Paganism,planetary worship and the similarities with Catholicism, Islam and Judaism.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor.../Chief-exorcist-says-Devil-is-in-Vatican.html

This exorcist, who was forbidden to enter the Vatican when he organised an international conference of exorcist near or in the said town.
Just reading that he actually died last year - how convenient- of respiratory and circulatory medical complications. Now, he won't be bothering those in the V a t i c a n that are into S ;? A !! T %µ A ¨^ N $£ I ùµ SM.

 

Popes into Pagan sacrificing now as well, this time it's sacrificing people to Islamic terrorists instead of solar deities. Man of God my ass..


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-migrants-pope-idUSKCN1B11RX

Pope says migrants' rights should override national security concerns
FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis welcomes a group of Syrian refugees after landing at Ciampino airport in Rome following a visit at the Moria refugee camp in the Greek island of Lesbos, April 16, 2016.Filippo Monteforte
Philip Pullella

3 MIN READ

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged political leaders on Monday to defend migrants, saying their safety should take precedence over national security concerns and that they should not be subjected to collective deportations.

His challenge to politicians, made in a comprehensive position paper on migrants and refugees, again appeared to put him at odds with the restrictive policies of a number of governments dealing with growing popular anti-immigrant sentiment.

"Solidarity must be concretely expressed at every stage of the migratory experience – from departure through journey to arrival and return," he said in a message ahead of the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Calling for "broader options for migrants and refugees to enter destination countries safely and legally," he said the human rights and dignity of all migrants had to be respected regardless of their legal status.


"The principle of the centrality of the human person ... obliges us to always prioritize personal safety over national security," he said.

This appeared to be a reference to fears voiced in many European countries that refugees inflows could lead to security problems in their host countries. He said it was necessary "to ensure that agents in charge of border control are properly trained."

He called for "alternative solutions to detention" for illegal immigrants and said "collective and arbitrary expulsions of migrants and refugees are not suitable solutions".

Francis said migrants should be seen as "a true resource for the communities that welcome them" and be given freedom of movement, access to means of communication, access to justice and everyday rights such as opening a bank account.

Francis, an Argentine who has made defense of migrants a major plank of his papacy, has criticized anti-immigrant stands by national leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump. Last year, Francis condemned then-candidate Trump's intention to build a wall on the border with Mexico.

Migrant children deserved particular protection, the pope said. They "must be spared any form of detention related to migratory status," guaranteed access to primary and secondary education and have the right to remain when they come of age.

Francis's message immediately drew the ire of the right-wing Northern League party in Italy because it implicitly supported a controversial law proposal that would grant citizenship to children who are born in Italy of immigrant parents.

"The universal right to a nationality should be recognized and duly certified for all children at birth," the pope said.

Northern League leader Matteo Salvini responded: "If he wants to apply it in his state, the Vatican, he can go right ahead."

World leaders are due to commit their countries to two global compacts, one on refugees and the other on migrants, by the end of 2018 under the auspices of the United Nations.

Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Richard Balmforth

 

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/bang.php
THE "BIG BANG" IS JUST RELIGION DISGUISED AS SCIENCE

Astronomers keep discovering objects older than the presumed moment of the Big Bang. Rather than see those objects as evidence that undermines the theory of the Big Bang, cosmologists simply push the date of the Big Bang (and the estimated size of the universe) back further.

MORE EPICYCLES

As more problems surface with the theory of the Big Bang, more and more "interesting" workarounds appear, including the theory that while objects within space cannot travel faster than light, space itself can grow in size faster than light (to deal with some of the observations noted above). Then there is the theory of Dark Matter, created to satisfy discrepancies in the math used to model the epicycles, but like the Higgs Boson, not actually proven to exist (although they claim to be 99% of the way there). However, other scientists are already pointing out that General Relativity itself may be problematic, and Einstein's original model is being revised to eliminate the need for Dark Matter.

 

