The Bible
Reliability of the Bible
Is the Bible we read today what was first written? And does it fit the facts we can check?
Handwritten copies that survive
More copies than any ancient book
Historians trust other ancient books on far fewer copies. With thousands to compare, scholars can tell what the originals said with great confidence.
Years from writing to the oldest surviving copy
Closer to the originals
The oldest piece of the New Testament, a scrap of John's Gospel, is usually dated to the early or middle 100s, within a century of when it was written.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1947 shepherds found scrolls in caves by the Dead Sea, including all of Isaiah, copied about 1,000 years before the oldest Hebrew copy known until then. The two are almost the same. Most differences are spelling.
- Pontius PilateA stone with his name and title, found at Caesarea in 1961.
- CaiaphasThe high priest's family bone box, found in Jerusalem in 1990.
- House of DavidAn inscription naming King David's dynasty, found at Tel Dan in 1993.
- Pool of BethesdaThe pool with five porches from John 5:2, uncovered in Jerusalem.
The spade keeps agreeing
People and places that skeptics once doubted have turned up in the ground.
The Bible we read is very close to what was first written, and it fits the people and places we can check.
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.