What do the Dead Sea Scrolls show?
Before 1947, the Hebrew text of the Old Testament was known mainly from medieval manuscripts of what scholars call the Masoretic Text. Then a young Bedouin shepherd found a cave of ancient scrolls near Qumran, by the Dead Sea, and over the next nine years ten more caves were found nearby. The scrolls date from the third century BC to the first century AD, and among them are partial or complete copies of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther.
The most famous is the Great Isaiah Scroll, a practically complete copy of Isaiah made before the time of Jesus. Many of the biblical scrolls closely match the medieval Hebrew text, even though they are over a thousand years older. That is strong evidence that the Hebrew Scriptures were copied with great care.
The scrolls also show something honest: not every copy was identical. Some differ in spelling and wording, and a few books show additions and deletions, so the scrolls help scholars see how the text was handed down and where it varied. The Great Isaiah Scroll itself has many small differences from the medieval text, while a second, fragmentary Isaiah scroll from the same cave is very close to it. The overall picture is of a text copied with great care, alongside real differences that scholars study closely.
What does archaeology show?
Archaeology cannot prove that God spoke, but it can test whether the Bible's people and places fit the ancient world. Two examples:
The Tel Dan inscription. In 1993, excavators at Tel Dan in northern Israel found the first pieces of a broken stone inscription in Aramaic from the ninth century BC. Its author, most likely Hazael, king of Damascus, boasts of victories over a king of Israel and a king of the “house of David”. Most scholars read the phrase that way, though a minority read it as a place name. If the majority is right, it is an early mention of David's royal line outside the Bible. The broken names on the stone, a king of Israel whose name ends in -ram and a king whose name ends in -iahu, fit Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah, the two kings that 2 Kings 8:28-29 describes at war with Hazael, king of Syria.
Pontius Pilate. The Gospels name Pontius Pilate as the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus, and Luke dates events by his rule: “Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea” (Luke 3:1, KJV). An inscription found at Caesarea, on the coast of Israel, confirms Pilate's title as prefect: a real official, in the place and role the Gospels describe.
Finds like these show that the Bible is rooted in real history. But honesty means saying what archaeology cannot do. It cannot confirm miracles, and some events in the Bible have left little or no trace that archaeologists have found, with scholars debating how to read the evidence. Missing evidence is common in ancient history, so it does not disprove a text, but it does mean some questions stay open.
How were the books of the Bible chosen?
Christians believe the church recognized the books God had given, rather than giving them their authority. The Catholic Catechism, for example, says it was through the tradition handed down from the apostles that the church discerned which writings belong in the list of sacred books (Catechism of the Catholic Church 120). Even within the New Testament, 2 Peter speaks of Paul's letters alongside “the other scriptures” (2 Peter 3:16, KJV).
In AD 367, Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, sent his churches a letter listing exactly the 27 books of today's New Testament, which he called “fountains of salvation” (Festal Letter 39).
Christians do differ on the Old Testament. Protestant Bibles have 66 books in all. Catholic Bibles have 73, because they include seven more Old Testament books: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch and 1 and 2 Maccabees (the Catechism counts 46 Old Testament books and 27 New). For the full story, read how many books are in the Bible.
Hard questions about the Bible
Trusting the Bible does not mean pretending every question is easy. Here are some of the hard ones, answered briefly.
Has the Bible been changed over time?
It has been copied, and copying brings small changes, but the large number of manuscripts lets scholars see those changes and work back toward the earliest wording. Two longer passages show how openly this is done. The last twelve verses of Mark (16:9-20) and the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) are missing from the oldest complete manuscripts, and many scholars think they were added later. Modern Bibles usually keep them with a note; the King James Version prints them as part of the text. No central Christian belief rests on these passages alone.
Doesn't the Bible contradict itself?
The Gospels sometimes tell the same event differently. At the empty tomb, Matthew mentions an angel and Mark a young man in white, while Luke mentions two men in shining clothes and John two angels (Matthew 28:2-5, Mark 16:5, Luke 24:4, John 20:12). Differences like this are what we expect from independent witnesses, who notice and report different things; accounts that matched word for word would look rehearsed. Some differences are harder to explain, and Christians have offered various answers over the centuries. Reading the passages side by side, in context, resolves more of them than many people expect.
Christians also describe the Bible's truthfulness in more than one way. The Catholic Church teaches that the Scriptures teach firmly, faithfully and without error the truth God wanted written down for our salvation (Catechism 107). Many evangelical Protestants use the word inerrant; the Evangelical Theological Society, for example, affirms that the whole Bible is the Word of God written and is without error in its original manuscripts.
