IS THE BIBLE THE TRUE WORD OF GOD ?

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QUESTION
"Is the Bible the true word of God?"

ANSWER

The simple answer is - Definitely Yes ! - The Bible is the true word of God.
But words used in statements like that must be defined to avoid misunderstanding.

Defining the words used in the statement - 'The Bible is the true word of God.'
What is meant by the word "Bible"?
The text of the collection of 66 documents generally called the Bible, as they were originally written in the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek languages of the time.
39 were written before the Lord Jesus came for heaven, as a babe, into this world. They are called "The Old Testament"
27 were written after the Lord Jesus ascended back into heaven. They are called "The New Testament"
The book names, verse and chapter divisions have been added by scholars to aid reference. They are not part of the original text.

What is meant by "the true word of God"?
The original words that God inspired the prophets to write and dictate to their scribes, in the languages spoken by the people of their time and place.

What is meant by "word"?

In the New Testament are two Greek words which translated into English by "word."
One is "LOGOS" which means the same as "KALIMAT" in Arabic, for example where the Lord Jesus is called "KALIMAT'ULLAH."
The other is "RHEMA" which refers to the subject matter of spoken and written words as in the Bible.

The Lord Jesus is the true Eternal Word of God (LOGOS, KALIMAT) in the first sense.
The Bible is the true word of God in the second sense.

Should we revere the Bible ?
We should respect what the Bible says because it is God's means of conveying His messages to us and telling us about the Messiah. But we should not worship it.
Some people kiss their copies of the Bible and worship them. Only God should be worshipped. The copies are only ink marks on paper. What is important is the message the writing tells us and that we should get to know its teaching.
So the Bible is the means of conveying to us God's message and instructions. That is what is important, and not the ink marks on the paper. So we read and study them to find out what God wants of us and try to apply the teaching to our lives and in our worship.
Things to be born in mind when studying copies and translations of ancient documents:
Are the original languages holy divine languages?
Some folk call ancient Hebrew a divine language. Others call ancient Arabic a divine language.
God always spoke through the prophets to people in their every day language. They were human languages. There is no such thing as a divine language on this earth.
Some ask "Do you have the original documents?"
As with all ancient documents, secular and religious, the original documents (except for some small bits and pieces) have long since perished.
We have copies of copies, carefully copied down the centuries by devoted scribes.
So can we rely on them?
Ancient copies from different parts of the world are carefully kept in libraries and museums. Comparing them with copies of the Bible we have today we find that they have been amazingly accurately preserved. No other ancient writings have anywhere near this level of supporting evidence from historic manuscripts.
Another thing we have to bear in mind is that, since the days of the prophets, the men who copied ancient religious documents down the centuries were ordinary human beings. They were not prophets or men inspired by God.
Also styles of writing have changed. For example ancient Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew documents did not have vowels. Vowels are very important. For example would this sentence "TH CT S WHT" mean "THE COT IS WHITE" or "THE CAT IS WHITE" or "THE COAT IS WHITE"
Knowledge of how the words are pronounced can be lost. So conscientious scholars have added vowel marks to the copies of "The Old Testament" and to the Qur'an, according to traditional pronunciations handed down to them.
However these people were dedicated and scrupulously careful scholars. This a significant reason for their remarkable accuracy.
So what we can say from the historical evidence is that present day copies in the original languages are remarkably accurate and can be relied upon for finding out what the original writers wanted us to know.
Translations of the Bible, usually called Versions.
As with all ancient religious and secular manuscripts the majority of people rely on translations. Most of us rely on written translations or on religious leaders doing an interpretation for us. Some are good some are not so good. It would be ideal if we all had a thorough knowledge of the original languages. But that will never happen. However comparing several good translations does help folk to arrive at a good understanding of what was meant. Also it makes good sense, when studying a subject, to compare different passages on that subject.
Conclusion
The originals were the true word of God. The copies we have today are remarkably accurate. So today, from the original languages and even from comparing translations of the Bible we can get a good understanding of what was being taught.
We appeal to you, for your own sake, please do study the Bible to get in-depth knowledge of the Lord Jesus, His life and teaching - the way of eternal life.

IS THE BIBLE THE TRUE WORD OF GOD ?