The Bible: So many objections…Can we trust the Bible?
The history of the compiling of the Bible is very long, complex, and…questionable. The authorship is the primary question that is challenging to answer, and the world may never know the answer. The various beliefs and theses on Biblical authorship answer various questions but do not come to a concrete consensus. So, we have to wonder, how can we know that the Bible is in fact reliable?
Copies of copies
One of the most common objections is that we only have copies of copies without any original documents. There are a few reasons that we only have copies and not the original works. First, the materials used did not last long. One of the first materials was papyrus, which was a writing material that was made by unrolling reeds. This material worked for transcribing but did not stand the test of time. Later on, we ended up with parchment from animal skin. This leads us to the second reason that we don’t have original documents: parchments were often “erased” to write something else on the material. This resulted in valuable Scriptures being erased so that people could write something they found pertinent for the times. Some of these original writings have been uncovered by faint traces of ink that were not erased as well as impressions made by the original scribe. This also transitions into the third reason, the ink was prone to fading, cracking, and flaking off the parchment. As a result of these various reasons, the original writings were not retained, instead we have copies that have been painstakingly recorded from transcribers that wrote every single letter by hand to retain these Sacred Scriptures.
Another reason we don’t have original copies is because of persecution of the early Christian Church. During these persecutions, the persecutors sought to burn their Scriptures. Despite this, many of them were saved by those who risked their lives or others who planned ahead before they were persecuted.
Another important thing to note is that many major works are only retained through copies of copies, like Plato’s Republic and other records of history. If one determines the Bible is invalid because it is composed of writings that are based off of copies due to not having the original, the that same logic determines that countless other writings that are crucial for society are no longer valid and instead cannot be trusted.
Influences from transcribers
Another question of reliability comes from transcription of the manuscripts. During transcription, there were many challenges. Firstly, the written Latin of the early Church did not offer breaks between words or sentences. Everything was written with capital letters and no spacing between words or sentences nor any punctuation. This required transcribers to painstakingly decipher what the original author or transcriber wrote.
Additionally, transcribers would also make natural mistakes which only grew as they became tired and weary each day. This may have caused them to miss letters, words, phrases, etc. in their writing. With this, it was also quite reasonable to consider that transcribers were often interrupted in writing the countless passages of the Scriptures, only to return and repeat or omit parts of the writing. However, this also needs to be considered with other historical writings as previously mention.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this is a very big topic with an endless stream of objections that can all be lovingly countered. At the end of the day, it is evident and clear that the Holy Spirit was the author of the Scriptures through the various transcribers. This is shown by the fact that all the writings from the various authors and groups point to the same conclusion, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). All the Scriptures point to this truth and the Holy Trinity of God, a Communion of Persons.
We can see that the Holy Spirit inspired the original authors because the authors of Genesis 1:26 did not understand the Communion of Persons in the Trinitarian God but they wrote “God said, “Let us make man in our image”” (emphasis added). The author of Genesis 19 didn’t understand the Trinitarian God however they wrote about God raining down fire and brimstone from another person of God in heaven. There are many other examples that can be referred to. This is because the Holy Spirit was the author and the inspired authors were His transcribers.
Additionally, combing through the Jewish Scriptures with the lens of the Full Revelation of Jesus Christ, we can see all sorts of Messianic prophecies and connections between the Old and New Testament, much of which was not even noticed prior to the first coming of Christ. The Jews during the time of Christ did not know all the prophecies that were fulfilled by Christ because they did not understand all the prophecies that were recorded in their Scriptures, they only knew what they understood to have been Messianic prophecies. After Christ, we are able to see everything that was written in the Scriptures waiting to be revealed through Our Lord. These are not connections forced by Christians, they are divinely placed prophecies and connections between the Old and the New Covenants. No human could have conjured up the Bible without the help of God.
So, with all this considered, the Bible came together in one of three ways: by chance, by human imagination, or by Divine Providence. It couldn’t be chance due to the lack of probability that all these minor details came together so beautifully and seamlessly. It couldn’t be by human imagination because the ones who would have come up with it did not know of all the connections. So, it must have been Divine Providence and through the Holy Spirit. It was written and assembled through the Holy Spirit, the Person who coordinated it all so beautifully in ways beyond random chance and anything humans could come up with.
So, can we trust the Bible with how long it took for things to be written down and compiled throughout its history? Yes. It is the Word of God transcribed by people. How do we know this? All these authors and people of different time periods point to the same conclusion; God loves us, God is a communion of persons, and God became Man to save us from the slavery of sin so we may join Him in the celestial paradise of heaven.
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