8 Perspectives on the Bible's Reliability

  For quite some time, I have been making a collection of different approaches to dealing with the reliability of the Bible. My recent post regarding undesigned coincidences in the New Testament is coincidental to this ongoing collection. The interesting thing about such a discussion is that it has to be held in different ways with different people. The reasons that my Muslim friends doubt the reliability of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures are different from those that my atheist, agnostic, or Christian-raised-but-still-wrestling-with-the-idea friends will have. Beyond that, when my kids want to know why I accept one collection of Scriptures as divinely-given and reliable but not another collection, the discussions are again upended. 

  What I propose to give below is not so much an argument for the reliability of Scripture as it is a collection of the different ways that I have seen and heard the Scriptures argued for. Personally, I find certain arguments more compelling than others, but that is not really the point here. My point is to collect them as group. Note that these are also not arguments for Scripture's inerrancy or inspiration directly; that is relevant, but not the focus here.  

1. Literary structures - This argument has particular force in relation to the idea that Scripture was redacted over generations. If this is so, the structural unity across individual works and swaths of works is staggering. On the other hand, if the writings are works by individual authors, this unity makes much more sense. This particularly came home to me as I researched what became my article on blessing in Genesis, a book that many believe is heavily redacted or pieced together.  

2. Internal claims - The Bible itself claims to be reliable and God-sent; it claims to be unchanging. One may immediately object that this is a circular argument; however, imagine if the Bible made no such claim! In other words, the Bible's claim to divine origin and unchanging character and content is significant for faith. 

  In line with this, the Bible also mentions many other sources that could have been included in the biblical canon; some of those were by the same authors whose other writings are included. So, alongside its claims to reliability and divine sanction, the Bible claims a certain selectivity or exclusivity. Not all of Paul's or the prophets' or the chroniclers' writings were equal or (regarded as) Scripture. 

3. Manuscript evidences - This argument for the reliability of the biblical texts is an overwhelming one when compared to any other ancient document (although the claims of Scripture are correspondingly extraordinary.) Still, there are over 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament besides about 20,000 manuscripts of ancient translations into other languages. Separately, the Old Testament Scriptures have thousands of manuscripts in Hebrew, plus translations. (A hard number of OT manuscripts is surprisingly hard to find given how common the 5,800 number is for NT manuscripts: this site has the most concrete number I could find.)

   Not only is there an argument based on the massive number of manuscripts that were preserved, but there is also the consistency of the text that has been seen. As the number of manuscripts available to scholars has exploded in the last couple centuries, Christian doctrine has not needed to change or be adjusted. There have been places where copying or spelling errors have become evident, but this does not undermine a claim to reliability. Christians do not claim that any single published copy is a perfect copy of the entire Scripture. Instead, Christian belief is that the original manuscripts were perfectly reliable, and we have received reliable copies of them.

4. Historical progression of acceptance - This argument rests on the fact that the Bible presents a 'telescoping' view of its revelation. In other words, each section builds on the preceding one; Moses is built on by Samuel; Samuel and Moses are built on by David and Solomon; the prophets built on those that preceded them; Jesus (as quoted, though he did not write any of the New Testament himself) built on the Old Testament, and the disciples and earliest Christian witnesses built on all that preceding revelation. Below are a few thoughts from the NT concerning the OT:  

- Jesus’ acceptance of OT (Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; Lk 24:25, 27, 32, 44-48; Jn 5:45-47; his regular quotation & amplification, references to fulfillment and the prophets; Mt 21:42; Lk 4:16-21; 22:37; Jn 7:[38], 42; 10:34-36; 13:18; 17:12; 19:12)

- Jesus' disciples/apostles' acceptance (Jn 1:45; Lk 24:32; Acts 13:27; constant quotation and allusion)

- There is also acceptance of other NT writers even within the NT - Peter accepts Paul as a Scripture writer (2 Peter 3:15-16) where he references Paul's writings among 'the other Scriptures.' 

