How Reliable is our Bible?

The following is one of series of posts that are taken from email responses I have given to one of our members who is wrestling with various questions about Jesus, the Bible and faith. This one deals with how we can know the Bible we have is an accurate version of what was originally written and how the Bible compares to other ancient texts.

There are 5,600 manuscript copies of the New Testament in Greek some dating to within 40-60 years of their original composition. Among the 40,000 lines of text in the New Testament there are not more than 40 which are truly debated as authentic and accurate.

There are 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad in ancient Greek the nearest dating some 500 years from the original composition. There are almost 700 disputed lines of Homer’s text. And the Iliad is the best preserved ancient document aside from the New Testament.