Is the Bible Real and Can the Bible be Trusted?

Is the Christian Bible true and authentic?

Is the Bible a work of cultural imagination or is it genuine, authentic, reliable, and inspired by God?

Here are some insights on the authenticity and truthfulness of the Bible.

The biblical manuscripts are trusted, reliable, and accurately translated from the earliest found documents.

The Bible is genuine, and it has the most surviving copies of any ancient writing.
Scholars have continuously and extensively scrutinized these texts for variations, corruption, and truths.
The fact is that the biblical authors lived hundreds and thousands of years apart from each other.
It would be impossible for them to collaborate to create a cultural belief system or the largest scam known to man.
These authors have repeated the same content in their writings throughout history.
Many lived decades apart and never knew each other.

Over half of the prophecies in the Bible have come true, according to estimates.
This evidence supports the notion that the authors of the original manuscripts wrote them with divine inspiration.
Prophecies in the Bible continue to come true, with the most recent being the war in Israel.
It was prophesied right to the month it started.
As a side note, the prophetic predictions of the future do not look positive for humanity.

The author's motives can be trusted.

There are many biblical stories of how God kills, saves, forgives, loves, and shows God's honest reactions.
Why would anyone want to give testimony to all these stories unless they thought they were true?
There is no evidence suggesting that the stories in the Bible were created for monetary gain, personal ego, or any other ulterior motive.

For example:
What would be the purpose of including stories about a talking donkey, a large fish transporting someone, and a woman turning into a pillar of salt if they were not true and part of the Bible?
Where would there be any gain?
Why would anyone write such absurd stories unless they believed they happened?
The secular world mocked the authors of these stories and deemed them crazy for writing them.
Why would anyone subject themselves to such ridicule unless they had seen or had faith that these biblical stories happened and are factual?
The thing to remember is when and by whom these stories were written.
A not-so-highly-advanced culture wrote the Bible about a highly advanced creator and his angels.
The ancients weren't as sophisticated and technologically intelligent as people of today.
They explained things in a way that they could comprehend.
It is believed this is why Jesus spoke in parables, so that the listeners could relate to what he was explaining.
Is it just a matter of interpretation and understanding?
Perhaps a culture lacking a technological background interprets a submarine as a large fish?
Is it possible that Elijah took a ride on an aircraft with a fiery exhaust and not a chariot?
Think about it!
Could non-technical people explain or understand technology that they couldn't comprehend?
Is it possible that a woman transformed into an inanimate block of salt?
Perhaps she was hit with radiation dust from a nuclear blast and ended up exactly like the Japanese that America bombed in World War II.
The Bible chronicles the healing of sick people.
Perhaps the medical knowledge of supreme beings such as God, Jesus, and angels is greater than the medical technology of today.
Consider how the early Israelites would have explained the use of modern drugs for healing if they had existed back then.
Moses performed the miracle of parting the sea.
Moses was highly educated, having been brought up and raised by Pharaoh's court.
Being a skilled fighter and adept at leadership and combat, he could have easily led thousands of people out of slavery.
The area around Egypt would be very familiar to him as he traveled throughout the country performing duties for the pharaoh.
Moses would have known where there were watering holes, hills, valleys, places of heavy or light winds, and the water levels in the nearby seas.
Perhaps he knew of the perfect place to cross the Red Sea during a low tide when the wind was strong enough to push the water back.
Here is another way to interpret the stories in the Bible if you view them scientifically.
Examining the Bible stories from a scientific perspective doesn't require faith.
Scientists are constantly coming up with archaeological evidence and theories that can substantiate the Bible stories.
The 10 plagues that occurred on the Nile in Egypt can be scientifically explained.
Science fact-checking the Bible.

What did the philosopher Comte state?

