Why Believe What the Bible Says?

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Why Believe What the Bible Says?

• Exploring the Reliability of the Bible

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Trusting the Bible

• Use the same standards of evidence for the Bible
  as are used for other ancient literature.

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Three Types of Evidence

• Bibliographical evidence number of manuscripts
  and time interval between the originals and the
  existing copies
• External evidence whether other historical
  material confirms or denies what is in the Bible
• Internal evidence whether the Bible is credible
  and to what extent

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Bibliographic Evidence
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Bibliographic Evidence

• Football Stats

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Bibliographic EvidenceNew Testament Stats

• Two types of bibliographic evidence
• Number of manuscripts
• Time interval between the original and the
  earliest existing copies

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Bibliographic EvidenceNew Testament Stats

• Number of New Testament Manuscripts
• Over 5,500 partial or complete manuscript portion
  of the N.T. in Greek alone
• Over 10,000 Latin Vulgate manuscripts (early 5th
  century)
• Over 9,300 other early manuscripts
• Close to 25,000 early manuscripts of partial or
  complete New Testament

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Bibliographic EvidenceNew Testament Stats

• Number of other ancient manuscripts
• Homers Iliad 643
• Plato 7
• Herodotus History 8
• Thucydides History 8
• Demosthenes 200
• Caesars Gallic Wars 10
• Livys History of Rome 20 (1 partial)
• Tacitus Annals 20

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Bibliographic EvidenceNew Testament Stats

• Time interval between the writing of the original
  N.T. and the existing copies
• The New Testament was written between A.D. 50 and
  A.D. 100
• The oldest extant fragment of the New Testament
  (a portion of the Gospel of John) is from A.D.
  130
• Portions of the N.T. exist from the mid-2nd
  century through the early 3rd century

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Bibliographic EvidenceNew Testament Stats

• Complete New Testament from A.D. 325, a
  difference of 275 years from when the writing of
  the N.T. began, and only 225 years from when it
  was completed

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Bibliographic EvidenceNew Testament Stats

• Compare the time interval in the N.T. manuscripts
  to the time gap in other ancient manuscripts
• Author Book Written Copies Time Gap
• Homers Iliad 800 B.C. c. 400 B.C. 400 years
• Plato 400 B.C. c. A.D. 900 1,300 years
• Herodotus History 480-425 B.C. c. A.D. 900 1,350
  years
• Thucydides History 460-400 B.C. c. A.D.
  900 1,300 years
• Demosthenes 300 B.C. c. A.D. 1100 1,400 years
• Tacitus Annals 100 A.D. c. A.D. 1100 1,000 years

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Bibliographic EvidenceOld Testament Stats

• Many fewer Old Testament manuscripts than New
  Testament manuscripts
• Bibliographic evidence concerning the Old
  Testament relies on the accuracy and consistency
  of the manuscripts over time.
• With the recent discovery of the Dead Sea Scroll,
  there are still over 10,000 Old Testament
  manuscripts.

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Bibliographic EvidenceOld Testament Stats

• Until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the
  earliest complete extant O.T. manuscript was from
  A.D. 900, a time gap of 1,300 years (the O.T. was
  completed c. 400 B.C.).
• The Dead Sea Scrolls contain O.T. manuscripts
  that increase the bibliographic reliability of
  the Old Testament.

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Bibliographic EvidenceCopying Manuscripts

• Intricate Talmudic system for transcribing
  synagogue scrolls.
• According to Samuel Davidson, there were 17
  criteria scribes followed for transcribing an Old
  Testament Scroll.
• Of these 17, 12 had to do with the actual
  transcribing process.

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Bibliographic EvidenceCopying Manuscripts

• Every skin must contain a certain number of
  columns, equal throughout the entire codex.
• The length of each column must not extend over
  less than 48 or more than 60 lines and the
  breadth must consist of thirty letters.
• The whole copy must be first-lined and if three
  words be written without a line, it is worthless.
• The ink should be black, neither red, green, nor
  any other colour, and be prepared according to a
  definite recipe.

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Bibliographic EvidenceCopying Manuscripts

• An authentic copy must be the exemplar, from
  which the transcriber ought not in the least
  deviate.
• No word or letter, not even a yod, must be
  written from memory, the scribe not having looked
  at the codex before him.
• Between every consonant the space of a hair or
  thread must intervene.
• Between every new parashah, or section, the
  breadth of nine consonants

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Bibliographic EvidenceCopying Manuscripts

• Between every book, three lines must intervene.
• The fifth book of Moses must terminate exactly
  with a line but the rest need not do so.
• The copyist must not begin to write the name of
  God with a pen newly dipped in ink,
• And should a king address him while writing that
  name he must take no notice of him.

