Why is the Bible so unique?

The Bible is a very old book. Some parts of it are at least 3400 years old. Why, then, is it still worth reading, even today? After all, there are many interesting books in the world. The Bible, however, is in many ways completely unique in the history of mankind. Besides that, the way in which it is unique is also special. In fact, that the Bible is so incredibly and almost non-humanly unique, as we will see, is most likely a very strong clue for its divine inspiration. Moreover, the Bible itself claims to give us exclusively the words of the one true God himself. Because of this, one just cannot ignore the Bible.

Here are eight unique characteristics of the Bible:

1. The uniqueness of its origin.

How does a book normally come to be? Usually one first collects material and decides on a scheme, before writing the content and then finally publishing the book. If several writers collaborate on it, they must first plan the project very well and come to agreements. It was not so with the Bible. It was written by some forty writers, who had not made any mutual agreement with each other. That was not possible either, because they wrote over a period of at least 1500 years. Without any visible plan or design, one part after the other was added. When Moses died, the first five parts of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) were complete. A few scrolls were added during the time of King David's reign. In the days of Ezra, shortly after the Babylonian exile, the Old Testament was almost finished. When the Old Testament was complete, about four centuries before our Christian era, a book had been created that looks exactly as it does today. The esteem for this Old Testament was so great that, as the Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus wrote about it, "Nobody in the course of the centuries had had the courage to add or remove something from it".

The New Testament came into being in a similar way. Jesus himself did not, as far as we know, write a single line of divine revelation. No letter of the New Testament had yet been written even 50 years after the birth of Jesus. But then, without a preconceived plan, the parts of the New Testament arose, often very far away from each other and by way of very different people. These parts circulated and were collected by groups of Christians, who hardly had any difficulty with the question of which books belonged to the collection and which did not. Their respect for that which had been written was so great, that the New Testament was immediately recognized as scriptures by almost everyone.

2. The uniqueness of its unity.

This point derives from the uniqueness of its origin. How could dozens of writers, from totally different backgrounds and surroundings, and without any agreement, write a work that is so perfect in its unity? The Bible deals with hundreds of topics and yet a very clear and consistent line can be discovered throughout it. How does one explain the harmony and continuity found throughout the Bible? The unity of the Bible cannot be seen more clearly than from the common threads that are woven through the whole book. The uniqueness of the Bible is not that it points to a religious program; rather, it is found in that it points to a Person: Jesus Christ, the true and only way for man to God. The whole Old Testament points forward to this Person. As we will see (in section 8) the New Testament shows us the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, whether they are in images or in direct prophecies. In this way the New Testament sets forth the significance of the coming of Christ. This theme can only be found in the Bible and is completely unique! It is only because of unity that it has been possible to build a coherent and consistent Christian doctrine from the Bible.

3. The uniqueness of its relevance.

Many books have been written that were completely forgotten within one generation. Many books were published that temporarily enjoyed more interest than the Bible. But how many books are there that are centuries old, and which are still read regularly and with great interest by many? Which medieval books are still printed on a large scale and read by a wide audience? Which classic books are being read, not because they must be read, but because they may be read regularly? What is it about the Bible that makes it so popular? The Bible is among the oldest preserved writings that humanity possesses. And yet they are still being devoured by millions of people! And not only because of historical interest, but because people apparently feel the importance of the Bible for their every day life. This interest is also universal. It is the only Book in the world that is read by people of every class and age.

4. The uniqueness of its distribution.

Because of the enduring relevance of the Bible and of the enormous interest that exists for it, it is not surprising that the Bible is also unique in terms of the number of translations and editions that have been made of it. The Bible is one of the first books ever translated: around 250 BC the complete Old Testament was translated into Greek. This translation is called “the Septuagint” (= "Seventy"). Since then, the Bible has been translated many times. In 1970, the Bible had already appeared in 249 languages ​​and dialects, individual Testaments, and 329 languages, while portions of the Bible had been published in 853 other languages. Taken together that adds up to 1431 languages. In 1975 these numbers were respectively 261, 384 and 932. That is, all together, 1577 languages​. In 2017, the Bible was translated, in whole or in part, into 3312 living languages ​​(Also look at the updated statistics of Wycliff Bible translators). Between 1950 and 1960 alone there were about 3000 Bible translators at work. Here too the Bible is unique! The same applies to the sales figures of the Bible. The Bible has been read by more people, published in more languages ​​and sold in greater numbers than any other book in the world. Viewed over a longer period, there is no book whose sales numbers come close to that of the Bible. The Bible is by far the best-selling book ever. It is not known how many copies have ever been sold, but researchers agree that the Bible is the best-selling book ever of all time, without any doubt. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of copies of the Bible have been sold.