Comte stated, "It is common that we only believe what we can personally observe. However, it is impossible to live without faith."
Everyone in their daily life constantly believes and acts upon facts not seen or explainable.
That's the norm. "I didn't see a man walk on the moon, so it didn't happen."
This is what some people believe 50 years after it happened.
Conspiracy theories provide a compelling narrative, leading some to believe that the moon landings were a Hollywood production.
Luckily, this website author doesn't have that problem, as he participated in the moon landings.
Therefore, it is easy for me to see how many people do not believe the stories of the Bible.
If some individuals question the moon landings (which occurred six times), it may be challenging for them to accept that Jesus turned water into wine.
One must decide what's real for oneself based on faith, observation, historical writings, or what one's family or best friends tell them.
If we don't see it, then it can be difficult for us to believe.
That's human nature.

Well, this author experienced it, so I believe it.
I am now sharing my experience with you.
We humans left the face of the earth, traveled in outer space, and walked on the moon six times.
I participated in the event when working at NASA.
The Apollo program and walking on the moon six times were not a Hollywood production.
I hope you can understand and appreciate my experience and believe me.
I consider it easy to believe Elijah was taken up into the heavens in a fiery chariot, and you should too.
The same should be true of the Bible.
Stories in the Bible should be believed.
Someone experienced the events, believed they happened, and wrote about them.
We should believe them.

Are scientists always right, and can they be trusted?

The "mainstream" scientific community does not like its theories challenged.
The discovery that the Earth is round and that the Sun is the center of the solar system was difficult for early scientists to accept.
Kepler and Copernicus, for their belief in that theory, were expelled from the scientific social club.
Alfred Wegener proposed that Earth's continents were moving.
Between 1912 and 1929, he published evidence based on fossil and rock samples to support his theory.
The scientific community categorically rejected Wegener's drift theory.
Not until this author's teenage years (1950-1960s) did the theory of Wegener finally become part of mainstream science.
People don't believe we landed on the moon.
In this case, the scientific community believes it happened.
The issue is that the general public doesn't believe it. Go figure.
Yep, the general public of today's generation did not experience the moon landings, so they think it was all a hoax.
Fortunately for me, I was part of NASA, and I participated in the experience.
Your author for this website has no doubts.
I am curious as to why it can be challenging for people to accept the truth.
One answer is that it goes against what they already believe and were taught.
If their father asserted during their upbringing that the world was flat, why would they accept the claims of an unhinged individual asserting it was round?
In school, it was taught that water can only be a solid, liquid, or gas.
Why should they believe it can be turned into wine?
They are skeptical that water can be transformed into wine, as they have not personally observed it.
This stems from the adage, "Seeing is believing."
I say, the wind's existence doesn't depend on us seeing it.

"If God creates perfection, why is the Earth tilted on its axis, and why isn't there one landmass?"
The problem most of us humans have, as noted by Comte, is that we must see to believe.
How do we know that God didn't deliberately create the Earth with a tilted axis?

It is possible that the tilting of Earth's axis occurred after God's creation due to an astronomical phenomenon.
For instance, a massive meteor did smash into the Earth in the Gulf of Mexico.
During Noah's flood, the Earth experienced a significant upheaval. Just maybe! Are you with me?
The moon is out there tugging and pulling, and scientists (God bless them) believe it was formed after Earth's creation.
Scientists have revealed facts and evidence that demonstrate the Earth's axis is perfect.
One theory suggests that the moon was either created or placed in orbit after Earth's formation, which caused the planet's tilt.
Another theory suggests that a large piece of space junk struck Earth in the Gulf, causing the Earth to tilt off its axis.
The meteor hit the Gulf of Mexico and the surrounding Mexican landmass.
The impact from the meteor could have been severe enough to cause a worldwide flood.
This collision shook the Earth's mantle with enough force to divide the landmass into two pieces.
Photographs of Earth, various globes, and views from space depict this phenomenon.
Furthermore, the ashes released into the atmosphere may have contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs and many mammals on Earth.
This theory receives support from non-biblical writers, physical evidence, and recent discoveries.
According to the Bible's creation theory, a perfect Earth was created, and current scientific theories support the idea that the Earth was originally perfect before being altered by external forces.