Outline
Main article: Events of Revelation
The Revelation of Jesus Christ

1. 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is communicated to John of Patmos through prophetic visions. (1:1–9)
   2. John is instructed by the "one like a son of man" to write all that he hears and sees, from the prophetic visions, to Seven churches of Asia. (1:10–13)
   3. The appearance of the "one like a son of man" is given, and he reveals what the seven stars and seven lampstands represent. (1:14–20)
2. Messages for seven churches of Asia
   1. Ephesus: From this church, he "who overcomes is granted to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." (2:1–7)
      1. Praised for not bearing those who are evil, testing those who say they are apostles and are not, and finding them to be liars; hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans; having persevered and possessing patience.
      2. Admonished to "do the first works" and to repent for having left their "first love."
   2. Smyrna: From this church, those who are faithful until death, will be given "the crown of life." He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. (2:8–11)
      1. Praised for being "rich" while impoverished and in tribulation.
      2. Admonished not to fear the "synagogue of Satan", nor fear a ten-day tribulation of being thrown into prison.
   3. Pergamum: From this church, he who overcomes will be given the hidden manna to eat and a white stone with a secret name on it." (2:12–17)
      1. Praised for holding "fast to My name", not denying "My faith" even in the days of Antipas, "My faithful martyr."
      2. Admonished to repent for having held the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel; eating things sacrificed to idols, committing sexual immorality, and holding the "doctrine of the Nicolaitans."
   4. Thyatira: From this church, he who overcomes until the end, will be given power over the nations in order to dash them to pieces with a rod of iron; he will also be given the "morning star." (2:18–29)
      1. Praised for their works, love, service, faith, and patience.
      2. Admonished to repent for allowing a "prophetess" to promote sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols.
   5. Sardis: From this church, he who overcomes will be clothed in white garments, and his name will not be blotted out from the Book of Life; his name will also be confessed before the Father and His angels. (3:1–6)
      1. Admonished to be watchful and to strengthen since their works have not been perfect before God.
   6. Philadelphia: From this church, he who overcomes will be made a pillar in the temple of God having the name of God, the name of the city of God, "New Jerusalem", and the Son of God's new name. (3:7–13)
      1. Praised for having some strength, keeping "My word", and having not denied "My name."
      2. Reminded to hold fast what they have, that no one may take their crown.
   7. Laodicea: From this church, he who overcomes will be granted the opportunity to sit with the Son of God on His throne. (3:14–22)
      1. Admonished to be zealous and repent from being "lukewarm"; they are instructed to buy the "gold refined in the fire", that they may be rich; to buy "white garments", that they may be clothed, so that the shame of their nakedness would not be revealed; to anoint their eyes with eye salve, that they may see.
3. Before the Throne of God
   1. The Throne of God appears, surrounded by twenty four thrones with Twenty-four elders seated in them. (4:1–5)
   2. The four living creatures are introduced. (4:6–11)
   3. A scroll, with seven seals, is presented and it is declared that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, from the "Root of David", is the only one worthy to open this scroll. (5:1–5)
   4. When the "Lamb having seven horns and seven eyes" took the scroll, the creatures of heaven fell down before the Lamb to give him praise, joined by myriads of angels and the creatures of the earth. (5:6–14)
4. Seven Seals are opened
   1. First Seal: A white horse appears, whose crowned rider has a bow with which to conquer. (6:1–2)
   2. Second Seal: A red horse appears, whose rider is granted a "great sword" to take peace from the earth. (6:3–4)
   3. Third Seal: A black horse appears, whose rider has "a pair of balances in his hand", where a voice then says, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine." (6:5–6)
   4. Fourth Seal: A pale horse appears, whose rider is Death, and Hades follows him. Death is granted a fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and with the beasts of the earth. (6:7–8)
   5. Fifth Seal: "Under the altar", appeared the souls of martyrs for the "word of God", who cry out for vengeance. They are given white robes and told to rest until the martyrdom of their brothers is completed. (6:9–11)
   6. Sixth Seal: (6:12–17)
      1. There occurs a great earthquake where "the sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon like blood" (6:12).
      2. The stars of heaven fall to the earth and the sky recedes like a scroll being rolled up (6:13–14).
      3. Every mountain and island is moved out of place (6:14).
      4. The people of earth retreat to caves in the mountains (6:15).
      5. The survivors call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, so as to hide them from the "wrath of the Lamb" (6:16).
   7. Interlude: The 144,000 Hebrews are sealed.
      1. 144,000 from the Twelve Tribes of Israel are sealed as servants of God on their foreheads (7:1–8)
      2. A great multitude stand before the Throne of God, who come out of the Great Tribulation, clothed with robes made "white in the blood of the Lamb" and having palm branches in their hands. (7:9–17)
   8. Seventh Seal: Introduces the seven trumpets (8:1–5)
      1. "Silence in heaven for about half an hour" (8:1).
      2. Seven angels are each given trumpets (8:2).
      3. An eighth angel takes a "golden censer", filled with fire from the heavenly altar, and throws it to the earth (8:3–5). What follows are "peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake" (8:5).
      4. After the eighth angel has devastated the earth, the seven angels introduced in verse 2 prepare to sound their trumpets (8:6).
5. Seven trumpets are sounded (Seen in Chapters 8, 9, and 12).
   1. First Trumpet: Hail and fire, mingled with blood, are thrown to the earth burning up a third of the trees and green grass. (8:6–7)
   2. Second Trumpet: Something that resembles a great mountain, burning with fire, falls from the sky and lands in the ocean. It kills a third of the sea creatures and destroys a third of the ships at sea. (8:8–9)
   3. Third Trumpet: A great star, named Wormwood, falls from heaven and poisons a third of the rivers and springs of water. (8:10–11)
   4. Fourth Trumpet: A third of the sun, the moon, and the stars are darkened creating complete darkness for a third of the day and the night. (8:12–13)
   5. Fifth Trumpet: The First Woe (9:1–12)
      1. A "star" falls from the sky (9:1).
      2. This "star" is given "the key to the bottomless pit" (9:1).
      3. The "star" then opens the bottomless pit. When this happens, "smoke [rises] from [the Abyss] like smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky [are] darkened by the smoke from the Abyss" (9:2).
