Battle Cry Series: Is the Bible reliable?

This was one of the top arguments new-age inspired me had against Bible truth – and is often a question that sits with seasoned Christians. It’s a valid question – if man has an inclination toward sin, and man compiled the Bible, and man translated the Bible – how do we know that what it says today is what it said 1,000 years ago and it hasn’t been skewed to meet the varying agendas of men in power over time?

Let me just put one thing to bed right now – the Bible has been twisted and skewed and misused to further man’s agenda over and over and over in history. It didn’t need to be rewritten for that to happen. But man’s misuse of scripture should call into question their character, not the Word. It should teach us that we need to read and discern scripture on our own, so we don’t fall prey to those that misuse, misquote and misinterpret the Word of God. It should drive us to understand the Word of God on a deeper level, so that we know what is expected of us as Christ followers.

Before we talk about the reliability of the Bible, can we talk about what the Bible actually is?

The Old Testament is the collection of Jewish writings that they considered sacred; it’s rearranged in our current Bible, but it’s pretty much the same. These writings would have been what Jesus grew up with. It depicts God’s relationship with the people of Israel, their history in the context of their relationship with God, and the covenant he put in place for them. As a matter of fact, the Greek word translated to English as testament actually means covenant. It’s the Old Covenant.

God and Israel entered into a formal covenant on Mount Sinai, a covenant that laid out what the Israelites should do in order to receive God’s blessing. It was quid pro quo – you do this, and I’ll do that. It’s why it’s referred to as “the law.” For the Israelites, God’s involvement (protection, blessing, provision) was all predicated on their adherence to the rules. It’s the inspired Word of God for the Israelites…but we have been brought in under a new covenant. More on that in a minute.

The reliability of our Old Testament is strengthened through three main avenues (in my opinion): the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the precise nature of the Jewish people regarding the preservation and transcription of these writings, and Jesus.

Dating back to just a few hundred years after the last book of the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls has become a landmark in validating translation accuracy. The scrolls consist of biblical text, including partial and complete copies of Hebrew scriptures, with the exception of Esther, and non-biblical letters, hymns, prayers, etc.  These documents are over 1,000 years older than the oldest previously known manuscripts.

Through my study, I learned exactly how important the process of transcribing the Old Testament scriptures was to the Jewish people. They had meticulous methods that threw out any copy with even a tiny error. You don’t have to believe it’s the inspired Word of God (we’ll come back to that), but they certainly did…and that matters when it comes to doubt about translation errors.

Finally, Jesus believed and affirmed the Jewish scriptures. He references many of them in his teachings. Jesus also referenced specific events, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the story of Jonah.  

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them…for truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. – Matthew 5:17-20

If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. – John 5:46

The New Testament – or New Covenant – was ushered in with Jesus. It was far simpler than the command of the Law, but much more demanding. When Jesus was questioned on the greatest commandment in the Law:

Jesus replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40

There it is – a radical shift in the way humans would interact with God. Rather than a vertical arrangement – quid pro quo – Jesus changes the game to a horizontal relationship. If you love God, you’ll love others. It no longer mattered what we did for God, now it mattered how we honored God by honoring others. The entire New Testament attempts to explain this shift in how God will relate to us…and this time, “us” isn’t just the Israelites, it’s everyone. Jesus came to reconcile everyone to God, so the commands (and promises) of the new covenant apply to everyone while the commands (and promises) of the old covenant apply only to Israel.

And I [Jesus], when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. – John 12:32 (emphasis mine)

The New Testament was preserved in a different way than the old writings – with more than 6,000 manuscripts and fragments dating back to the second century after Christ. Some fragments of the Book of John date back to less than a generation after John wrote it. Why is that a big deal? In comparison to what we accept as fact with other historical writings (such as the Iliad, 600-700 years and accounts of Alexander the Great, 300-400 years), biblical manuscripts are much closer to the actual events, as in a few decades – not centuries.

Despite all the potential errors and translation issues – across the almost 6,000 known Greek New Testament manuscripts the agreement among them is rated at 99.5%. Ok, but how does that stack up? Homer’s Iliad is rated at 95% agreement among its 643 ancient copies.

I can hear you now: yeah, maybe it’s reliably translated but that doesn’t mean that the people who canonized scripture didn’t leave out important pieces that would affect how we understand things. I can’t argue that. What I can say is that every believer, at some point, has to step out in a little bit of faith and maybe this is that thing for you. But I also want to propose one other perspective.

If you evaluate the way scripture has been misused to oppress, manipulate, and destroy people you’ll find a healthy mix of Old Testament and New Testament concepts, blended together to form an idea that feels biblical but isn’t. It is the cherry picking of what we want to agree with across all the scripture that create maligned and misinformed “religion.” We have been released from the commands of the old Law and ordained as heirs under the new…and that means one thing: Love others. Sacrificially, like Christ did for us, love and honor those around us. Regardless of lifestyle, race, ethnicity, social class, and origin faith…simply sacrificially love and honor others. That is your good standing with God. He doesn’t need you to do anything for him, and his Son has already done all we need to secure our relationship with him…now it’s up to you to show the world who He is – who WE are – through love, through service, through honor and grace. Not because they deserve it, but because Jesus did it for you.  

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. – 1 Peter 4:10

Two thousand years ago, this idea radically changed the world. People looked at the Christian community in awe of how they shared and served and treated others. Imagine our generation rising up out of the ashes of the tarnished “Christian religion” to show an outpouring of real love and respect for everyone.

We could change the world.