感谢主，教会13岁的青少问，牧师有空吗？我想问一个问题。就是你怎么确定圣经这么久没有被改过。我鼓励他放假时，听基本神学录音，他告诉我这是给大人听的，他怕听不懂，所以我尽量用简化方式回答他。求主栽培，建立，塑造这孩子的生命，赐他爱主与爱人的心。
我们知道圣经没有被篡改，因为我们拥有成千上万份古代抄本，是用希伯来文和希腊文（圣经的原始语言）写成的。这些抄本来自不同的时代和地点。当学者将它们并列比较时，发现文本高度一致，尽管这些抄本是在数百年到千年之间以手工方式抄写完成的。
从起初开始，神的子民就将圣经视为上帝所启示、神圣而权威的话语，并以极大的敬畏与谨慎来抄写和传承（申6:6–9；申17:18–19；箴30:5）。有些圣经抄本在原书写成后的几十年之内便被抄写并广泛流传。如此短暂的时间间隔，使得刻意加入传说、进行大规模修改，或有意篡改经文，几乎不可能在圣经广泛传播之前发生。
像死海古卷这样的重要发现（发现于1947年）有力地印证了这一事实。这些古卷包含了两千多年以前的旧约书卷，其成书时间估计约在耶稣降生前四百年左右，却与后来时期保存下来的抄本高度一致。这清楚表明，在印刷术出现之前，旧约文本已经被文士忠心而准确地保存了一千多年。
以《以赛亚书》为例：最著名的发现之一是《以赛亚书》。当学者将这份约主前125年的抄本，与约一千一百年后完成的马所拉文本进行对照时，发现其中约95%的内容是逐字一致的。其余约5%的差异，主要是明显的抄写笔误或轻微的拼写差别。
圣经被抄写并传播到众多地区、国家、文化和语言群体中，并且在很早的时期就被翻译成其他语言。正因如此广泛而分散的流传，没有任何一个人、教会或政府，能够在全球范围内秘密地统一篡改圣经文本。任何试图更改圣经的行为，都会在与世界其他地区保存下来的抄本相互对照时，被清楚地识别出来。
圣经学者通过文本批判，对所有已知的抄本差异进行系统而仔细的研究。这些差异都是公开记录并加以分析的。绝大多数差异都极其细微，例如拼写或词序上的不同，没有任何一处会影响基督教的核心教义，包括圣经关于神、人类的罪，以及借着基督得救的真理。
最后，在历世历代之中，圣经被公开宣读于教会敬拜中，并在教会里持续教导，从而形成清楚的问责机制，防止经文遭到操纵或篡改。圣经并不是由某一个人或隐秘的集团所控制，而是由分散在不同国家和地区的神的子民一同守护与保存（西4:16）。
耶稣基督亲自见证了圣经的权威与可信性（太4:4；太5:18；约10:35；路24:44）。祂将旧约视为神真实而可靠的话语，屡次加以引用，并完全顺服其权威。耶稣明确宣告，经上的话是不能废去的，神话语中的每一个部分都必然应验。无论是在教导、纠正错误，还是在抵挡试探时，祂都诉诸圣经。正如主耶稣说：我实在告诉你们，就是到天地都废去了，律法的一点一画也不能废去，都要成全。（太5:18 ）
使徒保罗和彼得同样清楚见证了圣经的神圣权威。使徒保罗教导说，圣经并非源自人的智慧，而是出于神本身。他写道：“圣经都是神所默示的，于教训、督责、使人归正、教导人学义都是有益的，叫属神的人得以完全，预备行各样的善事。”（提后3:16–17）使徒彼得也见证说：“惟有主的道是永存的。所传给你们的福音就是这道。”（彼前1:25）
最重要的是，作为基督徒，我们相信神的主权、神至高的掌管、权威和同在。那位启示圣经的神，也同样保守了祂的话语，为着祂的教会。神是信实的，必看守祂的真理，使祂的子民领受祂原本要传达的信息。
在旧约时代，确实曾有恶王企图毁灭神的话语，但神却信实地保守了圣经。在约雅敬王的日子里，这位邪恶的君王将先知耶利米所传的神的话语剪碎并焚烧。然而神并未失败。耶和华吩咐耶利米重新写下书卷，恢复原有的话语，甚至加上对这位君王更严厉的审判。这清楚表明，人类的敌对无法消灭神的话语；神借着祂的先知，以主权的方式保守祂的启示（耶36:22–28）。
总而言之，我们今日所读的圣经，乃是在神的护理之下忠心地传承下来的，所承载的正是神从起初所赐下的信息，为着祂教会的生命与信仰。
Thank the Lord. A 13-year-old youth in the church asked, “Pastor, do you have some time? I would like to ask a question. How can you be sure that the Bible has not been changed over such a long period of time?”
