Is the Bible authentic?

Some people say that the Bible isn't a reliable historical document. How can Christians be sure that the words haven't changed over the 1000's of years they have existed?
However, the words of the Bible have been preserved as far as possible, so that the original words remain unchanged. Some copies and fragments of copies go back almost to the time when the books were first written. These ancient copies show that the Bible was written a very long time ago and hasn't changed over the years. The historical facts in the Bible can be checked against other documents written at the time (Eusebius and Tertullian). Archaeological finds often back up the accounts in the Bible.
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Many of the first followers of Jesus faced death and persecution for their beliefs. Surely, if they knew they had lied, they wouldn't have been prepared to suffer for something they knew was false?

To think about the different kinds of evidence relating to Jesus, click here.

Go back to 'Beliefs, Teachings and Sources - (1) The Bible