The biblical studies reflection

Can we trust the Bible:

People often questioned the reliability of the bible and the bible documents. People
questioned if the bible is true and if we can trust the bible completely. They always ask isn’t the bible
full of contradictions and error? The bible has been copied and translated so many times hasn’t the
process led to errors? How can you be sure that the bible is the same now as when it was written?
These are the questions that people always ask, but the Bible is in face true and reliable because it
has been proven through a long period of time in the past and has been proven by many
archaeologists, written by thousands of people in the past and has and they have proven that the
Bible is accurate. There are a lot of examples that can prove the bible is true and one of the is
Cappadocia, Cappadocia is the historic place of the Hittites and in the bible there are some people
that are Hittites and that has been proven that the bible is right and true. The other thing that made
the bible true is that archaeologists have been discovering documents from the past and all the
information that was on the documents can all relate to the bible and it is in the bible. People who
didn’t believe in the bible and Jesus have turned into Christian because they have discover a lot of
things that has proven that the existence of Jesus is true because the documents is at the bible. Even
people who didn’t believe in Jesus (atheist) can become a Christian because they do a lot of research
that has proven the bible are reliable and that the is true so they believe in the word of God.

The reliability of the biblical documents can be proven by three things are biblical
documents which are the internal test and the external tests. There’s also the transmission test
which are looking the text of the old and new testament from the past and present. The three
aspects that we are looking at is the quality, quantity, and the time span. The bible has lots of
quantity which makes it more reliable. In the Old testament there’s a small number of Hebrew
manuscripts and there are lots of existing manuscripts are supplemented by Dead Sea Scrolls, the
Septuagint, and also the Talmud. The quantity of the New testament manuscripts is a lot, there are
about 8, 000 Latin manuscripts and another 1, 000 manuscripts, and we also have ten thousands of
citation for the New testaments from God’s people at the past. There are 13000 + copies which
makes it more reliable rather than Plato, Pliny, Aristotle, etc works. The Bible also have qualities and
they are great. The quality of the old testament is excellent they have great reference from the
Jewish and scriptures. hey are very careful in making new copies of the Bible. It is so accurate that it
was counted until they count the number of letters, words, and line were counted and it was
determined. If a single mistake was discovered it would be destroyed. The quality of the new
testament is better than the other documents in history because there are thousands and thousands
of documents and manuscripts. So scholars and people of God to check for accuracy. The NT is
99.5% pure and the 0.5% can be a probability. The bible also been constructed the in a long period of
time rather than any other documents, it took the bible thousands of year and written by many
authors. The Old Testament manuscripts and the earliest manuscripts is AD 895. This is because of
the destruction of systematic of manuscripts by Masoretic scribes. The Dead scroll that was
discovered in 20 BC reduced the time span of writing the OT. The New testament Manuscripts took a
long time and the time span for the is less than 200 years and some books in 100 years from the
earliest manuscripts. This can relate to the 1, 000 years between the earliest copies and ancient
author. Sir Frederic G. Kenyon (head librarian of British museum) said the time span of composition
book and earliest manuscripts make the NT. The OT and NT is a great manuscripts because of
quality, quantity and hoe long to make it.

The Bible is also reliable because of the internal test so that it is reliable. The second test of
the reliability of the biblical documents is that we are examining the truth of the Bible and to prove
that the Bible is true and reliable. We are using the testimony of the bible to prove the bible is true.
We are examining the truth claims of various authors of the bible so the document says about itself.
Many biblical authors claim that their accounts are primary and the bible was written by men and
eyewitnesses of the events and was recorded like John 19:35; 21:24; I John 1:1,3;
II Peter 1:16. The Gospel was written by men acquainted with Jesus Christ. Their
writings reveal integrity and commitment to the truth. All the evidence is that the church
is distorted the teachings of Christ. Most of the NT was written between A.D 47 and 70,
and they were completed at the first century and them written by many people which
make it more accurate. That’s not enough time for a myth to be created and people
carefully recorded them.

The last test of the bible is the external test and its going to prove that the bible
is reliable and true. The bible is reliable because the scriptures are refer to historical
events and they are verifiable. Their accuracy can be checked by external evidence. The
historic of Jesus Christ is established by Roman, Greek, and Jewish sources and also
extra biblical writings affirm with major details of NT of the lord. Historian Flavius
Josephus made specific references to peoples like John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, James
and also to Herods, the Sadduees and Pharisees, Caiaphas, Annas, and the Roman
emperors mentioned in the Gospels and Acts. Authors from first to second century also
mentioned about Christ, such as Roman historians Cornelius Tacitus and Suetonius, the
Roman governor Pliny the younger, and the Greek satirist Lucian. Jesus is also
mentioned a number of times in the Jewish Talmud. Archeological evidence has also
prove hundreds of biblical statements, people and events. In the 19th century people
made claims that would completely overthrow the integrity ofthe Bible, but
archaeological knowledge in the 20th century reversed almost all of these claims. There
are lots of evidence to support that the Bible is true (you can see the example at the
bottom *). The OT and NT have pass the bibliographic, internal and external test like no
other ancient books in the world. Manu professional, archeologists and historians have
acknowledged the bible and its history. There’s a lot of evidence the that strongly
supports the accuracy of the bible. Those who discard the Bible as historically
untrustworthy must realize that the same standard would force them to eliminate almost
all ancient literature” (Ken Boa, I’m Glad You Asked, 82-83).
(1) Excavations at Nuzi (1925-41), Mari (discovered in 1933), and Alalakh
(1937-39; 1946-49) provide helpful background information that fits will
with the Genesis stories and the Patriarchal period. The Nuzi tablets,
Mari letters and Ras shamra tablets illustrate patriarchal customs in
detail and affirm the antiquity and accuracy of Genesis.
(2) Some scholars once claimed that the Mosaic Law could not have been
written by Moses, because writing had not been invented in his day.
Since that time, however, archaeologists have unearthed thousands of
tablets and inscriptions written hundreds of years before Moses and
even before Abraham. In fact they now know of six different written
languages from or before the time of Moses!
(3) The critics once assumed the Bible was wrong because it described the
Hittite Empire, which had not been found by archaeologists. But the
Hittite capital was discovered in 1906.
(4) II Kings 15:29-refers to a king of Assyria named Tiglath Pileser. A
generation ago scholars were saying that this king never existed and
that the account of the fall of Israel to Assyria was mythology. Now,
however, archaeologists have excavated Tiglath Pileser’s capital city and
can give his history! proven to be a real person of history
(5) Moabite Stone— reveals information about the reign of Omri, the sixth
king of Israel.
(6) Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III refers to King Jehu of Israel
(7) Taylor Prism describes Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in time of
Hezekiah
Mililani Community Church Pastor Rick Bartosik/2003
4
(8) The New Testament has also received plenty of support from
archaeology, and many critical attacks on the historicity of the new
Testament have been reversed. Most of the geographical details
associated with the life of Jesus in the Gospels have been substantiated.
This includes places such as the Pool of Siloam, the Pool of Bethesda,
Jacob’s Well, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Chorazin, the
residence of Pilate in Jerusalem and “the Pavement” in John 19:13.
(9) In the past critics tried to discredit Luke as an accurate historian, but
Luke and Acts have now been substantiated by external evidence, and
Luke has been vindicated and proven to be accurate.