MY BLOG ON PROPHETIC NEWS 
AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE
How do we know that this bible (The Word) is based on fact? Why are we willing to place our faith in it and why were most of Jesus' deciples willing to suffer horrible deaths defending it? Doctor Luke says it best in the first Chapter of his letter to Theopolis,
"Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed."
(Luke 1:1)
Courtesy of The Virtual Bible Museum.
The Bible (The Word) as we commonly know it consists of sixty-six books, which were originally written in three ancient languages. Most of the Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew, with parts of Daniel and Ezra written in Aramaic, a sister language to Hebrew. The New Testament was written in an ancient Greek known as Koine Greek.
Exodus 24 tells us that Moses wrote the first portions of the Bible, specifically it was called The Pentateuch, standing for the first five books. Through Joshua and Samuel the rest of the Old Testament was written down (I Samuel 10:25) Men designated to make copies of the original manuscripts as they deteriorated were called scribes. They followed the instructions in the Talmud, a book of jewish law, in the copying from soaking the animal skins (parchment) in water and lime to writing with a special ink and in a special font, reducing the chance of misreading by future scribes. The scribe had to sing and say aloud each word as he copied it letter by letter. He had to bathe each day before he began copying and when he came to God's name he had to bathe again. Following the completion of a page he totalled up the numerical values of the letters and compared it to the copy. If it did not match exactly, he destroyed it. It then had to be reviewed by three rabbis. It was reviewed again after 30 days to see if it was satisfactorially aging. So we can be sure that we have "exact" copies of the original manuscripts due to the extraordinary respect and care the scribes used.
In 1947 this was documented when a shepard boy found the Qumran Caves, pictured below. This is where the Essenes, a jewish sect considering itself a righteous remnant, hid portions of scrolls of all books of the Bible, except Esther, in clay pots, pictured below. When examined and compared with the copies of the original scrolls, available at the time, virtually no differences were found. Only very slight, insignificant grammatical-type deviations were found. Thus, we have further proof that the Bible that we believe in is the same in context as those books penned by both the old and new testament prophets and apostles.
There is possible new evidence of the existence of Jesus, justly recently brought forth, showing that a unique person of this name existed circa 63 AD, from carvings on a buriel box of James, possibly the brother of Jesus. This could be extra-biblical proof of His existence other than the Gospels. If we are truly in the end of the "End Times," should we expect even more discoveries of this nature? Click on Jesus for more information on this fascinating article. These are truly exciting times that we live in.
Courtesy of The Virtual Bible Museum.
The following is a copy of a portion of a Hebrew Torah scroll that is over 300 years old.
Courtesy of The Virtual Bible Museum.
OLD TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS (Courtesy of John Hagee Prophecy Study Bible)
As stated previously, the Hebrew Bible has come down to us through the scrupulous care of the ancient scribes who copied the original text in successive generations. By the 6th century the scribes were succeeded by a group known as the Masoretes, who continued to preserve them for another 500 years in a form known as the Masoretic Text. Babylonia, Palestine and Tiberias wer the main centers of Masoretic activity; but by the 10th century the Masoretes of Tiberias, led by the family of ben Asher, gained the ascendancy. Through subsequent editions, the ben Asher text became in the 12th century the only recognized form of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Daniel Bomberg printed the first Rabbinic Bible in 1516-17; that work was followed in 1524-25 by a 2nd edition prepared by Jacob ben Chayyim and also published by Bomberg. The text of ben Chayyim was adopted in most sbusequent Hebrew Bibles, including those used by the Kng James translators. It was used for the first 2 editions of the Biblia Hebraica, by Rudolph Kittel, in 1906 and 1912. Paul Kahle, in 1937, published a 3rd edition of Biblia Hebraica, based on the oldest dated manuscript of the ben Asher text, the Leningrad Manuscript B19a (A.D. 1008), which Kahle regarded as superior to that used by ben Chayyim.
