Why Should I Believe the Bible Is True? (part 2)

Is the Bible true?  A blog post can't possibly cover all the evidence on this topic but hopefully I can give you some information that if you want more detail you can explore it further.  Some questions have to be answered if to determine if the Bible is true:

1. Is the testimony early?
   Most of the books were written by 70 AD with some written in the 40's and 50's.  This is only a few years after the death of Jesus.
   
2. Is the testimony from eye witnesses?
   A plain reading of the NT texts clearly shows this was written by eye witnesses.
   
3. Are the eye witnesses trustworthy?
    So many details are given that check out from other sources such leaders and locations known from other sources outside the Bible.
   
4. Does archeology corroborate eye witnesses?
   Archeology supports many of the locations mentioned in the NT such as the well of Jacob, the pools of Bethesda, and many other locations.
   
5. Is there enemy attestation?
   Non-Christian sources and even sources hostile to Christianity such as Josephus and the Jewish Talmud corroborate many details in the NT.
   
6. Are there embarrassing details included about the authors?
   Writers don't tend to include embarrassing details about themselves, they would normally try to make themselves look better than they are.  The authors come across as not very bright, cowardly, doubting, uncaring, and they are even rebuked by Jesus.

This is a very brief overview of some of the arguments for the Bible being true.  For much more in depth treatment of the topic there are lots of resources.  Here are just a few:

Book - The Case For Christ, by Lee Strobel

Book - The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell

Article - Rediscovering the Historical Jesus: The Evidence for Jesus, by William Craig Lane