For the word of the LORD holds true, and we can trust everything He does. – Psalm 33:4 NLT
I’m sure you’ve looked at the Bible before and wondered, “Where did this come from? How old is this anyway?” You may have even asked, “Is this even reliable?” The good news is that the 66 books of the Bible have been proven time and again to be incredibly reliable, and it stands up to the most critical inspection.
Think about it: 66 books written by 40 different authors across three different continents over the course of 1500 years…and it all works together. As Christians, we believe the Bible is divinely inspired (God directed the writing through human authors), that it is authoritative (it doesn’t answer to anyone or any higher authority), and that it is without error in its original writings.
There are a lot of statistics about dates and times, and many qualified people have spent the bulk of their professional lives investigating, verifying, and confirming the facts about the historical reliability of the Bible. The manuscripts (well over 20,000 for just the New Testament) back up the consistency of the scriptures. There are books, articles, papers, videos, lectures, and all sorts of materials that can help you understand how solid the biblical library is if you want to dig in to investigate it yourself.
The Old Testament books range in authorship from the oldest, which is Job, at ~2100 B.C. through the writings of Moses, the first five books of the Old Testament (~1450 B.C.) to Malachi (~430 B.C.) After Malachi, we have what is called the “Intertestamental Period” or the “Silent Period” of 400 years, where God did not speak to the nation of Israel through any prophets.
At the end of this time, we have the entrance of John the Baptist and, quickly after him, Jesus Christ, who is written about in the 4 Gospels, followed by the New Testament letters and John’s writings, all spanning from 40-95 A.D. within the lifetime of the eye-witnesses.
All of these 66 books were checked out, confirmed, and finally compiled in an official way by the late 300s at the Council of Hippo, and it was confirmed at another meeting known as the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D. There are no new revelations, no new points of authority, and no prophetic insights added in. We call this a “closed canon.” “Canon” means collection, and “closed” means…closed; there is nothing more to add.
Wanting to know about the age of the Bible, questioning its reliability, and desiring to know how it all came together are beneficial questions. We’re glad you’re asking these questions. It’s good to dig into these things and investigate these fundamental elements of the Christian faith. Generation after generation, the Scriptures hold up to scrutiny and investigation so we can confidently rest in the truth of God’s Word.
Dig Deeper
We suggest getting started with Lee Strobel’s three books: “The Case for Christ”, “The Case for Faith”, and “The Case for a Creator”. And for a deeper dive, Josh McDowell’s books: “Evidence That Demands a Verdict Vol 1″ and “Evidence That Demands a Verdict Vol 2″
Remember, as you read Scripture, you’re not just reading it, it is reading you. Make sure to pray before you begin and ask the Lord to guide you in understanding as you make your way through the best news anyone has ever heard.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. – 2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