   One might ask why Moses' original readers accepted his writings. I would suggest that minimally these were the people who had been at Mount Sinai and had heard the words and been terrified at the presence of God. Thus, their acceptance was not simplistic; it was multi-faceted, through faith and experience. With a bit of thought, one can extrapolate further along these lines for Moses' and others' writings.

5. Consistency with the experience world - The subjectiveness of this argument does not necessarily blunt its impact. The world described in the Bible matches the one we experience. Among other things, in the Bible we are led to expect a world of great beauty and humans made 'in the image of a good God' while we are also told that an enemy has brought ruin and destruction upon all the creation. Thus, what is called 'natural revelation' matches both the glories and horrors that we see and hear.

6. Undesigned coincidences - With the recent post on this, I will not extrapolate much, but this is similar to the 'literary structures' argument. The biblical writings themselves often confirm and support each other in the sorts of ways that argue for their authenticity as eyewitness accounts.

 

7. Archaeology - The biblical accounts have shown time and again that they are accurate in historical details, at least to the extent that they care to draw attention to them and that we have found independent witness to the same events. This area is also where there are still many questions and constant developments. I would suggest that no single artifact could sufficiently prove or disprove such a book, not even Noah's Ark in full preservation in the Mountains of Ararat. However, some of the archaeological support of Scripture has offered stunning corroboration in its minute detail. 

8. Impact on art, history, and culture - The little book, "Christianity: Fundamental Teachings" that I mentioned being published by the Turkish Church says it this way, "The Holy Bible is the most influential and successful work ever witnessed" (pg 74). It goes on to list the Bible's influence in inspiring "world literature, fine art, architecture, music, paintings, and other branches of art" as well as influencing the development of science, human rights, gender equality, and democracy. 

Reading in 2020 + 2020 Readings (and Listenings)

  2020 was an unusual year in so many respects. Two of those reasons have been the available time for reading and the current will for reading. On the one hand, the events of the year led to extra space and time at home, which invited extra reading and study. In many ways, this was an ideal time to try to catch up on long-awaited reading projects, to find new literary friends and mentors. 

  On the other hand, as a couple friends and I have discussed, the events of the year often made it quite difficult to focus on deeper or more extensive reading. The exact reasons for this are not clear to me, but it was interesting to hear this theme among friends who love to read. Due to this second factor, I read the majority of the books listed here during the earlier part of the year. 

   And now, the tenth annual list of recommended readings:

Christian Life and Belief

Every Good Endeavor by Tim Keller (2012) - If I were going to recommend a single book this year, it would be this book on work. It might be better to describe it as a book on 'how to steward our time, energy, giftings, and environment.' It is a book about how to be the gardeners we were designed to be. If you work, and if you seek to follow the Bible, this book would probably have areas that would benefit you in your living and thinking. 

Christianity: Fundamental Teachings by The Joint Commission of Churches in Turkey (2017) - This is an excellent consideration of biblical faith, translated from Turkish. It is the work of a commission including the Catholic, Orthodox, and conservative Protestant believers proclaiming the core of faith based on the Bible. I can almost hear the skepticism about such a work growing in your mind. I'd suggest buying it and reading it first. (If you'd like it in hard copy, message me. I can buy copies locally quite easily.) 

Practically, one major function of the book locally was showing the unity of the faith in the face of polemic opposition. Another major function was a pastoral distillation of the central tenets of the Christian faith. It fulfilled both of these functions well.  (A friend did a review of it at ETS this year; that also might be of interest to some.)

Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton (1908) - I listened to Chesterton's Orthodoxy as an audiobook this year. He has a delightful way with words! Furthermore, the reactions to, disagreements with, or attacks on Christianity, which he dealt with over a century ago, are surprisingly familiar today. Thus, his response to them, which is semi-autobiographical, also still resonates. This might sound as if he's writing high philosophy against great opponents, but in much of the book, his antagonist is within - his doubts, fears, beliefs, and opinions. There was much to ponder and appreciate here.

Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts by Lydia McGrew - A cousin recommended this book to me a couple months back as having an interesting line of evidence for the reliability of the New Testament. Since it was free on Kindle Unlimited, I decided to look at it while we have the free trial. I'd never heard the argument for undesigned coincidences developed, although apparently it's a couple hundred years old. It has value both as commentary linking the gospel accounts and as an apologetic argument for their reliability. (my post about it)

Additional reads of value: One Gospel for All Nations by Jackson Wu; The Message of Acts by Stott; Honor, Patronage, Kinship, and Purity by David deSilva (related post)

Fiction

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay - This novel exploring the French participation in the Holocaust during World War II was deeply moving. The book's impact on Bethany as she read it was what got it onto my list to read; it was worth it. It is a well-crafted story full of pathos.

A Man of Means by P. G. Wodehouse (or... My Man Jeeves, The Inimitable Jeeves, Uneasy Money) - A friend has been telling me for years of the beauty to be found in reading Wodehouse. This year, I finally started exploring. He was right, of course. You should try them too; all the ones above are in the public domain (aka free). Clever British humor...

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan - In a reverse from Sarah's Key, Echo was such a good book that I got Bethany to read it.  This is a novel for young people, but it is also a compelling tale for the rest of us. More accurately, it is several tales woven together with a delicate touch.

Princess of Wind & Wave (and others) by Melanie Cellier - The re-imagining of the ancient fairy tales is very nicely done in this series; the old tales guide core details of the plot, but they do not govern harshly. One is always left to wonder how the new tale will end and how the critical nuances of each tale will be intertwined in the book. (Bethany says Cellier's Spoken Mage series may be even better.)

Others: The Good Earth by Peal S. Buck; Call for the Dead by John de la Carré (who passed away very recently); and The Chosen by Chaim Potok (related post)

Re-reads: the Wrinkle in Time series; the Dune series by Frank Herbert (related post)

Nonfiction

Third Culture Kids by Van Reken and Pollock - This book is not the sort that you necessarily read through. I've benefitted from it since I first picked it up in Albania in 2005 and realized that "I was a TCK": I was a normal person from an unusual culture. Now, I'm looking at it more from the perspective of a parent. How does one raise children between cultures in the best possible ways?

   BONUS FICTION: Three Names of Me by Mary Cummings is a book about a little girl raised between cultures and struggling with her identity. It's a beautiful book for kids. (The main character is not technically a TCK, but her questions are similar, so I include her story here.)

Lions of the West by Robert Morgan - This biographical history followed a series of lives to explain the expansion of a small group of British colonies to cover the breadth of the American continent. Morgan shows the tragedies (personal and societal), the visions (also, personal and societal), the courage, the pettiness, and the conniving that went into a century of expansion and conquest, growth and heartbreak. The book is aptly subtitled "Heroes and Villains."

Religion and the Growing Mind by Basil Yeaxlee (one post among several from earlier this year) 

Music from the Year

Psallos' "Hebrews" album - These meditations on the book of Hebrews captured the family's collective musical ear. There's a variety of styles to fit the variety of topics in Hebrews.

Andrew Peterson's "Resurrection Letters" albums were also prominent in our listening this year. Volume 1 is my favorite, but all of them are impacting.

Finally, "The Hound + The Fox" are a musical team whom we have often enjoyed listening to. Check them out; I'd start here with "What Child is This / Child of the Poor." (Then save it for next Christmas!)

