is bible contents authentic?

Question

the original text of moses are lost. after a few years eziel and jeramiah found some copies then they translated it with were lost again by 2 centruy. some copies were found later and copied into many religions. 13000 bits and pieces r found now which has been translated and retranslated a 100 times in the last 300 years because the first editions were always full of mistakes.
the one we have now is it authentic or after a few years another edition with come up with different translations.

Answer 1

To the best of our knowledge and, more important, to the best of our faith.

+ Old Testament +

The Dead Sea Scroll contain:
- All of the books of the Old Testament (Hebrew scriptures) except Esther
- Several books that never became part of the Hebrew Scriptures
- Numerous commentaries on the Scriptures
- Books having to do with
.....- Community life
.....- Rules for living
.....- Temple worship
.....- Other matters

There are many duplicates. Fourteen copies of Deuteronomy have been found and two of Isaiah.

The scrolls are important because they:
- Testify to the accuracy of the people who copied and recopied the Scriptures over the centuries. Despite minor errors, they show us that the Old Testament has not changed since it was compiled.
- Throw light on beliefs and customs in Palestine during times between the Old and New Testamants. There was far more diversity among the Jews than had been thought.

For more information, see:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/SFS/an0500.asp

+ New Testament +

We do have second and third century manuscripts of all the New Testament writings to which we can check our modern Bibles. Many believe that some of the bits of manuscripts are from the first century (between 50 and 100 C.E.).

Try:
Are the Biblical Documents Reliable? http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/bib-docu.html
New Testament Manuscripts: The Basic Facts: http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/02/new_testament_manuscripts_the.html
Josh McDowell Answers Questions about the New Testament: http://www.leaderu.com/theology/mcdowell_davinci.html
How many copes of the original New Testament documents are there? http://www.facingthechallenge.org/copies.php
Is the New Testament Text Reliable? http://www.str.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6068
And:
http://home.att.net/~kmpope/FirstCenturyMSS.html
http://greek-language.com/greek.manuscripts.gateway/
http://www.carm.org/evidence/textualevidence.htm

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 2

If you take the time to look at the New Testament manuscripts, you will find that there are over 2,300 still existing manuscripts of the NT books that date before any the church councils that some believe "changed" the Bible. Each of these agree word for word with each other.

Some date as far back as to within 20 years of the original writings. We have a fragmented copy of John from which 809 of the 893 verses can be completely reconstructed. Where there are gaps (a couple missing word or a missing line), our current text fills those gaps perfectly. Or a copy of the complete writing of Paul from which 72% - parts of every book - can be reconstructed.

A recently found copy of Matthew which is written on "paper" that appears to have been produced by the Qumran community (famed for the Dead Sea Scrolls) that the Romans destroyed in 68 AD. The manuscript has to be earlier then that to be on their paper. As it is a copy, that means the original predates it - and by a long enough time for the book to be know, accepted, and for people to want a copy.

As Matthew directly quotes Mark over 900 times, Mark had to have existed prior to the writing of Matthew. So there is very solid evidence that both gospels existed by at least the early 60's AD, if not the late 50's (within 20-30 years of the life of Jesus). Yet this manuscript is word for word indentical to what we use today.

Over 5,000 other copies of the New Testament in the original language still exist that were made between the time of the first chruch council at Nicean and the inventing of the printing press in the 1400s. When all these manuscripts are compared, they agree with each other 99.7% of the time. The majority of the 0.3% differences are either different spellings for the same word, or the reversing of two words (such as Jesus Christ and Christ Jesus).

Of the over 7,000 lines of text in the New Testament, fewer then 40 have any question about the original wording. None affect any major Christian doctrine.

Many of these manuscripts come from sources that were NOT friendly to the church at Roman (such as the Coptic and Armenian Christians) who would have no reason to "alter
their manuscripts to support Roman theology, yet they are word for word identical.