      4. From out of the smoke, locusts who are "given power like that of scorpions of the earth" (9:3), who are commanded not to harm anyone or anything except for people who were not given the "seal of God" on their foreheads (from chapter 7) (9:4).
      5. The "locusts" are described as having a human appearance (faces and hair) but with lion's teeth, and wearing "breastplates of iron"; the sound of their wings resembles "the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle" (9:7–9).
   6. Sixth Trumpet: The Second Woe (9:13–21)
      1. The four angels bound to the great river Euphrates are released to prepare two hundred million horsemen.
      2. These armies kill a third of mankind by plagues of fire, smoke, and brimstone.
   7. Interlude: The little scroll. (10:1–11)
      1. An angel appears, with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, having an opened little book in his hand.
      2. Upon the cry of the angel, seven thunders utter mysteries and secrets that are not to be written down by John.
      3. John is instructed to eat the little scroll that happens to be sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach, and to prophesy.
      4. John is given a measuring rod to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.
      5. Outside the temple, at the court of the holy city, it is trod by the nations for forty-two months (3+1⁄2 years).
      6. Two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. (11:1–14)
   8. Seventh Trumpet: The Third Woe that leads into the seven bowls (11:15–19)
      1. The temple of God opens in heaven, where the ark of His covenant can be seen. There are lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
6. The Seven Spiritual Figures. (Events leading into the Third Woe)
   1. A Woman "clothed with a white robe, with the sun at her back, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" is in pregnancy with a male child. (12:1–2)
   2. A great Dragon (with seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads) drags a third of the stars of Heaven with his tail, and throws them to the Earth. (12:3–4). The Dragon waits for the birth of the child so he can devour it. However, sometime after the child is born, he is caught up to God's throne while the Woman flees into the wilderness into her place prepared of God that they should feed her there for 1,260 days (3½ years). (12:5–6). War breaks out in heaven between Michael and the Dragon, identified as that old Serpent, the Devil, or Satan (12:9). After a great fight, the Dragon and his angels are cast out of Heaven for good, followed by praises of victory for God's kingdom. (12:7–12). The Dragon engages to persecute the Woman, but she is given aid to evade him. Her evasiveness enrages the Dragon, prompting him to wage war against the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (12:13–17)
   3. A Beast (with seven heads, ten horns, and ten crowns on his horns and on his heads names of blasphemy) emerges from the Sea, having one mortally wounded head that is then healed. The people of the world wonder and follow the Beast. The Dragon grants him power and authority for forty-two months. (13:1–5)
   4. The Beast of the Sea blasphemes God's name (along with God's tabernacle and His kingdom and all who dwell in Heaven), wages war against the Saints, and overcomes them. (13:6–10)
   5. Then, a Beast emerges from the Earth having two horns like a lamb, speaking like a dragon. He directs people to make an image of the Beast of the Sea who was wounded yet lives, breathing life into it, and forcing all people to bear "the mark of the Beast", "666". Events leading into the Third Woe:
   6. The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 "first fruits" who are redeemed from Earth and victorious over the Beast and his mark and image. (14:1–5)
      1. The proclamations of three angels. (14:6–13)
      2. One like the Son of Man reaps the earth. (14:14–16)
      3. A second angel reaps "the vine of the Earth" and throws it into "the great winepress of the wrath of God... and blood came out of the winepress... up to one thousand six hundred stadia." (14:17–20)
      4. The temple of the tabernacle, in Heaven, is opened(15:1–5), beginning the "Seven Bowls" revelation.
      5. Seven angels are given a golden bowl, from the Four Living Creatures, that contains the seven last plagues bearing the wrath of God. (15:6–8)
7. Seven bowls are poured onto Earth:
   1. First Bowl: A "foul and malignant sore" afflicts the followers of the Beast. (16:1–2)
   2. Second Bowl: The Sea turns to blood and everything within it dies. (16:3)
   3. Third Bowl: All fresh water turns to blood. (16:4–7)
   4. Fourth Bowl: The Sun scorches the Earth with intense heat and even burns some people with fire. (16:8–9)
   5. Fifth Bowl: There is total darkness and great pain in the Beast's kingdom. (16:10–11)
   6. Sixth Bowl: The Great River Euphrates is dried up and preparations are made for the kings of the East and the final battle at Armageddon between the forces of good and evil. (16:12–16)
   7. Seventh Bowl: A great earthquake and heavy hailstorm: "every island fled away and the mountains were not found." (16:17–21)
8. Aftermath: Vision of John given by "an angel who had the seven bowls"
   1. The great Harlot who sits on a scarlet Beast (with seven heads and ten horns and names of blasphemy all over its body) and by many waters: Babylon the Great. The angel showing John the vision of the Harlot and the scarlet Beast reveals their identities and fates (17:1–18)
   2. New Babylon is destroyed. (18:1–8)
   3. The people of the Earth (the kings, merchants, sailors, etc.) mourn New Babylon's destruction. (18:9–19)
   4. The permanence of New Babylon's destruction. (18:20–24)
9. The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
   1. A great multitude praises God. (19:1–6)
   2. The marriage Supper of the Lamb. (19:7–10)
10. The Judgment of the two Beasts, the Dragon, and the Dead (19:11–20:15)
    1. The Beast and the False Prophet are cast into the Lake of Fire. (19:11–21)
    2. The Dragon is imprisoned in the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. (20:1–3)
    3. The resurrected martyrs live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. (20:4–6)
    4. After the Thousand Years
       1. The Dragon is released and goes out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the Earth—Gog and Magog—and gathers them for battle at the holy city. The Dragon makes war against the people of God, but is defeated. (20:7–9)
       2. The Dragon is cast into the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the False Prophet. (20:10)
       3. The Last Judgment: the wicked, along with Death and Hades, are cast into the Lake of Fire, which is the second death. (20:11–15)
11. The New Heaven and Earth, and New Jerusalem
    1. A "new heaven" and "new earth" replace the old heaven and old earth. There is no more suffering or death. (21:1–8)
    2. God comes to dwell with humanity in the New Jerusalem. (21:2–8)
    3. Description of the New Jerusalem. (21:9–27)
    4. The River of Life and the Tree of Life appear for the healing of the nations and peoples. The curse of sin is ended. (22:1–5)
12. Conclusion
    1. Christ's reassurance that his coming is imminent. Final admonitions. (22:6–21)
    
