Is The Bible Reliable?
If you’ve ever wondered whether the Bible is reliable, you’re not alone. A lot of people over the years have asked the same question. After all, it’s a book that claims to reveal God’s truth, record actual history, and speak to our lives today. That’s a pretty big claim!
So how can we know if it’s trustworthy?
Let’s take a look at a few facts that point to the Bible’s reliability.
1. The Bible’s Manuscript Evidence
When people talk about “manuscripts,” they are talking about the ancient handwritten copies of the Bible.
The original writings (called “autographs”) don’t exist today, but thousands of copies do. In fact, the New Testament alone has over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, not counting thousands more in Latin and other languages. That’s more than any other ancient document in history.
For comparison, Homer’s Iliad (written around 700 B.C.) has fewer than 700 copies. Yet no one questions whether Homer existed or wrote his poems. The Bible’s manuscript evidence is overwhelming by historical standards.
(Source: Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, CSNTM.org)
2. The Bible’s Historical Accuracy
The Bible isn’t just a spiritual book. It’s also full of real people, places, and events. For many years, skeptics claimed some of those people never existed. But archaeology continues to prove otherwise.
For example:
- The Pool of Bethesda (John 5:2) was once thought to be a myth until archaeologists uncovered it in Jerusalem.
- The Hittite Empire (mentioned in Genesis 23) was long dismissed as fiction until records and ruins were found in modern-day Turkey.
- Names like Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas have also been confirmed through ancient inscriptions.
These discoveries keep showing that the Bible fits with real-world history.
(Source: Biblical Archaeology Society, BiblicalArchaeology.org)
3. The Bible’s Prophecies and Consistency
The Bible contains hundreds of prophecies (predictions about future events) that have come true.
For example, Old Testament writings (like Isaiah 53) describe the life and death of Jesus in detail over 700 years before He was born.
Even more amazing, the Bible was written by about 40 authors over 1,500 years, on three continents, yet it tells one unified story about God’s love and plan for humanity. That kind of consistency doesn’t happen by accident.
4. The Bible’s Enduring Impact
No other book has changed the world like the Bible.
It’s been translated into more than 3,000 languages, preserved through persecution, and continues to bring hope and transformation today.
As Psalm 119:89 says, “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.”
So, to answer your question, yes, the Bible is reliable. It is historically reliable, archaeologically reliable, and spiritually reliable.
You don’t have to check your brain at the door to believe it. The more you study it, the more you’ll see it stands the test of time.
If you’ve never read the Bible and you’re not sure where to start, we have a 31 Day Bible Reading Plan that we recommend that gives a broad overview of the Bible as a whole.