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Can i trust the Bible?
The document discusses the trustworthiness of the Bible as a record of historical events and God's word, addressing questions of preservation and accuracy compared to other ancient texts. It highlights that there are around 25,000 manuscripts of the New Testament, which were copied with high accuracy and support the reliability of the Bible's content. The author encourages readers to approach the Bible with an open heart, suggesting that it provides guidance and speaks to diverse contexts of life.
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Explores the question of trusting the Bible as a faithful record and guidance in faith.
Discusses how ancient texts were preserved, highlighting the number of copies and their dating.
Explores the question of trusting the Bible as a faithful record and guidance in faith.
Describes methods to verify accuracy in copies of texts and the reliability of the manuscript tradition.
Explores the question of trusting the Bible as a faithful record and guidance in faith.
Examines the concept of the Bible being God's word and how it relates to understanding divine communication.
Examines the concept of the Bible being God's word and how it relates to understanding divine communication.
Explores the question of trusting the Bible as a faithful record and guidance in faith.
Examines the concept of the Bible being God's word and how it relates to understanding divine communication.
Examines the concept of the Bible being God's word and how it relates to understanding divine communication.
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Can i trust the Bible?
- 1. Can I trustthe Bible?
- 2. What do wemean by “trust the Bible”?
- 3. Can I trustit as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ? Can I trust it that it hasn’t been corrupted over the years ? Can I trust it to lead me to God and to guide me in living ? Can I trust that it really is God’s word ?
- 4. Can I trustthe Bible as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ?
- 5. Ancient books werenot like modern books... ...they were far more valuable!
- 6. But scrolls wearout and ink fades... ...how were ancient books preserved?
- 7. They were carefullycopied
- 8. date -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Julius Caesar So historianstrust the records about Julius Caesar even though...
- 9. -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 Julius Caesar 10 copies date ...we have only 10 copies, from 1,050 years after his reign!
- 10. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar Plato 10copies date And historians trust the records about Plato even though...
- 11. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar Plato 10copies 7 copies date ... we have only 7 copies, from 1,700 years after his life!
- 12. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar PlatoTacitus 10 copies 7 copies date And historians trust the copies of Tacitus even though...
- 13. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar PlatoTacitus 10 copies 7 copies 20 copies date ... we have only 20 copies, from 1,000 years after his life!
- 14. So how aboutJesus? ...how old are the oldest documents we have, and how many of them are there?
- 15. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar PlatoTacitus Jesus Christ 10 copies 7 copies 20 copies date The earliest manuscripts about Jesus date to c50 years of his life
- 16. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar PlatoTacitus Jesus Christ 10 copies 7 copies 20 copies date most of the rest are dated to within just 150-300 years of his life
- 17. -600 -400 -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Julius Caesar PlatoTacitus Jesus Christ 10 copies 7 copies 20 copies 25,000 copies date ...and there are about 25,000 of them!
- 18. Can I trustthe Bible as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ?
- 19. Can I trustit that it hasn’t been corrupted over the years ? is there a way of testing that these copies were accurately done?
- 20. Imagine an originalmanuscript...
- 21. From this, fourcopies are made for other libraries...
- 22. From those locations,more copies are distributed...
- 23. Over time, theoriginals wear out or are destroyed...
- 24. Is there away to tell if the more recent copies are still accurate?
- 25. Is there away to tell if the more recent copies are still accurate? There is a way of telling!
- 26. Suppose we havetwo copies from the same date, hundreds of miles apart...
- 27. They can’t havebeen copied from each other, as they are too far apart...
- 28. ... so theymust have both been copied from the generation before
- 29. If C andD are a good match with each other... C D
- 30. ...it can onlybe because A and B in the generation before were also accurately copied C D A B
- 31. S T ... soeven if whole generations are lost, but manuscripts S & T – found miles apart – match well...
- 32. S T ... itproves that the whole copying process has been highly accurate.
- 33. Scroll-map And in fact,the 25,000 manuscripts & fragments were found scattered all around the Mediterranean...
- 34. Scroll-map ...and the variationsbetween them are negligible
- 35. Can I trustthe Bible as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ? Can I trust it that it hasn’t been corrupted over the years ?
- 36. Can I trustthe Bible as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ? Can I trust it that it hasn’t been corrupted over the years ? Can I trust that it really is God’s word ?
- 37. Was it leftfor us, pre-written, on a hillside like the Book of Mormon ? How is the Bible thought to be “God’s Word”?
- 38. Was it dictatedword for word, and thus can only only be truly understood in Arabic, like the Quran ? How is the Bible thought to be “God’s Word”?
