Can We Trust the Bible?

Everything Christians know about Jesus comes to us through the Bible, so it's fair to ask whether it can be trusted. Was it written close to the events? Has it been changed? Do the details hold up? This page gathers the evidence: how the New Testament was written and copied, what the earliest manuscripts show, and answers to common questions.

Why historians take the Gospels seriously

Abundant manuscripts

The New Testament is the best-attested work of the ancient world.

More than 5,000 Greek manuscripts, plus many early translations and quotations in early Christian writers.
Earliest fragments within about a century of composition.
Variants are mostly minor, and the significant ones are printed in Bible footnotes.

Early dating

The New Testament was written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses.

Paul's letters date from about AD 48-60.
The Gospels date from roughly AD 65-95 on mainstream estimates.
Early creeds within those writings date even earlier.

Eyewitness connections

The Gospels claim to rest on eyewitness testimony, and early tradition connects them to apostles.

Luke says he investigated eyewitness accounts (Luke 1:1-4).
John claims to be written by an eyewitness (John 21:24).
Papias links Mark to Peter's preaching.
Named minor characters (Cleopas, Bartimaeus, Simon of Cyrene's sons Alexander and Rufus) may point to known witnesses.

Names fit the time and place

Personal names in the Gospels match the patterns of first-century Palestine.

Studies of names from inscriptions and ossuaries show Simon and Joseph were the most common Jewish male names in first-century Palestine, matching the Gospels.
The Gospels add clarifying details to common names (Simon Peter, Simon the Zealot), as you would expect.
Later writers far from Judea would have been unlikely to get this right.

Undesigned coincidences

Details in one Gospel unintentionally explain puzzles in another.

John 6:5: Why does Jesus ask Philip? Philip was from Bethsaida (John 1:44), and Luke places the event near Bethsaida (Luke 9:10).
Mark 6:39 mentions "green grass" at the feeding of the 5,000. John 6:4 says it was near Passover, springtime, when the grass is green.
These subtle connections are what we expect from truthful accounts of real events.

Embarrassing details

The Gospels include details no one would invent.

Women are the first witnesses to the empty tomb.
Peter, a leader of the church, denies Jesus three times.
Jesus' family thinks he is out of his mind (Mark 3:21).
Jesus is crucified, a shameful death for a supposed Messiah.

Archaeology confirms details

Archaeological discoveries repeatedly confirm people and places in the Gospels and Acts.

The Pilate Stone (Caesarea, 1961) confirms Pontius Pilate as prefect of Judea.
The Caiaphas ossuary (Jerusalem, 1990) bears the name of the high priest's family.
The Pool of Siloam (rediscovered 2004) and the Pool of Bethesda match John's descriptions.
The heel bone of a crucified man named Yehohanan (found 1968) shows that crucifixion victims could receive proper burial.

The manuscripts

Papyrus 52 (Rylands Fragment) Often dated c. AD 125-175

Found in Egypt, this fragment shows that John's Gospel had been copied and carried far from where it was written, likely within decades of its composition.

Papyrus 46 c. AD 200

One of the oldest substantial collections of New Testament books.

Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus c. AD 325-360

These codices contain nearly the entire New Testament. Codex Sinaiticus can be viewed online at codexsinaiticus.org.