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation#Outline

 

From Piptaker's message quoted above:

The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our LordJesus Christ.We also know that Easter can be as much as three weeks away from the Passover, because the pagan holiday is always set as the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.Some have wondered why the word "Easter" is in the the King James Bible.It is because Acts, chapter 12, tells us that it was the evil King Herod, who was planningto celebrate Easter, and not the Christians.The true Passover and pagan Easter sometimes coincide, but in some years, they are agreat distance apart.So much more could be said, and we have much more information for you, if you are aseeker of the truth.We know that the Bible tells us in John 4:24, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship himmust worship him in spirit and in truth."The truth is that the forty days of Lent, eggs, rabbits,hot cross buns and the Easter hamhave everything to do with the ancient pagan religion of Mystery Babylon.
​

I agree. The only reliable source of truth on this planet is the Bible. The book of Jude warned, "I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and demy Jesus Christ our only Sovereign Lord." Jude 3, 4

A friend sent this video to me today and I thought I'd share it on here. It is simply verses from the Bible, at least one was from the Old Testament, on salvation.

If anyone wants to know what the Bible says about the way of salvation, the best way to find out is to listen to the Bible itself.

 

Isn't the Bible an Abridged document(s) with multiple Abridged Versions, of Scrolls generated, found, collected, transcribed, retranscribed multiple times over multi thousands of years?

 

All religion and belief systems come from the "fallen", even the ones that are considered "good" are part of the fallen. It is the interaction between and division of the fallen that has created the world's dualizm. How can an animal be expected to know the difference between good and bad? You show someone something they don't understand, and they'll claim a miracle, show someone one from the dead, and they'll call you god. The point being is the world's belief shifts every few thousand years give or take, the fallen demagogue to what people aspire to and feed the masses' superstition and pseudosciences... most religions are based on blood sacrifice, blood has life in it, the fallen don't have blood in them, would you give up your life for the sake of the fallen? no, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist”...

 

The Bible stands apart from all other books because it is through the Bible that God reveals Himself. Simply having arguments for or against the reliability of the manuscripts doesn't do a whole lot to bring about a change of heart and awakening to God that is able to come through the revelation that is in Scripture. I know this from personal experience, as do many others. Scripture also affirms this to be the case. One such verse is John 20:21, "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." Jesus also made a statement that one would know that His teaching was from God based on whether or not that person's desire is to do God's will. John 7:17, "If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority."

The Old Testament points to Jesus. Jesus points to the Old Testament. This is a form of circular reasoning, but in a unique sense, they verify each other. Because the Bible was written before Jesus came, they identify Him and His reason for coming as being to become the Savior of people from their sins. Jesus continually pointed to the Scriptures to validate His authenticity. John 5:39, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!" And also, soon after His resurrection, Jesus opened the understanding of His disciples to Scriptures that spoke of His needing to suffer. Up until His resurrection, His disciples did not seem to understand what Jesus was going to do.

