by Elton Gahr

Created on: April 17, 2009   Last Updated: April 29, 2009

Christians often speak of the Bible as infallible and every word in it is true and move on without spending much time thinking about it. On the other hand those who do not believe in the Bible can as easily dismiss it, assuming that it is myth and legend written after the fact or simply incorrectly translated. No one in the church will ever challenge that view and for many this faith in the bible is a great comfort, and for those who take the contrary position it seems obvious, but both sides need to think more carefully about their position and try to understand the Bible with a more thought out approach.

The first thing challenge that must be faced when assessing the bible is that of historical validity. The challenge is essentially that we can not trust the bible because it is historically inaccurate or because the books were not written when we believe they were. If the Bible is not historically accurate or was not written how and when it claims then nothing else built on that foundation can stand.

Luckily for the Christian the historical and archaeological records back up the Bible quite well. Over 25,000 sites have been discovered that pertain to the bible and there has yet to be a single archaeological discovery that contradicted a biblical reference. This alone helps prove not only the historical accuracy of the Bible but also the claims of who wrote it and when, but this is not the only evidence we have for the manuscript authenticity of the bible.

The bible, as we know is a collection of manuscripts not a single book and as such each book can be taken on its own but as a whole there are 24,000 handwritten manuscripts from antiquity including the dead sea scrolls that had remained sealed in caves for thousands of years. To understand the importance of this number you must understand that the second most documented manuscript in the world is the Iliad which has 643 handwritten copies.

Moving on from the historical and archaeological records you can begin to examine the claims more carefully. The most important claim of the bible is that it is accurate and the best proof of this is in the prophecies. Having examined the manuscript authenticity you can now recognise something truly impressive. There are over 2,000 accurately predicted prophecies in the Bible, including 300 that directly relate to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. These including his birthplace, lineage and method of death.

None of this will challenge the desire to disbelieve of the true skeptic. One who chooses to not believe blindly is as unchangeable in that belief as one who chooses to believe blindly, but for those who truly wish to understand the truth wherever it may lie a honest appraisal of the Bible and the claims that it makes is a good place to begin.

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