For the New King James Version the text used was the 1967/1977 Stuttgart edition of Biblia Hebraica, with frequent comparisons being made with the Bomberg edition of 1524-25. The Septuagint (Greek) Version of the Old Testament and the Latin Vulgate were consulted. In additon to referring to a variety of ancient versions of the Hebrew Scriptures, the New King James Version also draws on the resources of relevant manuscripts from the Dead Sea caves. In the few places where the Hebrew is so obscure that the King James followed one of the versions, but where information is now available to resolve the problems, the New King James Version follows the Hebrew text. Significant variations are recorded in footnotes.
NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS (Courtesy of Halley's Bible Handbook)
The original manuscripts of all the New Testament books, as far as is known, have been lost. Copies began to be made for other churches and copies of copies, generation after generation, as the older ones wore out. Papyrus, the common writing material in use, was made of slices of the water plant that grew in Egypt. Two slices, one vertical, the other horizontal, were pressed together and polished. Ink was made of charcoal, gum and water. Single sheets were used for short compostions and for longer sheets, they were fastened, side to side, to form rolls (30 ft. long by 9 or 10 inches high).
In the 2nd century the books began to be made up in "Codex" form, that is modern book form, in which any number of leaves could be put into one volume, with numbered pages.
Papyrus was not very durable and became brittle with age or rotted with dampness, and soon wore out; except in Egypt, where the dry climate and shifting sands have preserved for the discovery in our own times an amazing collection of ancient documents.
In the 4th century Papyrus was replaced with Vellum, parchment made from skins, which was much more durable and made up in book form. Until recent discovery of the Egyptian Papyri, all known extant manuscripts of the Bible were on Vellum.
With the invention of Printing in the 15th century the making of manuscript Bibles ceased. There are now in existence about 4,000 known manuscripts of the Bible, or parts of the Bible, made between the 2nd and 15th centuries. This seems few to us, but it is far more than the manuscripts of any other ancient writings. There is not a complete known copy of Homer earlier than A.D. 1300; nor of Herodotus earlier than A.D. 1000. Here is an update from the "John Hagee Prophecy Study Bible": Over 5,000 Greek, 8,000 Latin, and many more manuscripts in other languages attest the integrity of the New Testament.
The Vellum manuscripts now known are called "Uncials" and "Cursives." The Uncials, numbering about 160 and made between the 4th and 10th centuries, were written in large captial letters. The Cursives, made between the 10th and 15th centuries, were written in small running letters linked together. The Uncials, being more ancient, are far more valuable.
The three oldest, completest, best known and most valuable manuscripts are: the Sinaitic, Vatican and Alexandrian, which were originally complete Bibles.
The Sinaitic Manuscript (Codex Sinaiticus) was found by the German Scholar, Tischendorf (1844), at thet Monastery of St. Catherined on Mt. Sinai. He found 43 leaves of vellum pages with Greek writing, on one trip in a trash can ready to be burned. On a third trip in 1853, he discovered the rest of the manuscript. It was secured by the Imperial Library in St. Peterburg, where it remained until 1933, when it was sold to the British Museum for $ 500,000. Containing 199 leaves of the Old Testament and the entire New Testament (the only ancient manuscript) and was made in the first half of the 4th century.
The Vatican Manuscript, from the 4th century, was in the Vatican Library since 1481 and has some fragments of the New Testament missing.
The Alexandrian Manuscript, from the 5th century, was in the British Museum since 1627. It contains the entire Bible with some fragments missing.
And from the "John Hagee Prophecy Study Bible": There is only 1 basic New Testament used by Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox, by conservatives and liberals. Minor variations in hand copying have appeared through the centuries, before mechanical printing began about A.D. 1450.
Some variations exist in the spelling of Greek words, in word order, and in similar details. These ordinarily do not show up in translation and do not affect the sense of the text in any way. Other manuscript differences, regarding the omission or inclusion of a word or a clause, as well as two paragraphs in the Gospels, should not overshadow the overwhelming degree of agreement which exists among the ancient records. Bible readers may be assured that the most important differences in the English New Testament of today are due, not to manuscript divergence, but to the way in which translators view the task of translation: How literally should the text be rendered? How does the translator view the matter of bibilical inspiration? Does the tranlator adopt a paraphrase when a litreal rendering would be quite clear and more to the point? The New King James Version follows the historic precedent of the Authorized Version in maintaining a literal approach to translation, except where the idiom of the original language occasionally cannot be translated directly into our tongue.
