The tests for reliability where it matters most.
There is an interesting phenomenon in our culture—we are fascinated by crime stories. For years, many of the top-rated programs on television have been criminal dramas. Check out the Nielsen Ratings that measure program viewership and you’ll see what I mean.
Consider NBC’s Law & Order franchise. It is the longest-running crime series and second-longest-running drama series in the history of American broadcast television.1 The program started running nineteen years ago and has spun-off several other programs (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Crime & Punishment, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury). Just about all of these are filmed in and around New York City.
Even more popular today is the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation franchise. Using Las Vegas as a backdrop, CBS launched this program in 2000, and it has been going strong ever since. This, too, has launched an array of spin-offs (CSI: Miami and CSI: NY). Closely related in style and form is another CBS hit series, NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). This show centers on crimes involving US Navy and Marine personnel and was itself actually a spin-off from another military-flavored criminal drama entitled JAG.2
So what gives? Why am I writing in Uplook magazine about American and Canadian television viewing habits? It is because there is a lesson to be learned and a manner of approach to be gleaned for defending our faith when it comes to the reliability of the Bible. You see, each episode of those various series has some simple key elements:
1. A case needs to be solved.
2. To get at the truth, investigators will interview individuals (those who saw or heard something relevant) and collect physical evidence (e.g. finger prints, DNA samples, bullet casings).
3. The reliability of a particular theory or witness is established by performing a comparison with the accumulated testimony and evidence.
4. This collection and evaluation of evidence ultimately helps the detectives get to the truth and solve the case.
This forensic approach is not just the purview of Hollywood writers and producers; it is the method used by every good law enforcement agency to get to the truth. More to the point, we can use this same technique to test the reliability of the Bible.
We, too, can examine physical evidence (such as artifacts or ancient ruins) and review eyewitness testimony (as found in ancient manuscripts or clay tablets) dating to the time of the Scriptures. The findings of archeology down through the centuries allow us to test whether or not the Bible is an accurate witness to history. Sure enough, the evidence is overwhelming in support of the historicity of the Biblical text!
Associates for Biblical Research (www.biblearchaeology.org) is one ministry dedicated to demonstrating the historical reliability of the Bible through archeological research and related apologetic investigation.3 And, of course, check out the archeological evidences section of the Christian Evidences website (www.christianevidences.org).
In so many criminal dramas, it is a matter of life and death. The same is true in this case. It really is a matter of life and death—eternal life or eternal death! The Bible testifies to history and tells us the story of God’s love for a lost and dying world. It also tells us of the lost eternity that awaits those who do not come to faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us take seriously the task of encouraging others to examine the evidence for the Bible. If people fail to heed its witness, they will never arrive at the Truth (Romans 10:17).
1. http://www.tv.com/law-and-order/show/180/summary.html
2. http://silentopinion.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/csi-versus-ncis/
3. http://www.biblearchaeology.org/research.aspx