Note, that this in and of itself is also evidence that the Scriptures are reliable. The majority of the Jewish people did not accept Jesus on the basis that they were not expecting Him to come to them in the manner that He did (Suffering Servant). They were only expecting Him in His role as King. Even Jesus' disciples did not understand this part of His mission. So, it would have been impossible for them to come up with such an idea on their own and yet have it fully backed by thousands of years of tradition (animal sacrifices) and over a thousand years of written revelation. And here is a verse describing that after His resurrection, Jesus had to enlighten His disciples on His fulfillment of the Scriptures by His death and resurrection as a sacrifice for our sins. Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself." Luke 24:25-28.

I know your question was about the reliability of the manuscripts themselves. Here are some things to consider:

1. Moses specifically commands, in Deuteronomy 6 the following:

1. These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you......
4. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

​

This clearly reveals that all of the people were to know what had been given them by Moses, who was given them by God. And all of the people were to write their own copies of God's Word (or parts of it?). This was a large number of people who were literate and copying the Torah.

2. The Israelites had a deep reverence for the Scriptures and were very careful in copying manuscripts that would be accurate and last.

https://scottmanning.com/content/process-of-copying-the-old-testament-by-jewish-scribes/
In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was looted and then destroyed by fire. The Jews were exiled.​

About 70 years later, the Jewish captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. According to the Bible, Ezra recovered a copy of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and read it aloud to the whole nation.​

From then on, the Jewish scribes solidified the following process for creating copies of the Torah and eventually other books in the Old Testament.​

1. They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts.
2. Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.
3. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe.
4. They must verbalize each word aloud while they were writing.
5. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the word "Jehovah," every time they wrote it.
6. There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.
7. The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other. The middle paragraph, word and letter must correspond to those of the original document.
8. The documents could be stored only in sacred places (synagogues, etc).
9. As no document containing God's Word could be destroyed, they were stored, or buried, in a genizah - a Hebrew term meaning "hiding place." These were usually kept in a synagogue or sometimes in a Jewish cemetery.

​

3. The Scriptures also declare that God's word will be preserved. "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Isaiah 40:8

An excellent article on the subject can be found at gotquestions. Here is an excerpt:

https://www.gotquestions.org/preservation-Bible.html
At the same time, we must also be aware that we do not possess the original writings/autographs. What we do have are thousands of manuscripts from which the original writings can be ascertained. By thorough examination and comparison of those manuscripts, it is determined what the original writings stated. This does not mean that there are absolutely no differences between the manuscripts. But the differences are extremely small and insignificant and do not in any way affect the basic teachings or meaning of God’s Word. The differences are things like minor spelling variations. We should keep in mind that this would not and does not affect the accuracy of Scripture, nor does it mean that God has not preserved His Word. God has supernaturally kept or preserved His Word.

The early scribes, whose jobs were to make exact copies of Scripture, were very meticulous. One example of their scrupulous precision is the practice of counting all the letters in a given book and noting the middle letter of the book. They would then do the same for the copy to make sure it matched. They employed such time-consuming and painstaking methods to ensure accuracy.
​

Having assurance of the accuracy of the Scriptural texts is very important. But the point I"m trying to make is that there are additional reasons to believe in the reliability of the Bible.
Here is a video showing two Jewish rabbis giving "Absolute Proof that the Torah is True."

​

Some quotes from the video: "Judaism is the only faith that lays claim to the fact that there were 2+ million people present at the time." "There was a public display." "National revelation." "No other faith makes that claim."

AND, "How did we survive, by chance?" "It was predicted before."

I will add to that that the Ezekiel 37 passage, one of several, that foretold that Israel would be scattered, yet returned to become a nation once again. There are more details to this prophecy in the surrounding chapters, if anyone wants a heads up to future events. However, just the fact that Israel has returned from being away from her land for 2,000 years, is a modern day fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.

21...‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land.22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.​

 

This article is worthy of it's own post. It covers in detail the following:

Quantity of Manuscripts
Comparison of Existing Manuscript Quantities
Time Span (this briefly mentions the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls)
External Test (this discusses archeological evidence supporting the Scriptures)

https://kenboa.org/apologetics/how-accurate-is-the-bible/
How Accurate Is the Bible?
“The Bible is full of contradictions and errors.”

“How can you be sure the Bible is the same now as when it was written, given that it’s been copied and translated so many times?”

These common charges against the Christian Scriptures are often followed with an assertion like, “Historians and scientists have long since proven that the Bible is inaccurate and unreliable.”

But how accurate is that statement? Is the Bible really full of contradictions? Is it outdated, inauthentic, and full of scientific and historical errors as so many assert? In short,

Can we trust the Bible?

Here, we will consider some objections to the accuracy and reliability of the Bible to help you make a more informed decision about whether or not the Bible is trustworthy.

For a more thorough treatment on the Bible’s reliability, see Question 4 (“Is the Bible Reliable?”) in I’m Glad You Asked (by Dr. Boa and Larry Moody).

