Tests for the Reliability of Ancient Literature - Part 1 by Dr. Joe L. Mott on Jan. 19, 2026

References: (1) The OT and NT pass the separate historiographical tests like NO OTHER ancient books. Most professional archaeologists and historians acknowledge the historicity of the Bible. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 contribute to that confidence. (2) “The Bible and Archaeology” by Sir Fredrick Kenyon who lived from 1863-1952, and was the former director and principal librarian of the British Museum. (3) “The NT Documents: Are They Reliable?” By F. F. Bruce, who served as the Rylands Professor of Religious Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester from 1959 to 1978. (4) The great Princeton scholar B. B. Warfield says, “the great bulk of the NT has been transmitted to us without, or almost without, ANY VARIATIONS. It can be ASSERTED with CONFIDENCE that the sacred text is EXACT and VALID and that NO ARTICLE OF FAITH and NO MORAL PRECEPT in it has been distorted or lost.” (5) Christ cannot be dismissed as a MYTHICAL CREATION of the early church. All the evidence supports the historical reliability of the Gospel accounts about Jesus. I have shown J. Warner Wallace’s 4-fold test for the reliability of witnesses. (6) Jesus said “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). The word for “are” can indicate that they are one in HARMONY and AGREEMENT in attitude toward the purpose of God. But more than that, we can interpret this passage as saying they are one in NATURE. God the Father is certainly divine in nature, so then Jesus, the Son of God, is divine in nature as well. (7) “God Breathed”by Josh McDowell. (8)The 3 tests are the bibliographical test, the internal test, and the external test. (9) Two books and an article relate that the accuracy of biblical documents can be assessed by combining 3 basic TESTS of HISTORIOGRAPHY that pertain to the reliability of ancient literature. These are McDowell’s book “God Breathed,”the book “A Visual Guide to Biblical Apologetics” by Joseph M. Holden and Sarah R. Enterline, and the article from Ankerberg Theological Institute by Dr. John Ankerberg and Dr. John Weldon entitled “The Historic Reliability of Scripture — Part 2.” This is episode 259.