5. The uniqueness of its survival.

Of course a book that has sold in the millions doesn't run the risk of easily getting lost, but it has not always been that way. The Bible was originally written on material that decayed very easily and had to be copied for centuries by hand, before the printing press was invented. Compared to other antique works many more manuscripts were retained than of any dozen randomly selected classical works. The New Testament has been preserved in more manuscripts than any other work. There are over 5800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 1000 Latin manuscripts, and yet another 9300 manuscripts in other classical languages, such as Syrian, Slavic, Gothic, Ethiopian, Coptic, and Armenean. There are far less Old Testament manuscripts, but in fact they were even better preserved. Ancient rabbis kept registers of all letters, syllables, words and paragraphs of the Old Testament and were known to have special classes of men whose only obligation it was to copy and save the holy manuscripts with the greatest care possible. Who ever counted all the letters, syllables and words of works of Homer or Tacitus (the historian)? The accuracy of the text of the Bible is incredibly great, which can be demonstrated by the following comparison: The text of Shakespeare, which is only a few centuries old, is far less precise, and is even “corrupt” (i.e., uncertain, mutilated), than that of the New Testament, which has existed for about nineteen centuries, fourteen of them only in manuscript form. On the one hand, in all of the New Testament there are perhaps only ten or twenty verses about which there is yet uncertainty as to the correct reading, and in each case the meaning of the verses is not at stake. On the other hand, the stage plays of Shakespeare still feature a few hundred passages about which there are still disagreements, and in the majority of cases there are major differences in meaning.

However, the Bible is not only unique in terms of its survival through ages pre-dating the printing press, but also in its survival despite many violent attacks. For centuries people have tried to destroy or burn it. Kings and emperors, but also religious leaders, have worked with zeal for its destruction. In AD 303 the great Roman emperor Diocletian issued an order to destroy all Christians and their holy book. It was the biggest attack on the Bible in history: hundreds of thousands of Christians died and almost all Bible manuscripts were destroyed. Yet the Bible soon reappeared, and the irony of history was that 22 years later Emperor Constantine raised the Bible to infallible authority at the first general council. He also ordered Eusebius to make fifty copies of the Bible at the expense of the government.

After the Roman empire the Middle Ages followed. The Roman Church kept the Bible so effectively hidden from the people, that for centuries the Bible was practically unknown. Even Luther, according to his own words, was almost an adult before he ever even saw a Bible. Council decisions and papal bans demanded that the Bible be publicly burnt. Bible readers were condemned by the Inquisition, tortured and burned. Things changed slowly only after the Reformation. But after that, then right in the womb of protestantism, a new series of attacks arose: the attacks of ‘Bible criticism’. Especially in Germany a whole army of rationalists appeared on the scene and invented wild and fierce attacks on the Bible. But since then the Bible has been distributed more, read more, and loved more than ever before. The attackers have died, their attacks have been refuted and the Bible still stands as a rock. What book can be compared to that? The Bible is the most widely distributed book because it is the most beloved book in the world. But the most surprising thing is that, at the same time, it is also the most hated and the most criticized book in the world. No chapter, no rule in the Bible, has been saved from criticism; there is no other book to be found in the whole world of which that can be said to the same extent. All in all, therefore, no sensible human being can deny that how the Bible has stood the test of time and survived attacks through the ages is evidence that it is absolutely unique.