- 39.
- 40. ... but they don’tcohere either with the complexity of our world or the personality God has to have!
- 51. None of thisproves the Bible is God’s word; but it does suggest that the Bible is consistent with a relational God who wants to communicate with you and me now ...
- 52. it is not“pre-scientific” nonsense; it is consistent with precisely the kind of universe we now know we live in
- 53. God inspired peopleto write the Bible God helps people read the Bible
- 54. Can I trustthe Bible as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ? Can I trust it that it hasn’t been corrupted over the years ? Can I trust that it really is God’s word ?
- 55. Can I trustthe Bible as a faithful record of events that happened so long ago ? Can I trust it that it hasn’t been corrupted over the years ? Can I trust that it really is God’s word ? Can I trust it to lead me to God and to guide me in living ?
- 56. billions of peopledo, because the Bible speaks at so many levels on so many subjects and in so many ways
- 59. what was spokenin one context will speak in a new context because God continues to speak through what he has spoken
- 60. Open up toGod the Father you are reading humbly and inquiringly as a child Pay attention to Jesus the Son he is the final revelation and interpreter of the whole Connect through God the Holy Spirit feel for, and think about God’s message and leading for you today How to read the Bible
Editor's Notes
- #6 People kept them safe, they revered them, they hid them, they preserved them
- #8 Much more reliable than modern photocopiers! Not many people could read and write – so there was no such thing as sloppy handwriting; everything was done meticulously The scribes workers in schools – their work was checked rigorously – crossing out was not allowed, especially in a sacred text. It was an expensive process: if you made a mistake, the whole parchment had to be ditched; if you made a mistake in the name of God, which was considered holy, then the whole scroll was thrown away – you were close to a disciplinary hearing!
- #9 That’s why, when it comes to Julius Caesar, even though the oldest manuscripts we have of his reign date from 1,000 years AFTER his reign, and we only have 10 copies of these – historians are very confident that they have been reliably copied over the centuries, and therefore reliably tell us about those events.
- #10 That’s why, when it comes to Julius Caesar, even though the oldest manuscripts we have of his reign date from 1,000 years AFTER his reign, and we only have 10 copies of these – historians are very confident that they have been reliably copied over the centuries, and therefore reliably tell us about those events.
- #11 Similarly when we think about Plato, who lived 500 years before Christ, and for whom the oldest remaining documents are 1700 years after his life.
- #12 Similarly when we think about Plato, who lived 500 years before Christ, and for whom the oldest remaining documents are 1700 years after his life.
- #13 Or think of Tacitus – a key historian from the time of Christ.
- #14 Or think of Tacitus – a key historian from the time of Christ.
- #16 The oldest fragments can be dated to within 50 years of Jesus life, with most of the rest dating from within just 150-300 years of Jesus life. And there are about25,000 of them for comparison, one with another
- #17 The oldest fragments can be dated to within 50 years of Jesus life, with most of the rest dating from within just 150-300 years of Jesus life. And there are about25,000 of them for comparison, one with another
- #18 The oldest fragments can be dated to within 50 years of Jesus life, with most of the rest dating from within just 150-300 years of Jesus life. And there are about25,000 of them for comparison, one with another
- #21 And imagine that four copies are made of that work, and taken to four different libraries or owners, in different cities.
- #22 And imagine that four copies are made of that work, and taken to four different libraries or owners, in different cities.
- #23 Now imagine that in each place, four more copies are carefully made by hand, with three of each being taken to new locations.
- #24 Over time, the original and the first copies get worn out, or stolen, or destroyed by fire...
- #25 So how can we tell whether this more recent copy is accurate? We no longer have the original to compare it to!
- #26 So how can we tell whether this more recent copy is accurate? We no longer have the original to compare it to!
- #27 These two copies have been found hundreds of miles apart. We know they weren’t copied from each other. So they were copied from the generation before.
- #28 These two copies have been found hundreds of miles apart. We know they weren’t copied from each other. So they were copied from the generation before.
- #29 These two copies have been found hundreds of miles apart. We know they weren’t copied from each other. So they were copied from the generation before.
- #30 If these copies, call them C and D match well, it can only be because A and B in the generation before them were a good match.
- #31 it can only be because A and B in the generation before them were a good match – and so on, right back to the source.
- #42 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #43 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #44 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #45 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #46 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #47 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #48 Our world is an infinitely complex network of relationships – think of human relationships, think of the biosphere, the ecology of the universe, the effect one thing has on the other, the connectedness of everything...
- #49 But the Bible was neither deposited nor dictated.
- #50 The Bible Breathes Relationship