I can speculate on several theories.
Think about this one.
God could have deliberately sent the asteroid to hit the Earth to cause its extinction.
The asteroid could have already been on its way to Earth, and God may have given Noah a warning along with instructions to prepare for it.
God would have warned Noah to build the boat and secure the hatches to protect humanity and the animals from the devastation caused by the incoming asteroid.
It is reasonable to believe in either scenario.

Yes, scientists are often wrong and can be self-righteous in their attitudes.
Therefore, we cannot always trust scientists' claims.
Can the Bible be trusted? Yes, it can.

The truth is that self-righteous scientists who do not believe will eventually recognize the truths that contradict their own beliefs.

Truths that support the Bible's creation and events will also eventually be recognized and believed.

As humans, we lack faith in what others tell us; we need to experience it ourselves.
More to the point, we lack faith in the ancient manuscripts because they weren't written in our time.
This means that the events might have happened and might be real, true, or authentic.
Someone wrote about them and believed what they wrote, so we should consider the stories real.
The point is, if things seem unbelievable, they might still be plausible.
Just because we don't believe in something doesn't mean it does not exist.
It's just possible that we lack the understanding, and most importantly, we lack faith.
It took quite a while before doctors believed that germs entered open wounds and caused infections.

Why is it so hard to believe in Bible miracles?

Did Moses part the sea?
Should we doubt that the Bible is authentic and true just because we weren't there to witness the events?
What reasons might we have for questioning what they wrote?
Someone witnessed it and wrote about it.
Might we, like mainstream scientists, be overlooking the events in the Bible due to a lack of understanding?

The problem is that modern-day people were not there to see Moses part the sea.
Therefore, it cannot be believed that it happened.
Since there is no rational explanation for how it could have happened, we conclude that it didn't happen.

It's just like those who didn't see the landing on the moon.
Many believe it didn't happen.
Some believe it was a Hollywood production to fool the public.
I know it happened because I participated. I participated in it. I was there. I experienced it.
It happened. I participated. I talked about it. I wrote about it. I told people about it.
It's not a fabrication or a lie. Why don't you believe me? Because you weren't there.
Why don't they believe?
Their lack of belief stems from a lack of personal experience, witnessing, or participation.
Conspiracists with a private agenda often refute what they disbelieve and develop convincing theories.
There are some great, convincing videos available that can convince a person that we did not land on the moon.
When scientifically analyzed, these videos can be debunked, but the non-believers can't comprehend the truth.
As a general in a popular movie said, "You want the truth; you can't handle the truth."
The same goes for the Bible.
People still don't believe the moon landing happened, nor do they believe in my story about participating in it.
It is the same with the Bible.
Moses may write tirelessly and recount his story repeatedly, yet he will not be believed.
Unfortunately, there are many things we don't understand or don't see.
As a result, we humans tend to be selective and may not accept the truth but believe the conspirators.
Here are a few events that modern people believe did not happen despite the evidence.
1. The Holocaust of the Germans murdering millions of Jews never occurred.
2. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
3. The Apollo moon landings never happened, and all seven landings were Hollywood deceptions.
4. Several off-the-wall theories about the September 11th attack totally ignore thousands of feet of film footage.
5. The Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre did not occur and was orchestrated for media attention.
6. Patty Hearst was not kidnapped.
7. Amelia Earhart was not lost at sea.
8. Elvis is still alive.
Here are a few things that modern people believe to be true, but they are not true.
1. It was Columbus who established the roundness of the world.
Nope. Scientists of that era already understood that the Earth was round.
The sailors at the time were aware of this and navigated with it.
2. The witches in Salem were burned at the stake.
Nope. They were hanged. (19 of them.)
3. Napoleon Bonaparte was short.
Nope. He was of average size.
4. Thanksgiving feast with Indians and Pilgrims.
This did not occur.
The pilgrims were firing their guns, celebrating a good harvest, and the Indians arrived to see what the commotion was.
It was not a congenial meeting, and it was actually the start of the animosity between the Europeans and the Native Americans.
5. Nero did not fiddle while Rome burned.
Fiddles had not been invented yet, and Nero was not even in Rome at the time.
6. The story of George Washington and the cherry tree is a fabrication.
This was made up by Mason Locke Weems, a minister and bookseller, in 1806.
What's my point?
If you can't see my point, you will never believe the Bible stories.
We won't believe in the truth unless we experience it for ourselves.
However, we will believe in a good false story if we didn't experience it.