6. The uniqueness of its literary character.

The Jewish leaders were astonished that the apostles (among whom were some of the New Testament writers) were uneducated and simple people — certainly not the persons from whom they expected literary masterpieces. And yet the Bible became exactly that: a collection of literary masterpieces, not only for the ancient Hebrews or the early Greek-speaking Christians, but also for those who spoke in the languages ​​of all civilized peoples. This is generally acknowledged as such. According to the non-Christian Arthur Brisbane the Bible contains brilliant examples of great literature in every form: lyrical poetry (the Psalms); epic poetry (Genesis); dramatic poetry (Job); historical storytelling (the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles); rural idyll (Ruth); patriotism (Esther and Daniel); practical wisdom (Proverbs); philosophical reflections (Ecclesiastes); passionate eloquence (Isaiah); short historical writings (the Gospels); epistles of The New Testament (the letters); mystical rapture (Revelation). Dutch is formed by and developed from the great literary treasure of the State Translation. High German is completely "made" by the old Luther Bible. Thomas Carlyle wrote that the Bible is the most wonderful example of literature that has ever flowed from a human pen. He himself, a master of the pen, was able to judge that. The great English historian Froude, though not a Christian, said that the well-known Bible is literature in itself, the rarest and richest in all areas of thought. English has been mastered by the language of the Authorized Version (the King James Version). Such a literary masterpiece could not fail to exert great influence on world literature, and that it has done so is abundantly clear.

7. The uniqueness of its moral character.

Yet even more important than the literary character of the Bible is the uniqueness of its moral character. In my opinion this is of decisive importance and is that which makes the Bible extraordinarily unique. Professor Max Muller did not even dare to translate the Hindu scriptures literally in order not to be arrested for publishing pornography. There is an unbridgeable moral gap between the Bible on the one hand and other religious writings on the other hand. The uniqueness of the Bible is that it teaches a moral system that goes radically against the normal moral awareness of a human being! A morality that, for example, means that we must love our enemies and to do good to those who hate and persecute us, that says that a lustful gaze is adultery and that hate is murder, can be called quite unique. The Bible is without doubt written by men. And yet those men wrote in way totally different from how others have always written. Normally people don't write about themselves negatively, as we find, for example, in Romans 3:10-23. They usually do not write about how they were overcome by the devil without any struggle (Genesis 3:6-19). And who would ever have thought up a hell as eternal punishment for sin and unbelief? By the same token, who would have invented an eternal bliss for the guilty who, without the slightest merit of their own, are relieved, by pure grace, of a punishment that they, as lost, had earned just as well as those who are condemned? Normally a man always seeks God's favor as a kind of reward for his "goodness"; his religion is always and everywhere a recipe for improving character and behavior.

But this (human) concept is completely alien to the Bible, in which people, driven by God, proclaim that salvation is by grace, a gift of God who wants to save people; that man is hopelessly lost and can do nothing else for his salvation than to believe in Jesus Christ. One can see this contrast from the way that the Bible speaks of sin. People usually tend to think lightly of evil. They call sin a mistake, a shortcoming or a bad habit. But the Bible calls sin rebellion against the holy and righteous will of God. Let's take for example sexual sins. People are usually inclined, when they speak about sexual subjects, to be either prudish or to experience lust from it. The Bible is completely different. It is never prudish but calls sexual evil for what it is. It is never lustful; rather, it unambiguously announces judgment about these sins. In a positive way, where sexuality is experienced within marriage, the Bible regards it as a gift from God. From their own dirty minds some have called the Bible an immoral book, because it so unscrupulously describes the sins of many main characters. Some have even claimed (without much self-knowledge) that the protagonists in the Bible were inferior, ignoble people, to whom we should pay no attention. How absurd this accusation is is shown by the fact that in the Old Testament sexual sins were punished with death. The New Testament judges this even more strongly, if there is no repentance of evil. No, the moral standard of the Bible appears nowhere clearer than in the fact that it so bluntly sums up the sins and weaknesses of its noblest and most beloved main characters. Indeed, Noah became drunk; David was guilty of adultery and murder; Peter cursed and swore. That was wrong, but were they so exceptional? The Bible simply shows man as he is. Even the most attractive and noblest person is no better than anyone else. The Bible is real in a unique way. Imagine a Bible put together and published by a religious society. Would we ever had heard anything about the cunning lie of Abraham, the cowardly denial of Peter, the foolish idolatry of Solomon, the shame of Lot, the deception of Jacob, or the dispute between Paul and Barnabas, or the headstrongness of Moses? No way! A commission of venerable clergymen would have presented us with a Bible full of flawless people, examples of impeccable piety and holy walking, and not a Bible of those poor miserable sinners that they really were. In fact, some Bible writers are not even ashamed of describing their own sins, such as Matthew, John and Paul. What books can be pointed out that show such remarkable characteristics?

