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Q. The Bible is just a collection of letters and documents written by men. How do we know that what they are writing is true? Does any scientific evidence exist to prove their validity?
Even if the Bible was just a collection of letters and documents that were written by men, it would be one of the most cohesive, unified, and historically accurate literary works ever compiled. The concept of 40 authors compiling information over the course of 1600 years to produce a literary work that is so consistent with itself is a literary wonder. No other book ever written can boast such consistency, comprehensiveness, and accuracy.
The Internal Test
The first step to take is to look at the Bible internally. What does it say about itself? Well, it says that “scripture” is literally God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). It also says that its words never came by the will of man, but by holy men of God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). It also claims to be perfect (the Law of the Lord is perfect – Psalm 19:7), pure (Your Word is very pure – 119:140), eternal (the Word of the Lord endures forever – Isaiah 40:8), and that God is preserving it (till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled – Matt. 5:18). Through the use of oral tradition (an ancient way of meticulously and carefully passing information along verbally) and manuscripts (written methods), God used holy men to be his stenographers.
Prophecy is also something that is evident in Scripture as well. Many things were written about in the Old Testament that wouldn’t happen for hundreds and sometimes over a thousand years. Some examples to note are: Isaiah 7:14 tells us that “Immanuel” will be born of a virgin. 700 years later, Matthew 3;14 records that event transpiring; Micah 5:2 tells us that Jesus will be born (out of the all the cities in the world) in Bethlehem some 700 years later. Matthew 2:1 once again confirms this fact that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem.
The External Test
Next, one should look at external evidence of the Bible. Many people, even though they are presented with sound argumentation regarding the Bible’s internal proof, need more than that.
Historians who lived in Jesus’ day wrote about the events that centered around Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. For example, there are some that dispute the Jewish historian Josephus’ claims regarding Jesus but it is documented that he said in his work The Antiquities of the Jews…
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”
Josephus was born in 37 AD which makes him a contemporary of the early church Apostles. Seeing as though Josephus writes about the events that the entire Bible center around, and that he was an outsider (meaning he did not believe that Jesus was God, the Messiah, or the Son of God) leads one to deduce further that the Biblical authors were on to something and in fact inspired by God to write down what they did.
More external evidence lies in the historical names, dates, and locations of the Biblical stories. For example, Cyrus, the king Persia in the 6th century BC, is a historical figure who is mentioned more than 20 times in Scripture. Isn’t it also an interesting fact that the Bible was written in languages that are still spoken today? Many of the ancient languages are not spoken today but Hebrew and Greek are two that stood the test of time. Probably not a coincidence.
The Bibliographical Test
Finally, one should look at the Bible from a bibliographical stand point.
There are over 20,000 ancient Biblical manuscripts that exist today. No other ancient book can make that claim. In fact, the closest that a book comes to the number of manuscripts is Homer’s Illiad, in which there are 643 copies.
With the Dead Sea Scroll findings in the Qumran caves in the winter of 1946-47, there is more bibliographical evidence than ever before. Manuscripts were found that were dated before the time of Christ…these same manuscripts, such as an entire copy of Isaiah, foretell the coming of Jesus, which validates the prophetic nature of the Great Scroll (as it is called), which (as was alluded to) was written over a hundred years before Jesus even walked the earth.
There is so much more proof that can validate the validity of the Bible but in the end, it is a matter of doing the research ourselves in order to come up with further answers. This answer is not the comprehensive end-all, be-all to why the Bible is true in every way. We encourage you, our readers to do your own research and come to your own conclusions, because we believe in truth. We believe that it has been revealed to mankind. And we believe that it is possible to find clear answers.