How can we test the reliability of the Bible?
What can we use to evaluate whether the Bible is true? After all, if the Bible is not reliable, then how do we know what to believe about Christ and what He taught or did? Below are some of the test people have used to show that we can rely on the Bible.
Observable science: God stated that He created all living things according to their kind. And that they were going to reproduce after their kind. That is exactly what we see; dogs reproduce dogs, cows reproduce cows. That is also what we see in the fossil record from the past.
Archaeology: This study can give us a lot of valuable evidence, which will either confirm or contradict the Biblical record. 100 years ago, many Bible critics were trying to dismiss much of its history as the work of creative storytellers. But in recent past, archaeological finds have overwhelmingly supported the Biblical data. One case of archaeological evidence is a recent study of ancient Jericho, which concluded that the walls did tumble down the way the Bible indicates.
Bible Prophecies: Ezekiel had predicted that the city of Tyre would be destroyed and the ruins scraped off and dumped into the sea, never to be rebuilt. Even though Ezekiel made this claim hundreds of years earlier, it happened exactly as predicted.
Does the Bible hold together? That is, does a collection of writings by 40 different authors from many different backgrounds and occupations, over a time period of about 1,600 years, in three different languages and written on 3 different continents have a consistent message? Or is it a confusing jumble of ideas? The Bible has amazingly been uniform in its telling of man’s sin that brought death and a loving God who sets out to rescue him.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16