What about the authors who wrote the Bible?

The New Testament was written by disciples who personally knew Jesus.
They lived the experience.
Paul believed that “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.”
Before being converted, Paul hunted down, persecuted, arrested, and often murdered the disciples of Jesus.
Paul had a divine intervention with a heavenly spirit and converted to believe in Jesus.
He believed that the spirit was Jesus.
Paul became one of the most faithful followers of Jesus.
Jesus changed his name from Saul to Paul.
Why did Paul's life undergo a dramatic change?
This abrupt shift was due to his realization that Jesus was truly authentic.
Is it reasonable to believe that Saul suddenly joined some "elaborate hoax" and "big landing on the moon conspiracy" of lies and deception?
Is it really a hoax that, after despising the Christian movement and overseeing the murder of believers, he became a disciple?
Hardly!

Most of the New Testament authors were, in some way, cruelly executed.

Why?
Disciples and apostles of Christ stuck to their beliefs; why would they if they were not true?
Deliberately facing persecution, ridicule, and certain death, they would only stick to their beliefs if they were true.
The outcome of their belief allows them to suffer gruesome deaths.
The religious authorities stoned Stephen to death.
Peter was crucified upside down.
Andrew was tied to an "X" instead of nailed to a "T" cross for that "extra bit" of painful punishment.
John the Baptist was beheaded.
The apostles maintained their belief in Jesus to the end.
Why?
There is a long list of martyrs who held to the truth.
These disciples must have believed in God or witnessed the testimony of Jesus.
The apostles witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.
Is it reasonable to assume that dozens of these men conspired and made up such unbelievable stories?
I think not!
They wouldn't have joined a biblical conspiracy only to face persecution and execution.
The disciples' support for a 2,000-year-old tale is illogical.
Is this how people behave in real life?

Do people give up their lives for a lie?
Any experienced interrogator will tell you that people generally won't give up their lives for a lie.
Remaining silent is virtually against human nature.
People will be quiet about saving themselves unless pressured.
Once they experience sufficient pressure, they begin to speak freely.
History has shown that under the stress of interrogation, eventually the truth will come out, even from the toughest resistor.
Guantanamo Bay interrogations have provided evidence of this belief since 1903.
These early "Christians" stuck to their beliefs until their dying breath.

Why?
They believed in the truth.

Other non-Biblical authoritative and respected philosophers wrote about Biblical happenings.

Many early writers have conferred or corroborated information in the Bible.
They referred to events, places, and characters in the Bible.
These writers are well-known, respected, and popular historians, such as Aristotle, Plato, Homer, and Socrates.
In the mix are secular writers like Pliny, Herodotus, Josephus, Flavius, Caesar, Euripides, and Tacitus.
There were Christian writers such as Augustine, Julian, Origen, Isidore, Quodvultdeus, Evagrius, Justin, Cyprian, Paulinus, Tertullian, Clement, and Julianus Pomerius, to name a few more.
All these famous, reliable, honest, and trustworthy writers have authenticated many of the Bible stories and the existence of Jesus.
Why don't we believe what the historians tell us?
Archaeologists continue to discover biblical evidence of items, places, and names referenced in the Bible.
It would fill a tome to describe everything found in the past 100 years.
Why don't we believe what the archaeologists tell us?

Here are a few discoveries made recently:

Places discovered that validate the contents and truth of the Bible.

