Is the bible a true and reliable document

IS THE BIBLE A TRUE AND RELIABLE DOCUMENT? Taken from “How We Got the Bible and Why You Can Trust It” by Mike Taliaferro Introduction The Bible has been under heavy attack for the last two centuries. Scholars and professors have assailed the manuscripts as unreliable, the authors as inaccurate, and the characters of the Bible as myths. Some say Jesus never lived, that King David was a fireside legend and that Moses was an illiterate wandered.

Others say that the story of Jesus was written hundreds of years after the events actually took place.

Today some still teach that the Bible is a hopeless hash of traditions handed down through the centuries, a weak historical document whose value is somewhere between Aesop’s fables and Greek mythology. Professors from the late 1700’s and 1800’s pound away at the Bible’s apparent problems as an historical document. They assailed the Scriptures for being written far too late to be accurate. The critics had the hammer raised over the last few nails in the Bible’s coffin.

Chief among the critics was the German writer F. C. Baur, who along with several other theologians, painted a bleak picture for the reliability of the Scriptures. Believing the New Testament to have been written down close to the year 200, these theologians taught that it was impossible for the New Testament to be anything other than myth.

Although their theories are still making the rounds today, they have been shown conclusively to be wrong. Dead wrong. History, archaeology, and the advances in manuscripts have beaten back these attacks. It is now clear that the Bible is accurate historically. It is accurate culturally. The manuscripts give us the exact words of the authors. There has been virtually no corruption of the text. The smoke has cleared and the Bible is still standing tall. Whether you believe the book yourself is your decision. But the Bible is the accurate account of the apostle’s testimony. Few would deny that today.

Quietly, and without fanfare, the Bible has proven itself to be far stronger than any of the critics believed.

Without a doubt, it is the greatest book ever written. Consider these facts....................... 

The Bible was written over a 1500 year span (1400 BC to 80 AD), across 40 generations.

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It was written on 3 different continents, in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek)

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50 authors from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, statesmen and scholars, etc. contributed to the scriptures

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It has hundreds of prophecies fulfilled through the centuries

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It is completely accurate both historically and culturally

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All these writers, across all those centuries, stand completely in agreement, with one message.

In regards to topics such as truth, purpose, mission, God, man, reality, sin, righteousness, origin 1

and destiny, the Bible is totally unified. Just try getting 50 religious leaders in your city to agree on any of the above topics! 

Matters of science are dealt with simply and in correct terms, devoid of absurdities. (Compare to the Babylonian story of creation, which contends that the earth was formed from body parts of one of the gods after a fight broke out in heaven.)

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At one time the ancients thought there were about 1100 stars in total. Jeremiah 33:22 described the stars as ‘uncountable’ when he wrote in 600 BC

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The dimensions of Noah’s ark are also interesting. Measuring 300 x 50 x 30 cubits, the ark has the exact same dimensions as engineers use for many sea going vessels today.

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Unlike the belief of other nations that the world was held up by something, the Jews believed it was “hung upon nothing.” Job 26:7

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See the index of “Internal Evidences” – facts from the fields of Science, Medicine, History, Psychology, Geography, Prophecy, Social Laws that verify the reliability of the Bible

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The Bible is the #1 best seller of all time. Just the United Bible Society alone sells and distributes over 110,000 copies of the Scriptures per day.

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The Bible has better manuscript evidence than any other 10 ancient works combined. It is better attested than even the works of Shakespeare.

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Voltaire, the French atheist who died in 1778, said Christianity would pass away within 100 years. However, Christianity flourished. Within 50 years of his death, the Geneva Bible Society was using his house and his press to produce stacks of Bibles.

IS JESUS A MYTH? An old argument that Jesus is not even a real historical figure is still making the rounds. Sort of like a Robin Hood or Santa Claus, some cling to the old story that Jesus was an invention of later writers and that he never lived at all. Although this theory is clearly false, we can quickly address it.