But isn't that maybe the core of emotions around the Bible? The absolutely unique moral character of this book irrevocably forces man to make a choice, a decision. No one seems to be able to remain unmoved and neutral towards the Bible. Is that maybe the reason that the Bible is the most sold, most widespread, most translated and most read book in the world? Is that why no other book than the Bible was so attacked, criticized, fought? Do they perhaps hate the Bible for the same reason why the criminal hates the law on the basis of which he is being punished? But the reverse is also true: the Bible is, like I said, also the most beloved book in the world. Jesus once said of the false prophets: By their fruits you will recognize them... Every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree gives bad fruit. Exactly the same can be said of the Bible. If the Bible is a good book, it must be apparent from the fruit it produces. Marcus Aurelius, Confucius and other moralists have written high-quality standard works on ethics. But who knows just one example of a man that has been brought to a truly good and holy life by studying these books? They do present a certain ideal, but practice shows that it totally lacks the power that apparently the Bible does have — to elevate the fallen man from that ideal. The Bible does this by bringing us into contact with Jesus Christ, who does not 'mend' the heart of the fallen man, but who died for him and, instead, gives him a 'new heart.' The fallen man has died in and with Christ. That is, according to the testimony of the Bible (Romans 6: 3-11), the one who has accepted Christ by true faith and who has been grafted into the resurrected Christ, is a completely new man, a new creation! That makes a great difference. The great biblical answer to the moral problem of modern man is a personal, a spiritual, a being born-again, a true inner-life change! Not a conversion to a system, but to a Person - and a sincere, passionate and living faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, led by and being filled with the Holy Spirit who lives, as promised, in every true Christian; not someone that adheres to a religious system, but someone who has dedicated his life (handed himself over) to Christ.

8. The uniqueness of his predictive ability (fulfilled prophecies)

About 80% of Biblical prophecies have already come true (there are hundreds). Biblical predictions about the future have proven 100% reliable to date. The remaining 20% ​​of those prophecies are, for a large part, about the end time, which is still to happen. Jesus speaks of a period in world history in which everything that is written will be fulfilled (Luke 21:22). In the time of the early Church Jewish people came to faith on the basis of the prophetic Word. That was a period in which many things from the Scriptures were fulfilled. Even the unbelieving king Agrippa knew the prophets and believed them. I focus here mainly on the Messianic prophecies, because they are so obvious in terms of clear prophecy and its fulfillment and also of the utmost importance (it is all about Jesus). Consider, for example, as a clear example, the prophecy in Micah. A wondrous prophecy, which says: And you, Bethlehem-Ephratah (Ephratah, old name for the city of Bethlehem), although you are small among the thousands of Judah, from you will come forth the one Who will be a Ruler in Israel. His origins have always been from of old (Micah 5: 2). Why is that prophecy so special? Because it was foresaid almost 700 years earlier, without any knowledge of it! About 700 years later, at the birth of the Lord Jesus, King Herod, in a panic, ordered all the chief priests and scribes to find out where the Child was born. Although these men were not believing they were able to tell exactly where Jesus was born. The prophecy excludes all possible doubts and is as clear as can be. This single spectacular prophecy alone is a clear indication of the divine inspiration of the Scripture, the Bible. Below is an overview of 44 Messianic prophecies that have been fulfilled. It is part of a longer chronological list of more than three hundred Messianic prophecies fulfilled. The long list can be found here.

