IS THE BIBLE DIVINELY INSPIRED?

The Bible is in a class by itself. What other book has been:

Written over a 1600 year span
Written by about 40 different authors from every walk of life
Written during different times of activity like wars, peace, poverty, wealth
Written in three continents
Written in three languages
Written in different styles
Written by men who didn't know each other

All of these differences are put together into 66 different books yet they all form one book uniquely woven together with one purpose, mind from Genesis to Revelation by one Author and all pointing to the coming of and return of Jesus!

Many scoffers of Christianity say that the Bible can not be trusted and is not trustworthy over time. However, there is much evidence historical evidence that tells us that the Bible is true. The Bible has more manuscript evidence to support its accuracy and reliability than any other ancient book of similar nature. Approximately 13,000 manuscripts exist which attest to the New Testament. The following table shows data concerning some of the more heavily attested copies of other ancient works and shows that there are more copies of the New Testament by far than of any classic of the similar time period

Number of Copies	Author of Historic Document	When Written	Earliest Copy	Years of Delay
over 13,000	New Testament	100 A.D.	350 A.D.	250
645	Illiad & Odyssey by Homer	8^th century B.C.	-	-
200	Demosthenes	383-322 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1300
100	Sophocles	496-406 B.C.	1000 A.D.	1400
20	Annals by Tacitus	100A.D.	1100 A.D.	1000
20	Livy	59 B.C.-A.D. 17	-	-
10	Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar	100-44 B.C.	900 A.D.	1000
10	Aristophanes	450-385 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200
9	Euripedes	480-406 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1500
8	History by Thucydides	460-400 B.C.	900	1300
8	De Vita Caesarun by Suetonius	75-160 A.D.	950 A.D.	800
8	History by Herodotus	480-425 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300
7	Tetralogies by Plato	427-347 B.C.	900 A.D.	1247
7	History by Pliny the Younger	61-113 A.D.	850 A.D.	750
5	Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1400
3	Catullus	54 B.C.	1550 A.D.	1600
2	Lucretius	died 55 or 53 B.C.	-	1100

If someone questions the reliability of the Bible on the basis of lack of historical manuscript evidence, he must much more severely question the preservation of every other time-honored piece of ancient history.

Historical documents aside from the Bible give evidence of Jesus. Flavius Josephus gives testimony of Jesus (see Antiquities 18.63). Tacitus in the 2^nd century does too as well as Pliny, the Younger. Twenty additional non-Christians sources give us 65 facts beyond the scriptures about Jesus. Thalleus and Phlegon referred to the darkness at noon during Jesus' crucifixion.

God has shown his inspiration by his Holy Spirit that the Bible is the word of God and proven its reliability by preserving the Bible with so many copies as to make sure it could never go extinct and to show its accuracy by causing such precise accuracy between the existing copies over the time they were written.

FAQ on controversial issues our readers have asked us at OTHER BIBLE STUDIES

HOME PAGE for the following:

WHEN DID JESUS SAY THE RAPTURE WOULD TAKE PLACE?

WHEN DID PAUL SAY THE RAPTURE WOULD TAKE PLACE?

HOW DOES THE DAY OF THE LORD RELATE TO THE RAPTURE?

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