How We Know The Bible Is Accurate,
Part: 2 & 3!
~This is Very Interesting~


By the accuracy of transmission over the years.
The Dead Sea Scrolls illustrate this:



Prior to their discovery the oldest complete copies of the Hebrew Old Testament in our possession dated from around 900 AD. These texts are called the "Massoretic Text." But when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 we now were able to compare the Massoretic texts with texts 1,000 years older, to see just how carefully the older texts had been transmitted. A committee known as the Essenes copied (the Dead Sea Scrolls. They lived at Qumran from 150 BC to 70 AD When they saw the Roman armies invade circa 66 -70 AD they put the leather scrolls in jars & hid them in caves on the west side of the Dead Sea).





A complete copy of Isaiah 53 with the Massoretic Isaiah revealed 17 difference of letters. Ten of these were differences in spelling, like our 'honor' or 'honour' This obviously made no difference in meaning. Four differences were the absence or presence of the conjunction -- a difference of style only. The last three differences are in the Hebrew word for 'light' which is added after "they shall see" in verse 11. Out of 166 words in this chapter only this one word "light" is really in question, & it does not change the sense of the passage. This is typical of the Dead Sea manuscripts.





Another way we know the Bible is accurate is by the care in transmission of the manuscripts. As mentioned above the Massoretes copies & preserved copies of the Old Testament for many years. One method they used to make sure they copied the Old Testament correctly was to give each letter of the Hebrew alphabet a numerical value, sum each sentence they copied, & then sum the sentence in the text they were copied from. If the totals did not match they knew they made an error. They would then destroy the copy with the error in it, even if it were the last sentence on the scroll!


Remember the printing press had not been invented yet. All copying had to be done by hand.





* * Part 3 * *


1.) The Septuagint proves that the Old Testament prophecies were made hundreds of years before Christ. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament (it is usually abbreviated LXX). Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt (ruled 285-246 BC) ordered 70 Greek & Hebrew scholars to produce the translation, which was completed by 250 BC & contains every book of the Old Testament with the exception of Ester. Thus, we know the prophecies about Christ were written at least 250 years before Christ fulfilled them.





2.) Non-Biblical historians of the first & second centuries mentioned Jesus Christ. Pliny the younger (Plinius Secundus, AD 112), Epistles X.96.


* * One translation may be found in W.M.L. Hutchinson's book, Pliny's Letters, Volume 2, 1915, p. 6156

* * Suetonius (120 AD), Life of Claudius 25.4 One translation may be found in Robert Graves', The Twelve Caesars, 1957, p. 197.

* * Tacitus, Cornelius (55-120 AD?), Annals XV.44. One translation may be found in DR Dudley's, The Annals of Tacitus, 1966, pp. 353-4





The following is a reproduction of the last reference.

Nero looked around for a scapegoat, & infected the most fiendish tortures on a group of people who already hated by the people for their crimes. This was the sect known a Christians. Their founder, one Christus, had been put to death by the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. This checked the abominable superstition for a while, but it broke out again & spread, not merely through Judeah, where it originated, but even to Rome itself, the great reservoir & collecting ground for every kind of depravity & filth. Those who confessed to being Christians were at once arrested, but on their testimony a great crowd of people were convicted, not so much on the charge of arson, but of hatred of the entire human race. They were put to death amid every kind of mockery. Dressed in the skins of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or were crucified, or burned to death: when night came, they served as human torches to provide lights. Jewish historians who mention Jesus include: Flavius Joseph (37-97) in Antiquities, the Talmud, & Teledoth Jesu Gentile historians who mention Jesus include Thallus (52 AD) Emperor Trajan, Emperor Hadrian, Lucian, & Mara Bar-Serapion. Christian historians who mentioned Jesus include: Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Quadratus, & Justin Martyr.





* * The above information is one of the series of tracts my wonderful pastor has written detailing with evidence for the Christian faith & historical accuracy of the Bible. * *