The King James New Testament was based on the traditional text of the Greek-speaking churches first published in 1516, and later called the Textus Receptus or Received Text. Although based on relatively few available manuscripts, these were representative of many more which existed at the time but only became known later. In the late nineteenth century, B. Westcott and F. Hort taught that this text had been officially edited by the 4th century church, but a total lack of historical evidence for this event has forced a revision of the theory. It is now widely held that the Byzantine Text that largely supports the Textus Receptus has as much right as the Alexandrian or any other tradition to be weighed in determining the text of the New Testament. Those readings in the Textus Receptus which have weak support are indicated in the footnotes as being opposed by both critical and majority texts.
THE SUPERNATURAL ORIGIN OF BIBLICAL TEXTS
(Courtesy of Chuck Missler of Koinonia House )
Why do we believe the Bible is accurate? Is it more than just a history book? What makes it different from all other religious books? Over the years we have been asked many questions concerning the accuracy of the Bible. Unfortunately many Christians do not know how to answer these commonly asked questions. So today we are going to examine how God authenticates His message.
In the 20th century we have witnessed one of the most remarkable discoveries in recorded history: the discovery that the universe is finite. The implications of this discovery are indeed staggering. Beginning with Albert Einstein in 1903, twentieth-century physicists have demonstrated that space-time and matter had a finite, simultaneous beginning.
Prior to this discovery, atheistic scientists and philosophers rested comfortably on the notion that the universe was eternal. Consequently, a universe without a beginning needed no cause, it just existed. However, a universe that has a beginning either created itself (a logical and scientific absurdity) or it was caused to exist by a Being who preceded it. By definition, that means a transcendent Creator, One who exists outside time and space.
A transcendent Creator presents some interesting possibilities. Because a transcendent Creator possesses the sufficient means to act in our space-time domain, He also has the capability to get a message to us. The Bible claims to be that message. The Bible authenticates that its text is an extraterrestrial, supernatural message system from a transcendent Creator in several ways. Not the least of which is its scientific accuracy.
The Bible declares that God is omniscient (all-knowing). He possesses a perfect understanding of the physical universe. Consequently, we would expect any book claiming to be the word of God to be without error or contradiction when it speaks on scientific issues. Well, not only is the Bible 100 percent accurate regarding scientific phenomenon, it revealed many scientific facts thousands of years before they were discovered by scientists (i.e. that time, space, and matter are finite, the universe is expanding, the spherical nature of the earth, the laws of thermodynamics, the oceanic currents, etc.)
Throughout the Bible’s text there are highly specific and accurate statements regarding the laws of physics, the nature of our solar system, the planet earth, and its life forms that were penned centuries before this scientific knowledge was discovered by the scientific community. This phenomenon, called scientific foreknowledge, is present throughout the text of the Bible and is a powerful hint of supernatural authorship.
Throughout the Bible we find the fingerprints of a supernatural message system. Numerous design features in the Biblical text defy coincidence and demonstrate that the Bible, which consists of sixty-six books, penned by forty authors over thousands of years, is an integrated message system. Because God exists outside our space-time domain, He is able to see, in effect, the beginning and the end of our time domain simultaneously. Consequently, the Bible authenticates that its message is of extra-dimensional origin through predictive prophecy (i.e. by writing history in advance).
Astonishing evidence has gradually accumulated in the fields of archaeology, astronomy, physics, and biology which confirm the scientific and historical accuracy of the Bible, the supernatural origin of its text and the fact that it has been preserved virtually unchanged for over two thousand years. No other holy book on planet earth authenticates its message in these ways. For more information on the accuracy of the Bible, and for more examples supporting these claims, check out our series titled The Creator Beyond Time and Space.
