QUICK START USER'S GUIDE FOR THE BIBLE

IS THE BIBLE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE? How reliable is the evidence to support it? In the first half of the 20th century, until 1948, the oldest copy of the Bible was dated after the ninth century AD. Of course this provided much fuel for the fire of criticism. However, in 1948, a little Arab boy was throwing rocks (just like a boy) in the area of Quumron, where there are thousands of caves. One rock went into the opening of a cave and the sound that came out had a sound as though the stone had hit something hollow, like a clay pot. The boy investigated and found a number of clay pots. Inside these pots were parchments containing Hebrew writing. They were later identified to have been placed there by the Essenes in the first century AD. The Essenes were a Jewish sect that lived in that area. Within this find was a complete copy of the scroll of Isaiah. This particular document is on display in a special place in Israel. The amazing thing about this 2000 year old document was that it was identical to the book of Isaiah found in our modern Bibles. There were no errors in copying found. Some the criticism that the Bible was inaccurate began to be disproved. Since that time other documents have verified the authenticity of the Bible. Before we launch into the actual study of the Bible, it is important to attempt to answer this question. If the Bible is not what it claims to be, it should be discounted and considered as any other literature. However, if it is accurate, its claims and advice should not be taken lightly. Many books have been written which pretend to be what they are not. However, the Bible has withstood hundreds of attempts to discredit it as historically inaccurate. Time after time the spade of the archaeologist has uncovered the ruins of a city that only the Bible had mentioned. OVER 20,000 NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS There are over 24,000 New Testament manuscripts in existence. There are more New testament documents than any other manuscript. The works of Shakespeare are more difficult to validate than the New Testament. It is through the study of these manuscripts that we have the reliable New Testament translations in circulation today.