The Bible is one of the most well-preserved books in history. The word of God we have today is the same as what was written thousands of years ago. Let’s take a look at some of the evidences that confirm this.
Old Testament Preservation
Dead Sea Scrolls
We have evidence that the Old Testament has not been corrupted over time. From archaeology, we find many parts of the Old Testament preserved in what is known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. These texts, found in caves around the Dead Sea, contain partial or complete portions from all books of the Old Testament Bible except the book of Esther. Scroll dates range from the 3rd Century BC to the first century AD (before the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD).
Most of the documents were written in Hebrew (with some in Aramaic and Greek) by groups of Jewish communities who lived around Qumran. These documents show that the Old Testament Hebrew Bible we have today has not changed from the time the scrolls were written. Generally, there are only minute changes in spelling or pronunciation of the words with no significant differences from the text we have today.
Notably, the book of Isaiah has been preserved among the scrolls. The book of Isaiah describes the Messiah as the suffering servant.
There are other scrolls found outside of the main Qumran region near the Dead Sea as well. Some of the biblical texts date back to the First Temple period (c 960 – 586 BC) (see historical timeline).
You can explore some of the Dead Sea Scrolls online. The Israeli Antiquities Authority has a digital library of the Dead Sea Scrolls. See a range of featured scrolls here.
To learn more, see Biblical Text Transmitted Accurately Over Millenia and Has the Old Testament been Corrupted?
Jesus and the Hebrew Bible
By the time Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago, the Hebrew Bible had already been completed for several hundred years.
The Hebrew Bible is the Old Testament we have today. The only difference is that the books in the Hebrew Bible are arranged slightly differently compared to the Old Testament. For example, the Old Testament ends with the book of Malachi while the Hebrew Bible ends with 2 Chronicles.
All the content is the same, while the order of the books is different.
The Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) has three sections. The first section contains the Law of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The second section contains the books of the Prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Malachi and others). The third section contains the Writings (assorted writings such as Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Lamentations, Chronicles, and others).
Jesus knew the Hebrew Bible. In fact, He talked about all three sections of scriptures when He was on earth.
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.” (Luke 16:16-17)
So Jesus was talking about the Law of Moses and the books of the Prophets. He said that the Old Testament still stands today. Jesus introduced the New Testament by saying: “since that time (the time of John the Baptist) the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached”. So the New Testament highlights the gospel (the good news of salvation by faith).
While Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, He read from Isaiah (a book of the Prophets) (Luke 4:16-21).
Jesus also quoted from Psalm 110 (a book of the Writings):
“The Lord said to my Lord,
‘Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet'” (Matthew 22:44)
Furthermore, Jesus emphasized how He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus fulfilled the Law by living perfectly, and He fulfilled the Prophecies by coming to earth to be our Savior.
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)
New Testament Preservation
The New Testament of the Bible has also been well preserved. In fact, we have over 5000 ancient manuscript copies of the New Testament in Greek, and thousands of copies in Syriac, Latin, and Aramaic languages. The original New Testament was written between 50 AD to 100 AD (with Revelation and books of John written about 90 AD to 100 AD and other books written earlier). The earliest copy we have is the Rylands Papyrus from around 125 AD, which documents parts of John 18:31–33 on one side and John 18:37–38 on the other.
Other early manuscripts include the Bodmer Papyri, the Chester Beatty Papyri, and the Codex Sinaiticus. The Bodmer Papyri contains the entire gospel of John, which is dated to about 200 AD. It also contains the books of Luke, 1 and 2 Peter, Pauline epistles, and Jude. The Chester Beatty Papyri contains the gospels, Acts, Pauline epistles, and Revelation, and is dated to around 200 – 300 AD. The Codex Sinaiticus includes one of the earliest complete New Testaments found. It is dated to around 350 AD.
Compare this to many other ancient writings, which have far fewer ancient manuscripts and often span about a thousand years between the original and the earliest copy.
For more information, see Superior New Testament Reliability.
Preservation of ancient writing
It should be noted that writings on parchment, papyrus and ancient papers are difficult to preserve over thousands of years, because these materials easily degrade and decompose. For this reason, the older a document is, the more likely we won’t be able to find intact copies dating closer to the originals. Even so, this does not mean we can’t trust the younger copies. If we decide to distrust younger copies of the Bible, then we must also logically distrust other historical works like those written by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer as well, because those have very few number of copies compared to the Bible and the date spans between the originals and copies are very large.
But we see that historians have no doubts about Plato, Aristotle, or Homer. So the Bible, which has better documentation, need not be doubted either.
Conclusion
All of scripture is inspired by God, and God’s Spirit guided writers who wrote at various times. Furthermore, God has preserved His words. His words will never pass away.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
For more info about archaeological discoveries related to the Bible, see Archaeology and Ancient Writings.