The Bible – The Word of God
Written by around 40 people, gathered into 66 books, over the course of 1,500 years.
On three continents, in three languages. Most of the writers never knew one another.
And yet it tells one continuous story, from the first page to the last:
God loves us.
Maybe you think the Bible is old, hard to understand, or something for other people.
But millions still find that these words are alive – that they comfort, they change things, and they give answers where there are none.
Why the Bible can be trusted
No other ancient text is so well attested
Around 7 manuscripts of Plato survive, about 20 of Tacitus, and roughly 2,000 of Homer's Iliad. Of the New Testament we know of some 5,700 Greek manuscripts today – plus around 20,000 in other languages. Nothing else from antiquity comes anywhere close.
The transmission holds up under scrutiny
In 1947, scrolls were discovered at the Dead Sea – around a thousand years older than anything known until then. The Great Isaiah Scroll agrees in all essentials with the text handed down later. A thousand years of copying, and the message stayed the same.
It is woven through and through
As many as 63,779 cross-references connect the biblical books to one another. Prophets who wrote centuries before Jesus echo again in the Gospels. No other book shows such an inner web of connections.
It stands in the middle of history
Places, rulers and events from the Bible turn up outside it as well: the Pilate inscription in Caesarea, King Hezekiah's seal in Jerusalem, the mentions of Jesus by the Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius.
No book has ever reached so many people
With 5 to 7 billion copies, the Bible is the most widely distributed book in the world. Every year, more than 100 million further copies are added worldwide.
"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires."
(Hebrews 4:12)
Where to start
Start where Jesus himself speaks:
The Gospel of John tells you who Jesus is – calm, clear, and understandable without any prior knowledge. 21 chapters, readable in a few days.
The Psalms are prayers from people who brought everything with them: joy, anger, fear, gratitude. If your heart is heavy right now, start here.