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How has it stood the test of time?THROUGH THE CONCEPT OF THE SACRED - It isn’t necessary to agree the Bible is sacred in order to recognize how humans value the very concept of sacredness itself, and how we tend to organize around those things that are sacred to us. It is apparently a deeply ingrained and somewhat inescapable human trait. The sacred doesn’t have to be religious; it can be patriotic, or represent family or a loved one or a place or even a time. It can be real, it can be silly, it can be found, it can be made—but go through life without anything sacred in it? That we humans apparently cannot do. Planet of the Durkheimians, Where Community, Authority, and Sacredness are Foundations of MoralityThe Bible has long been one of our most sacred of objects, and we humans have been organizing around it for millennia.The devotion of those who have dedicated—and sometimes given—their lives to protect that which they have held as sacred would be first and foremost among the ways and means as to how the Bible has withstood its many tests.Their love, their faith, their absolute dependability and their honesty in their work, their commitment and sense of honor, all these qualities and more were brought to the work of protecting and preserving the early documents of the church.BY BEING CRITICAL OF CRITICISMHistorical criticism has been the favored biblical criticism for nearly the last two hundred years; it was originated by a 17th century Jewish philosopher named Spinoza and has embraced additions over the years such as source criticism and form criticism, the Documentary hypothesis and the Wellhausen Theory. They all have one concept in common: they all believe the Bible evolved and changed.The Dead Sea Scrolls are hundreds of the oldest biblical texts in existence: manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts from every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther. They date 1000 years earlier than anything previously known, yet provide a link between the Ketef Hinnom Silver Scrolls that date to 600 B.C. and the Codex Leningradensis of A.D. 1008. When the Dead Sea scrolls and the medieval Masoretic texts were compared—they were nearly identical. There were only a few copy errors and the occasional misspelling but no revisions. The text had not evolved or changed in over a thousand years.Historical criticism is therefore not supported by facts or evidence; the only facts in evidence contradict it.The only evolution the Bible experienced that is indisputable is the gradual addition of books over time. There is NO EVIDENCE to support writings viewed as sacred would have been altered or been anything but preserved once they were received.It seems probable in light of this that historical criticism will decline and literary criticism will gain popularity over the next decades.Historical criticism started the storm about the supposed “contradictions”—(many of which are not contradictions at all).Nathan Ketsdever's answer to What are the contradictions and/or errors in the Bible that cause people to disregard it or mock it?Nathan Ketsdever's answer to How do some people believe that there are no contradictions in the Bible?Nathan Ketsdever's answer to What evidence of contradictions or flaws is there in the Bible?Does the Bible Contradict Itself?Those are not comprehensive but if there are questions that are not answered there, just ask. John Simpson adds the Bible has survived:3. BY BEING RELIABLE AND DEPENDABLEDoes the Bible contain errors? Yes. The Bible is a translation of the Greek and Hebrew copies of copies. As you can imagine, errors have crept in over the centuries. Dan Wallace, New Testament scholar and founder of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, lists four types of errors in “Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible’s Origin, Reliability, and Meaning.”It is inaccurate to say there are a vast array of subjects in the Bible; the Bible is not a set of Encyclopedias. There are not a limitless number of subjects covered within it. It’s a book about God and how man and God relate to one another—and a little bit about how God impacts how man relates to man before and after encountering God.Types of Errors1) Spelling & Nonsense Errors. These are errors that occur when a scribe wrote a word that makes no sense in its context, usually because they were tired or took their eyes off the page. Some of these errors are quite comical, such as “we were horses among you” (Gk. hippoi, “horses,” instead of ēpioi, “gentle,” or nēpioi, “little children”) in 1 Thessalonians 2:7 in one late manuscript.2) Minor Changes. These minor changes are as small as the presence or absence of an article “the” or changed word order, which can vary considerably in Greek. Depending on the sentence, Greek grammar allows the sentence to be written up to 18 ways, while still saying the same thing! So just because a sentence wasn’t copied in the same order, doesn’t mean we lost the meaning.3) Meaningful but not Plausible. These errors have meaning but aren’t a plausible reflection of the original text. For example, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, instead of “the gospel of God” (the reading of almost all the manuscripts), a late medieval copy has “the gospel of Christ.” There