(The following is the March 3 devotional from my Next Step Devotions book. Before reading it, I suggest you read Luke 1 and pay close attention to verses 1-4.)
What news sources do you consider reliable? While people’s preferred public media sources may vary, we usually trust what close friends and family tell us. Why? We have relationships with them that build trust and confidence over time (or the lack of it). We also usually trust eyewitness accounts of events even if we do not know the participants personally. Court systems demonstrate this by allowing eyewitness testimony but not hearsay. We may also trust those who do extensive research and deliver findings from that effort.
Luke was not an eyewitness of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Still, he was a diligent researcher who used people and written sources to support his writing of Luke and Acts. He accompanied Paul on missionary journeys and was methodical and thorough, providing details that other gospel writers did not include.
Archaeological discoveries have unearthed thousands of New Testament manuscripts, some going back to the second century A.D. That is remarkable compared to other ancient writings. For example, the earliest complete manuscript of Homer’s Iliad was produced in the 10th century A.D. – about 1800 years after Homer lived, and there is one copy. * By contrast, we have thousands of Bible manuscripts of varying lengths, some dated within a few generations of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Differences in the manuscripts are minor textual ones that do not affect biblical doctrine.
We can be confident in the truth and reliability of Scripture. God inspired his chosen human authors, and he did not make mistakes. God has ensured that what he inspired has been preserved for us today thousands of years later, and it will remain so until Christ comes again.
You can trust the Holy Word of God.
Next Step:
Search online for ancient manuscripts of biblical and non-biblical writings. Note how many manuscripts exist and how close they date to the originals. You will discover extraordinary historical evidence to support Christian confidence in the Bible’s truth and reliability.
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* Amy Hackney Blackwell, “Robot Scans Ancient Manuscript in 3-D,” Wired, June 5, 2007, http://www.wired.com/2007/06/robot-scans-ancient-manuscript-in-3-d.