It is hard to find a scholar today who seriously proposes that Jesus was not a true historical figure.

Virtually everyone recognizes that a man named Jesus lived 2000 years ago in Palestine. H. G. Wells, an atheist, wrote of Jesus in his book, “Outline of History.” He wrote, “....one is obliged to say, ‘here was a man. This part of the tale could not have been invented.’”

Will Durant is a former professor of philosophy and history at Columbia University. He spent two chapters in “The Story of Our Civilization” depicting Jesus as a historical figure right along with the Caesars and Alexander the Great.

The Encyclopedia of Britannica uses over 20,000 words to describe Jesus. That is more than Aristotle Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon.

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There is more than sufficient evidence to have convinced these and other scholars like them that Jesus actually lived. Following is some of the many non-Christian writings of the period: The Samaritan historian Thallus wrote as early as 52 AD about Christ. Writing to give a natural explanation for the darkness that occurred on the day of the crucifixion, Thallus discussed Jesus and his death. The passage on Jesus was contained in Thallus’ work on the Eastern Mediterranean world from the Trojan War to 52 AD. Thallus tried to explain away the darkness at the crucifixion as being an eclipse.

It is important to note that Thalls did not debate the universal darkness experienced that day. That point he accepted. He only tried to explain the darkness away. He confirms Jesus as a real historical figure.

Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian who wrote in the year 112AD. He discusses Jesus in his book “Annals”. Nothing Nero and his persecutions of the believers, Tacitus mentions both Christians, who were burned alive at the stake, as well as Christ himself. Tacitus tells us the “Christus” (Latin for Christ) was the origin of the name Christian, and that he had been executed by Pontius Pilatus (Pilate).

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, chief secretary of Emperoro Hadrian, also wrote about Jesus. In 120 AD he noted, “Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from the city.” Chrestus is a variant spelling of Christ. Apparently Suetonius is referring to riots that broke out in the Jewish community in Rome during the year 49 AD. As a result, the Jews were banished from the city.

Jewish historian Flavius Josephus became the court historian for Emperor Vespasian approximately 72 AD. He mentions Jesus, Pilate, the crucifixion, and Jesus’ claims of being the messiah. Josephus died in 97 AD. There are other references. A personal letter by a man named Mara-Serapion to his son in 73 AD mentions Jesus. Pliny the younger, the Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor in 112 AD, wrote to the emperor Trajan about Christians and their devotion to Christ. The Talmud mentions Jesus several times.

Lucian, the Greek satirist, poked fun of Jesus and Christians about 10 AD. All of these are non-Christian sources. This list doesn’t include the thousands of references to Jesus by Christian writers.

There is no doubt about the historical Jesus. He lived in Palestine. He created quite a stir. Thousands of people were affected by his life. Anyone is free to say they don’t believe in him as Lord. No serious historian, however, would propose that he is a myth or legend. He is every bit a figure of history as Abraham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi.

NEW TESTAMENT BACKGROUND Having established the truth of Jesus as an historical figure, we should now examine the reliability of the New Testament as a witness to his life. How accurate are the scriptures? Can we trust what they say?

If the New Testament can be discredited, then believers are standing on thin ice. Indeed, this was the point of attack for many of the Bible’s critics about a century ago. Claiming that the New Testament was written about 150-200 years after the death of Jesus, some writers therefore claimed that it was impossible to trust the Scriptures. It was not an eyewitness account, they claimed, because it was 3

written so late. That would make the New Testament a forgery. They believe that oral traditions became confused and mixed in with half-truths. How could anyone hope to untangle the mess? Some people even wondered if bored monks in the middle Ages could have added in a few choice miracles.

A second question has been brought up. Even if we can show that the Scriptures were written in the middle of the first century as they claim, how reliable are the manuscripts that we have? What is it were shown that the manuscript evidence is very scarce, and perhaps a thousand years removed from the original documents? It is true that if our earliest manuscripts dated from say 1000 AD, a lot of corruption can take place over 1000 year period.

