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Twelve more

Further 3 · after the twelve weeks

The reliability of the Old Testament

Can we trust the Hebrew Scriptures the way we trust the New Testament?

Week 4 builds the New Testament case. The resurrection also fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures — so those books need a spine.

See it

Shorts, slide decks, and infographics that belong with this page.

Slide deck · 12 slidesThe historical bedrockSlide deck · 14 slidesThe historical reliability of the biblical recordSlide deck · 14 slidesThe converging lines of evidenceShortWhy the New Testament survives historical scrutinyShortThe mathematical odds of prophecyInfographicNew Testament reliabilityInfographicThe evidence of corroboration

What the book puts on the table

  • The Dead Sea Scrolls show Isaiah was transmitted with striking stability centuries before Christ.
  • Archaeology has repeatedly confirmed names, places, and empires once dismissed as legend.
  • Prophetic patterns — not fortune-cookie lines — run toward a suffering and rising Messiah.
  • You do not need inerrancy settled in one sitting to see that Israel’s Scriptures are not late folklore.

Say this

The New Testament does not float free. It stands on Israel’s books — and those books have manuscript and archaeological weight of their own.

If they say…

“The Old Testament is mythologized history.”

Myths do not keep giving you Hittites, a house of David, and Hezekiah’s tunnel. Legendary fog does not produce that kind of grit.

Scripture

“Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Luke 24:27

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Isaiah 40:8

After this week

Tonight · about an hour

Host this session

  1. Open · 5 min

    Read the question out loud: “Can we trust the Hebrew Scriptures the way we trust the New Testament?” No speeches yet.

  2. Look · 15 min

    One person reads the thesis and the points. Everyone else watches for the sentence they do not yet believe.

  3. Talk · 25 min

    1. The Dead Sea Scrolls show Isaiah was transmitted with striking stability centuries before Christ.
    2. Archaeology has repeatedly confirmed names, places, and empires once dismissed as legend.
    3. Prophetic patterns — not fortune-cookie lines — run toward a suffering and rising Messiah.

  4. Speak · 10 min

    Use the line in “Say this” above. Once as written. Once in your own mouth.

  5. Send · 5 min

    Each person names one conversation this week where they will try a question instead of a speech.