Question: is the text of the Bible reliable? 1. F.F. Bruce writes, "There are in existence about 4,000 Greek manuscripts of the NT in whole or in part" (NT Documents.16). Taking into account later discoveries, Josh McDowell wrote, "There are now more than 5,300 know Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Add over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9,300 other early versions and we have more than 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in Existence. No other document of antiquity even begins to approach such numbers and attestation" (A Ready Defense.43) Besides the number of manuscripts the interval of time between composition of the book and the date of the earliest manuscripts is so small as to be negligible. The last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may regarded as finally established (Frederic Kenyon,ibid.44). 2. The NT documents have been in existence for almost 1,900 years. For 1500 years they were copied by hand. There are still only some 12 to 20 significant textual variations in the entire NT, and none of these has any significant effect. 3. "We can only stand in awe of the Providential preservation of the sacred text of the Word of God. Yes, we can trust the Bible. It is a book by which we can both live and die" (W.Jackson, Fortify Your Faith.74). 4. If one accepts the overwhelming evidence that God exists; that He created the world, including man, it follows that God would communicate with His creatures. If God has spoken (Heb. 1:1), it would not seem unreasonable that God has taken steps to insure the faithful preservation of His word. The Scriptures themselves affirm their faithful perpetuity. "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isa. 40:6; cf. 1 Pet. 1:24-25). 5. In an exchange with the Sadducees regarding the resurrection of the dead, Jesus asked, "Have you not read that which was spoken by God? (Matt. 22:31), thus affirming that the Old Testament Scriptures are the word of God. They were "spoken by God." Thus, God's word had then been faithfully preserved in the written record. 6. Dr. Robert Dick Wilson (1856-1930) mastered 45 languages, and made a careful study of the OT text. As a result of his research, he said "we are scientifically certain that we have substantially the same text that was in the possession of Christ and the apostles, and so far as anybody knows, the same as that written by the original composers of the Old Testament documents. 7. The Dead Sea scrolls, discovered in 1947 provide some of the oldest Hebrew texts, yet their value has been primarily in the field of apologetics. The scrolls were virtually identical, word for word, with standard Hebrew texts. Variations were in minor spelling differences and minute copyist mistakes.