This is exactly what many scholars were teaching at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some still raise these points today. They try to paint the New Testament as a later document. They also attack the manuscripts as weak and unreliable. Strange as it may seem, a lot of this teaching was actually done in the divinity schools of some the large US and European universities.

Fortunately, there is a mountain of evidence that supports the Bible as a reliable, historical document including archaeological and new textual evidence from the last 150 years.

While sceptics of the Bible had said there was no alphabetic writing at the time of Moses (1400 BC), the truth turned out to be quite different. Archaeologists have discovered alphabetic writing in Egypt dating back 400 years before Moses was born. Archaeology has also shown us that the Sumerians were writing more than 2000 years before Moses lived. The Egyptians were developing hieroglyphics as early as 3000 BC. We also have letters written by governors of cities in Palestine from the time Moses existed. These letters were correspondence with the Egyptians. As Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s court he was undoubtedly quite literate.

The ancients wrote on a variety of materials. There are stone inscriptions surviving from many different cultures. The Behistun inscription in Iran, for instance, is a huge carved inscription in three cuneiform languages. It mentions such biblical names as Darius and Xerxes. Xerxes was the husband of Esther we know so well from the Old Testament. It is an exciting example of how archaeology has confirmed the historical accuracy of the scriptures.

Besides stone, the ancients also used clay. Many large ancient libraries have been unearthed where clay tablets served as their ‘paper’. The library of the Ebla Kingdom was found in 1970. Digging up the palace library in what is today called Syria, over 20,000 clay tablets were uncovered. The Ebla library mentions many Old Testament cities. Not only Ur, Joppa and Geza, but it apparently confirms the existence of thriving trade between Ebla and some “cities of the plain” including Sodom and Gomorrah.

Other great clay libraries have been found. They shed light on ancient culture and confirm the validity of the social customs that we read of in the Old Testament.

Wood and pottery were also used. Pottery scraps were often used for notes and receipts. Paper, of course, was not introduced until much later. Invented in China centuries before, the techniques of paper production didn’t reach the Middle East until 1000 AD.

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The Old Testament texts were written and handed down on leather. The Jews had specific regulations and traditions for the copying of the scriptures on prepared fine skins. Prepared sheep or goatskins were called ‘parchments.’ ‘Velum’ was made from calfskin. These fine skins have preserved the text for thousands of years.

Papyrus was a paper-like substance popular in the centuries both before and after Christ. Papyrus isn’t paper, but it’s close. It was made from a reed plant that grew in marshes along the Nile River. It was big business in Egypt. The plants still grow in Egypt, and are 12 to 15 feet high. Their stalks grow to be as thick as a man’s wrist. Papyrus grew in its popularity and became the universal medium for the making of books in Greece and Rome. Short documents appeared in page form. Longer documents would be glued end to end and rolled up in a scroll. A papyrus roll was limited to about 30 feet in length. Beyond that it became unwieldy. The New Testament books of Luke and Acts were probably split for that reason. If kept together, they would have been too long for the scroll format.

About the time of Christ the roll gave way to the “codex” or book form. Just as you might imagine, the codex was simply a stack of papyri, with a binding on the edge. It was the earliest book. Obviously, the codex form was easier to use and could contain more writing. Christians seemed to prefer the codex form, while Jews preferred to use scrolls in the centuries after Christ.

Papyrus documents are fragile and only survive well when stored in an environment such as a sealed tomb or jar in a dry climate. Egypt and the Middle East fit the bill, of course. The majority of papyri that survive today were recovered in Egypt.

The New Testament books were probably written down originally on papyrus. As careful as the early Christians were with the documents, eventually they perished with use. No originals survive. Later (300’s) a vellum codex became the popular form for the New Testament texts. It is far more durable.

Eventually the early churches archived their copies of the apostles’ writings using vellum. Our two most valuable NT manuscripts in existence today are written on high quality vellum from about 325 AD. Papyrus, leather and later paper manuscripts survive today. They offer powerful testimony to the accuracy of the text.

