how do we know that the bible is accurate ?

Question

people often quote "it says so in the bible". but how can one be sure of the accuracy of the bible? it was written by humans who may have doctored it or made mistakes. How can a story of adam and eve be so accurate after a million years ?

Answer 1

The bible can not possibly reflect true events !
It's basically an interpretation of teachings of ancient prophets and is the result of hundreds of years of politics and religious fanaticism.

Imagine reading the teachings of Jesus in 2000 years time that were re-written by George Bush and you get an idea of how history and politics influenced Christianity to such a point, that it has (or should) become meaningless.

People who fundamentally follow the words of any bible; be it the Tanakh, the New Testament, the Koran, or whatever are ignorant to reality and dangerous when empowered by society

Answer 2

The Bible is quite accurate to what the writers wrote, but we can't tell if what they wrote is right.

Although the Bible has gone through many copies, the Old Testament always had to be copied perfectly, and according to the Law, if one letter was put in wrongly, the whole scroll had to be scrapped and started again. This lead to the fact that when they found the book of Isaiah among the Dead Sea scrolls, there were only 2 different spellings in the whole book that made no difference to the meaning at all.

We have more ancient copies of the New Testament than of any other book of the same period, and among those copies and fragments there are fewer changes than among other old books. This makes the text much more reliable than even Caesar's writings and no one doubts that Caesar lived!

The most important thing though, is that these truths and indeed the whole Bible is no use if you haven't got God's spirit to help you understand and apply the truth (Philippians 5:15).

The story of Adam may not be accurate, but the teachings we get from it are - i.e. that everyone has a propensity to be nasty and has to learn and strive to be "good". And even then we're not perfect.

Answer 3

In a notice, no. relies upon particularly on what you mean with the help of "precise", although. in case you mean "is it the literal notice of god as written with the help of the inspired palms of adult males" then actual no longer. The checklist of falsehoods, contradictions and absurdities is a lot too lengthy to permit that threat. in case you mean "is it an allegorical account meant to place across a philosophy" then one might desire to argue sure. i in my opinion might additionally say no to this interpretation on the grounds that there are some distance too many indefensible philosophies in the bible to declare that it rather is even an precise allegory of how we ought to consistently stay our lives. (Slavery, misogyny, baby abuse, etc, etc.) it rather is actual specific that not one of the supernatural occurrences of the story are genuine, and there are advantageous few "historic" events that could nicely be shown the two. you will possibly be attentive to many christian's claims that each and every tale of the bible has been conclusively shown genuine with the help of historians, archeologists and different scientists (e.g. Jericho, The Exodus, etc). i'm blind to any case the place the "scientists" who declare to have made those determinations are no longer themselves professed believers in the inerrancy of the bible. whilst it rather is theoretically a possibility that a real believer might desire to discover info of the historicity of the bible, this is going to become very suspicious while all non-believing scientists disagree with the conclusions of the believing scientists. (i'm no longer asserting there is 0 genuine historic previous, besides the fact that if it rather is particularly constrained.)

Answer 4

Exactly - you can't trust the word of a Man...

Al Gore was President until Fox news ran the storey that George W Bush had won.

The Bible is only a guide, a good book for children.

Answer 5

Theoretically, you just have to believe. Realistically, there are several flaws in the Bible, which prove that it's not in its original condition.

You might want to check the following link and search for Bible related discussions.
http://www.aswatalislam.net/DisplayFilesP.aspx?TitleID=50027

Answer 6

If you're serious about finding an answer to the question, then why not check out an Alpha Course in your area. Led by local churches, they give you the chance to look into such questions in a friendly environment without any pressure to believe it all. check out alpha.org for details of one near you.

Answer 7

If you can't back up something in the Bible with another scripture, then it may not be true. The Bible is a book of harmony and it should all connect together.

Answer 8

Arrrggghh.... I can not believe that someone said the bible is a good book for children.

in my view, this steaming pile of sex, incest, murder, violence, hypocrisy, anarchism and atrocities should be restricted to 'adults of sound mind', who wont be corrupted by the mix of fairy tale talking donkeys (number 22:28) and pornography (the entire book of canticles [song of solomon])

Answer 9

Good question! I think it's wise to investigate the validity of the bible both before you become a Christian, and after, so that you can give good answers to friends who might be looking into it.

So far, I think Claude's given the best answer - if you're really wanting to investigate the subject, do look into Josh McDowell's books - he's spent years looking into this sort of stuff, and his books contain loads of evidence.

It's quite funny - we had a sermon on this very subject on Sunday, so I'll quote a few of the other points mentioned...

There is far more evidence of the New Testament being correct than there is of Ceasor's writings being correct: There were over 18,000 copies of the original New Testament manuscript made within 25 years of the first one being written, compared to about 10 copies of Caesor's writings within a much longer period of time.