	Prophecy/Foresaying/Foreshadowing	Old Testament	Fulfillment (New Testament)
1	Messiah, born of a woman and beat Satan’s power ('bruise the serpent's head’)	Genesis 3:15	Matthew 1:20 Galatians 4:4
2	Messiah would come from the line of Abraham.	Genesis 12:3 Genesis 22:18	Matthew 1:1 Romans 9:5
3	Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac.	Genesis 17:19 Genesis 21:12	Luke 3:34
4	Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah.	Genesis 49:10	Luke 3:33 Hebrews 7:14
5	Messiah's bones would not be broken.	Exodus 12:46 Psalm 34:20	John 19:33-36
6	Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob.	Numbers 24:17	Matthew 1:2
7	Messiah would be a prophet.	Deuteronomy 18:15	Acts 3:20-22
8	Messiah would be heir to King David's throne.	2 Samuel 7:12-13 Isaiah 9:7	Luke 1:32-33 Romans 1:3
9	Messiah would be called King.	Psalm 2:6 Zechariah 9:9	Matthew 27:37 Mark 11:7-11
10	Messiah would be declared the Son of God.	Psalm 2:7	Matthew 3:16-17
11	Messiah would be praised by little children.	Psalm 8:2	Matthew 21:16
12	Messiah would resurrect from the dead.	Psalm 16:10 Psalm 49:15	Matthew 28:2-7 Acts 2:22-32
13	Messiah would be forsaken by God	Psalm 22:1	Matthew 27:46
14	Messiah would be mocked and ridiculed.	Psalm 22:7-8	Luke 23:35
15	Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced.	Psalm 22:16 Zechariah 12:10	John 20:25-27
16	Soldiers would gamble for Messiah's garments.	Psalm 22:18	Luke 23:34 Matthew 27:35-36
17	Messiah would ascend to heaven.	Psalm 24:7-10	Mark 16:19 Luke 24:51
18	Messiah would be falsely accused.	Psalm 35:11	Mark 14:57-58
19	Messiah would be hated without cause.	Psalm 35:19 Psalm 69:4	John 15:24-25
20	Messiah would be betrayed.	Psalm 41:9 Zechariah 11:12-13	Luke 22:47-48 Matthew 26:14-16
21	Messiah's throne will be anointed and eternal.	Psalm 45:6-7 Daniel 2:44	Luke 1:33 Hebrews 1:8-12
22	Messiah would be seated at God's right hand.	Psalm 68:18 Psalm 110:1	Mark 16:19 Matthew 22:44
23	Messiah would be rejected by his own people.	Psalm 69:8 Isaiah 53:3	John 1:11 John 7:5
24	Messiah would be given vinegar to drink.	Psalm 69:21	Matthew 27:34 John 19:28-30
25	Messiah would speak in parables.	Psalm 78:2-4 Isaiah 6:9-10	Matthew 13:10-15, 34-35
26	Messiah would pray for his enemies.	Psalm 109:3-5	Luke 23:34
27	Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.	Psalm 110:4	Hebrews 5:5-6
28	Messiah would be born of a virgin.	Isaiah 7:14	Matthew 1:22-23 Luke 1:26-31
29	Messiah would be called Immanuel.	Isaiah 7:14	Matthew 1:23
30	Messiah would bring light to Galilee.	Isaiah 9:1-2	Matthew 4:13-16
31	Messiah would be called a Nazarene.	Isaiah 11:1	Matthew 2:23
32	A messenger would prepare the way for Messiah	Isaiah 40:3-5	Luke 3:3-6
33	Messiah would be spat upon and struck.	Isaiah 50:6	Matthew 26:67
34	Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin.	Isaiah 53:5-12	Romans 5:6-8
35	Messiah would be silent before his accusers.	Isaiah 53:7	Mark 15:4-5
36	Messiah would be buried with the rich.	Isaiah 53:9	Matthew 27:57-60
37	Messiah would be crucified with criminals.	Isaiah 53:12	Matthew 27:38 Mark 15:27-28
38	Messiah would be sent to heal the brokenhearted.	Isaiah 61:1-2	Luke 4:18-19
39	A massacre of children would happen at Messiah's birthplace.	Jeremiah 31:15	Matthew 2:16-18
40	Messiah would spend a while in Egypt.	Hosea 11:1	Matthew 2:14-15
41	Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.	Micah 5:2	Matthew 2:1 Luke 2:4-6
42	Messiah's price money would be used to buy a potter's field.	Zechariah 11:12-13	Matthew 27:9-10
43	Soldiers would pierce Messiah's side.	Zechariah 12:10	John 19:34
44	Messiah would be preceded by Elijah.	Malachi 4:5-6	Matthew 11:13-14