The Bible was written in three languages........Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

Almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Written from right to left, it is still spoken in Israel today.

A similar language to Hebrew, Aramaic, became the language of the common man of Palestine after the time of the exile (500 BC). Six chapters in Daniel, along with 4 chapters in Ezra are in Aramaic. Also, phrases in the New Testament like ‘Abba’, ‘maranatha’, and ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’ are in Aramaic. It is still spoken today in and around Damascus, Syria.

Virtually the entire New Testament was written in Greek. Thanks to Alexander the Great, it was the universal language of their day. The common man’s Greek of the first century was called ‘Koine’ Greek.

It had its own style and peculiarities that went along with the first century. Greek, of course, is still spoken by millions of people today. The letters are still the same. The vocabulary of the Greek language 5

is different today. Many words, however, are the same. Greek has changed less in the last 2000 years than English has changed in the last 500 years.

HOW ACCURATE IS THE NEW TESTAMENT? When judging the accuracy of any ancient text, two questions become very important. Firstly, how long of a time span is there between the events themselves and when they were finally written down? If the time span is long, say, over 100 years, then there is a great chance the text has been corrupted.

Buddhism, for example, was written down about 500 years after Buddha lived. The Hindu Vedas were written down a full 700 years later. Most would ask, “How could an ancient author accurately report the events of several centuries before him?”

The New Testament, however, claims to be written by eyewitnesses. It places itself squarely in the events of the first century. Secondly, how long is the time span between the actual writings and our earliest copies? If the text was written early, but our earliest copy is 1000 years later, then obviously there could be some corruption. Fortunately, the New Testament passes these tests with flying colors, like no other book from antiquity.

Written during or immediately after the events.............

Most of the events of the New Testament occur between the years 27 and 62 AD. The ministry of Jesus begins in 27 AD and the book of Acts ends with Paul in prison about the year 62 AD. The first book of the New Testament to be written was Galatians was Galatians, penned by the apostle Paul in 45 AD. It was only 15 years after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, the church is beginning to record its history and doctrine. When Paul wrote Galatians, the events of the book of Acts were still very much in progress. Paul wasn’t recording some oral tradition from centuries gone by. Instead, he was reporting as an eyewitness. Much of the New Testament was written as the events were taking place.

The other books followed Galatians quite quickly. While the events of the New Testament closed for the most part by 62 AD, scholars now believe that the documents were completed by the year 69 AD.1 That means only a 7-year gap exists between the events that the New Testament describes, and the completion of the scriptures. That a tiny gap, historically speaking and is viewed by historians as negligible and insignificant. The writers were obviously in a great position to report accurately the events they had seen and heard. They weren’t writing down oral tradition handed down from their great great grandparents, as some have proposed. They were eyewitnesses about what they had seen and heard.

Dr. John A.T. Robinson, in his 1976 book, “Redating the New Testament,” concluded that ALL the books of the New Testament were written prior to 70 AD.2 William F. Albright, one of the great biblical

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The book of Revelation is the one exception. It was written around the year 80 AD by the apostle John, near the end of his life.

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Early papyri copies of the New Testament begin to emerge in Egypt in the 90’s AD. Some scholars date them even earlier. This conclusively points toward early authorship of the New Testament. Scholars also point to the fact that the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD is not mentioned in the New Testament. Surely this event

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archaeologists from the first half of the 20th century, wrote, “We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about 80 AD two full generations before the date between 130 and 150 given by the more radical New Testament critics of today.3 He later was quoted in the magazine Christianity Today as saying, “In my opinion, every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between the forties and the eighties of the first century AD (very probably sometime between about AD 50 and 75).4 In terms of time spans, there is no doubt about it. The period of time between the events and the writing is extremely short. The first New Testament book was written only 15 years after the death of Jesus, and during the events of the book of Acts. The book of Acts was completed only 7 years after the final events recorded in Acts (Paul awaiting trial). Indeed, it appears that almost the entire New Testament was complete before Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in 70 AD. What is the importance of these facts? First of all, the old argument that the bible is a collection of stories written down centuries after the death of Christ is now a dead argument. The New Testament is a first century document.

Secondly, the accuracy of the text is now far more evident. Scholars have realized that this small time span between the events and writing is far too short a time for myth and legend to have crept in the text. There is no way that the apostles could have gotten away with wild lies. The participants and witnesses were still alive. Critical non-believers were still alive. The New Testament was circulated in the cities where all these people had lived. The various churches endorsed the books of the New Testament as valid. There was simply no way that wild stories could be introduced into the text while so many hundreds of eye witnesses were still alive.

Much the same today, if I told you Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, you would agree.

If I said he rose from the dead, you’d laugh. We are all too close to the events. Hundreds of eyewitnesses are familiar with the story. The same with the apostles........Knowing that the scriptures are from the first century helps to ensure the accuracy of the story they tell.

WHAT ABOUT THE “ORIGINALS?” One might ask, “Why don’t we have an original or ‘autograph?’” As alluded to above, the original papyri texts would have eventually worn out, much like our paper bibles wear out today from continued use.

Still, it appears that the originals lasted a long time. The churches treasured the autographs and

would be mentioned if the New Testament dated after 70 AD. This silence leads many scholars to conclude that the New Testament was completed by 69 AD at the latest.

3

William F. Albrigh, Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands. (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1955) p. 136

4

As quoted in Josh McDowell, More than a Carpenter (Wheaton: Living Books, 1977) p. 43

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apparently had many years to copy and distribute them. Some scholars feel that the autographs were in existence for at least 100 years in the libraries of the first century churches.

There is a fascinating quote by Tertullian in 196 AD, written, scholars believe, while the original letters of the Apostles were still in existence: “If you are willing to exercise your curiosity profitably in the business of your salvation, visit the Apostolic churches in which the very chairs of the Apostles still preside in their places; in which their very authentic Epistles are read, sounding forth the voice and representing the countenance of each of them. Is Achaia near you? You have Corinth. If you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi and Thessalonica. If you can go to Asia, you have Ephesus. If you are near Italy, you have Rome.”

It appears that the church had plenty of time to make numerous copies of the original texts. Thousands of these copies survive.

Although we don’t have an original of the New Testament (or of Plato or Homer or any other ancient work), we can be very confident that we have the authentic text accurately transmitted. The letters were written, received, copied, circulated (Colossians 4:16), publicly read (I Thessalonians 5:27), and archived by the early church. Our earliest copy dates all the way back to about 110 AD (Papyrus #52 currently in the John Ryland library in Manchester, England). Some scholars date it as older, but 110 AD is realistic estimate. It is astonishing that we can read a first generation copy. How does the papyrus #52 read compared to our Bible today? Exactly the same. The discoveries of the papyri texts during the last century have soundly endorsed the accuracy of the New Testament text.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES Beginning a few hundred years ago, scholars began to travel the world, visiting monasteries, libraries and churches. A huge effort was made to find, catalogue, photograph and preserve the ancient New Testament manuscripts that had come down to us. Rather than prove that the Scriptures were a confused hash of intermingled legends, this effort has encouraged believers around the world by confirming the text, as well as dispelling any doubt in the integrity of the Scriptures. We now have over 40,000 ancient copies of the New Testament in libraries, museums, churches and monasteries around the world. The amount of testimony to the text of the New Testament is almost overwhelming.

Today we have thousands of later manuscripts from the year 900 onward. We have hundreds of vellum and parchment manuscripts from 300 AD onward. We also have a mountain of papyrus books and fragments that survive today as well. They have conclusively filled the gap between the originals and the leather manuscripts from the early 300’s.