False Impressions
Consider the following statements:

• The Bible says that God helps those who help themselves.
• The books of the New Testament were written centuries after the events they describe.
• “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is in the Bible.
• According to the Bible, the earth is flat.
• The earliest New Testament manuscripts go back only to the fourth or fifth centuries AD.
• The Bible teaches that the earth is the center of the universe.
• The English Bible is a translation of a translation of a translation (etc.) of the original, and fresh errors were introduced in each stage of the process.

How many of the above statements do you think are true? The answer is none; all of them are false. Yet these false impressions persist in the minds of many, and misinformation like this produces a skeptical attitude toward the Bible.

The fact is that, with few exceptions, many have reached their conclusions about the Bible through second- and third-hand sources rather than through firsthand investigation. For example, it is a rare person who has personally examined the text to see if an alleged contradiction is really there. Someone who asserts that the Bible is full of contradictions should be able to name at least one, if not several; challenging them to do so can be a helpful initial response.

Bible Reliability Definitions
We can break down the question of whether the Bible is reliable into four subcategories or questions:

Authenticity (textual reliability): Is what we have now a fair representation of what was first written?

Accuracy (factual reliability): Is what we have now a fair representation of what actually happened?

Authority (doctrinal reliability): Is what we have now a fair representation of what God wanted to communicate to us?

Accumulation: How do we know the right books were chosen to be in the Bible?I’m Glad You Asked (Ellicott City, MD: Search Ministries, 1982, rev. 2013), 73." title="" aria-describedby="qtip-0" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(241, 119, 0);">1

Three Tests
There are three lines of evidence that support the claim that the biblical documents are reliable:

1. The bibliographic test;
2. The internal test; and
3. The external test.

The first test examines the biblical manuscripts, the second deals with the claims made by the biblical authors, and the third looks to outside confirmation of the biblical content.

The Bibliographic Test
The first test examines the quantity, quality, and time span (between oldest copy and original writing) of the text. This test examines the question,

When we read the books of the Bible, are we reading what those books originally said?

Quantity of Manuscripts
In the case of the Old Testament, there is a small number of Hebrew manuscripts, because the Jewish scribes ceremonially buried imperfect and worn manuscripts. Many ancient manuscripts were also lost or destroyed during Israel’s turbulent history. Additionally, the Old Testament text was standardized by the Masoretic Jews by the sixth century AD, and all manuscripts that deviated from the Masoretic Text were evidently eliminated. But the existing Hebrew manuscripts are supplemented by the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint (a third-century BC Greek translation of the Old Testament), the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Targums (ancient paraphrases of the Old Testament), as well as the Talmud (teachings and commentaries related to the Hebrew Scriptures).

The quantity of New Testament manuscripts is unparalleled in ancient literature. There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts, about 8,000 Latin manuscripts, and another 1,000 manuscripts in other languages (Syriac and Coptic, among others). In addition to this extraordinary number, there are tens of thousands of citations of New Testament passages by the early church fathers. In contrast, the typical number of existing manuscript copies for any of the works of the Greek and Latin authors, such as Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, or Tacitus, is much smaller.

Comparison of Existing Manuscript Quantities
Homer: ~2,000
Plato: 7
Aristotle: 49
Caesar: 10
Tacitus: 20
New Testament: 6,000+ in Greek (24,000 including translations in other languages)I’m Glad You Asked, 79." title="" aria-describedby="qtip-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(241, 119, 0);">2

Quality of Manuscripts
Because of the great reverence the Jewish scribes held toward the Scriptures, they exercised extreme care in making new copies of the Hebrew Bible. The entire scribal process was specified in meticulous detail to minimize the possibility of even the slightest error. The number of letters, words, and lines were counted, and the middle letters of the Pentateuch and the Old Testament were determined. If a single mistake was discovered, the entire manuscript would be destroyed.

As a result of this extreme care, the quality of the manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible surpasses all other ancient manuscripts. The 1947 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls provided a significant check on this, because these Hebrew scrolls predate the earliest Masoretic Old Testament manuscripts by about 1,000 years. But in spite of this time span, the number of variant readings between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic Text is quite small, and most of these are variations in spelling and style.

"The quality of the manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible surpasses all other ancient manuscripts."
While the quality of the Old Testament manuscripts is excellent, that of the New Testament is very good—considerably better than the manuscript quality of other ancient documents. Because of the thousands of New Testament manuscripts, there are many variant readings, but these variants are actually used by scholars to reconstruct the original readings by determining which variant best explains the others in any given passage. Some of these variant readings crept into the manuscripts because of visual errors in copying or because of auditory errors when a group of scribes copied manuscripts that were read aloud. Other errors resulted from faulty writing, memory, and judgment, and still others from well-meaning scribes who thought they were correcting the text. Nevertheless, only a small number of these differences affect the sense of the passages, and only a fraction of these have any real consequences. Furthermore, no variant readings are significant enough to call into question any of the doctrines of the New Testament. The New Testament can be regarded as 99.5 percent pure, and the correct readings for the remaining 0.5 percent can often be ascertained with a fair degree of probability by the practice of textual criticism.

