Sir Isaac Newton is quoted saying that “There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any other profound history.” The Bible is indeed a living document, the very word of God. Let us explore three types of evidence to verify this fact. Consider 1) the “manuscript evidence”, 2) knowledge written thousands of years ago that science has proven to be accurate, and 3) the fulfillment prophecies contained in the Bible.
1. Manuscript Evidence
The Bible as we know it initially existed as handwritten manuscripts. Historians analyze manuscripts to determine the authenticity of ancient documents. Today, there are more than 24,000 copies that contain all or portions of the New Testament, dating as far back as 50 AD. This is remarkable! Homer’s Iliad, which is Ancient Greece’s most famous and history’s next best-documented book, has only 643 surviving copies. (In fact, there are more disputed lines in 643 Iliad manuscripts than in all the New Testament manuscripts.) Compare this with the fact that we don’t have ANY manuscripts of any of William Shakespeare’s 37 plays, which were written less than 400 years ago.
2. Ancient Discoveries
Science proves again and again that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Consider three examples.:
Two thousand -five hundred years ago, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the earth as being “round” at a time when everyone believed that it was flat (Isaiah 40:22). History dates the “discovery” of the spherical nature of the world around the 16th century.
During the time of Job, it was believed a god named Atlas held the earth on his shoulders! Nobody believed the earth “hangeth upon nothing” (Job 26:7) Job is the oldest book in the Bible; it was written over 3500 years ago
Ecclesiastes 1:7 says “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.” The writer of Ecclesiastes knew about condensation and evaporation. We call it the water cycle. Galileo is credited for making this discovery in 1630! Ecclesiastes was composed in 1000 B.C.
3. Prophecy
There are a great many prophecies made in the Bible that history records as having come to pass. Here we note just one with several aspects fulfilled in literal detail. To this day the fulfillment of this prophecy is beyond any argument.
Ezekiel 26:1-6,12 says, “. . . the word of the LORD came unto me, saying. . . Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee. . . And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. . . they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.”
Tyre was the powerful city in the ancient kingdom of Phoenicia. This prophecy was given around 586 B.C. Babylon, under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, laid siege to the city for 13 years, literally breaking down the walls and towers, as predicted in Ezekiel’s words. During that time, the citizens of Tyre escaped to an island just offshore, and began rebuilding the city. Babylon had no navy, so Tyre survived the drawn out battle. But in 333 B.C. (250 years later), army of Greece, led by Alexander the Great, laid the “stones, timber and dust” of the city on the mainland “in the midst of the water”, to build a bridge to the island. Tyre was completely destroyed, never to recover. To this day, fishermen can be found “spreading their nets” there to dry, just as the prophecy said.
4. Conclusion
Woodrow Wilson once stated that “When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the Word of God, because you will have found it the key to your own heart, your own happiness, and your own duty.” The more one studies scripture, the clearer one sees the truth, that the Bible is God’s word, revealed to man.
Sources include:
Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, vol. 1, 50-51
Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, Moody, Chicago, Revised and Expanded 1986, 366-67.