Of course, most of the papyri that survive today were found in Egypt. Only in the dry desert climate could the paper-like substance endure. It was Flinders Petrie, excavating in Central Egypt, who first noticed old sheets of papyrus appearing in ancient rubbish heaps that had been buried beneath the sand. Beginning in 1895, he sparked a systematic search of the region around Oxyrhynchus. They found tens of thousands of manuscripts and fragments. They pulled them from sand covered rubbish heaps, 8

stuffing in mummy cases, and even embalmed crocodile bodies. They found letters, bills, receipts, diaries, certificates, almanacs, etc. Some went back to 2000 BC. Most were of the centuries just before and after Christ. Not only did the papyri confirm that text of our later parchment manuscripts, but they also shed some light on the Greek language of the time. There are about 500 words in the New Testament that do not appear in classical Greek. The Bible seemed to have a peculiar vocabulary all its own. It was a vocabulary that could not have been invented two or three centuries later. Yet when these papyri were pulled from the ancient sands, they matched the style and vocabulary of the Scriptures, just as one would have expected.

The popular idea of the critics, that the Bible was written 100 to 200 years after the events of the New Testament, is not true. This is indisputable evidence that the New Testament books are indeed products of the middle first century.

The copies that we now have are so early that the small time span between autograph and earliest copy is negligible.

There is no doubt that the New Testament manuscripts are accurate. There is no doubt that one can read in the Bible the actual words of the authors who wrote the New Testament. As always, you still must decide if you believe it. But the Bible is now generally considered to be the true and accurate transmission of the original text.

OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE How does the Bible compare to other well-known works of ancient antiquity? How does the Bible compare to Plato and Aristotle?

Plato wrote in 400 BC. Our earliest copy dates from 900 AD. That is a gap of 1300 years and there are only 7 manuscripts of Plato surviving. Aristotle rests on similarly thin evidence. The gap between the original and our earliest copy is almost 1500 years. And there are only 5 copies surviving. Our earliest copy of the Odyssey by Homer dates 2,200 years after the original was written. No one doubts or questions the authenticity of these documents. Scholars universally accept them as accurate transmissions of the ancient text. The Bible is so much better attested that it is almost embarrassing.

Most of these other documents are seeing gaps of over 1000 years between original and earliest copy.

Not so the Bible. It was written down quickly after the events occurred. Its copies also appear quickly among the early churches.

WORK

WRITTEN

EARLIEST COPY

TIME SPAN

# OF COPIES

History of Thucydides

450 BC

900 AD

1350 years

8

Poetics of Aristotle

343 BC

1100 AD

1450 years

5

Caesar.... Gallic Wars

50 BC

1000 AD

1050 years

9

9

Plato

400 BC

900 AD

1300 years

7

Homer... The Iliad

900 BC

400 BC

500 years

643

New Testament

45-80 AD

110 AD

30 years

24,600

One cannot help but notice the sheer numbers of ancient manuscripts available. The New Testament outshines the rest. But there is more. Translation of a document was a rare event in the ancient world.

We have almost 20,000 copies of the New Testament translated into Latin, Coptic, Syriac and other languages. This pushes the total number of manuscripts to over 40,000. Compared to the handful of manuscripts that most ancient documents can boast, the Bible has an astonishing amount of manuscript support. A simple fact: The Bible is better attested than the next 10 ancient documents combined!

The text of the New Testament does not rest alone on the ancient Greek manuscripts. Even if every single Bible and ancient manuscript were burned and destroyed, we would still have virtually the entire New Testament because of the more than 80,000 times it was quoted in the commentaries, sermons and letters from that period. Only 11 verses would be missing.

Many ancient writers quote extensively from the New Testament. These writers include Clement 96 AD, The Didache 100, the Epistle of Barnabas 100, Ignatius 115, Polycarp 120, etc. Even Gnostics, considered heretics by Christians, like Valentinus quoted the Scriptures at length.

