Christians: What sets the Bible apart from other ancient manuscripts?

Question

Once again, I'm looking for Christians to answer, though I know that some atheists will answer as well. I'm not going to discourage it, but I will say that I think I already know some of the answers that atheists use.
Christians who answer:
I would appreciate at least three things that makes the Bible unique. More ways that the Bible is unique will give you more of a chance for BA.

Thank you to everyone in advance for your answers!

I'm sorry, King James did not decide what was going to be in the Bible and what wasn't.
A group of scholars decided which books were inspired by God, and which weren't. They also decided based on which books they could prove the authorship of.
Many of the books that were NOT included (such as the gospel according to Thomas, and the Apocrypha) were written too far after the fact, and contained elements that were not sacred in nature.

And actually, I HAVE studied other ancient manuscripts. I have many copies of them in my home. Everything from Plato, to Aristotle, to Sophocles to Homer. I have also studied other religious documents: The satanic bible, the Koran, books on Buddhism and Zen philosophy, books on Wicca and paganism, and books on various mythology.

Answer 1

From the top of my head... (for forgive any generalizations)

Well, one interesting point of comparison between the Bible and the Koran (for example) is that the Koran claims inerrancy because it is descended from one specific document (thus, "it must be right") versus elements of the Bible, of which we have thousands upon thousands of ancient pieces of -- so we've been able to compare all these various transcripts and catch any scribe errors and the like. The preferred processes to "textual accuracy" between the Koran and the Bible are the opposite of eaech other.

[As for me, I prefer the fact we can cross-check our documents against each other.]

From what I understand, we have very few copies (and I mean a FEW) of many of the main texts that historians accept as "accurate" at face value and give the benefit of a doubt -- while we have thousands of pieces of the Bible that have been preserved over the centuries... an insanely large amount.

We have the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947, which confirmed that at least from near the time of Christ until the current day, manuscript transmission has been accurate (the cache included some OT scriptures, including Isaiah). We know the process by which the ancient Jewish scribes transcribed their documents and how meticulous they were (scrapping hours of work when a mistake was made on a page, for example).

While conspiracy theories abound about how easy it would be to modify to change text during translation in order to suit one's own ideas, any study of the actual process/history simply doesn't support that sort of reading. (That's the sort of insinuation a "casual armchair" reader would make, not someone who's studied the topic professionally.)

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Since I'm veering off into document transmission instead of "uniqueness," I'll try to veer back a little.

I haven't read much of the Vedas yet. It reminds me in tone more of the Gospel of Thomas, though -- less concrete, more mystic and the same sort of tone throughout. The Bible contains a wide variety of documents, including history, praise, conventional wisdom, prophecy (not the modern-day idea of "foretelling," but "words from God"), legal codes, and so forth.

It's by many different authors (who have been attributed by name, although some of these are in question). It began as oral tradition, then the OT was written in one language, while the NT was eventually written in another.

The Creation story differs from most creation stories of the time: Instead of gods copulating with each other to create the universe, God simply speaks it into being, for example... and so it goes. (People seem to lump religious myth all into the same category -- "it's religious, thus it all must just be copying each other!" -- without really examining the inherent differences in the assumptions under the stories.)

The Canon, when selected a few centuries, was already informally in place; it was just made "official" by the ruling council. There was nothing imposed from above. (Conspiracy theories tend to be just that.)

Wish I had more time and detail (not just the concepts I've picked up) for you right now... From your later comments, looks like you're more capable of doing comparison studies than I can right now. :)

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Thanks for correcting some of the earlier posts in your own comments. I would note that "Non-descripts" comments about the "savior myth" being derived from other sources are so generalized as to not be useful here-- I have seen that very argument explored in much more detail (far more than can be explored here) and he seems to have only read the overview of one position.

I know Glenn Miller has explored it (with countless cross-references from both positions) at www.christian-thinktank.com.

Answer 2

The bible is not just a book, it's a book of books and stands for basic instructions before leaving earth. Along with that it is one third history, one third regulartory, and the other third prophesy. Other texts and manuscripts don't and can't share this unique and harmonic fact. I'm sure people of the past translations have blue-pencilied. These are people that don't want you to know the raw truth about life, that in spite of that you will experience if you live exposed and deal head on with your future by assimilation of yours and others past. The other thing unique about the bible is that no matter how many times you read a passage it will mean something new to you and your situation at that particular time. It is a living word of God that can and should be read and heard forever! Amen

Answer 3

The Bible has survived over 2000 years and many translations, it is the most widely read book , by the widest variety of people and it is not only our history but the truth about our past, present and future. More and more archeologists are discovering artifacts that prove it is real history. Sunday night at 8 pm on the History channel they are showing the new found facts that the Exodus did happen and is backed up by fact and archeologists findings. Also, the Bible is a Holy book...no offence to other religions...many of the ancient manuscripts found are original text from the original books of the Bible.

Answer 4

The third principle of Bible reliability is Prophecy, or predictive ability. The Bible records predictions of events that could not be known or predicted by chance or common sense. Surprisingly, the predictive nature of many Bible passages was once a popular argument (by liberals) against the reliability of the Bible. Critics argued that the prophecies actually were written after the events and that editors had merely dressed up the Bible text to look like they contained predictions made before the events. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. The many predictions of Christ’s birth, life and death (see below) were indisputably rendered more than a century before they occurred as proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls of Isaiah and other prophetic books as well as by the Septuagint translation, all dating from earlier than 100 B.C.