Related Links:
• The Creator Beyond Time & Space - MP3 Download - Koinonia House Store
• Technical Articles: Space-Time - Koinonia House Archives
• How We Got Our Bible - MP3 Download - Koinonia House Store
Additional sites detailing the science in the Bible: http://www.myfortress.org/science.html
Science And The Bible
Skeptics tell us that science contradicts the Bible, but all the evidence of the last 200 years refutes that! The truth is: The only science that really contradicts the Bible is bad science. Students on college campuses today believe that science does, indeed, contradict the Bible because of the teaching of biased and uninformed professors. It is high time Christians learned the truth--that though the Bible is not a textbook on science, every one of its claims about the physical universe is true. Throughout history, whenever the Bible has contradicted science--the Bible is not the one that has had to change! In fact, if one looks at a science textbook from 50 or 100 years ago, it is truly amazing to consider the number of things that were stated as the assured results of science, which are now known to be untrue!
For example, 100 years ago it was emphatically stated that the atom could not be split. Yet, we know all too well, as do the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that it can be split, and with powerful consequences! No, the Bible is not a science textbook--it is a narrative of God's reaching out to a lost world by redeeming it. However, whatever the Bible says about science, history, geography, or anything else, it is true--precisely because its Author is God. It is our job to be able to explain that to the skeptics who come our way.
THE INNUMERABLE STARS:
For centuries, scholars taught that the stars were very limited in number and could be counted without a great deal of trouble. Hiparchus, in 150 B.C., said that there were less than 3,000 stars. Ptolemy, the famed astronomer of Egypt in 150 A.D., said he had counted precisely 1,056 stars. Yet Jeremiah 33:22--which was written 2,600 years ago--told us that "the host of heaven cannot be numbered." It was not until Galileo invented the telescope that he realized the stars were innumerable (in 1608 A.D.)
A WATERY EARTH:
In 1000 B.C. Solomon said that the earth had at one time been under water, yet vast numbers of scientists believed that to be absolutely untrue until modern times. In 1885 geologists first found evidence that all land surfaces had been under water--and it is clear now that even the oldest and highest mountains show traces of sedimentary origin.
CHANNELS IN THE SEA:
In 2000 B.C. the Bible first said that there are channels in the oceans (Job 38:16), but science didn't know that for thousands of years. They thought the floor of the ocean was made up of flat sandy beds like the desert. It wasn't until 1873, when the British ship Challenger examined the sea bottom, that scientists discovered there were vast channels and recesses--some as much as 5 1/2 miles deep and greater than the Grand Canyon--at the bottom of the sea.
SPRINGS IN THE DEEP:
God asks Job (Job 38) if he had entered into the "springs of the sea." Why, such things were unheard of! Yet Moses confirms their existence 500 years later. Science didn't confirm it until 1930, when deepsea diving equipment allowed them to discover underground rivers and in 1945, when huge springs were discovered in the depths of the oceans.
WHAT CAUSES RAIN?:
Job 38:25-27 reveals that lightening causes rain! But science didn't agree until 4,000 years later when, in 1964, it was discovered that the discharge of lightening, particularly bolts that travel from the earth up to the clouds, changed the electrical polarity of rain droplets, causing them to coalesce as raindrops and fall to the earth. Tests show that without this electrical charge, these droplets simply ricochet off one another harmlessly.
THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS:
The Bible teaches that all creation ended after the 6th day (Genesis 2:1-2; Hebrews 4:3). That means there was no more matter, energy, heavens, or earth being created after that time. However, through the centuries various writers and scientists contradicted that concept until the 1840's, when Robert Mayer formulated the Law of Mass and Energy Conservation--known as the first Law of Thermodynamics. It states that the total of all mass and energy in the universe remains constant. One form of energy or mass may be changed into another, but the total cannot be increased or decreased. This was an incredible discovery that once and for all confirmed what the Bible said 1,450 years before Christ. Shortly after that, they realized that though mass and energy remain constant, they are constantly decaying. The Bible states this in Isaiah 51:6, Psalms 102:26, and Hebrews 1:1. But it was not until the 1800's that the Second Law of Thermodynamics--the Law of Entropy--confirmed it with science. It was found that there is a constant amount of energy in the universe, but in all kinds of energy transferences there is a loss of useful energy. For example, in creating heat, the sun is diminishing at the rate of 4,600,000 tons per second! And it is not just the sun; the Law of Entropy says all things are growing older, wearing out, running down, and decaying. The Bible knew that thousands of years ago.