Biblical prophecies - there are hundreds of old testament prophesies about the Messiah, which Jesus fulfilled. There are also prophesies about other events in the course of Israel's history eg in the book of Daniel. For a while, critics argued that these scriptures must have been written after the events took place, because the prophesies were so accurate, however, they were shocked when the dead sea scrolls were found, proving the age of the writings.

There are other examples eg the bible talks about the "circle of the earth", and about trenches in the oceans way before science discovered that the earth was round, or that the oceans had trenches...

The other thing I wanted to say is that it's important to be careful in how you interpret the bible. Hitler, and leaders of the crusades thought they were following the bible, but caused a lot of damage. I guess in the end it's down to the Holy Spirit teaching us how to follow Jesus. I think it's also good to talk over things with other Christians so you get a more balanced viewpoint.

Anyway, I thought I'd include some of Josh McDowell's material for you to read. It might appear a bit heavy-going, but it's got a lot of good facts in it...

Q: Hasn't the New Testament been changed since it has been copied and recopied throughout history?

A: common misconception is that the text of the Bible has not come down to us the way in which it was originally written. Accusations abound of zealous monks changing the biblical text throughout Church history. This issue is of the utmost importance, since an altered text would do grave damage to the credibility of the story.
As F. F. Bruce says, “The historical ‘once-for-all-ness’ of Christianity which distinguishes it from those religious and philosophical systems, which are not specially related to any particular time, makes the reliability of the writings which purport to record this revelation a question of first-rate importance” (The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? p. 8).
Fortunately, the problem is not a lack of evidence. There are three different types of evidence that are to be used in evaluating the New Testament text. These are the Greek manuscripts, the various versions in which the New Testament is translated, and the writings of the Church fathers.
The New Testament was originally composed in the Greek language. There are approximately 5,500 copies in existence that contain all or part of the New Testament. Although we do not possess the originals, copies exist from a very early date.
The New Testament was written from about a.d. 50 to a.d. 90. The earliest fragment (p. 52) dates about a.d. 120, with about fifty other fragments dating within 150–200 years from the time of composition.
Two major manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus (a.d. 325) and Codex Sinaiticus (a.d. 350), a complete copy, date within 250 years of the time of composition. This may seem like a long time span, but it is minimal compared to most ancient works.
The earliest copy of Caesar’s The Gallic Wars dates 1,000 years after it was written, and the first complete copy of the Odyssey by Homer dates 2,200 years after it was written. When the interval between the writing of the New Testament and earliest copies is compared to other ancient works, the New Testament proves to be much closer to the time of the original.
The 5,500 copies are far and away the most we have of any ancient work. Many ancient writings have been transmitted to us by only a handful of manuscripts (Catullus—three copies; the earliest one is 1,600 years after he wrote; Herodotus—eight copies and 1,300 years).
Not only do the New Testament documents have more manuscript evidence and close time interval between the writing and earliest copy, but they were also translated into several other languages at an early date. Translation of a document into another language was rare in the ancient world, so this is an added plus for the New Testament.
The number of copies of the versions is in excess of 18,000, with possibly as many as 25,000. This is further evidence that helps us establish the New Testament text.
Even if we did not possess the 5,500 Greek manuscripts or the 18,000 copies of the versions, the text of the New Testament could still be reproduced within 250 years from its composition. How? By the writings of the early Christians. In commentaries, letters, etc., these ancient writers quote the biblical text, thus giving us another witness to the text of the New Testament.
John Burgon has catalogued more than 86,000 citations by the early church fathers who cite different parts of the New Testament. Thus we observe that there is so much more evidence for the reliability of the New Testament text than any other comparable writings in the ancient world.
F. F. Bruce makes the following observation: “The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning.”
He also states, “And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt” (The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? p. 15).
Sir Frederic Kenyon, former director and principal librarian of the British Museum, was one of the foremost experts on ancient manuscripts and their authority. Shortly before his death, he wrote this concerning the New Testament:
“The interval between the dates of original composition (of the New Testament) and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established” (The Bible and Archaeology, pp. 288-89).

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE SOURCES
F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? rev. ed., Eerdmans, 1977
John Warwick Montgomery, History and Christianity, Here’s Life Publishers, 1983
Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, rev. ed., Here’s Life Publishers, 1979
Colin Brown (ED), History, Criticism, and Faith, 2nd ed., Inter-Varsity Press, July, 1977

McDowell, J., & Stewart, D. D. 1993. Answers to tough questions. Originally published: San Bernardino, Calif. : Here's Life Publishers, c1980. T. Nelson Publishers: Nashville

Answer 10

Faith: Christianity; The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will.


A set of principles or beliefs.

For me, my faith in God gives me faith the Bible is true.