You have heard it said that “there is nothing new under the sun”. This is evidenced when watching people trying to make decisions regarding the religion they will follow. Many people seek to explore religion much like they did two thousand years ago. We can look to the life of Justin Martyr for the example.

In his young life Justin Martyr was tossed by the wind through different idealistic teachings. “He searched energetically for truth in a variety of philosophical schools.”

Are you like Justin Martyr searching for the truth in a variety of ways” Have you gone from one religion to another in hopes that you will soon find the authentic one? Are you one who claims to be a follower of something, yet you have never taken the time to study what you really believe or is what you believe just a mix of philosophies?

You will reach your final destination only when you encounter the one true God. It was when Justin Martyr was pointed to the “Jewish prophets who witness to Christ” that Justin wholeheartedly became a follower of Christ. It was then he realized that he had found the one true God. He later became known as a second century apologist and was martyred about AD 165.

Who were these Jewish prophets that directed Justin to the Christ which holds the truth? How can we examine the documents that directed him and are they reliable?

First, the Jewish prophets and leaders that revealed Christ were people like Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel and many others. They can be found in some of the greatest historical documents compiled into one book called the Bible.

Secondly, we can examine and trust the reliability of these sources? Examine other reliable documents such as, “Caesar’s Gallic War (composed between 58 and 50 BC) there are several extant manuscripts, but only nine or ten are good, and the oldest is some 900 years later than Caesar’s day. Of the 142 books of the Roman History of Livy (59 BC-AD 17) only thirty-five survive; these are known to us from not more than twenty manuscripts of any consequence, only one of which, and that containing fragments of Books iii-vi, is as old as the fourth century”.

With this in mind, how different is the credibility of the Biblical Manuscripts? The New Testament has “two excellent manuscripts of the fourth century…which are the earliest of some thousands known to us, considerable fragments remain of papyrus copies of books of the New Testament dated from 100 or 200 years earlier”. The Old Testament has historical documents from the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave in Qumran along the Dead Sea. These Scrolls gave evidence to the earlier documents, such as the Masoretic Text.

Like Justin, you can know the truth which has been handed down through the Scriptures. The time is now to quit being tossed by the wind of false philosophies, instead become a student of the truth.

“for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1 Chr. 28:9