WHAT IS THE UNIVERSE MADE OF?:
There are a number of theories, but the Bible says it was made out of nothing which appears. In other words, it was made out of things that are invisible (Hebrews 11:3). It wasn't until approximately 100 years ago that W.C. Roentgen discovered the X-ray and in the 1920's when the electron microscope came into existence, that science ascertained that the universe was literally made of invisible atoms.
WHAT HOLDS THE ATOM TOGETHER?:
The parts of the nucleus of the atom are so charged that they should repel each other--to the degree that every atom in the universe ought to be engaged in an atomic explosion! However, scientists have found something they call a "force" which holds atoms together and keeps them from exploding. Science can't even explain this force; they have merely given it a name. What is it? The Bible says it is Christ that is keeping the universe from flying apart (Colossians 1:17)
DIVISIONS OF CREATION:
The first chapter of Genesis tells us there are 3 divisions of created things; vv. 1-10 tell of the origin of minerals; vv. 11-13 tell of the origin of the vegetable kingdom; and vs. 20-31 tell of the origin of the animal kingdom. These were not known in any of the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece, Asyria, or Babylonia but they were discovered by Carlous Linnaeus in modern times.
ONE BLOOD:
It is obvious today that all mankind is of one blood, because we can donate and help one another with our blood. The Bible stated it in Acts 17:26, but science didn't concur until thousands of years later. As recently as 1775, anthropology taught that there were five incompatible races of men with different kinds of blood. It was not until 1900 that Karl Landsteiner discovered plasma and helped science understand the Common Blood Theory--that all blood was the same.
(Does Science contradict the Bible? Dr. D. James Kennedy) Science And The Bible
The conflict between science and the Bible has been bitter, especially in the last 150 years. Most reasons for this hostility relate to what one perceives to be the nature and procedure of either domain. For many, the alleged conflict is resolved by separating the two spheres entirely. This is sometimes done by limiting the role of religion or the Bible to matters of faith and science to matters of fact. Specifically, some Christians in science argue that the Bible tells us “Who and Why” (God), and science deals with “How.” However, this neat separation of the domains of science and the Bible is unsatisfactory since the Bible does not so limit itself to questions of Who and Why. It often makes assertions of fact about the scientific world. Neither does science limit itself merely to questions of How.
It also deals with origins. From a Christian perspective the relation between the Bible and Nature is the relation between two revelations of God, special revelation and general revelation. The first is found in God’s revelation in Scripture and the latter in his revelation in Nature. Between these two, when properly understood, there are no conflicts, since God is the Author of both, and he cannot contradict himself. However, since scientific understanding is merely a fallible human understanding of Nature and since Bible scholars have only a fallible interpretation of infallible Scripture, it is understandable that there will be contradictions in these areas. The situation can be diagrammed as follows:
1. Scripture----no conflict
2. Theology----some conflict
Biblical theology involves human understanding of the biblical text. As such, it is subject to misunderstanding and error. Likewise, science is fallible human attempts at understanding the universe. So conflict is inevitable. For example, most scientists believe the universe is billions of years old. Some Bible scholars hold that it is only thousands of years old. Obviously, both cannot be right.
Principles of Reconciliation
Before areas of specific conflicts are noticed, several guidelines are useful to the nature and procedure of both disciplines. Either Group Is Subject to Error.
Informed persons from both sides, both Bible interpreters and scientists, have made mistakes. Many Bible scholars once believed the sun revolved around the earth (as did many scientists); some believed the earth to be square. But they were wrong.
Likewise, the model of an eternal cosmos has been discarded in favor of the big bang model. Evolutionary theories about inheriting acquired characteristics have been overthrown. Either Group Is Subject to Correction Another important principle is that both areas are subject to correction by the other. For example, scientific fact has refuted the flat-earth theory. Hence, any interpretation that takes verses about the “four corners of the earth” as literal depictions of geography are wrong. Science has proven them wrong. Likewise, scientists who insist that the universe is eternal hold a theory that has been proven false, both by science and in critiques by Christians.
