these writings date this early, the test concerning how long after Jesus was around were the originals penned, is plain. The rest of the controversy is over whether or not the Bible has been changed and manipulated over the past 2000 years, with particular concern (and rightly so), for the Dark Ages, the days of the inquisitions and crusades, or even the days of emperor Constantine. Constantine's reign didn't begin until the early three hundreds, so the quotes of the Bible were penned before his entrance into the historical mileiu. So here's the test. Take these pre-300 A.D. writings that quote the New Testament and slap them down next to the N.T. we have today and compare. WHAT DO WE HAVE? THE SAME THING!!! THE BIBLE HAS UNDENIABLY NOT BEEN CHANGED OVER THE PAST 2000 YEARS!!!
Ouch! I thought as my confidence in anti-bible propaganda started to crumble, and my sex drugs and rocknroll life was being brought into the light for examination. There were some other things I needed to conscientiously consider and look into, certain comments or questions that previously kept me from taking the Bible and Christianity more seriously. I began to find answers. Why? Because instead of just putting forth unsubstantiated comments and questions, I decided to dig for answers.
Some people reject the Bible without ever really considering is there good reason to reject it as the inspired word of God that it claims itself to be? I have often found that many educated people have more blind faith, (unreasonable belief), in rejecting a book they never read nor studied themselves, than I have faith in Jesus, the Bible and true Christianity. I started to look at the Bible a little more seriously after this inquiry. Will you?
There are some other topics that may be of interest with some interesting facts behind them. Consider some of these:
What did Robert Dick Wilson, who studied the Old Testament writings for 50 years amassing proficient knowledge in over 45 different languages/dialects related to the O.T. have to say about the Bible's reliability?
King James? Did he really influence the writing of the English Bible?
What kind of manuscript evidence (fragments, copies, dates) is there for the Bible compared to other classic, historical texts?
Would the early disciples of Jesus have the know-how, the power and "lust for control" motivations to concoct and fabricate and change the story of Jesus?
When did the Roman Catholic church and Pope come to be?
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, two eye witnesses and two secondary witnesses, can I put them on trial?--Is the Bible just a bunch of random spiritual concepts or is there historical, and geographical (names, places, dates) information to test against other sources for the Bible's validity?-- What about the external validity, internal validity, consistency within the Bible text? Are there contradictions? Can you name one that can not be modestly explained?
Accurate or inaccurate scientific claims in the Bible?
Paul and Jesus consistent? Paul and Peter?
What about all this talk of the books left out of the Bible, does Gnosticism have any role to play in this question?
Do the Dead Sea Scrolls support or take away from the reliability of the Bible text?
Is reason and faith contrary, mutually exclusive or complimentary?
Does the Bible accurately depict the over-arching problems of humanity?For answers email Dan Wiesner
Peace to you!
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