Recommendations from years past: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Hidden in Plain View - a lapsed argument on the New Testament's reliability

I suggest that we have such ample evidence for the reliability of these documents that we should consider ourselves privileged rather than burdened when called upon to present it. We should welcome the opportunity to reclaim and maintain the forward position held by the older apologists, for their arguments have been not so much refuted as forgotten in the shifts of theological fashion. (McGrew, 192)

 Drawing heavily on Paley's "Evidences of Christianity" and Blunt's "Scriptural Coincidences" (both free online due to their age), in Hidden in Plain View, Lydia McGrew presented a fresh and compelling argument on the historical reliability and accuracy on Scripture. Apparently this argument of (humanly) "undesigned coincidences" within Scripture  traces back to the 18th and 19th centuries, but it mostly disappeared. Now, due to a cousin's recommendation and the fact that it was available on Kindle Unlimited, I have gotten to read and benefit from this really useful book and argument. Hidden in Plain View was helpful in four areas:

1.  Reliability of Scripture (apologetics)

2.  Dealing with Bible difficulties (apologetics and hermeneutics)

3.  The 'Synoptic problem' in the Gospels (apologetics and hermeneutics)

4.  Insight into New Testament Scripture (hermeneutics)

  For the frequent reader or long-term student of the New Testament, the material in this book will probably be both extremely familiar and regularly surprising. This is particularly true of the first half, which deals with the Gospels. The reason for this is that as we have imbibed the different portions of the Scripture, we have often synthesized them in our understanding. This is obviously a good thing! However, it comes with the downside of not necessarily distinguishing the sources of the pieces of knowledge from each other. Therefore, we may not be  fully aware of many of the cases of Scripture supporting Scripture in the nitty gritty details.

  Again, this unawareness of specific links between is especially true in the four Gospel accounts, where the genres and narratives are so often read in parallel. On the other hand, I found that I was more aware of the subtle links between the accounts in Acts and the Pauline letters. I suspect that this is because each of these is more likely to be studied independently. Conversely, the Gospels, particularly the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, Luke), are frequently studied as a whole. 

 It is in this connection that McGrew sheds light on the so-called 'synoptic problem', which she names 'the synoptic puzzle.' In fascinating details, she shows the independence of the four Gospel witnesses from each other. Most interestingly, as she points out, the details of independence often emerge at exactly the places where the accounts seem most harmonized (dependent?) at a surface level. This perspective also gives a clear response to the common question, 'Why are there four gospels (not just one)? (The apparently similar question of the later, Gnostic gospels such as the Gospel of Barnabas or the Gospel of Thomas, is quite separate actually.)

The providential provision of four Gospels gives us a three-dimensional view of the events. (p. 193)

 It was also in the Gospel sections, that I felt like there were the most significant insights into passages allowing deeper understanding of the meaning of each passage. For example, the links between John 13 where Jesus washes his followers' feet and Luke 22 where he describes servant leadership and declares, "I am among you as one who serves" are particularly poignant. The strength of this connection will certainly inform my thinking going forward.

  Anyways, this book is definitely worth reading, if not in all the details, at least to get the main argument. It is approachable in tone and, because she usually quotes the passages she is dealing with in their entirety, the argument has greater force as you see the coincidences in the details of the texts. 

  A few additional quotes to stir your interest (bold emphasis mine, italics original): 

But it is particularly noticeable that the Gospel authors often seem to write with the lack of affectation that we find in a person whose primary purpose is getting important information out there, getting down what happened, making it available, rather than in one whose primary purpose is to fit together what he writes in a polished manner. The author of the Gospel of John is certainly theological, perhaps more so than any of the other Gospel writers. But again and again we find him including items in his Gospel without their full explanations, apparently just because he wanted his readers to know that they happened. (p. 44)

What one sees in undesigned coincidences, again and again, are points which “impressed themselves upon the eye” of the spectator and came thus into the accounts we now have. (p. 63)

It’s also worth noting that any intentional connection of this miracle with the earlier miracle could, if both occurred, be attributed to Jesus himself. [...] It’s important not to assume that, if there are resemblances between two events in the Gospels, this automatically implies a literary parallel created by the author. (p. 207) 

~ McGrew, Lydia. Hidden In Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts