ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS
In his book Christianity: a Ready Defence, former sceptic Josh McDowell writes: "There are now more than 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. Add over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9,300 other early versions, and we have more than 24,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament in existence. No other document of antiquity even begins to approach such numbers and attestation. In comparison, the Iliad by Homer is second with only 643 manuscripts that still survive. The first complete preserved text of Homer dates from the 13th century." So, by all normal criteria, the text of the New Testament is more reliable than any other ancient writing.
As far as the Old Testament is concerned, although we would not expect to have as many surviving manuscripts as we do of the New Testament, the discovery in 1947 of the Dead Sea Scrolls provided convincing confirmation that the existing translations of parts of the Old Testament were faithful copies of the original.

"Just a collection of ancient writings, great literature and of historic interest, but not really relevant to us today."
—is that what you think about the Bible?
Just consider that the Bible may be what it claims to be: a message to us from the Creator of the universe. Now if that is true, the Bible is the most important book in the world, and we ignore its message at our peril.
Christians believe that the Bible contains history, but much more. It tells us something about ourselves and our world. It explains where we came from, why there is evil in the world, how we can find freedom from guilt and the fear of death, and how we can have hope for the future. Millions of people have proved the value of the Bible in their personal lives.

THE BIBLE IS STILL THE WORLD'S BEST-SELLER, — BUT HOW DO WE KNOW THAT
IT'S RELIABLE?

THE EVIDENCE FROM ARCHAEOLOGY
The historical reliability of the Bible has been vindicated by many years of archaeological discoveries. Over and over again the arguments of sceptics have been proved groundless in the light of new research. One of the most famous archaeologists, Sir William Ramsay, was convinced that the New Testament was historically suspect, and that the record of the early Church in the Book of Acts was incorrect. During 15 years of excavations in the Middle East, Ramsay changed his view completely, becoming convinced of the reliability of the New Testament. He later became a Christian, and published many books about his discoveries.
More recently, non-Christian archaeologist David Rohl carried out detailed research into Old Testament history, especially as it related to the time when the Israelites were living as slaves in Egypt. Although many modern scholars had dismissed the Biblical record as unreliable, Rohl, who never set out to prove the accuracy of the Bible, has produced startling evidence that the Biblical record is accurate. His research has been featured on UK television, and he has written several books about it. In a review of A Test of Time: the Bible from Myth to History, the "Daily Mail" commented, ‘The Bible, it seems, is back in business.’

THE EVIDENCE OF FULFILLED PROPHECY
We are all used to hearing about the predictions of astrologers and clairvoyants, and it is inevitable that some of their predictions will come true. But if someone predicted events hundreds of years ahead, and all their predictions were perfectly fulfilled you would surely suspect that they had some kind of "inside information".
Author and former sceptic Josh McDowell writes: "One of the unique and fascinating aspects of the Bible is that in no other religious literature do we find the accuracy of fulfilled prophecy. Biblical predictions recorded sometimes hundreds of years in advance of their happening are fulfilled in minute detail." (Christianity: a Ready Defence, 1991, page 56).