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Bibliographic EvidenceDead Sea Scrolls

• Found in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd boy
• Found in 11 caves west of the Dead Sea, south of
  Jericho

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Bibliographic EvidenceDead Sea Scrolls

• Copies of Old Testament texts (all the books
  except Esther) dating from more than a century
  before the birth of Christ
• Before the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew
  manuscripts from the OT were from 900 A.D,
  creating a 1,300 year gap.
• In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is a complete
  manuscript of Isaiah from 125 B.C., 1,000 years
  earlier than before.

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Bibliographic EvidenceDead Sea Scrolls

• Accuracy of Dead Sea Scrolls
• The manuscripts were identical to the modern
  Hebrew Bible in 95 of the text.
• The 5 of variation consists of obvious slips of
  the pen and variations in spelling.
• In Isaiah 53, only 17 letters are in question.
• 10 are only a matter of spelling
• 4 more are minor stylistic changes
• 3 letters are the word light which are added to
  v.11, and does not change the meaning greatly.

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Bibliographic EvidenceDead Sea Scrolls

• The Dead Sea Scrolls shorten the time interval
  between the originals and the earliest extant
  copies.
• They also provide more manuscripts of the books
  of the OT than previously were known.

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Bibliographic EvidenceOld Testament Stats

• The Septuagint (LXX) Greek translation of O.T.,
  begun in 250 B.C.
• Differs from Hebrew Bible in quality of
  translation and its arrangement
• Popular among the New Testament writers and early
  Christians
• The LXX is very close to the Masoretic text (A.D.
  916) that was the earliest extant text before the
  discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

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External EvidenceNew Testament

• Early Christians outside of the Bible
• Papias (A.D. 130) quoted the apostle John as
  saying that Mark wrote down the teachings of
  Peter
• Irenaeus (A.D. 180), a student of Polycarp (a
  disciple of John), wrote that even non-believers
  bore witness to the accuracy of the Gospels.
• Clement of Rome (A.D. 95) uses Scripture as
  reliable and accurate source

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External EvidenceNew Testament

• Early Christians outside of the Bible (cont)
• Ignatius (A.D. 70-110) knew all the apostles and
  was a disciple of Polycarp. He based his faith
  on the accuracy of the Bible.
• Polycarp (A.D. 70-156) was a disciple of John.

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External EvidenceNew Testament

• Early non-Christian writers
• Tacitus, a first-century Roman historian, wrote
  about Christs death at the hands of Pontius
  Pilate and about a superstition thought to be the
  Resurrection.
• Suetonius, chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian
  (reigned from A.D. 117-138) wrote about the
  persecution of Christians after the fire at Rome.

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External EvidenceNew Testament

• Early non-Christian writers
• Josephus (c. A.D. 37- c. A.D. 100), Pharisee of
  the priestly line and a Jewish historian working
  under Roman authority, confirmed the Protestant
  O.T. canon and wrote about the death of James,
  brother of Jesus, the ministry and death of John
  the Baptist, and about Jesus Himself.

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External EvidenceNew Testament

• Early non-Christian writers
• Pliny the Younger, a Roman author and
  administrator, wrote about Christian gatherings
  (c. A.D. 112).
• Talmudic writings speak about Jesus death.
• Lucian of Samosata, a 2nd century Greek writer,
  spoke of Christians worship of Jesus.
• Mara Bar-Serapion, between late 1st and early 3rd
  centuries, wrote about the Jews killing of Jesus
  and their eventual dispersion.

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External EvidenceNew Testament

• Archaeological Evidence
• Luke as a historian
• Archaeology has confirmed the existence and
  location of the cities and countries mentioned in
  the Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles.
• Archaeology has also confirmed the rulers and
  their positions mentioned by Luke in his two
  books
• Quirinius and his earlier governorship of Syria
• Pontius Pilates title of governor
• The politarchs of Thessalonica
• Gallios proconsulship in Corinth

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Archaeological EvidenceNew Testament

• The Pavement (Gr. Gabbatha) the court where
  Jesus was tried in Jerusalem
• The Pool of Bethesda mentioned only in the N.T.
  was discovered in 1888.
• The Nazareth Decree (found in 1878)
• Stone in Nazareth with a decree from Emperor
  Claudius
• Forbade that graves be disturbed nor that bodies
  be extracted or removed
• May have been a reaction to the Christian
  doctrine of resurrection and the accusation of
  removing Jesus body

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Pool of Bethesda
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Gabbatha The Pavement
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Archaeological EvidenceNew Testament

• Yohanan Ben Hagalgol a crucifixion victim
• 7 nail driven through both his feet and into a
  wooden beam
• Evidence that similar spikes had been put between
  the two bones of his lower arms
• Legs had been crushed, as mentioned in the
  crucifixion account in John 1931-32

