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IS THE BIBLE TRUE ... REALLY?

Moody Publishers

Contents

1. Intellectual Skepticism.............................................92. The Caruth Haven Coffeehouse........................................153. Struggling with Faith...............................................214. The Professed Agnostic..............................................265. Did Christianity Borrow from Pagan Mythology?.......................306. A Walk on Katy Trail................................................407. When was the Bible "Put Together"?..................................448. Bart Ehrman and Misquoting Jesus....................................489. Inerrancy...........................................................5110. Anti-Supernaturalism...............................................5411. Jamal's Help.......................................................6012. When Was the New Testament Written?................................6313. The Bibliographical Test...........................................7114. What About the "Mistakes" in the Bible?............................7915. The Internal Evidence Test.........................................8516. Joseph Smith, Muhammad, and Other Truth Claims.....................9017. Nick...............................................................9418. The External Evidence Test.........................................9719. Did the Disciples Make It Up?......................................10120. The Canon..........................................................10621. A Memorial Service in Portland.....................................11322. Rethinking Truth...................................................11723. What About the Other Gospels?......................................12024. The True Gospel....................................................123Notes..................................................................131Acknowledgments........................................................136

Chapter One

Mid-September

"HOW MANY of you all—or should I say y'all—grew up in Texas?"

About half of the hands in the classroom went up.

"Good, glad to see it. My wife and I have enjoyed living here for almost twelve years now. We've learned a few things too. For example, here in the South, especially right here in Dallas, the buckle of the Bible Belt, we dare not question the historical authority of the books of the Bible, or we're damned to hell!"

A few chuckles echoed across the small auditorium. Dr. William Peterson, Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies and a renowned expert on ancient textual criticism, was well known for his views. Smiling wryly, he continued, "Honestly, I appreciate the concern these fundamentalists, Catholics, and evangelicals have for our souls, and I believe they are genuinely sincere—just sincerely misled."

Nick, a freshman at Opal University, listened intently as Dr. Peterson went on. "Conservative Christians are quick to judge those of us in academia for our views, but my question for them would be, 'What is the historical basis for believing the Bible really is the inerrant Word of God?' I want to know what persuades them to actually believe that the copies of the Bible translated today are even close to what was originally written down? It sounds good and faithful, but what are the facts? That's what we're here to explore. Are you ready for the facts?"

The room fell silent as the professor paused for effect. "Here are the facts that leading scholars all across the country agree upon. We don't even have the words that these fundamentalist Christians tell us God inerrantly inspired. That's right. All we have are words copied by scribes—sometimes correctly but certainly not always. We have error-ridden copies that are centuries removed from the originals and different from them in thousands of ways."

Nick's heart raced as he listened to the professor contradict what his pastor back home at Park Springs Community Church had taught the congregation. He sensed in his spirit this was his time to be bold for Christ and take a stand for the Lord. "That's not true!" he declared. "How dare you question God's Word."

The professor, somewhat taken aback by the student's interruption, responded kindly. "Very well, why don't you tell us what is true. What's not accurate about what I just said?"

Nick, now feeling a tad embarrassed and put on the spot, raised his voice. "Well, I'm a Christian and I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God. I accept it as the Word of God by faith! Hebrews says, 'Without faith it is impossible to please God" and since God is sovereign and we are just human beings, who are we to question His sovereignty? Also, the Bible says, 'All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that everyone will always be prepared to give an answer.'"

Dr. Peterson smiled and nodded. "I admire your personal faith and concern to quote portions of Hebrews 11 and 2 Timothy 3. Would you remind me of your name?"

"I'm Nick."

"I'm glad you're in this class, Nick. I remember memorizing those same verses myself. Looking back, I think it was when I attended Calvin Christian Academy during my early teens." Noting Nick's look of surprise, he continued, "By the way, Nick, I think 2 Timothy 3 ends by saying, 'so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" Perhaps, you were conflating it with 1 Peter 3:15, which mentions giving an answer or defense. That's okay, and really beside the point. What I was saying earlier, Nick, is that we really can't be sure the original book of Hebrews and the letter of 2 Timothy actually said the words you just quoted and that we both memorized. We don't have the 'original' of the Bible. The Bibles that you and I own have been radically changed over the past two thousand years."

"I don't believe that!" Nick blurted out.

"Oh? Would you care to educate us then?" asked the distinguished professor. The rest of the class murmured their annoyance at this rude, outspoken Christian.

"Well ... um," Nick stumbled. "You can't, uh, I mean it's not only about the words, Professor. God continues to change lives. I experience the presence of Jesus in my life every day. And ... um ... oh yeah, I remember—when I went to youth camp in Tyler we had this former atheist speak to us and he told us his testimony and shared that we have archeological evidence and old historical manuscripts, or copies of the Bible, that verify God's Word. Professor, this former atheist is now a Christian!" Nick asserted this last part with confidence, believing the Holy Spirit had helped him finish stronger than he started.

"Nick, it certainly is true that we have manuscripts or copies of the early letters and gospels written, but what type of manuscripts is the question! I've looked at some of these manuscripts myself, Nick, and the number of variants, or differences, between various handwritten copies is in the hundreds of thousands!" The majority of scholars in the country have come to recognize these facts. For example, a man I respect, Bart Ehrman, the head of the religion department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has published some excellent academic...