The Christians vs. Biblical Reliability
I. How do we know the Bible is Reliable?
i. What does reliable mean? ii. Is the Old Testament reliable? iii. Is the New Testament reliable?
II. How does science and archaeology support the Bible?
i. Evidence ii. Are there contradictions?
III. Jesus and the Bible.
i. What does Jesus say about God’s Word? ii. Old Testament records iii. Salvation
IV. Sticking with Scripture.
i. Does our view of the Bible matter? ii. Believing, Feeling, Doing
How do we know the Bible is Reliable?
What does reliable mean?
The dictionary defines reliable as this; “Suitable or fit to be relied on; worthy of dependence or reliance; trustworthy. A reliable witness to the truth of the miracles.” (Dictionary) …show more content…
The New Testament contains 27 books, some of these “books” are considered more like letters. There are four biographies of Jesus; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These are the key books of the Bible we need to focus on in proving our case that the Bible is in fact reliable. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are key in establishing what we know about Jesus including his birth, ministry, teachings, death, resurrection, and more. (Verlarde)
We can compare existing manuscripts and fragments to see if they are reliable when it comes to what they report. (Verlarde) Comparing those copies to those we have today, attempting to locate if there are any significant differences is remarkably easy and we find led credibility through accurate events recorded. Today, we have access to more than 5,000 copies of the entire New Testaments (or extensive portions). (Verlarde) “If the numbers are few and the time gap is wide, the original is harder to reconstruct with confidence. However, if there are many copies and the oldest existing copies are reasonably close in time to the original, the textual critic can be more confident he's pinpointed the exact wording of the autograph.” (Koukl) The New Testament expands from A.D. 50-100, the earliest copy of the complete testament showing up around A.D. 325. Portions and full Books found between A.D. 114 and A.D. 200. No matter the copy, they are extremely accurate and correspond with one