Researchers have discovered an elaborate building next to the temple.
It is estimated that the building was shaken to pieces around 33 AD by an earthquake.
The Bible refers to this.
Could the earthquake be a coincidence, or did it actually occur?
Maybe it is; maybe it's not.
The walls of Jericho have been excavated.
Kiriath Yearim has been discovered, which the Bible mentions several times.
This is where the Ark of the Covenant resided. (1 Samuel 7:1–2).
The synagogue at Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene, has been found.
Researchers have discovered over a dozen early Jewish temples.
Researchers believe they have discovered a palace that belonged to King Manasseh, the ruler of 2 Kings 21.
Researchers have discovered King Ahab's royal palace in the Middle East.
Researchers have discovered the ancient location of the Jewish Tabernacle, Tel Shiloh, and the Holy Ark.
In the Iraqi city of Mosul (aka Nineveh), the tomb of the prophet Jonah has been found.
Herod's living quarters and seaside complex have been discovered.
Genesis 36:31 states that there were kings in Edom before any Israelite king.
Excavations have proven all this, proving the Bible's truth.
The list goes on; googling the internet reveals thousands of pieces of biblical evidence.

Things found that prove the truth, validity, and authority of the Bible.

Crucified bodies have been discovered.
The discovery gives proof that crucifixions were common in those days.
Large skeletons have been unearthed. The Bible tells of giants. Remember Goliath?
Buried chariots in the Red Sea were discovered, where Moses could have led the Israelites across.
Many ancient scrolls exist that repeat many of the Bible stories.
Someone discovered a jug bearing Gideon's inscriptions. Yes, that's real.
A clay seal of a roaring lion dating to the reign of Jeroboam II, who ruled from 788 to 748 BC, has been found.
Researchers have discovered royal seals belonging to Adonijah, Natan-Malech, and the governor of Jerusalem.
2 Kings 23:8 mentions them.
The nameplate for Pontius Pilate was discovered. The plate is like one that is placed on a door or desk.
A monument discovered in a farmer's field has the names of people from the Bible inscribed on it.
Archeologists have uncovered a pillar with an inscription about Jerusalem.
Semitic writing on limestone created during the time of Moses has been discovered.
According to the evidence, writing with an alphabet existed during the time of Moses.
Moses may have penned the first five books, given the absence of any prior writings.
Archeologists have uncovered a mosaic depicting Jesus feeding the multitude with fish and bread.
This mosaic was discovered just south of the location where the event took place.
DNA from skeletons excavated at the Philistine city of Ashkelon in Israel contains European ancestry.
This finding confirms the biblical account of the intermingling of the Jewish and Philistine communities.
Here is an excellent website that confirms Bible archaeology finds.
biblearchaeologyreport.com
This site offers an overview of biblical archaeology.
https://probe.org/biblical-archaeology
The article highlights ten crucial discoveries in biblical archaeology.
crossway.org
Six findings prove the Bible.
beliefnet.com
Is archaeology proving the Bible?
newsweek.com
Read about Biblical Archaeology’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2021.
christianitytoday.com
There are many biblical archaeological discoveries; one must Google for themselves.
Discover that the Bible's contents are real.
The evidence is available for those who seek it.

Why do we trust copies of non-biblical books but not the Bible books?

The list of biblical findings is endless.
One must search the Internet for "proof of the Bible" for oneself.
There is a lot of information available.

A book's age or copying does not diminish its authority or credibility.
Researchers have found several copies of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Isaiah.
These copies, each written at least 500 years apart, share identical stories.
This gives credence to the fact that the scriptures have been consistently copied without change for half a millennium.
After years of copying these two scriptures over and over, copies written 500 years apart are identical.
This evidence demonstrates the accurate reproduction of the Bible from generation to generation.
The scribes were meticulous when making copies of the Holy Scriptures and ensuring their accuracy.

Could there be any reason to question the authority of the Bible?

Researchers found over 5,000 copies of ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament.
Over ten thousand copies of the Bible written in other ancient languages have been discovered.
All of these copies agree with each other in content.
These fragmented copies date as far back as thirty years after the originals.
We have proven all these scriptures to be authentic copies of each other.
The question stands: why should there be doubt about the Bible's truth, authenticity, accuracy, and legitimacy?