Can we trust the Bible? Is the Bible reliable?
~ Pastor Thuamminlian Guite
“Is the Bible indeed reliable?” This question has puzzled a lot of readers of the Bible, and an increasing scrutiny remains regarding the legitimacy and reliability of the Bible. However this questioning is fairly important even for Christians who base their lives, beliefs, and faith on the teachings and stories of the Bible- the only holy book of the Christians. If we, as Christians, doubt the Bible as the voice and word of God, then the very foundation of our faith will crumble. So how can one confirm that the Bible can be trusted? Is the Bible just another book? Or do we place it in a higher pedestal than any other books to ever exist?
There is no other book that is more heavily critiqued and scrutinized than that of the Bible. While other holy books of different religions have not undergone as much scrutiny- like the Quran which does not tolerate criticism- the Bible is open to different forms of criticisms like literary criticism, textual criticism, historical criticism, etc., and has been thoroughly critiqued over the centuries. Bart D. Ehrman, a well-known scholar who focuses on the textual criticism of the New Testament, shifted his stance on the Bible. In his book Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman argued that the Bible is full of errors, and challenged its legitimacy. If we fail to place our faith on the Bible, our approach to God and Jesus will be different and we will eventually lose our faith in God like Ehrman did.
Comprising of 66 different documents or books- 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, the Bible is not one single book. Written by 40 different authors who came from different walks of life in a span of approximately 1600 years, residing in different continents, it is interesting to see how the Bible stayed consistent in its teachings from the very first to the last book. However, with the coming of Enlightenment- a period where there was an awakening interest in science and mathematics, where scientific evidence was the need of the hour, where every belief required evidence, scholars like David Hume were particularly troubled by the scriptural accounts of the “miracles”. How can stories of parted seas, turning water to blood, etc. be true? If other writings of antiquity like that of Plato and Aristotle are not questioned even with a time lag of more than 1000 years between the time of its writing and the finding of its earliest copies, then why doubt the Bible, which is not far removed from the original writings?
While archeology cannot prove that the Bible is a word of God, it plays an important role in establishing and confirming the integrity of the message contained in the Bible. Until 1993, there was not a shard of evidence found regarding the existence of David, the king of Israel, outside the Bible. This led to the dismissal of the stories of David as a mere invention or fiction by some school of thoughts. However, this skepticism surrounding the existence of David collapsed as a group of archaeologists unearthed an inscription in Israel where “house of David” was mentioned, verifying for the first time outside of the Bible that David was indeed an actual historical figure. Another instance where archaeology confirmed the accuracy of the details of New Testament was in 1961 when a plaque that read “Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea” was discovered, debunking the theory that Pontius Pilate was not an actual person. Scores of archaeological findings have confirmed the accuracy of the historical contents of the Bible.
There is an internal consistency and harmony within the books of the Bible. However skeptics are cautious of quoting the Bible to prove the authenticity of the Bible, and quite rightly so. After all, quoting the Bible to prove itself assumes the Bible to be true, which is really the point of contention or discussion. Therefore, there is always the attempt to “prove” the Bible through external examination i.e. evidence and confirmation outside the Bible. Then, is there a mention of Jesus Christ or Christians that can be traced back to the 1st Century AD in secular sources? Testimonies from both Roman and Jewish historians did not controvert to the writings of the Bible.
Tacitus (c. AD 56-117), a Roman historian, in his book Annals (c. AD 115) gave an account of how the Roman emperor Nero blamed it on the Christians for causing the great fire in Rome, and as a result “inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus…”1.
Pliny the Younger (c. AD 128), the Roman governor of Bithynia, also wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan: “I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent” regarding the persecution of Christians. Regarding Christian worship, Pliny the Younger mentioned that “they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so.”2
Flavius Josephus (c. 37-100), a Jewish historian wrote, “At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.” (10th Century Arabic Text).
Are the accounts of the eyewitnesses reliable and trustworthy? Higher criticism, more often than not, claimed that there was a deification of Jesus by the writers of the gospels or the eyewitnesses in the 30 years between Jesus’ crucifixion and the writing of the gospels. They also said that the story of Jesus has been narrated many times over that it has become corrupted through stages of orality; that there was an intentional alteration of the narrative. Four of the writers of the New Testament- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, wrote their own biography of the life of Jesus as they witnessed. While their descriptions of Jesus and his works were unique to each writer, their facts were in agreement. It is important to note that their accounts were written early enough so that there was not enough time to create and propagate fiction or myths; blatant historical fabrications would have been challenged and refuted by the multitudes of people who would have witnessed the life of Jesus. The accounts of the eyewitnesses have been sufficiently corroborated by external evidences, and have been delivered throughout centuries.
The Bible constantly faces the attacks of those who deny its authority, legitimacy, and inerrancy. But with Christ being the cornerstone of Christianity, and all of God’s word and deeds recorded in the Bible, it is important that we realize the reliability and accuracy of the Bible, and have a resolute believe in the word of God. Countless are the people who sought to wipe the Word of God off the face of the Earth- but no man is above God. Critics of the Bible come and go, but the Bible always abide. 2 Peter 1:21 reads “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” God gave us his living words- let us live by them.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus_on_Christ
2 http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/pliny.html
