Qumran: The Case for the Bible

Have you ever played the telephone game? Here’s how it works. I whisper a message in your ear and then you turn to whisper it into the ear of the person next to you, and so on, and so on. At the end of the game, the last person says out loud what was whispered in his ear. Some say the telephone game demonstrates how a message always changes, sometimes dramatically, when it travels from person to person. 

Critics of the Bible often point to the telephone game to suggest that copies and translations compromised the integrity of the text of Scripture over time. It their criticism justified? Is the Bible we read today trustworthy to the original manuscripts?

The inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture applies, of course, to the original autographs written over 1600 years by 40 different authors in three languages and on three continents. The authors God chose to pen the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments also vary in background, culture, education, occupation, social status, and ability. They were farmers, fishermen, priests, physicians, politicians, kings, and shepherds. God even used a Roman tax collector to write a biography of his Son Jesus. 

The amazing continuity of Scripture is one argument for its supernatural nature. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran in 1947 also points to the miraculous manuscript preservation over time. Thousands of scrolls and fragments of scrolls, depending on how you count, demonstrate how scribes tediously copied the text of Scripture over the centuries, safeguarding every jot and tittle of the holy Word of God.

Add Bible prophecy and the transformation of people’s lives to the aforementioned and you will build a strong case for the trustworthiness of the Bible, which is indeed the Word of God. In light of such good news, go ahead and phone a friend.