The accuracy of the bible

The reliability of the bible is often tested and challenged. To test its accuracy, the bible
is usually tested in three different ways; bibliographic test, internal test and external test.
Bibliographic test examined the manuscripts. The time span is examined and compared to
other ancient manuscripts such as Plato’s Republic, Homer’s Iliad, Suetonius’ De Vita Caesarum,
etc. The internal test looks at claims made by biblical authors. Their story is compared with
other historical authors. The last test is the external test that looked at outside confirmations of
biblical content.

The bible is the only book that is written over 1500 years. It is written by more than
forty authors from every path of life, including kings, peasant, philosopher, etc. It is written at
different places, at different times, across three different continents, three different languages
and with wide variety of different literary styles. The New Testament was written in a shorter
period of time compared to other manuscripts. The earliest copies of the New Testament are
also written in a short period of time. The earliest copies were found in 130 AD, 40 years after
the New Testament was finished. The earliest copies of other manuscripts were found from
800-1200 years after it was written and the numbers of copies found were relatively in small
amount. However, the number of the copies of the New Testament was 13000+ copies, made
out from 5000 Greek manuscripts, approx. 8000 Latin manuscripts and another 1000
manuscripts in other ancient languages. The qualities of the manuscripts are excellent. The Old
Testament manuscript is excellent because great reverence the Jewish scribes held toward the
Scriptures, they took extreme care in making new copies of the Hebrew Bible. They counted
every letters, words and lines. If a single mistake was discovered, they will destroy the entire
manuscript.

The authors of the bible claim their accounts are primary not secondary. The Gospels
and epistles were written by men close to Jesus Christ. They defended their testimony even
through persecution and martyrdom. This proves that their testimony is true because no one
would want to defend their testimony even at risk of dying if it’s a lie. The evidence runs
contrary to claims that the early church father distorted the life and teachings of Christ by
adding stuff such as miracles and wonders. Most of the New Testament was written between
A.D. 47 and 70, and it was complete by the first century. That short period of time is not
enough to create a myth.

The Scriptures continually refer to historical events that can be verified and checked
through external evidences. The history of Jesus Christ is well established by early Roman,
Greek and Jewish sources, thus confirming the New Testament portrait of Him. The Roman
historian Flavius Josephus made specific references to John the Baptist, Jesus Christ and James.
He wrote background details about the Herods, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the high priests
like Annas and Caiaphas and the Roman emperor found in the New Testament. Other first and
second century writers also mention Jesus, such as Cornelius Tacitus and Suetonius, the Roman
governor Pliny the Younger and the Greek satirist Lucian. Other excavations also confirm stories
in the Bible. Excavations at Nuzi, Mari and Alalakh provide helpful background information that
fits the Genesis stories and the Patriarchal period. Some scholars claimed that the Mosaic Law
could not been written by Moses because writing had not been invented at the time. However,
archaeologists have unearthed thousands of inscriptions and tablets written before or during
the time of Moses. Critics assumed that the Hittite Empire did not exist and therefore the Bible
is wrong. However, archaeologists discovered the capital of the Hittite Empire in 1906. There
are many historical excavations and proofs that fit the Bible.

In conclusion, the Bible is accurate and all things inside it are true and can be regarded
as historical evidence. Even professional archaeologists and historians acknowledge the
historicity of the Bible. However, many liberal theologians still embrace pre-archaeological
critical theories about the bible. The bible fits all historical excavations and searches and
therefore it is true.