by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
There are several ways to establish the reliability of the Bible.<\/p>\n
One is by manuscript evidence<\/strong>. There are thousands of manuscripts, both whole and partial, of Old and New Testament books that provide harmonized agreement on the teaching of the Bible. Though the original documents are long lost, many of the copies date to within a lifetime of the original author, and the sheer magnitude of the copies attest to their careful preservation.<\/p>\n Another is the archeological evidence<\/strong>. The people, places, and events written are being corroborated almost daily in archeological digs throughout the Middle East.<\/p>\n Yet another is the prophetic evidence<\/strong>. The Bible includes predictions of events that could not be known by guessing or even common sense. For instance, the prophecies concerning Christ’s birth alone number in the hundreds. The odds that just a handful of them could be fulfilled in any one man is statistically staggering. That they were all fulfilled in a specific man, Jesus, is statistically impossible. And yet, they were.<\/p>\n However, perhaps one of the most compelling evidence of the Bible’s truth is its consistent message of salvation<\/strong>. From cover to cover, it is the only holy book compiled that deals with God’s appeal to man for his redemption.<\/p>\n He does, indeed, know the beginning from the end and everything in between.<\/p>\n by Zeke Flores There are several ways to establish the reliability of the Bible. One is by manuscript evidence. There are thousands of manuscripts, both whole and partial, of Old and New Testament books that provide harmonized agreement on the teaching of the Bible. Though the original documents are long lost, many of the copies…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[568,219],"class_list":["post-67214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56723,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-the-bible-been-changed\/","url_meta":{"origin":67214,"position":0},"title":"Has the Bible Been Changed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin We are frequently asked about the reliability of our Bibles. Specifically, how can we be sure that the Bibles we are reading today are true to the original messages delivered so long ago? In particular, can we be sure that the New Testament has not been altered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Bible-Reading-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5364,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-trust-the-text-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":67214,"position":1},"title":"Can We Trust the Text of the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:12-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was discussing with a gentleman about the location of a particular city mentioned in the Bible. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He had found an old map that placed Baal Zephon on the Mediterranean Sea instead of on the edge of the Red Sea. Doesn\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-i-say-you-cant-prove-god-is-real\/","url_meta":{"origin":67214,"position":2},"title":"What if I say you can’t prove God is real?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If religion (Catholicism) is the absolute truth, then how come when questions are asked about it no one can ever answer with facts, only faith and belief? Basically, if I say \"you can't prove God is real\", you can only prove it with faith and belief, no facts. Why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-word-of-the-lord-endures-forever\/","url_meta":{"origin":67214,"position":3},"title":"The Word of the Lord Endures Forever","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton A serious flaw in modern thinking is that you can dismiss the Bible as the authority on moral issues like adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drunkenness, etc. because the Bible has been corrupted and changed over the centuries. They make this argument, not because they looked at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Reading-the-Bible-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95274,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-versus-other-religious-writings\/","url_meta":{"origin":67214,"position":4},"title":"Bible versus Other Religious Writings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton There are two ways to test the validity of a book's claims about itself. There is the external test, which considers the historical accuracy and archeological evidence in its favor.\u00a0Then there is the internal test, which considers prophetic accuracy, unity, harmony, and unusual marks of foreknowledge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94271,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-not-having-the-original-manuscripts-a-serious-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":67214,"position":5},"title":"Is Not Having the Original Manuscripts a Serious Problem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton It is not a problem at all. Unless all the copies and quotes are so contradictory and diverse that we need the original documents to settle the matter, the numerous quotes and copies provide enough certainty that we do not need the original autographs. In comparing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“Remember the former things long past,<\/em>
\nFor I am God, and there is no other;<\/em>
\nI am God, and there is no one like Me,<\/em>
\nDeclaring the end from the beginning,<\/em>
\nAnd from ancient times things which have not been done,<\/em>
\nSaying, ‘My purpose will be established,<\/em>
\nAnd I will accomplish all My good pleasure’<\/em>” (Isaiah 46:9-10).<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"