Old Testament prophecies concerning the Phoenician city of Tyre were fulfilled in ancient times, including prophecies that the city would be opposed by many nations (Ezek. 26:3); its walls would be destroyed and towers broken down (26:4); and its stones, timbers, and debris would be thrown into the water (26:12). Similar prophecies were fulfilled concerning Sidon (Ezek. 28:23; Isa. 23; Jer. 27:3-6; 47:4) and Babylon (Jer. 50:13, 39; 51:26, 42-43, 58; Isa. 13:20-21).



Since Christ is the culminating theme of the Old Testament and the Living Word of the New Testament, it should not surprise us that prophecies regarding Him outnumber any others. Many of these prophecies would have been impossible for Jesus to deliberately conspire to fulfill — such as His descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. 12:3; 17:19; Num. 24:21-24); His birth in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2); His crucifixion with criminals (Isa. 53:12); the piercing of His hands and feet at the crucifixion (Ps. 22:16); the soldiers’ gambling for His clothes (Ps. 22:18); the piercing of His side and the fact that His bones were not broken at His death (Zech. 12:10; Ps. 34:20); and His burial among the rich (Isa. 53:9). Jesus also predicted His own death and resurrection (John 2:19-22). Predictive Prophecy is a principle of Bible reliability that often reaches even the hard-boiled skeptic!







Statistics

Our fourth MAPS principle works well with predictive prophecy, because it is Statistically preposterous that any or all of the Bible’s very specific, detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or deliberate deceit. When you look at some of the improbable prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, it seems incredible that skeptics — knowing the authenticity and historicity of the texts — could reject the statistical verdict: the Bible is the Word of God, and Jesus Christ is the Son of God, just as Scripture predicted many times and in many ways.



The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years by forty different human authors in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), on hundreds of subjects. And yet there is one consistent, noncontradictory theme that runs through it all: God’s redemption of humankind. Clearly, Statistical probability is a powerful indicator of the trustworthiness of Scripture.



The next time someone denies the reliability of Scripture, just remember the acronym MAPS, and you will be equipped to give an answer and a reason for the hope that lies within you (1 Pet. 3:15). Manuscripts, Archaeology, Prophecy, and Statistics not only chart a secure course on the turnpikes of skepticism but also demonstrate definitively that the Bible is indeed divine rather than human in origin.

Answer 5

1. Criticism. The Bible has provoked a greater amount of scientific work around its old manuscripts than any other ancient text, and it's even the matrix of different scientific disciplines.
2. The current modern versions of the Bible, all of their differences notwithstanding, rely on manuscripts that are closer to their originals than any other ancient text that is known by us in our modern languages. For instance, a modern Italian version of Psalm 42 is a translation of a manuscript almost as old as the original (by the way, original manuscripts have not been found yet).
3. Unity in disparity. In spite of debates, dissension, different translations, etc., plus the fact the within the Bible there seem to take place different perspectives on God's action in history, still the Bible maintains a foundational cohesiveness. This is something that puzzles Muslim scholars, for instance, for whom it's important that a sacred book be written by one person alone, like Muhammad taking a dictation from God.

Answer 6

If you are a christian, you would already know that answer to that question. You first must believe in the author of the bible, which is the Almighty God. You must accept His son Jesus as your savior in order to have the words of the bible fully opened up to you, as well as its message to you. A non believer will never understand what the bible is telling them, because just like the bible being inspired of God, the reader of the bible must also be inspired to accept its content.That is called faith. It is not as black and white as you wish it to be. The bible is not a novel that you can just pick up and start to read. It is life's instruction booklet for those who believe in it's author which is The Almighty God, and obey Him and His word which is the contents of the bible.

A Christian can read the bible from cover to cover year after year after year, and be taught more and more and more. The educational benifits never stop out of the bible. It goes on and on and on. Even after this earth passes away, God's word will not die. No other book can say that. That alone makes the bible stand out above all others.Just as the bible says...

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Answer 7

For starters, the Bible is the only book that has encountered serious persecution in an attempt to destroy it. Joan of Arc and others died at the stake for owning a Bible. Why???

Second, it is full of prophecies, with only a few left to be fulfilled. About 300 prophecies were fulfilled regarding Jesus alone.

The Bible gives us advice to conduct ourselves in every aspect of our lives and if followed there is great benefits.

It explains to you why we are here, what is our purpose, why so much suffering, but most important what is God planing to do about it.

Although not a science book, it contains many details regarding science. From explaining that the Earth is round and that it is sustained by lack of gravity, to the first method of CPR, the water cycle is in there too and even the fact that a small amount of wine helps w/ stomach ulcers. (Both the CPR method in the Bible and the wine for ulcers found in the Bible have been reviewed and aproved by the American Medical Associations).

Anything else??? Just ask me! :)

Answer 8

Though I am an atheist, I have studied the Bible and much of the Bible's history. Most of the stories have been borrowed from other religions. There have been other Christ figures in other myths. The only thing unique about the Bible is that it happened to be the one that became most popular out of the other other mystic cults of the day.

Answer 9

First off the bible is like any other history book. It records events from that time. To believe the bible is to believe any history book because all history has to be record to be remembered. It is among some of the oldest history record dating back to about 2000 BC. I think the biggest thing that sets it apart is that it sparks so much contraversy between religions. I visit many christian/atheist debate forums and atheists are always trying to tear the christian down. That and the worldwide spread of christianity has made this debate super popular, therefore has made Jesus popular and the bible very popular and contraversial to world culture.

Answer 10

1. Other ancient manuscripts or writings support it.
2. Archeology has shown it's accuracy, and sometimes they will use the Bible in their searches for artifacts.
3. What the Bible has gone through to be with us today alone shows it's uniqueness.
4. Unlike other manuscripts, the Bible is inspired from God.