Not all conflicts are so easily resolved. Very few things are proven with certainty in science. Some things are only probable or highly probable. For example, that the earth moves around the sun is not absolutely proven. This theory fits the facts as they are known and is a highly probable scientific interpretation of Nature that conflicts with a disputable interpretation of Scripture, then we should assume the latter is wrong. And vice versa.
For example, macro-evolution is disputable and the creation of the universe, first life, and new life forms is highly probable. Hence, creation should be accepted as true and macro-evolution rejected.
The Bible Is Not a Science Textbook.
One principle that some overzealous Christian apologists sometimes forget is that, while the Bible makes no scientific mistakes, neither is it a science textbook. It does not speak in technical scientific terms nor with precision. It uses round numbers. It employs observational, rather than astronomical, language. The Bible only affirms partial truths in the various areas of science. It does not teach much geometry, any algebra, or trigonometry. One cannot assume conflicts without taking these factors into consideration.
Science Is Constantly Changing
Science understandings change continually. That means an apologist of years ago who succeeded in reconciling the Bible to some view of science might have been absolutely wrong since there wasn’t a real conflict to reconcile. Perfect conformity may be wrong today as well, since science may change tomorrow. Given that science is a tentative and progressive discipline, never reaching a final conclusion on everything, it behooves us not to assume that there are scientific errors in the Bible unless:
1. Something is known for certain to be a scientific fact, and
2. It conflicts with an interpretation of Scripture that is beyond all doubt.
For example, it is beyond any reasonable doubt that the Bible teaches that a theistic God exists. Hence, one would have to prove that it was a scientific fact beyond all uncertainty that God did not exist in order to show a real conflict. It is unlikely that real conflicts between science and the Bible will ever be demonstrated. Some apparent conflicts deserve note, along with some probable and even highly probable views of modern science that find an amazing parallel in the Bible. It is to these that we first turn.
Bible and Science Converge
Given that not much scientific information was known in Bible times, the Bible speaks with considerable scientific credibility, an evidence of its supernatural nature.
Origins, Universe had a beginning
The very first verse of the Bible proclaims that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It was common in ancient views to consider the universe eternal, yet the Bible taught that it had a beginning. This is precisely what most scientists now believe in accepting the Big Bang theory. Agnostic astrophysicist Robert Jastrow wrote that “three lines of evidence—the motions of the galaxies, the laws of thermodynamics, and the life story of the stars—pointed to one conclusion: All indicated that the Universe had a beginning” (God and the Astronomers, 111).
Order of events
Genesis 1 also indicates a progressive creation, universe, followed by formless earth, followed by what happened to give form to the earth. This is a much more scientifically sophisticated conception than held by the common ancient creation story. The Bible affirms that God said in the beginning, “Let there be light. And there was light” (Gen. 1:3). Jastrow wrote of the parallel of this statement with modern science, “the details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the chain of events leading to man commence suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy” (ibid., 14).
No new matter is being created
The Bible declared from the beginning that creation is complete. God rested from his work (Gen. 2:2) and is still at rest (Heb. 4:4f.). In short, no new matter (energy) is coming into existence. This is precisely what the First Law of Thermodynamics declares, namely, that the amount of actual energy in the universe remains constant.
Universe is running down
According to the second law of thermodynamics, the universe is running out of useable energy. It is literally growing old. This is precisely what the Psalmist said: “In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded” (Ps. 102:25–27). Genesis declares that life first appeared in the sea (Gen. 1:21), and only later on land (1:26–27). This accords with the view that multicellular life teamed in the Cambrian waters before it multiplied on land. Life produces after its kind. In Genesis 1:24 God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” According to agnostic paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, “Most species exhibit no directional change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking much the same as when they disappear; morphological change is usually limited and directionless” (Gould, “Evolution’s Erratic Pace,” 13–14). In that fossil record, as in Genesis, human beings were the last to appear.
Humans made from the earth
Unlike ancient myths or the Qur’an, which claims that humans were made from a “clot of congealed blood” (see Sura 23:14), the Bible states that “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). Further, it adds, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19). According to science, the constituent elements of the human body are the same as those found in the earth.
Earth Sciences
Water returns to its source. Scripture affirms that “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again” (Eccles. 1:7; cf. Job 37:16). While the author may not have been aware of the exact process of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, his description is in perfect harmony with these processes.
