I often hear the question, “So, why are you a Christian, anyway?” I can honestly say that one reason is that I am truly confident that what the New Testament teaches is accurate, reliable, and true. The scriptures are the primary way in which God communicates with mankind. Historically, there have always been opponents to belief in the scriptures, but that opposition has increased exponentially in recent decades. We can see such opposition, not only in various opinion polls on religious activity but in the resultant lives of our society as a whole. The good news is that when the facts are examined and analyzed, those objections and charges of belittlement to scriptural authority are found to be totally without merit. The accuracy and reliability of the documents is one of the strongest reasons we can say—“I believe in God and I am a Christian.”

Our belief in what the scriptures teach does not depend upon blind faith. We have multiple categories of evidence for the support of its historical accuracy. We can start with the documents themselves, examine archeological support, and then look at the fulfillment of predictions (or prophecy). Let’s start with a look at the Old Testament documents themselves.

Old Testament

The collection of writings that we call the Old Testament (the events before Christ) was originally written down in Hebrew between the years of 1600–400 BC. Being that old, the question has always been, “How accurate are the copies we have today?” It should be noted that the Hebrew scribes went through incredible pains to be sure of the accuracy of the documents they were copying. Many considered their work as their “mission in life.” For them, accuracy was everything. For example, a group of scribes called the Masoretes meticulously copied and edited the ancient texts between the years 600–1000 AD. The text of the Old Testament used by the translators of today’s Bibles is known as the Masoretic text.

But just how good of a job did they do? We can actually look to science to help us answer that one. Of course, science cannot prove or disprove the spiritual claims of the Bible, but it can substantiate much of the natural information in it. By doing so, its spiritual claims are that much more credible. As such, the Smithsonian Institution’s Department of Anthropology has an official statement on “THE BIBLE AS HISTORY.” In it, they say, “…much of the Bible, in particular the historical books of the Old Testament, are as accurate historical documents as any that we have from antiquity and are in fact more accurate than many of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, or Greek histories. These Biblical records can be and are used as are other ancient documents in archeological work.”

The field of Archeology has time and time again confirmed much of what the Old Testament reports as history. For example, it was believed for many years that it would have been impossible for Moses to have written the first five books of the Bible (known as the Pentateuch). It was thought that there was no such thing as intelligent writing in his day. That belief was dispelled, however, at the discovery of the “Black Stele”¹. It was a 7-foot black rock engraved with wedge-shaped characters on it that contained detailed laws of the Hammurabi people. So what? This [document] was dated as having been produced at least 300 years before not just Moses but Abraham as well! Another find was made in 1974 that discovered the use of an alphabet on clay tablets known as the Ebla Tablets. Similarly, these tablets were made in a time that also predated Abraham.

Finally, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been perhaps the best attestation of the Old Testament’s reliability. Back in 1947, hundreds of scrolls and fragments of scrolls were found in a series of caves in Northern Israel. Among these writings were texts of every book of the Old Testament with the exception of Esther. Two of the Isaiah scrolls have been dated between 200–50 BC. These scrolls have been compared to the book of Isaiah in the Masoretic text. Scholars tell us that there is nearly a one hundred percent correlation between the two. This shows us that the Hebrew text we have today is incredibly close to the text written before even the life of Jesus Himself!

Prophecy

Let’s look at a small sampling of Old Testament prophecies that tie into the New Testament. These are called Messianic prophecies in that they foretell issues relating to Jesus, the coming Messiah.

Prophecies About the Messiah’s Lineage:

• Genesis 49:10 states that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. (Fulfilled)
• Isaiah 11:1–10 says that nations would seek the counsel of Jesse’s descendant. (Fulfilled)
• Micah 5:2 tells us that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. (Fulfilled)

Prophecies describing that the Messiah would suffer and be crucified:

• Isaiah 53:3 says that God’s servant would suffer and be rejected. (Fulfilled)
• Isaiah 53:5 says that God’s servant would be wounded and whipped. (Fulfilled)
• Isaiah 53:7 says that God’s servant would be silent before His accusers. (Fulfilled)
• Isaiah 53:9 says God’s servant would be buried in a rich man’s tomb. (Fulfilled)
• Isaiah 53:12 says God’s servant would be crucified with criminals. (Fulfilled)

Psalm 22 is perhaps the most comprehensive foreshadowing of Jesus’ crucifixion. Verse 1 records the very words that Jesus uttered while He hung dying on the cross (“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?”). Verses 7 and 8 reflect His torment as the crowds mocked Him while dying. Verse 16 describes how they pierced Jesus’ hands and feet. Keep in mind that at the time the book of Psalms was written, Roman crucifixion had not even been invented yet! Verse 18 tells how the people parted His garments and cast lots for them.

All these prophecies were fulfilled in the New Testament accounts of Christ’s death.

For extra reference, the following are some additional Old Testament prophecies pertaining to Christ.

• Zechariah 9:9 – The Messiah would enter Jerusalem while riding on a donkey. (Fulfilled)
• Zechariah 11:12–13 – Foreshadowing the betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. (Fulfilled)
• Daniel 9:24–26 – Proclaiming when an anointed one would be rejected. (Fulfilled)

Summary

We can see from all these examples that the Old Testament has some pretty impressive credentials. Not only does archeology and science repeatedly confirm the accounts of the Old Testament, but numerous prophecies are recorded and have been fulfilled. We have discussed some that pertain to Christ but there are still many more. In my next article, we will discuss the credibility of the New Testament. We’ll see that the evidence for the New Testament is most compelling and convincing. It is accurate, reliable and true. It’s another good reason we can proudly stand up and say, “I am a Christian”.

Footnotes:
¹“Archaeology and the Bible.” Archaeology and the Bible. http://www.contenderministries.org/biblestudy/archeology.php