is a meaning difference between God and Christ, but the overall manuscript evidence points clearly in one direction, making the error plain and not plausibly part of the original.4) Meaningful and Plausible. These are errors that have meaning and that the alternate reading is plausible as a reflection of the original wording. These types of errors account for less than 1% of all variants and typically involve a single word or phrase. The biggest of these types of errors is the ending of the Gospel of Mark, which most contemporary scholars do not regard as original. Our translations even footnote that!Is the Bible Reliable?So, is the Bible reliable? Well, the reliability of our English translations depends largely upon the quality of the manuscripts they were translated from. The quality depends, in part, on how recent the manuscripts are. Scholars like Bart Ehrman have asserted that we don’t have manuscripts that are early enough. However, the manuscript evidence is quite impressive:There are as many as eighteen second-century manuscripts. If the Gospels were completed between 50-100 A.D., then this means that these early copies are within 100 years of the originals. Just last week, Dan Wallace announced that a new fragment from the Gospel of Mark was discovered dating back to the first century A.D., placing it well within 50 years of the originals, a first of its kind. When these early manuscripts are all put together, more than 43% of the NT is accounted for from copies no later than the 2nd C.Manuscripts that date before 400 AD number 99, including one complete New Testament called Codex Sinaiticus. So the gap between the original, inerrant autographs and the earliest manuscripts is pretty slim. This comes into focus when the Bible is compared to other classical works that, in general, are not doubted for their reliability.In this chart of comparison with other ancient literature, you can see that the NT has far more copies than any other work, numbering 5,700 (Greek) in comparison to the 200+ of Suetonius. If we take all manuscripts into account (handwritten prior to printing press), we have 20,000 copies of the NT. There are only 200 copies of the earliest Greek work.This means if we are going to be skeptical about the Bible, then we need to be 1000xs more skeptical about the works of Greco-Roman history. Or put another way, we can be 1000 times more confident about the reliability of the Bible. It is far and away the most reliable ancient document.What to Say When Someone Says “The Bible Has Errors”.So, when someone asserts that the Bible has errors, we can reply by saying: “Yes,our Bible translations do have errors, let me tell you about them. But as you can see, less than 1% of them are meaningful and those errors don’t affect the major teachings of the Christian faith. In fact, there are 1000 times more manuscripts of the Bible than the most documented Greco-Roman historian by Suetonius. So, if we’re going to be skeptical about ancient books, we should be 1000 times more skeptical of the Greco-Roman histories. The Bible is, in fact, incredibly reliable.”Contrary to popular assertion, that as time rolls on we get further and further away from the original with each new discovery, we actually get closer and closer to the original text. As Wallace puts it, we have “an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the biblical documents.” Therefore, we can be confident that what we read in our modern translations of the the ancient texts is approximately 99% accurate. It is very reliable.John SimpsonANDTHE BIBLE HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME BY CONTINUING THE SEARCH FOR HISTORICAL EVIDENCE IN ITS SUPPORTARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLEWhy will the Bible most likely remain influential?BY OFFERING INSPIRATION COMFORT GUIDANCE — AND HOPE —Because it does have a single theme that runs from Genesis to Exodus: it is the theme of “God with us” the theme of Messiah, of God coming to be with and dwell among and walk among His people.Emmanuel— that is the theme and the single ongoing message of the Bible.How is that accomplished? According to Tim Chaffey:… the Bible … is not just a book—it’s 66 books. And one of its most remarkable qualities is the complete unity of the overall message despite having so many different authors writing over many centuries on hundreds of controversial subjects...The Bible was written over a period of roughly 2,000 years by 40 different authors from three continents, who wrote in three different languages. These facts alone make the Bible one of a kind, but there are many more amazing details …Shepherds, kings, scholars, fishermen, prophets, a military general, a cupbearer, and a priest all penned portions of Scripture. They had different immediate purposes for writing, whether recording history, giving spiritual and moral instruction, or pronouncing judgment.They composed their works from palaces, prisons, the wilderness, and places of exile while writing history, laws, poetry, prophecy, and proverbs. In the process they laid bare their personal emotions, expressing anger, frustration, joy, and love.Yet despite this marvelous array of topics and goals, the Bible displays a flawless internal consistency. It never contradicts itself or its common theme.From Genesis to Revelation, we see man’s