The earth is round
Isaiah spoke of God who “sits enthroned above the circle of the earth” (40:22). This is a remarkably accurate description for an eighth-century b.c. prophet (see Isaiah, Deuteronomy). And Solomon had given the same truth in the tenth-century b.c. (Prov.8:27).
The earth hangs in space
In an era when it was common to believe the sky was a solid dome, the Bible accurately speaks of God spreading out the northern skies over empty space and suspending the earth over nothing (Job 26:7). The Bible is not only compatible with true scientific findings, but it anticipated many of them. Scientific knowledge is compatible with the truths of Scripture.
Other scientific findings
Many other things discovered by modern science were stated in the Bible hundreds and even thousands of years in advance. These include the fact that: (1) the sea has paths and channels (2 Sam. 22:16; Ps. 8:8; Prov. 8:28); (2) the sea has boundaries (Prov. 8:29); (3) life is in the blood (Lev. 17:11); (4) disease can be spread by physical contact (Lev. 13).
Geisler, N. L. 1999. Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Baker reference library .
Baker Books: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Can the Bible be Trusted in Science and History?
Some have suggested that Scripture can always be trusted on moral matters, but it is not always correct on historical matters. They rely on it in the spiritual domain, but not in the sphere of science. If true, however, this would render the Bible ineffective as a divine authority, since the spiritual is often inextricably interwoven with the historical and scientific. A close examination of Scripture reveals that the scientific (factual) and spiritual truths of Scripture are often inseparable. For example, one cannot separate the spiritual truth of Christ’s resurrection from the fact that His body permanently vacated the tomb and later physically appeared (Matt. 28:6; 1 Cor. 15:13–19). Likewise, if Jesus was not born of a biological virgin, then He is no different from the rest of the human race on whom the stigma of Adam’s sin rests (Rom. 5:12). Likewise, the death of Christ for our sins cannot be detached from His shedding literal blood on the cross, for “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22). And Adam’s existence and fall cannot be a myth. If there were no literal Adam and no actual fall, then the spiritual teaching about inherited sin and eventual or physical death are wrong (Rom.5:12). Historical reality and the theological doctrine stand or fall together.
Also, the doctrine of the Incarnation is inseparable from the historical truth about Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:1, 14). Further, Jesus’ moral teaching about marriage was based on His teaching about God’s joining a literal Adam and Eve together in marriage (Matt. 19:4–5). In each of these cases the moral or theological teaching is devoid of its meaning apart from the historical or factual event. If one denies that the literal space-time event occurred, then there is no basis for believing the scriptural doctrine built upon it.
Jesus often directly compared OT events with important spiritual truths, such as His death and resurrection which were related to Jonah and the great fish (Matt. 12:40). Or, His second coming as compared to the days of Noah (Matt. 24:37–39). Both the occasion and the manner of that comparison make it clear that Jesus was affirming the historicity of those OT events. Indeed, Jesus asserted to Nicodemus, “If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12) In short, if the Bible does not speak truthfully about the physical world, then it cannot be trusted when it speaks about the spiritual world. The two are intimately related. Inspiration includes not only all that the Bible explicitly teaches, but also everything the Bible touches. This is true whether the Bible is touching upon history, science, or mathematics. Whatever the Bible declares, is true—whether it is a major point or a minor point. The Bible is God’s Word, and God does not deviate from the truth in any point. All the parts are as true as the whole that they comprise.
(Geisler, N. L., & Howe, T. A. 1992. When critics ask : A popular handbook on Bible difficulties . Victor Books: Wheaton, Ill.)
Some believe the Bible has been corrupted over time. It isn't true and here is how we know it isn't.
The last books of the New Testament were written by about 100 A.D. by the apostle John who was still alive at that time. We have over 5300 partial or complete manuscripts of the New Testament penned prior to fourth century A.D. Though not assembled into what we now know now as the New Testament until 300 A.D., those canonical writings of Jesus' apostles were being read all over the known world. Though it is disputed by some Messianic Jews, the New Testament manuscripts were originally written in Koine` Greek and then copied by early Christians into every language known to the world. Our major manuscripts are in Greek, yes, but we also have important early manuscripts in Latin, Syriac, Aramaic, Hebrew, and several other lesser-known languages. We have one small piece of the Gospel of John, found on the Egyptian island of Elephantine, that is early enough to be a piece of the original.
