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"THE PROOF OF THE BIBLE"

The Bible claims to be the Word of God. What does that mean? How trustworthy are the historical accounts from the Bible?

Of all the ancient texts we have, the Bible has more fragments available, and of the ancient writings that are available, they were created at closer times to their original writing than any other ancient writings. Regarding the timing of the original writings, the Gospels and the book of Acts were all originally written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses to the events they describe. This is just a brief overview of the volume and quality of the materials that have allowed us to compile the most accurate versions of the Scriptures. Truly, the Bible is a "best case scenario" when determining the reliability of the Bible or, at the very least, the original intent of the writers.

Plus, as archeological discoveries reveal more and more about the ancient world, they support the historical accounts the Bible presents, adding to its reliability as a historical document.

"Truth" is one of the qualities valued in the selection of the books of the Bible. Some truths are strictly spiritual: for example, the Psalms are poems that are written to reflect the emotions of the writer and the people who would have read or sung them. But other truths are historical: if Jesus was not a real person -- an historical person -- it completely invalidates the primary message of the Bible.

The Bible may not tell us everything about the historical moments it contains (look at John 21:25, which explains the obvious: Jesus did many more things than written down in that book), but it does tell us enough to understand the message God wanted to impart to us. That "all have sinned," that the "wages of sin is death," but that "God loved the world so much that he sent his son."

Is historical reliability an important part of determining the spiritual value of the Bible? How important is it to you?

What effect would studying the culture of the different times and places that the Bible was written in have on understanding the message of Scripture?