repeated rebellion against his holy Creator… Nevertheless, God promised to extend His love, grace, and mercy to unworthy people …Early in Genesis… God made known His plan of redemption, …throughout the Old Testament. The promises were fulfilled in a surprising but predicted way: by the Savior’s sacrificial death and subsequent resurrection…in the New Testament. The Bible then announced the future culmination of the Savior’s redemptive work in Revelation.Both the Bible and history weave together in seamless harmony, as though the Creator ordained this plan and recorded it in Scripture even before it unfolded in history.And that’s exactly what the Bible claims took place! God says that He alone can declare the future (Isaiah 42:9), and hundreds of His prophetic predictions have been fulfilled with absolute precision, while others await fulfillment.The unity of Scripture demonstrates its supernatural inspiration. Only the one true, holy God could provide us with such a flawless Bible that reveals such a matchless message: the Lord’s staggering love for His creation.THE BIBLE IS NOT A LITERARY MASTERPIECE; IT’S NOT EVEN TRULY LITERATURETHAT’S NOT WHY IT LASTSIt’s a book of instruction and revelation about God—first and foremost.It’s a recorded family history; then a history of a people; then a history of a religion; then a history of the birth of a second religion. It’s an accurate enough history of a region it can be used to identify the locations for archaeological digs.It’s a book used for moral instruction, it contains theology, some fiction and poetry yes, but always, the focus is on the relationship between God and man.And God seems to be trying to figure us out just as much as we are trying to figure him out. Mankind is a bit of a puzzle to him at times, and we just keep breaking his heart.ANCIENT LAWIt is guaranteed that at some point a criticism of scripture will include some ancient law or pratice that is no longer active, such as slavery, and is now considered pretty backwards. Instead of that ancient past being recognized as past, believers get questioned as though the ancient behavior were happening right now. Judging the past by a present value is a logic fallacy.Jenny Hawkins's answer to Why is slavery accepted in the Bible?WHY ARE PEOPLE LEAVING?An increase in knowledge may be leading some away on an individual basis. but that is not a major issue for the church as a whole. The church is not frightened by science or learning. Christianity has a long and distinguished history of scholarship. As Heisenburg said, it is not knowledge that leads one away from God it is insufficient knowledge that does that.Christianity's Intellectual FoundationThere is no evidence to support the assertion this CURRENT CHANGE is either inevitable or the culmination of some natural evolutionary developmental climb. Secularization may or may not be inevitable; religion is on the increase in some areas. This may be cyclic; we just don’t know yet.Jenny Hawkins's answer to Is there an index measuring secularism in countries?People are leaving God for the same reasons they have always left God:People let their morality determine their philosophy; they rationalize and justify and say, “there is no God.”Or they get hurt and angry and let that lead the way; they forget who they are dealing with; screaming and yelling never gets anyone anywhere dealing with God. He just sits silently and waits. They mistake that silence for absence and after awhile they say, “there is no God.”But some people stay angry at God most of their lives. They never do work it through, and those people having been unable to feel anything beyond bitterness and anger for decades, almost inevitably end up saying, “There is no God.”People get arrogant and full of themselves. Heisenburg said that first sip of the natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but if you drink the cup down, you will find God waiting for you at the bottom. People get a little knowledge and get full of themselves and say, “I have no need of any God but me.”ARE WE EVOLVING?It could be Christianity was the dream of our better selves from which we are now, as a society, awakening. It will be a sad hard day that we awaken into. Without Christian values as a bottom line, without that structure and framework for many of our most important values to fit into and be framed by, many will fade away and be replaced by some other central value and its system, and it does seem likely “utility” will be it.If you are not useful to society, you are not going to be worth spending insurance money on. Those health care dollars, and other tax money will go to helping someone who “deserves” to be helped more than you—someone who has money they can donate to our “cause,” someone who has power who can serve our needs.Christianity was for the common man; that central belief in the value of each human life; the shimmering beauty of open hearted charity; the staunch high mindedness of its truth and justice. The future will possibly be a return to the elites where Christianity originally wrested that reversal of status from. The aristocrats ruled before Christianity intruded, the aristocrats will return again after the Christians and their egalitarian notions go away. It is the normal human way of things.I don’t think of that as evolution.I see it more as devolution.