It is impossible to support any kind of later corrupting when we have those 5300 early manuscripts that prove otherwise. In fact, because of this breadth of early manuscript support, textual scholars have concluded -- that for all practical purposes -- we have the original documents themselves. For a claim of tampering to be seriously considered, one would have to show that scribes from Syria, Babylonia, Galatia, Asia, India, Rome, India, Egypt, Greece, Carthage, Tarshish and Macedonia -- to name a few -- all made the same mistake, at the same time, for the same doctrinal purpose. An utterly ridiculous idea.
We have similar textual support for the authenticity of the Old Testament. Until a few years ago, the earliest documents we had for the Old Testament were later copies of a 70 B.C. Septuigent in Greek and a Massoretic Text in Hebrew that could be positively dated to the ninth century A.D.. However, with manuscript discoveries at Qumran made in the late 1940's (the Isaiah scroll, the book of Daniel, the book of Jubilees, the Temple scrolls, etc. etc.), some of which could be dated to the third century B.C.. Internal evidence within one Daniel scroll dates it at 350 B.C. As a result, we can now state with some certainty that there has been no tampering with the canonical Old Testament manuscripts between 300 B.C. and 900 A.D..
Despite the span of over a thousand years, the canonical manuscripts are virtually identical !!!!
To suggest there was tampering to the Old Testament documents prior to 300 B.C. shows a misunderstanding of Israelite scribal methodology and of their reverence for the Scriptures. First of all, biblical scrolls were written on the inside only to prevent any smudging or smearing that might lead to a misreading of the text. When being copied -- besides many parallel readings -- the copy was compared with the original in every way humanly possible.
The words in each column were counted and then the letters. The first, last, and middle letter and word in each column had to be identical to the original. If the number of words or the number of letters of the copy differed from the original, the copy was destroyed. Then they counted the words and letters in the whole document. They divided the document into quarters and into eighths. The first, last and middle letter in each section had to be the same. The number of words and the number of letters in each section had to be the same. The middle word and the middle letter in each section had to be the same, and they had to be the same for the whole document. If not, the copy was destroyed. Not corrected, but destroyed!
Since there is absolutely no textual or historic evidence that the Old Testament was ever corrupted, any claim of editing must have been made by those religious authorities who didn't like what the Old Testament taught. There are some who claim late-dating for Old Testament prophets, but that claim is unfounded, as well. The books of Moses, originally penned in the 15th century B.C. contain Egyptian words and idioms that fell out on the usage a few centuries later. When the Hebrews entered Canaan, Canaanite words appeared in Scripture, when in contact with the Assyrians, Assyrian words appeared in Scripture. During the Babylonian captivity, when Daniel and Ezekiel were written, Babylonian words and Babylonian idioms appeared in Scripture. So rest assured, these canonical books were contemporary books, written when the prophets claimed they were, and they remain unchanged to this day.
Ellis Skolfield
http://www.ellisskolfield.com
The bible spans a period from Moses in about 1446 BC, to the book of Revelation, written around the end of the first century. Over that period mankind developed from desert dwelling nomads, to advanced nations that could follow religious law, as well as secular laws of kings and emperors.
It is important to note that parts of the Old Testament are purely historical record, that in no way imply God's tacit approval, of what was recorded of those events. These portions simply chronicle events that took place.
In spite of it's near 1600 year history, and the large volume of prophets, and legions of witnesses, God's Word requires no abrogation.
It should be apparent that the Quran’s voluminous abrogation, required for a record of recitations of an illiterate, that were collected over the brief span of just 23 years, demonstrates not divine revelation, but the changing whims of it's author. A good example is the convenient "revelation" that allowed Mohammed to take his stepson's wife (Sura 33:37), or allowed him all the wives he wanted, but only for him.
The Al-Nasikh wal-Mansoukh - the abrogator and the abrogated - is the Arabic language book that details what is abrogated by what. More on abrogation.