On the Authenticity of the Bible

A compilation

Of the Divine character of the Bible, I think, no man who deals honestly with his own mind and heart can entertain a reasonable doubt. For myself, I must say, that having for many years made the evidences of Christianity the subject of close study, the result has been a firm and increasing conviction of the authenticity and plenary inspiration of the Bible. It is indeed the Word of God.—Simon Greenleaf (1783–1853), A Treatise on the Law of Evidence

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If we compare the present state of the New Testament text with that of any other ancient writing, we must … declare it to be marvelously correct. Such has been the care with which the New Testament has been copied—a care which has doubtless grown out of true reverence for its holy words—such has been the providence of God in preserving for His Church in each and every age a competently exact text of the Scriptures, that not only is the New Testament unrivaled among ancient writings in the purity of its text as actually transmitted and kept in use, but also in the abundance of testimony which has come down to us for castigating its comparatively infrequent blemishes.—Benjamin Warfield (1851–1921), Introduction to Textual Criticism of the New Testament

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Even though the two copies of Isaiah discovered … near the Dead Sea in 1947 were a thousand years earlier than the oldest dated manuscript previously known (A.D. 980), they proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95% of the text. The 5% of variations consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling.—Gleason Archer (1916–2004), A Survey of Old Testament Introduction

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It is a matter of wonder that through something like a thousand years the text underwent so little alteration.—Millar Burrows (1889–1980), The Dead Sea Scrolls of St. Mark’s Monastery

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The impact of this discovery [of the Dead Sea Scrolls] is in the exactness of the Isaiah scroll (125 BC) with the Masoretic text of Isaiah (916 AD) [over] 1,000 years later. This demonstrates the unusual accuracy of the copyists of the Scripture over a thousand-year period.—Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict (1979)

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It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain. Especially is this the case with the New Testament. The number of the manuscripts of the New Testament, of the early translations from it, and of quotations from it in the oldest writers of the Church, is so large that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world. Scholars are satisfied that they possess substantially the true text of the principal Greek and Roman writers whose works have come down to us of Sophocles, of Thucydides, of Cicero, of Virgil; yet our knowledge of their writings depend on a mere handful of manuscripts, whereas the manuscripts of the New Testament are counted by hundreds, and even thousands.—Sir Frederic Kenyon (1863–1952), Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts

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It is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these discoveries [of ancient manuscripts] and all this study is to strengthen the proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our conviction that we have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God.—Sir Frederic Kenyon, The Story of the Bible

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More and more the older view that the biblical data were suspect and even likely to be false, unless corroborated by extra-biblical facts, is giving way to one which holds that, by and large, the biblical accounts are more likely to be true than false.—H. M. Orlinsky (1908–1992), Ancient Israel (1954)

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After more than two centuries of facing the heaviest scientific guns that could be brought to bear, the Bible has survived, and is perhaps the better for the siege. Even on the critics’ own terms—historical fact—the Scriptures seem more acceptable now than they did when the rationalists began their attack.—Time Magazine: How True Is the Bible? (December 30, 1974)

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It is the only volume ever produced by man, or a group of men, in which is to be found a large body of prophecies relating to individual nations, to Israel, to all the peoples of the earth, to certain cities, and to the coming of One who was to be the Messiah. The ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, known as divination, but not in the entire gamut of Greek and Latin literature, even though they use the words prophet and prophecy, can we find any real specific prophecy of a great historic event to come in the distant future, nor any prophecy of a Savior to arise in the human race.—Wilbur M. Smith (1894–1976), The Incomparable Book (1961)

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As a literary historian, I am perfectly convinced that whatever else the Gospels are they are not legends. I have read a great deal of legend and I am quite clear that they [the Gospels] are not the same sort of thing.—C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ? (1950)

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Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.—Philip Schaff (1819–1893), The Person of Christ

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The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world, because it teaches you the best lessons by which any human creature who tries to be truthful and faithful to duty can possibly be guided.—Charles Dickens (1812–1870), Selected Letters of Charles Dickens

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In regard to this Great Book [the Bible], I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Saviour gave the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed within it.—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Volume 7

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The Bible, and that alone, with nothing added to it nor taken away from it by man, is the sole and sufficient guide for each individual, at all times and in all circumstances.—Michael Faraday (1791–1867), British scientist

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The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hands and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true Word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation, throughout the centuries.—Sir Frederic Kenyon

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The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.—Psalm 12:6–7 KJV

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Heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.—Matthew 24:35

Compiled by Dennis Edwards. Published on Anchor October 2023. Read by John Laurence. Music by Michael Dooley.

Posted in: audio, bible, compilation

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