Bible Question:  I have a question about the original Bible. I know that none of the original autographs (documents) exist, so how is the Bible dated? I know that fulfilled prophecy is a big proof for the Bible's truthfulness, but how do we know the prophecies and their fulfillment were written years (or more) apart?   Bible Answer:  This question is at the heart and soul of Christianity. Christianity is not a blind leap of faith into spiritual nothingness. Its truthfulness is based on objective, verifiable prophecy, history, and eye witnesses to a risen Savior.     Eyewitnesses. On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter reminded his fellow Jewish brethren to remember that Jesus returned to life after being dead. He did not try to convince them. He called them witnesses. That is a strong testimony to the divine Jesus.   This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. (NASB) Acts 2:32   On another occasion when the apostle Paul spoke to the Gentiles , the apostle appealed to the fact that his listeners either knew Jesus or knew about Jesus. He gave them names of people they could talk to. The apostle John testifies that He touched Jesus. This is his personal testimony.   For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. (NASB) 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life . . . (NASB) 1 John 1:1       Historical Evidence. The roots of Christianity are also based in historical testimony. Pontius Pilate, Josephus, Roman emperors, secular historians and secular scientists have provided written testimony to the existence and miracles of Jesus. Josephus comes the closest to implying that Jesus was more than a man - God. Even the Jews who rejected Jesus admit that He performed supernatural miracles, when they attempt to explain away His divinity by saying He used demonic powers. What they have in fact admitted is that Jesus did do these things. It is a strong proof that Jesus really did miracles when His enemies admit that He did them.     Prophecy. Eyewitnesses and historical evidence objectively point to Jesus and so does fulfilled prophecy. These are Old Testament prophecies that reach forward in time by at least some 500 years and predict that He is coming and when He is coming.     How Old Is The Bible? In order for a prophecy to be a real prophecy, it must have been written before the event occurred. Before the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered in a Qumran cave by a Bedouin boy in 1947, the oldest copies of the Bible were from 900 AD. Consequently, the Dead Sea Scrolls were a major discovery. Critics proceeded to date the manuscripts. The early results were incomplete and inconsistent. But recent radiocarbon findings have concluded that the Dead Sea Scrolls are as old as 300 BC to AD 70 with the bulk of the documents dating to 100 BC (Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. The Penguin Press. 1997, p. 15). This means our oldest copy of the Old Testament existed before Jesus came. Gleason Archer comments that the two copies of Isaiah found at Qumran,         < Back   Next >
	Home | Logo | Search For God | Weekly Study | Q & A | Other Studies Copyright © Like The Master Ministries. All Rights Reserved. Q & A