Why I Read The Bible

 How do I know the Bible is true?

My Bible. Photo by author

The Bible has been my go-to book for over thirty years and I never tire of reading it. Which other book would I read over and over again?

This phenomenon in itself proves to me that it is no ordinary book!

Not only do I read it for spiritual teaching and encouragement, but also because evidence exists for the reliability of its claims.

Quick Facts

• The Bible is still the world’s bestseller, having sold over 5 billion copies.
• The full Bible has been translated into 724 languages (NT 1617 languages).¹
• It was written and compiled over 1500 years by 40 authors.
• There are two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
• The Old Testament (the Tanakh) is the Jewish Bible, containing 39 books (the Torah, historical, poetical, prophetic and wisdom writings).
• The New Testament has 27 books: the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles and Revelation.

Historical Accuracy

The Old Testament

The Old Testament was written by Jews mostly in the land of Israel except for the books written during the Babylonian captivity (Daniel, Ezekiel, Esther). When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in Qumran in 1946, the whole scroll of Isaiah, which was 1000 years older than extant copies, proved that the Masoretic copying system had been substantially (more than 95%) accurate.

Archaeological discoveries have proven the historicity of characters and events that were thought to be fictitious by some critics. This is a whole field of study in itself — examples are Nehemiah’s tunnels, the Pool of Siloam, the location of David’s Palace, the Tel Dan Stele with an inscription of the ‘House of David’, the Ketef Hinnom Scrolls containing Numbers 6, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, an Assyrian account of a great deluge. Much more evidence has been uncovered, particularly in the past several decades.

Shrine of the Book, (housing Dead Sea Scrolls), Jerusalem, Israel. Photo by author

I enjoyed participating in the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem in 2017, where our team uncovered material dating from the first and second temple periods. This project is open to the public — ordinary people can become archaeologists for several hours.

The New Testament

It has been claimed that the New Testament was written many years after the events, calling its accuracy into question.

Scholars date Mark’s Gospel around 65 AD, citing it as a major source of the other Synoptic Gospels (Marcan priority). Jesus died in 30 AD, which means the Gospels were written within a generation of His death either by eyewitnesses or according to accounts by eyewitnesses (Luke). The strong oral tradition at that time would have preserved the facts accurately; minor details may vary, just as would be expected from first-hand accounts of the same event by different witnesses.

Paul wrote his epistles between 48 and 64 AD, and John added his Revelation around 95 AD.²

Several external sources confirm some of the events of the Gospels: Jesus is mentioned by several non-Christian first-century historians, including Josephus (Jewish), Tacitus (Roman), Mara Bar-Serapion (Syrian), and Suetonius (Roman), while others (Thallus, Phlegon) mention the ‘eclipse of the sun’ surrounding Christ’s death.

2000-year old olive tree, The Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem. Photo by author

Authorised Canonization

Canonization allowed the authority of Scripture to be protected from heretical additions.

Three factors led to the development of the canon:

1. Marcion the Agnostic developed his own canon around 140 AD, containing 10 of Paul’s letters and an abridged version of Luke’s Gospel.
2. Use of the Apocryphal books in the East.
3. Under the orders of Emperor Diocletian in 303 AD, all religious books were to be destroyed. The Church was forced to identify which books had to be kept at all costs and which could be destroyed.³

This unique book contains a harmony that would otherwise be impossible without God’s inspiration. Described as ‘God-breathed’ (translation of theopneustos in 2 Timothy 3:16), the church fathers recognised this inspiration during the canonization of Scripture. At the third Council of Carthage in 397 AD, the authoritative canon containing the Old and New Testament was finally affirmed.³

Fulfilled Prophecy

When precise predictions are made in history and fulfilled, we take notice! The factor of fulfilled prophecy further substantiates the accuracy of the Bible.

Jesus fulfilled over 300 precise prophecies from the Old Testament. The following are 10 examples of fulfilment by the Jewish Yeshua of the New Testament.

1. The virgin birth — Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:22–23
2. A Son will be given — Isaiah 9:6/Mathew 16:16, John 1:14
3. Royal (Davidic) ancestry — Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5–6/Matthew 1:1
4. The birth in Bethlehem — Micah 5:2/ Matthew 2:5–6
5. Location and nature of His ministry — Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 61:1–3/Matt. 4:12–16, Matthew 11:2–6, Luke 4:14–21
6. Entered Jerusalem on a colt — Zechariah 9:9/Matt. 21:4–5
7. Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver — Zechariah 11:12–13/Matt. 27:6–10
8. His death/crucifixion — Isaiah 53, Psalm 22/Matt. 27
9. Buried in a rich man’s tomb — Isaiah 53:9/Matt. 27:57–61
10. Resurrection — depicted in Jonah 1:17–2/Matt. 12:38–40

Scientist Don Stoner worked out that the probability of one man fulfilling eight prophecies in the Old Testament was 1 in 10¹⁷ — he concluded that anyone “who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world”.⁴

Far-reaching Influence

The major influence of the Bible on world history is highly significant. Western civilization was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, utilizing the Ten Commandments as the bedrock of the legal system. Its message changed societies in the past by bringing about reform to improve living conditions and standards (abolition of the slave trade, creation of hospitals, better working conditions in factories like Guinness and Cadbury, and the promotion of the sanctity and equality of life).

In the 1520s, Martin Luther united the German nation with a common language by translating the Bible into the German vernacular. Gutenberg’s printing press provided the technology to produce printed Bibles, which subsequently helped fuel the Protestant Reformation. Around the same time, William Tyndale was inspired to print a Bible in English; his version was the basis of the Authorized King James Version, which enormously impacted the life of the laity and enriched the English language.

Protected Treasure

The Bible came to us through blood, sweat and tears.

God equipped the church fathers to protect and translate His Word throughout the centuries. As a trained translator, I understand there can be slight translation loss when translating passages, but I am confident that the translators were faithful to the original texts and that the message has been carefully preserved.

The first translation of the Bible in the Christian era was into Syriac around the year 170 AD, using the Greek translation of the Old Testament as its text. Other translations were produced in Armenia, Georgia and beyond. Jerome was tasked by the Pope with providing the Vulgate, a Latin translation, around 382 AD.

Translation efforts continued throughout the Dark Ages.⁵ The Slavic world received a translation in Old Church Slavonic as early as the 9th century through the efforts of Cyril and Methodius of Thessalonica, and parts of the Bible were translated into Arabic in Spain, Iraq and Syria.

John Wycliffe’s 14th-century desire to make the Bible available in the vernacular has been the leading vision of Wycliffe Bible Translators, who employ numerous linguists nowadays to realise this project globally. Other Bible societies and publishers work tirelessly to make God’s Word available to as many language groups as possible. Many a Gideon Bible placed in a hotel room has brought people to saving faith.

While this evidence for the accuracy of the Bible is crucial, my primary reason for believing the Bible is true is experiential. It tells me how to gain eternal salvation by placing my faith in the Christ who died for my sins and rose again.

God’s indwelling Holy Spirit helps me to commune with Him through the written word. This same Spirit, who gave life to the crucified Saviour, will give life to all believers: 

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11 ESV)

This has brought deep peace and joy into my heart. As I read each day, my soul is nourished, and I am challenged to reflect God’s heart in our world today.

 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:8 ESV)

References

1. https://wycliffe.org.uk/story/record-breaking-year
2. https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/how-did-we-get-the-bible-in-english/
3. https://christianheritagefellowship.com/canonization-of-the-bible/
4. https://sciencespeaks.dstoner.net/Christ_of_Prophecy.html
5. https://wycliffe.org.uk/story/a-brief-history-of-bible-translation