Taking the Bible seriously

Not many people argue with the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, since there is as much evidence to support that he lived as there is for most other historical figures. This evidence comes from both Christian and secular sources, such as the prized writings of Josephus and Tacitus. Modern scholars are in agreement that Jesus existed, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified by Pontius Pilate.

The disagreements start when it comes to the reliability of the New Testament in accurately depicting what Jesus said and did. Many people dismiss the Bible as mythology and refuse to see it as a historical document. Josh McDowell was one of these skeptics who set out to disprove the Bible but only ended up confirming its historicity. He states in his book, More Than a Carpenter, "If one discards the Bible as unreliable historically, then he or she must discard all the literature of antiquity. No other document has as much evidence to confirm its reliability" (revised and updated edition, copyright 2009, pg 87). Some of the reasons he cites are:

-The vast amount of early manuscripts that we still have available to us today (over 20,000). This rules out the idea that today's Bible is different from the original writings, since we can compare.
-The closeness of the text to the events they describe (all written by AD 80). No legend has ever been developed in this short amount of time.
-The fact that the writers of the New Testament were either eyewitnesses to the events they described or in close relationship with eyewitnesses.
-The fact that the books of the New Testament were circulated among those (some sympathetic to Christianity, and some opposed) who had witnessed the events and could have contested any false information.
-The evidence from secular writings and archaeological findings that verifies the accuracy of events recorded (i.e. - that Romans crucified Jesus, that Jesus was believed to be risen from the dead and was worshiped as God, and that his tomb was empty).

Another man that first set out to disprove the Bible, only to be convinced of its authenticity, was Nabeel Qureshi, once a devout Muslim, and now author of the book Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus (very interesting book; I highly recommend it). He would not be convinced to embrace Christianity until he had spent years researching and considering every alternative, because the Muslim faith was so ingrained in him and so important to his family. This website has a PDF of "Expert Contributions" from different professors, researchers, and authors that expand on the themes in his book.