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Archaeological EvidenceNew Testament

• New Testament coins
• The denarius, equal to one days wages for the
  average worker in Palestine
• Silver shekels, like the kind paid to Judas
  Iscariot measured 2/5 of an ounce
• The widows mite from Mark 12 and Luke 21
• two very small copper coins, worth only a
  fraction of a penny
• First words translate the Greek lepta, the
  smallest Greek copper coin
• Second word translates the Greek word quadrans,
  the smallest Roman coin

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Archaeological EvidenceNew Testament

• For more details, look at The New Evidence that
  Demands a Verdict (Josh McDowell), pp.61-68

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Archaeological EvidenceOld Testament

• Sodom and Gomorrah
• Evidence suggests they were commerce centers
• Evidence of brimstone on the sites, consistent
  with the Biblical account of their destruction
• Jericho
• Excavations of the city show that the ancient
  walls fell outward, consistent with the account
  in Joshua

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Archaeological EvidenceOld Testament

• Sauls fortress at Gibeah
• Slingshots found to be one of the primary weapons
  of the day, consistent with the account of David
  and Goliath
• Excavations of Philistine temples
• 1 Samuel says Sauls armor was placed in the
  temple of Ashtaroth (a Canaanite goddess) while 1
  Chronicles says that Sauls head was put in the
  temple of Dagon (a Philistine god)
• Excavations found two temples, one to Ashtaroth
  and one to Dagon, at the same site.

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Archaeological EvidenceOld Testament

• Davids capture of Jerusalem
• Excavations have shown evidence of the Jerusalem
  water system which confirms the account of the
  attack from 1 Chronicles
• Inscription from 9th century B.C. oldest
  non-Biblical source that mentions David
• Refers not only to David, but to the House of
  David, a dynasty of a great Israelite king

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• Creation story in Genesis
• Similar to other ancient Near East stories
• Key differences
• Babylonian and Sumerian tales show mythological
  embellishment and distortion
• Creation is the result of a conflict between
  finite gods when one is defeated, the Tigris
  flows out of one of his eyes, the Euphrates from
  the other.
• Humans are formed from the blood of an evil god
  mixed with clay

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• In ancient Near East literature, simple stories
  give rise to elaborate legends, not the other way
  around.
• It is more likely, then, that the Biblical
  account is the accurate story and that the other
  legends sprung from it.

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• The Flood
• Biblical narrative shows similar simplicity to
  the creation narrative
• Gives the year of the flood
• Gives practical dimensions for the ark and a
  practical time table for the length of the flood
• Recounts Noahs sins after the flood

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• The Flood (cont.)
• Other accounts of the flood are more embellished
  and mythological
• The length of rainfall doesnt make sense for
  such a great flood seven days in one story, only
  one day in another.
• The Babylonian ship would not have survived,
  given its dimensions.
• In non-biblical accounts, the hero is granted
  immortality.

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• Discovery of Elba
• Previously unknown city
• In a palace were found over 15,000 tablets from
  the time of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and
  Jacob)
• Tablets provide background material for biblical
  place names, names of people, the paying of
  tribute, religious practices, and Hebrew words
  once thought to be late.

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• Nuzi Tablets reveal traditions consistent with
• Isaacs binding oral blessing on Jacob (Gen.
  2733)
• Esaus selling of his birthright (Gen. 25)
• Labans giving of his daughter(s) to Jacob after
  he joins the household
• Labans pursuing of Jacob when he realizes his
  family idols were missing

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• Evidence of Semites rising to power in Egypt,
  similar to Josephs rise to power at the end of
  Genesis
• Josephs Tomb
• A tomb at Shechem (where the Bible says Josephs
  bones were placed) contained a body mummified in
  Egyptian fashion with a sword worn by Egyptian
  officials

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• Assyrian Invasion
• 26,000 tablets found in the palace of
  Ashurbanipal, son of the Esarhaddon, who captured
  the northern kingdoms in 722 B.C.
• Several of these tablets confirm the Bibles
  accuracy.
• Sennacheribs account of the siege of Jerusalem

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Documentary EvidenceOld Testament

• Babylonian Captivity
• Records in Babylons hanging gardens mention
  Jehoiachin, his five sons, and their monthly
  ration and dwelling place.
• Confirmation that Belshazzar was left in charge
  during the absence of Nabodonius
• Cyrus Cylinder, a clay cylinder with Cyrus
  account of his Babylonian conquest
• Allows displaced people to return to their
  homelands

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Concluding Remarks

• Bibliographic evidence, archaeology, and other
  non-biblical documents do not prove that the
  Bible is the word of God.
• It does provide evidence for the names, places,
  chronology, and practices the Bible mentions,
  confirming its historical accuracy.