Time Span
Apart from some fragments, the earliest Masoretic manuscript of the Old Testament is dated at AD 895. This is due to the systematic destruction of worn manuscripts by the Masoretic scribes. However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls dating from 200 BC to AD 68 drastically reduced the time span from the writing of the Old Testament books to our earliest copies of them.

The time span of the New Testament manuscripts is exceptional. The manuscripts written on papyrus came from the second and third centuries AD. The John Rylands Fragment (P52) of the Gospel of John is dated at AD 117–138, only a few decades after the Gospel was written. The Bodmer Papyri are dated from AD 175–225, and the Chester Beatty Papyri date from about AD 250. The time span for most of the New Testament is less than 200 years (and some books are within 100 years) from the date of authorship to the date of our earliest manuscripts. This can be sharply contrasted with the average gap of over 1,000 years between the composition and the earliest copy of the writings of other ancient authors.

To summarize the bibliographic test, the Old and New Testaments enjoy far greater manuscript attestation in terms of quantity, quality, and time span than any other ancient documents.

The Old and New Testaments enjoy far greater manuscript attestation in terms of quantity, quality, and time span than any other ancient documents.

The Internal Test
The second test of the reliability of the biblical documents addresses the question,

What claims does the Bible make about itself?

This may appear to be circular reasoning. It sounds like we are using the testimony of the Bible to prove that the Bible is true. But we are really examining the truth claims of the various authors of the Bible and allowing them to speak for themselves. (Remember that the Bible is not one book but many books woven together.) This provides significant evidence that must not be ignored.

A number of biblical authors claim that their accounts are primary, not secondary. That is, the bulk of the Bible was written by people who were eyewitnesses of the events they recorded. John wrote in his Gospel, “And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe” (John 19:35; see also 21:24). In his first epistle, John wrote, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and held with our hands, concerning the Word of life … what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also …” (1 John 1:1, 3). Peter makes the same point abundantly clear: “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16; also see Acts 2:22; 1 Peter 5:1).

The independent eyewitness accounts in the New Testament of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ were written by people who were intimately acquainted with Jesus Christ. Their Gospels and epistles reveal their integrity and complete commitment to the truth, and they maintained their testimony even through persecution and martyrdom. All the evidence inside and outside the New Testament runs contrary to the claim made by form criticism that the early church distorted the life and teachings of Christ. Most of the New Testament was written between AD 47 and 70, and all of it was complete before the end of the first century. There simply was not enough time for myths about Christ to be created and propagated. And the multitudes of eyewitnesses who were alive when the New Testament books began to be circulated would have challenged blatant historical fabrications about the life of Christ. The Bible places great stress on accurate historical details, and this is especially obvious in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, Luke’s two-part masterpiece. Here is the prologue to the first of these:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1–4)

The External Test
Because the Scriptures continually refer to historical events, they are verifiable; their accuracy can be checked by external evidence. The chronological details in the prologue to Jeremiah (1:1–3) and in Luke 3:1–2 are two illustrations of this. Ezekiel 1:2 is another example; this verse allows us to date Ezekiel’s first vision of God down to the day (July 31, 592 BC).

The historicity of Jesus Christ is well-established by early Roman, Greek, and Jewish sources, and these extrabiblical writings affirm the major details of the New Testament portrait of the Lord. The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus made specific references to John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and James in his Antiquities of the Jews. In this work, Josephus gives many background details—about the Herods, the Sadducees and Pharisees (Jewish religious leaders), the high priests like Annas and Caiaphas, and the Roman emperors, for example—that are mentioned in the four Gospels and the book of Acts.

We find another early secular reference to Jesus in a letter written a little after AD 73 by an imprisoned Syrian named Mara bar Serapion. This letter, written to his son, compares the deaths of Socrates, Pythagoras, and Christ. Other first- and second-century writers who mention Christ include:

• The Roman historians Cornelius Tacitus (Annals) and Suetonius (Life of Claudius, Lives of the Caesars)
• The Roman governor Pliny the Younger (Epistles)
• The Greek satirist Lucian (On the Death of Peregrine)
• The Jewish Talmud also mentions Jesus a number of times

The Old and New Testaments make abundant references to nations, kings, battles, cities, mountains, rivers, buildings, treaties, customs, economics, politics, dates, and the like. Because the historical narratives of the Bible are so specific, many of its details are open to archaeological investigation. While we cannot say that archaeology proves the authority of the Bible, it is fair to say that archaeological evidence has provided external confirmation of hundreds of biblical statements. Higher criticism in the 19th century made many damaging claims that would seem to completely overthrow the integrity of the Bible, but the explosion of archaeological knowledge in the 20th century reversed almost all of these claims . Noted archaeologists such as William F. Albright, Nelson Glueck, and G. Ernest Wright developed a great respect for the historical accuracy of the Scriptures as a result of their work.