Can archaeology or science prove the Bible?
No, and it does not need to. Evidence can show that the Bible's history is rooted in real places and people, and that its text has been handed down with care. It cannot prove that God parted a sea or raised Jesus from the dead. Those claims are received by faith, but not by blind faith: the resurrection was public, with named witnesses, and you can weigh that evidence for yourself in is Christianity true?
What about the parts that are hard to read?
Some passages trouble careful readers, such as the wars in Joshua or laws that seem harsh. The Bible does not hide them, and Christians do not have to pretend they are easy. It helps to read them in their setting, to remember that the Bible records some things it does not approve, and to read the whole story in the light of Jesus, through whom God has spoken most fully (Hebrews 1:1-2). Scripture itself admits that some things in it are “hard to be understood” (2 Peter 3:16, KJV).
Read it for yourself
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
The best way to judge the Bible is to read it the way the people of Berea did. Start with a Gospel. Notice the names, places and rulers. Notice what Jesus says and does. Write down your questions. In Faithero you can read any chapter in the King James Version or the Douay-Rheims, tap a verse to have it explained in plain words, and ask the Bible Guide your questions as you go. Check its answers against Scripture, and take the big questions to a pastor too.
Frequently asked
Is the Bible true?
Christians believe the Bible is true because it is God's Word, and there are good reasons to trust it. Its text has been handed down with great care, its history fits what archaeology has found in many places, and its central claim, that Jesus rose from the dead, rests on named witnesses. Evidence cannot prove everything the Bible says about God, but trusting it is reasonable, not blind.
Is the Bible historically accurate?
Where it can be tested, the Bible's history often fits what is known. Archaeologists have found an inscription that most scholars read as naming the "house of David", and another that confirms Pontius Pilate's title as prefect, while Luke dates events by real rulers (Luke 3:1). Some events have left no trace that has been found, and scholars debate them. The Bible's claims about God go beyond what history can test.
How many manuscripts of the Bible are there?
For the New Testament alone, more than 5,700 Greek manuscripts survive, according to the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, from small fragments to complete Bibles. For the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls include partial or complete copies of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther, copied between the third century BC and the first century AD.
What is the oldest Bible manuscript?
The oldest known piece of the New Testament is P52, a small fragment of John 18 kept at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. It is usually dated to the second century, with scholars giving a range rather than a single year. For the Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, from the third century BC to the first century AD, are over a thousand years older than the medieval Hebrew manuscripts that were known before them.
Who decided which books are in the Bible?
Christians believe the church recognized the books God had given rather than choosing them. Within the New Testament itself, Paul's letters are already set beside "the other scriptures" (2 Peter 3:16, KJV). In AD 367 Athanasius of Alexandria listed exactly the 27 books of today's New Testament. Protestant Bibles have 66 books and Catholic Bibles 73, because Catholics include seven more Old Testament books.
Can I trust the Bible if the manuscripts have differences?
Yes. The differences are real, and scholars study them openly, but the large number of manuscripts lets them compare copies and trace the earliest wording. Scholars across the spectrum agree that most differences have no bearing on what a passage means, and that no essential Christian belief depends on them. Modern Bibles mark the places where the manuscripts differ in a significant way.
A book that invites testing
The Bible does not ask to be believed without being read. Luke wrote so that his reader would “know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed” (Luke 1:4, KJV). The best way to weigh the Bible is still to read it, slowly and honestly.
To see how its books fit into history, start with the Bible timeline. When you are ready to weigh its central claim, read is Christianity true? Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35, KJV).
The manuscripts: how many, and how old?
No original manuscript of any book of the Bible is known to survive, which is normal for ancient books. What survive are copies, and for the New Testament there are a great many. The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts counts more than 5,700 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, catalogued by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research in Münster, Germany. They range from scraps of papyrus to complete Bibles.
The oldest known piece is a fragment of John's Gospel, a few lines from chapter 18, kept at the John Rylands Library in Manchester and known as P52. The library describes it as probably the earliest surviving piece of the New Testament, possibly from the first half of the second century. Scholars give it a range rather than a single year: some papyrologists date it to between about AD 125 and 175. Either way, it shows John's Gospel being copied and read within a few generations of Jesus.
Having so many copies matters. Copyists did make mistakes, and the manuscripts differ in many small ways. But because there are so many, from different places and centuries, scholars can compare them, see where a mistake crept in, and work back toward the earliest wording. Even Bart Ehrman, a scholar well known for challenging traditional views of the Bible, agrees with his teacher Bruce Metzger that most of these differences have no bearing on what a passage means, and that essential Christian beliefs are not affected by them.