KEY POINTS 24,600 ancient manuscripts – the New Testament is the most attested and supported document in all of ancient history. It’s better attested even than the next 10 ancient documents combined. We have hundreds of manuscripts going back to 100-300AD. We have hundreds of manuscripts going back to 100-300 AD and this number does not include ancient translations in other languages. Translations in other languages push the number of ancient manuscripts over 40,000.

Written shortly after the events – The New Testament is a collection of eyewitness accounts. It is clear that virtually the entire New Testament was written before 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. The earliest books were written in the 40’s only 15 years after the resurrection of Jesus. The Bible is clearly a product of the middle of the first century.

Thousands of eyewitnesses were still alive – These fervent spell checkers would not have allowed inaccuracy.

Libraries of different regions were in agreement – Alexandria, Syria, Rome, Carthage, Constantine, etc...The manuscripts read virtually the same. In an age without phones or fax machines, this agreement of texts between libraries hundreds of miles apart is a huge testimony to the accuracy of the Scriptures.

This cross-referencing confirms the integrity of the text.

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Ancient Lectionaries survive – The early church would read from the Scriptures during the Sunday worship service. Instead of the entire New Testament, sometimes they used what were called “lectionaries.” These lectionaries (from 600 AD onward) contain selected ‘favorite’ passages of scripture that were read in the public worship. They were for scripture reading what the hymn book is to singing.

2,200 have been identified from throughout the ancient world. They confirm the wording of the text.

Quotes from the letters and journals of the time – Even if every single Bible and ancient manuscript were burned today, we would still have the entire New Testament (except 11 verses) because of the more than 80,000 times it was quoted in the commentaries and letters from that period. Even without any ancient manuscripts or modern bibles, the text could be easily and accurately restored from the literature of the time.

Early translation – 150-250 AD into Coptic, Latin, and Syriac also confirm the ancient wording of the text. These translations push the number on the ancient manuscripts to over 40,000 The peculiar nature of Koine Greek – For a long time the New Testament was our only example of Koine Greek. Recent papyrus discoveries have backed up its style and vocabulary as authentic. The Koine Greek of the New Testament could not have been faked five or six centuries later. The New Testament is a period piece from the first century.

Sir Frederic Kenyon, who was the director and principal librarian of the British Museum and second to none in authority for issuing statements about manuscripts, concludes: “The interval then between the dates of original composition and earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.”

The weight of the evidence of thousands of ancient manuscripts has firmly come to the support the integrity of the Bible. When you read the New Testament, you are reading the words that the authors penned almost 2000 years ago.

WHAT ABOUT TEXTUAL VARIANTS? As mentioned above, the original documents of the New Testament have been lost. What we have are copies that have been handed down to us by the churches throughout the centuries. These copies contain errors. Scribes make mistakes. No human hand is so skilled as to be perfect. As some critics are quick to point out, the Greek manuscripts are not in exact agreement. Wording and punctuation differ.

How many errors are we discussing? One scholar guessed 200,000 variants several years ago5, a more recent estimate was upwards of 300,000 “variants” in the text of the New Testament.

5

Neil R. Lightfoot, p. 67

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The copies were the work of caring, careful, but still human hands. Although the copyists worked with a zeal for accuracy and precision, they did make occasional mistakes.

Those who catalogue “textual variants” count every variation in every Greek manuscript from every century. Even if it is the same mistake repeated in several manuscripts. As there are now more than 24,000 ancient Greek manuscripts already catalogued, you can see how these variants are going to add up. Also, as more ancient manuscripts are found and analyzed, the number of variants will continue to grow.

