Is The Bible Authentic

The bible is a heavily edited book, in the hands of an organization -known to have tortured and killed thousands of its opponents- in almost complete power of the whole of Europe for many hundreds of years. This organization (the catholic church) was also in control of critical christian sites in the Middle East for a period of time. The possession of the bible by nonclerical people was prohibited -even in a time when literacy rates where very low (prohibition: Council of Toulouse - 1229 AD. Canon 14). So, the catholic church had the liberty to change the bible as they pleased and manipulate evidence as they saw fit. In this context, we cannot rely in what the modern bible states.

Actually, to check if something is Authentic you have to look back at the historical documentation. Like, "Are the writings of Plato authentic?" Plato wrote from 427-347 B.C. Many would argue that "Yes indeed they are authentic." Because there are seven manuscripts, which are very similar, that date back to 900 A.D. Those are old and most people would have no problem believing his writings are authentic.

Now take the writings of the Bible. What are the historical documentations? The New Testament was written from 40-100 A.D. and the earliest manuscripts to be uncovered are around 125 A.D., some think earlier. There are also close to 30,000 manuscripts that are 99.5% accurate to each other. Compare that to Plato's writings of which the oldest manuscripts found are 1200 years from the time it was originally written and there are only 7 available to check authenticity with.

Is the Bible Authentic? Much more than Plato, Caesar's "Gallic Wars" (10 Greek manuscripts, the earliest 950 years after the original), the "Annals" of Tacitus (2 manuscripts, the earliest 950 years after the original), Pliny the Younger's "History" (7 manuscripts; 750 years elapsed); Thucydides' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Herodotus' "History" (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Sophocles (193 manuscripts; 1,400 years); Euripides (9 manuscripts; 1,500 years); and Aristotle (49 manuscripts; 1,400 years).

Now the problem with this is that many original manuscripts which could be used to check the bible with are either lost or hidden in the secret archives of the vatican and other entities.

Answer:

To begin with, the Bible has stronger manuscript support than any other work of classical history; including Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, and Tacitus. Equally amazing is the fact that the Bible has been virtually unaltered since the original writing, as is attested by scholars who have compared the earliest extant manuscripts with manuscripts written centuries later. Additionally, the reliability of the Bible is affirmed by the testimony of its authors, who were eyewitnesses or close associates of eyewitnesses to the recorded events, and by secular historians who confirm the many events, people, places, and customs chronicled in Scripture. Furthermore, Archaeology is a powerful witness to the accuracy of The New Testament documents. Repeatedly, comprehensive archaeological fieldwork and careful biblical interpretation affirm the authenticity and reliability of the Bible. The Bible records predictions of events that could not be known nor predicted by chance or common sense. For example, the Book of Daniel (written before 530 B.C.) accurately predicts the progression of kingdoms from Babylon through Median and Persian empires to the further persecution and suffering of the Jews under Antiochus IV Epiphanes with his desecration of the temple, his untimely death, and freedom for the Jews under Judas Maccabeus (165 B.C.). It is statistically preposterous that any or all of the Bible's specific, detailed prophecies could have been fulfilled through chance, good guessing, or deliberate deceit.