how can one trust the words of a book that was written by man? the word of god would not have to be written down, it would be in the hearts and minds of people(i think)... his-story is writtten by the winners...f.y.i the roman empire never left it just changed names...hint(british empire)

We can all agree that the bible was written by men.  Even the scriptures state this.

2 Peter 1:20-21: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (KJV)"

I am just quoting this scripture as support text to what I just stated, not as a means of proving my point.  I will use scripture where needed, but it will not be used as a means to prove a point.  So let's continue.

The question now is, how do we know that God really inspired the bible, and how do we know that it is what it claiims to be, and not a work of fiction by the Roman Catholic Church, or men in general?

Although we may not have an exact copy from the time period of Jesus and the Apostles, We have many copies from the surrounding time periods.  Many texts have been discovered, not just one.  If the Catholic church wrote the bible, they would have had to obtain control over all of the texts in existence.  Furthermore, we authenticate and accept works from people like Plato with very few texts. With copies from AD 114 to AD 325 of the bible, we have over 5,000 copies.  How could the Catholic church control this?  They did not exist at this time as an institution.

A comparison of the New Testament to other ancient writings...

Here is how the New Testament compares to other ancient writings*:

Author	Book	Date Written	Earliest Copies	Time Gap	# of Copies
Homer	Iliad	800 B.C.	c. 400 B.C.	c. 400 yrs.	643
Herodotus	History	480-425 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1,350 yrs.	8
Thucydides	History	460-400 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1,300 yrs.	8
Plato		400 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1,300 yrs.	7
Demosthenes		300 B.C.	c. A.D. 1100	c. 1,400 yrs.	200
Caesar	Gallic Wars	100-44 B.C.	c. A.D. 900	c. 1,000 yrs.	10
Tacitus	Annals	A.D. 100	c. A.D. 1100	c. 1,000 yrs.	20
Pliny Secundus	Natural History	A.D. 61-113	c. A.D. 850	c. 750 yrs.	7
New Testament		A.D. 50-100	c. A.D.114 (portions) c. A.D. 200 (books) c. A.D. 325 (complete N.T.)	c. +50 yrs. c. 100 yrs. c. 225 yrs.	5366

*McDowell, Josh. The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 55.

The bible states itself, that the law of God is written in our hearts.

“I will put My Law within them, and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God, and they will be My people” – Jeremiah 31:33-34

We know this to be true, because everyone knows that it is wrong to kill or to steal.  This does not mean that people do not disobey this law written in their hearts, because they do everyday.  Although we have the law of God in our hearts, which are the moral laws, we do not have the spiritual laws.  Example:  You shall have no other Gods before me.  How would you know to obey this if not written?  How would you know who the true God is if it was not written ?  God reveals Himself through His word.

Once you study His word with a true heart to seek knowledge, you will have eyes to see who the true God is.

Now the reason that it took 30 to 60 years for the bible to be written down, is because the apostles and others were eye witnesses of the works of Jesus The Christ in Jerusalem, and spread the word of God by word of mouth throughout the city.  When the gospel spread beyond Jerusalem, and the eye witnesses were no longer available or accessible, there was a need for written accounts to educate others about the life and ministry of Jesus.

Luke even states this in the scriptures:

Luk 1:1	INASMUCH as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled[fn1] among us,
Luk 1:2	just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us,
Luk 1:3	it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus

I will get to the rest of your questions a little later.  I hope this is a decent start.