9. Questions about the Nature and Historicity of the Bible

• The basis of faith for those who believe in Jesus is the Bible, but isn't the Bible a "historical novel" or "religious scripture" made up by people against the backdrop of ancient Israel 2,000 years ago?
• Why is the Bible not just a simple religious book but a historical book that records historical facts, and what is the evidence for that? Are the facts and contents recorded in the Bible historically and archaeologically valid?
• Other religions also have religious scriptures written a long time ago, and they describe mythical and supernatural things in their own way, so why should the Bible be believed as a historical event while other religions should be accepted as mere "myths"? If so, what is the basis for that?

The Bible is full of numerous miracles and supernatural phenomena. You may have questioned on what basis you should believe this, because it doesn't make rational sense and is hard to accept. Then you've probably always heard this answer:

Because it is written in the Bible. The Bible is not a myth but a historical fact, the word of God, and the truth.

However, this claim also commits the fallacy of circular reasoning. To give a correct answer, objective evidence must be presented as to "why the Bible is a historical event, not a myth, and is the truth and the word of God." If this cannot be proven, it is impossible to properly refute why only the Bible should be believed and countless other ancient legends should not be believed. Here, we will check whether there is such objective evidence.

9.1. Objective Facts about the Bible

Before taking an in-depth look, let's first look at a few objective facts about the Bible that you may not know.

1. The Bible is a book recorded by numerous authors (about 40) over a period of about 1,600 years from 1,500 BC to 100 AD, and consists of a total of 66 books.
2. The Bible was not written by a certain person according to their own thoughts, but was written through revelation and inspiration from God through prophets, apostles, and Jesus. The expressions "God said," "The Lord said," "The word of the Lord came, saying" are mentioned at least about 3,000 times in the Old Testament, and in many cases, it is recorded that God spoke directly (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 10:1-2).
3. The Bible is not a made-up creation or novel, but a record of history. You may think it is hard to believe because the Bible is full of supernatural miracles and histories by God that you cannot believe. However, accepting the Bible itself as a genre of "novel" or "myth" because of that is very ignorant.

This is because most of the Bible follows the typical narrative form of a historical book that deals with the kings and history of Israel and the Jewish people in great detail. Moreover, it has been archaeologically proven that the people, relics, and other ancient documents in the Bible perfectly match the historical era of the time.

We will examine the historical and archaeological evidence for the Bible and Jesus in detail later. However, while it is fully possible to view the Bible with a critical and skeptical perspective, these objective "facts" about the Bible must be acknowledged.

9.2. How to Verify the Reliability of the Bible

Now, let's examine whether the Bible is a trustworthy book based solely on objective facts about the Bible, completely excluding religious preconceptions and biases that the Bible is "the word of God, the truth." The criteria are the following four:

1. Archaeological reliability and historicity of the Bible itself
   • Is the Bible really a "historical fact" recorded by the word of God, or is it simply an ancient religious scripture made up by human thoughts a long time ago?
   • On what basis can we trust the ancient document called the Bible?
   • Is the record of the Bible itself reliable by objective standards?
2. Evidence from other literature
   • Is there any other document that proves the facts recorded in the Bible?
   • Do the historical facts recorded in other documents match the contents of the Bible?
   • Is there a possibility that the Bible was artificially manipulated or recorded historical facts differently?
3. Archaeological evidence
   • Is there any actual archaeological evidence related to the events, place names, and remains mentioned in the Bible?
   • Do the archaeologically revealed historical facts support the contents of the Bible?
4. Reliability of the contents of the Bible itself
   • Are there any self-contradictions or errors in the contents of the Bible?
   • Do the contents recorded in the Bible match historical facts?
   • Have the numerous prophecies recorded in the Bible been fulfilled as they are?
   • What about the prophecies that remain and the current situation?

Then let's take a look at them one by one in order.