2. Is the Bible trustworthy? 2 UCCF Doctrinal Basis c) The Bible, as originally given, is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is the supreme authority in all matters of belief and behaviour.

3. Is the Bible trustworthy? 3 Knowledge and belief Christ lived (History / knowledge) Christ died (History / knowledge) Christ rose (History / knowledge) He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25). Belief / faith / trust (pistis)

4. Is the Bible trustworthy? 4 Bertrand Russell The Existence of Christ www.obt.org.uk free download Humanist / atheist websites

5. Is the Bible trustworthy? 5 The Bible! Myth or Message?

6. Is the Bible trustworthy? 6 The Bible! A peculiar book? Is it worth reading? The Bible! A reliable book? Is it worth studying? The Bible! An inspired book? Is it worth believing? The Bible is the authority. You can ‘prove’ the Bible is peculiar / unique. You can ‘prove’ the Bible is reliable. You cannot ‘prove’ it is inspired, but you can ‘demonstrate’ that to ‘believe’ it is inspired and to put your ‘trust’ in it... is ‘rational’.

7. Is the Bible trustworthy? 7 ABC WrittenAD 75-160AD 62-113AD 100 Earliest copyAD 950AD 850AD 1100 Years elapsed790-875738-7891,000 Number of copies8720 A – The Roman historian Suetonius (De Vita Caesarum) B – The Roman lawyer, magistrate and writer Pliny the Younger (History) C – The Roman senator and historian Tacitus (Annals)

8. Is the Bible trustworthy? 8 DEF WrittenAD 50-10059 BC- AD 1758-50 BC Earliest copyAD 350 AD 850 Years elapsed250-300333-409900-908 Number of copies5,0002010 D – The New Testament Writers E – The Roman historian Livy (Roman History) F – Julius Caesar (Gallic War)

9. Is the Bible trustworthy? 9 F F Bruce: “No classical scholar would listen to an argument that the authority of Herodotus or Thucydides is in doubt because the earliest manuscripts of their works which are of any use to us are over 1,300 years later than the originals.” J. W. Montgomery writes, in History and Christianity (italics are ours): “To be sceptical of the resultant text of the New Testament is to allow all of classical antiquity to slip into obscurity for no documents of the ancient period are as well attested bibliographically as the New Testament.”

10. Is the Bible trustworthy? 10 While in Benjamin Warfield’s Introduction to Textual Criticism of the New Testament, we read: “If we compare the present state of the New Testament text with that of any other ancient writing, we must... declare it to be marvellously correct. Such has been the care with which the New Testament has been copied.”

11. Is the Bible trustworthy? 11 The Old Testament The Massorites The Dead Sea Scrolls Isaiah; previous 900 AD Massoritic Text Dead Sea Scrolls 125 BC 1000 year differences What were the textual differences?

12. Is the Bible trustworthy? 12 The nineteenth-century German critic, Wellhausen, said of Abraham: We may not regard him as an historical person, he might with more likelihood be regarded as a free creation of unconscious art. Which is but a polite way of saying that Abraham never existed! But was he a fictional character?

13. Is the Bible trustworthy? 13 Was he a fictional character? Max Burrows thinks not (What Mean these Stones?): Everything indicates that here we have an historical individual... he is not mentioned in any known archaeological source, but his name appears in Babylonia as a personal name in the very period to which he belongs. Charles H. Welch agrees with Burrows: Moreover, in the Assyrian Eponym canon, written in Abraham’s day in Abraham’s land, is found the very name Abu­ramu. Every investigation brings further and fuller conviction that the record of the life of Abraham is a record of fact.

14. Is the Bible trustworthy? 14 TV Programme: No historical evidence for the existence of King David. Until 1993 there was no proof of the existence of King David or even of Israel as a nation prior to Solomon. Then in 1993 archeologists found proof of King David's existence outside the Bible. At an ancient mound called Tel Dan, in the north of Israel, words carved into a chunk of basalt were translated as "House of David" and "King of Israel" proving that he was more than just a legend. Then in 2005 Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar found remains King David's palace in Jerusalem.

15. Is the Bible trustworthy? 15 Herod did not massacre the infants at Bethlehem. (The Times). But Bethlehem a small town; probably no more than a dozen children, if that, involved. In Acts 13.7 we read of Sergius Paulus who was ‘proconsul’ (NIV) of Cyprus. In 1912 Sir William Ramsay brought to light a block of stone bearing a Latin inscription which stated: To L[ucius] Sergius Paullus the younger, Son of Lucius, one of four commissioners in charge of the Roman streets, tribune of the soldiers of the sixth legion.

16. Is the Bible trustworthy? 16 Here there is no mention of his being pro-consul, and here the name is spelt with double ‘l’. Has Luke got his facts wrong? Couldn’t he even spell the name right? Certain critics maintained that Sergius Paullus was not a proconsul but a pro-praetor. A coin found in Cyprus bears the inscription: ‘In the proconsulship of Paulus’. Luke is right. Paulus was pro-consul and... note the spelling; one ‘l’. Pilate’s report????

17. Is the Bible trustworthy? 17 Pilate’s report? In his Defence of Christianity to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, (about 150 AD) Justin referred the emperor to Pilate’s report (Apology 1.35). ”That He [Christ] performed these miracles you may easily be satisfied from the ‘Acts’ of Pontius Pilate.” (Apology 1.48) www.obt.org.uk - free downloads – The Existence of Christ. Evidence that corroborates the New Testament

18. Is the Bible trustworthy? 18 Pilate’s report? Justin Martyr; Defence of Christianity “But the words ‘They pierced my hands and my feet’ are a description of the nails that were fixed in His hands and His feet on the cross; and He was crucified, those who crucified Him cast lots for His garments, and divided them among themselves; and that these things were so, you may learn from the ‘Acts’ which are recorded under Pontius Pilate.”

19. Is the Bible trustworthy? 19 Point 1 – Facts recorded before they were known Point 2 – The Testimony of Prophecy Point 3 – The Testimony of Probability Point 4 – The Testimony of Numerics Point 5 – The Testimony of Structure Point 6 – The Testimony of the Lord Jesus Point 7 – The Testimony of the Writers Point 8 – Ring of Truth Point 9 – The Agnostic Argument Point 10 – Contradictions

20. Is the Bible trustworthy? 20 “If you want to reinforce your trust in the uniqueness of the Bible – or need ammunition to use with friends who claim the Bible is merely a book – try Michael Penny’s The Bible! Myth or Message?” (Reviewed by David Hall in Family, UK)