Add to that over 86,000 quotes from the New Testaments in the writing of the early church fathers, prayer books, litergies, inscriptions, letters, etc dating from the earliest years of the Christian church. The entire New Testament can be reconstructed from other sources that all date from the first 200 years of Christianity (before any of the church councils supposed changed it).

When one examines the evidence for the text of the New Testament, there is more than even material to show that the text we use today is accurate ane reliable.

Answer 3

If the original Torah was distorted and mis-copied, then why did Jesus quote it as if it were accurate?

The best way to nullify the good news is to convince the hearer that the message has been distorted and is no longer from the One you love. I have studied the Bible for 37 years now, and I have found--through critical evidence--that the Bible in my hands is accurate. The Hebrew and Greek even more accurate. I will give you two examples to keep things brief.
If man has distorted the Bible so that it is no longer accurate, when did such distortions occur? Most who claim this say during the Middle Ages. However, how can you distort prophecy regarding Israel becoming a nation again? If a prophecy is distorted it would be from man's point of view and not God's--thereby becoming invalid. The prophecies were before Christ came. They were before the "distortions"
When the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1947, there was also found a complete scroll of Isaiah with just a few grammatic errors. This 2,000 year-old text contained prophecy of Israel regathering as a nation. An event that took place a year later. Distorted text cannot prophesy. This same book confirms that Jesus is God, that He would come and die for the sins of the world (not be replaced by a duplicate) and much, much more.
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/in_the_volume_of_the_book.pdf

The prophetic text matches perfectly with the gospels. How can distorted text mesh perfectly with established text? So you see, God is watching to see WHO you will believe. Man and his puny accusations, or God and His eternal Word. God will reinforce which ever you choose. If you want to know the REAL God of the Bible, then ask Him to open your eyes to Him and His Word. If you want to believe what men tell you (the Bible is distorted and untrustworthy). Then God will reinforce that by hiding His Word and His face according to your wishes.

2 Peter 1:19
And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Matthew 5:18
For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Only cults like Islam, Mormonism, and Jehovah Witnesses make the claim that the Bible is incomplete or inaccurate. That is why they have their custom books and translations to augment or replace it.
http://www.schneblin.com/studies/pdfs/gospel_addendum.pdf

Answer 4

Authentic to the original Moses text, or to reality?
I would have to say no to both. It seems you already answered your question - whether or not it was authentic to the original Moses text. As you said, the first editions were always full of mistakes, so it most likely isn't authentic.
And as you're pointing out yourself, religions evolve - just like language, culture, or any other behavior patterns and anything else that can be communicated (ever played telephone when you were a child?). More importantly, they evolve in random 'directions', unlike history or science that evolve in very linear 'directions'. Meaning the latter two only increase in size (only fringe ideas not quite yet accepted are argued over), whereas religion does not. It's more or less quite haphazard over the 'balloon of ideas', if you'll excuse the lack of better terms. Since religion seems to change so mindlessly over periods of time, it most likely isn't authentic to reality either.

Answer 5

I have serious doubts. As far as the question of is it the same as it was written originally written...probably not. As far as the question did everything in the bible actually happen, mostly no. Some of the events correlate to actual historical events but some stories are just that, stories. Please people, don't take everything in the bible so literally, it was meant to be a guide to be a good person. It's not a history book.

Answer 6

Like you explained, the Bible today does not fully contain what Moses and Jesus taught. It's mixed with other ideas, stories, events. The only un-chaged scripture - the same over 1400 years - is the Holy Qur'an.

www.islam.org

Answer 7

For more information you could also look at the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price.

Answer 8

I choose to believe what the Bible says.

God is real, He has a son named Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will come to live in your heart and change your life!

Answer 9

it's authentically unauthentic. people wrote and edited the bible. it's not he words of god it's the words of people!
PEOPLE! people with slants and bias and imperfections and perversions, just like all the rest of us. of course, these here words will only prove to bible thumpers, that the devil does truly exist!