Out of the multitude of archaeological discoveries related to the Bible, consider the following examples illustrating the remarkable external substantiation of biblical claims. The Nuzi, Mari, and Ebla tablets, along with excavations at Alalakh (1937–1939; 1946–1949), all provide helpful background information that fits well with the Genesis stories of the patriarchal period.

The Nuzi Tablets (1925–1941)

Found shortly before World War II just to the east of Mari and the Euphrates River, the Nuzi excavations uncovered several thousand cuneiform tablets (dating back to 1500 BC) that confirm many customs of the day that are mentioned in the Bible, including:

• The servant heir custom(i.e., having your eldest servant inherit your wealth if you were childless), a practice mentioned by Abraham in reference to Eliezer in Genesis 15:2.
• The birthright sales custom, mentioned with Esau and Jacob (Genesis 25:31).
• The custom of household idols (Genesis 31:19 tells the account of Rachel having stolen these from her father, Laban).

The Mari Tablets (1933)

Discovered in 1933, the Mari tablets are diplomatic correspondences and governmental records involving King Zimri-Lim (a contemporary of Babylon’s Hammurabi).To date, some 20,000 clay tablets have been found dating back to around 1800 BC. These letters, along with the Nuzi tablets, illustrate the patriarchal customs in great detail. They also mention the city of Nahor, which apparently is named after the Nahor identified in Genesis 11:24, and make reference to the “Habiru” people (most likely an Akkadian reference to the Hebrews—an allusion to them as a nomadic people).

The Ebla Tablets (1964–1970s)

Discovered in northern Syria, these tablets affirm the antiquity and accuracy of the book of Genesis. Their excavation began in 1964 by two professors from the University of Rome, Drs. Paolo Matthiae and Giovanni Pettinato (an archaeologist and epigrapher, respectively). Since 1974, 17,000 tablets have been unearthed from the Ebla kingdom era and have made valuable contributions to biblical criticism.https://www.contenderministries.org/biblestudy/archeology.php" title="" aria-describedby="qtip-2" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(241, 119, 0);">3

Other External Evidence for the Old Testament

Some scholars once claimed that the Mosaic law could not have been written by Moses, because writing was largely unknown at that time, and because the law code of the Pentateuch was too sophisticated for that period. But the codified Laws of Hammurabi (ca. 1700 BC), the Lipit-Ishtar code (ca. 1860 BC), the Laws of Eshnunna (ca. 1950 BC), and the even earlier Ur-Nammu code have refuted these claims. Archaeology provides helpful, external evidence of numerous other biblical details from the Old Testament as well, from Genesis to Ezra to Daniel.

New Testament Evidence

The New Testament has also received abundant support from archaeology, and many critical attacks have been reversed. Most of the geographical details associated with the life of Jesus in the Gospels have been substantiated. These include places such as the Pool of Siloam, the Pool of Bethesda, Jacob’s Well, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Cana, Capernaum, Chorazin, the residence of Pilate in Jerusalem, and “The Pavement” in John 19:13.

In the past, critics tried to discredit Luke, accusing him of being an inaccurate historian; however, the books of Luke and Acts (both replete with references to cities, Roman provinces, and political figures) have now been substantiated by external evidence. Critics once scoffed at his reference to Lysanius as the “tetrarch of Abilene” (Luke 3:1), but archaeologists have since found two Greek inscriptions proving that Lysanius was indeed the tetrarch of Abilene in AD 14–29. Luke’s use of technical terminology, like proconsul, procurator, Asiarch, praetor, and politarch, has been challenged in the past, but mounting evidence has vindicated his accuracy.

Conclusion
The Old and New Testaments pass the bibliographic, internal, and external tests like no other ancient books. Most professional archaeologists and historians acknowledge the historicity of the Bible, and yet many theologians still embrace pre-archaeological critical theories about the Bible. The evidence strongly supports the accuracy of the Bible in relation to history and culture, but in many cases it has been overlooked or rejected because of philosophical presuppositions that run contrary to the Scriptures. This leads to a double standard: critics approach secular literature with one standard but wrongly use a different standard when they examine the Bible. Those who discard the Bible as historically untrustworthy must realize that the same standard would force them to eliminate almost all ancient literature.

 

The Gospels, which contain the exploits of the so-called historical Jesus, once safeguarded from criticism by a shroud of uninfringeable piety and tireless orthodox conviction, are now being adjudicated in a different light by those seeking an unadulterated truth.

Whether we are scholarly historians, laymen, believers or nonbelievers we must set aside our preconceived biases and correct our misperceptions by exposing what religious patriarchs would rather keep veiled and out of sight —evidence which shows the Bible to be —a work of fiction.​

R. Joseph Hoffmann
Historian.
Graduate degrees in theology from Harvard Divinity School.
PhD in Christian Origins from the University of Oxford. Senior Scholar at St Cross College, Oxford.
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