I encouraged him to listen to some basic theology recordings during the school holidays, but he shared that those were meant for adults and that he was afraid he would not understand them. Therefore, I did my best to explain the answer to him in a simplified way.
May the Lord nurture, establish, and shape this child’s life, and grant him a heart that loves the Lord and loves others.
We know the Bible has not been changed because we have thousands of ancient manuscripts written in Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Bible. These manuscripts come from different time periods and locations. When scholars compare them side by side, they find that the text is remarkably consistent, even though it was copied by hand over many centuries.
From the very beginning, God’s people treated Scripture as sacred and copied it with great care(Deut 6:6–9; Deu 17:18-19; Prov 30:5). Some Bible manuscripts were copied and transmitted within just a few decades of the original books being written. This short time gap leaves little opportunity for legends, major edits, or intentional changes to take place before the text spread widely
Important discoveries like the Dead Sea Scrolls (discovered in 1947) strongly confirm this. These scrolls contain Old Testament books that are more than 2,000 years old, estimated to date about 400 years before Jesus was born, and they closely match much later manuscripts. This shows that the Old Testament text was preserved faithfully for more than a thousand years by the scribes, even before the age of printing. The book of Isaiah is an example: One of the most famous finds was the Great Isaiah Scroll. When scholars compared this manuscript (from c. 125 BC) to the Masoretic Text produced 1,100 years later, they found them to be word-for-word identical in about 95% of the text. The remaining 5% consisted primarily of obvious slips of the pen or minor spelling variations.
The Bible was copied and shared across many regions, nations, cultures, and languages, and it was also translated early into other languages. Because of this wide distribution, no single person, church, or government had the power to secretly change the Bible everywhere. Any attempt to alter it would have been exposed by comparison with other copies found in other parts of the world.
Bible scholars practice textual criticism, which carefully studies every known difference between manuscripts. These differences are openly identified and examined. Most are very small, such as spelling or word order, and none affect the core teachings of Christianity, including what the Bible teaches about God, sin, and salvation through Christ.
Finally, Scripture was read publicly in worship and taught within the church throughout the centuries, creating accountability and protecting the text from manipulation. The Bible was not controlled by one individual or hidden group, but preserved by God’s people living in different countries together (Col 4:16).
Jesus Christ Himself testified to the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture. (Matt 4:4; Matt 5:18; John 10:35; Luke 24:44) He treated the Old Testament as the very Word of God, quoted it repeatedly, and submitted Himself to it completely. Jesus affirmed that Scripture cannot be broken and that every part of God’s Word would be fulfilled. He appealed to Scripture in His teaching, in correcting error, and even in resisting temptation
The apostles Paul and Peter clearly testified to the divine authority of Scripture. The apostle Paul taught that Scripture does not originate from human wisdom but from God Himself. He wrote that “2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Apostle Peter testifies “1Pe 1:25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
Above all, as Christians we believe in God’s lordship, sovereign control, authority, and abiding presence. The same God who inspired Scripture also preserved His Word for His church. God is faithful to guard His truth, ensuring that His people receive the message He intended
In the Old Testament, there were attempts by wicked kings to destroy God’s Word, but God faithfully preserved it. In the days of King Jehoiakim, the king cut up and burned the scroll containing God’s message spoken through Jeremiah. Yet God was not defeated. The Lord commanded Jeremiah to rewrite the scroll, restoring the same words and even adding further judgment against the king. This shows that human opposition cannot erase God’s Word; He sovereignly preserves it through His prophets (Jer 36:22–28).
In summary, the Bible we read today has been faithfully transmitted under God’s providence, and it contains the same message God gave from the beginning for the life and faith of His church