We have actual documentary evidence that the Bible -- as inspired -- was also preserved through faithful copies, of copies, of copies, from different regions and from various times in history.
I would like to see this "evidence"! What evidence proves the history of creation? What is the story of Noah's Ark? What evidence proves the miracles Jesus did?
The doctrine of divine preservation IS GENERALLY NOT BELIEVED by modern scholars, but it is true nonetheless. One of the best examples is the Isaiah scroll found with the Dead Sea Scrolls (and dating from c 200 BC). Isaiah in the Masoretic Text (the traditional text) as found in the codices from 900 AD is an exact replica of this scroll. So over a period of OVER 1,000 YEARS the text remained unaltered,
The text was written much later, as you say yourself. As an author, I know how often a text is changed. From the first to the last version, a text goes through several stages. In addition, the stories were mostly handed down orally at that time, since much of the story may have been changed until it was written down for the first time. No proof of your thesis.
The same principle applies to the New Testament, but the major problem is that the most ancient manuscripts are also the MOST CORRUPT. This may sound paradoxical until one sees that heretics began tampering with the New Testament very early on, and the corrupt manuscripts survived because they were cast aside.
Apparently you never dealt with the creation of ancient writings, otherwise you would not argue so naively.
Take Paul's statement that women should remain silent in the church. This statement, for example, was written about 100 to 150 years after the death of the apostle, according to Bible scholars. Presumably to push back women in ecclesiastical offices.
Just like any Bible wears down with age, and eventually falls apart, the true manuscripts did not survive through constant use. But once again faithful copies of copies of copies (as well as early versions and translations) ensured that the text remained unchanged. Therefore the majority of manuscripts agree and are represented in the Received Text, but a handful of manuscripts (called the Minority Text) disagree in thousands of particulars because they have been corrupted.
There are two major problems with the Bible:
1. Incorrect translations.
2. Later insets.
Therefore, one should not believe everything in the Bible, but first examine it.