You Asked For It | Can I Trust The Bible?
Understanding the Reliability of Scripture.
The Bible remains the most sold book in history, with physical copies actually increasing by 22% from 2023 to 2024. As more people engage with Scripture, questions naturally arise about its trustworthiness.
What Would Make the New Testament Untrustworthy?
Four key factors would undermine the New Testament's reliability:
If the events never happened
If the witnesses were unreliable
If the authors changed their stories
If the copies we have are unreliable
The Historical Reality of Jesus
Virtually all scholars of antiquity - whether Christian, atheist, or other faiths - agree on the basic historical facts about Jesus:
He lived in first-century Israel
He was a great moral teacher
Witnesses reported his miracles
He was crucified
His followers believed they saw him after resurrection
Christianity spread rapidly across the Roman Empire
The Reliability of the Witnesses
The New Testament authors prove reliable for several reasons:
They reported public events that could be fact-checked
They included embarrassing details about themselves
They maintained their testimony until death
Their accounts are supported by outside historical sources
The Preservation of the Text
While we don't have the original manuscripts, we have:
Over 25,000 ancient copies of the New Testament
Manuscripts dating to within 25 years of original writings
99% accuracy rate in modern translations
Far more manuscript evidence than any other ancient text
Life Application:
This week's challenge: Commit to reading the Bible regularly, not just as a historical document, but as a means to encounter Jesus personally. When we trust the Word enough to read it consistently, we position ourselves to be transformed by the Jesus it reveals.