Manuscripts grew up in families. The earlier manuscripts were copied in various cities where the larger churches where the larger churches were located. Rome, Constantinople, Antioch and Alexandria, for instance, were some of the more important libraries. When their manuscripts were copied, mistakes crept in over the centuries. Sometimes a mistake would be carried on down the line. Each time the same mistake was made, it was counted as another textual variant. Now that we have access to the older manuscripts, textual critics are able to week out virtually all of the copyist’s mistakes. 6 In practice, these mistakes were usually inconsequential to the meaning of the text. Sometimes words were misspelled. Other mistakes involved word order. A copyist may have read “Jesus Christ”, but instead wrote down “Christ Jesus.” Sometimes it was added. Sometimes the scribe would alter the spelling of the word because of the changes in the accepted Greek spelling in his day. (Think how much English spelling has changed in the last several hundred years.) By examining the manuscripts, giving weight to the older ones, mistakes like these are easily spotted and corrected. The vast majority of the variants fall into this class.

Looking back, scholars have easily spotted mistakes and corrected them. When all is said on the matter, no article of faith is in any way affected by any textual variant. No key scriptures on faith, baptism, salvation, or eternity are remotely affected. No divine command is in question. A quick scanning of the footnotes in your Bible will show you that the text is well established, and rest on solid foundations.

Cambridge scholars B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort were outstanding scholars of the Greek text of the New Testament. They call the great part of textual criticism a work of “trivialities.” They also stated “the amount of what can in any sense be called substantial variation is but a small fraction of the whole residuary variation, and can hardly form more than a thousandth part of the entire text.”

Dr. Douglas Jacoby sums it up this way: “When a manuscript has a variant, it is compared to other older manuscripts, and a decision is made about which reading is original. In over 99% of these cases, agreement among scholars is total. (When it isn’t, these trivial variants are indicated in footnotes of the Bible.) What we are saying is that the manuscript variations are completely insignificant.”7

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For instance, if the scribe reads “Jesus arrived at Capurnaum,” but copies “Jesus arrived in Capurnaum” then we would have a textual variant. If 150 other scribes copy his mistake in the years to come, then all 150 mistakes would be catalogued as variants, even though it is the same mistakes.

7

Douglas Jacoby, True and Reasonable (Boston, DPI, 1999) p. 64

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Whatever small variations exist in the text is insignificant. We have the testimony of the eyewitnesses accurately and reliably given to us in the New Testament. It will always be the choice of each person whether to believe the testimony or not but it is intellectually well established that the text is accurate and the New Testament has been transmitted without corruption. It not only commands respect, but also will touch the reader’s heart.

Of the four Gospels alone there are 19,368 citations by the church fathers from the late first century on. This includes 268 by Justin Martyr (100-165), 1038 by Irenaeus (active in the late second century), 1017 by Clement of Alexandria (ca. 155-ca. 220), 9231 by Origen (ca. 185-ca.

254), 3822 by Tertullian (ca. 160s-ca. 220), (ca. 160s-ca. 220), 734 by Hippolytus (d. ca. 236), and 3258 by Eusebius (ca. 265-ca.339; Geisler, 431).

Earlier, Clement of Rome cited Matthew, John, and 1 Corinthians, and 95 to 97. Ignatius referred to six Pauline epistles in about 110, and between 110 and 150 Polycarp quoted from all four gospels, Acts, and most of Paul's epistles. Shepherd of Hermas (115-140) cited Matthew, Mark, Acts, 1 Corinthians, and other books. Didache (120-150) referred to Matthew, Luke, 1 Corinthians, and other books. Papias, companion of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John, quoted John. This argues powerfully that the gospels were in existence before the end of the first century, while some eyewitnesses (including John) were still alive.

INDEX OF INTERNAL EVIDENCES Evidence from the Bible that substantiates the veracity and reliability of the Bible in areas of human knowledge that are verifiable thereby lending credibility to spiritual statements and claims in scripture.

Evidence from the field of

Science

1. Confirmed by modern DNA research, the Bible accurately states that everyone living on earth today is descended from one woman. In fact, the name Eve, means a “mother of all living.”

Genesis

2. The Bible accurately states the order of the appearance of life forms, which is supported by modern day discoveries.

Genesis 1

3:20

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3. Modern astronomers confirm the fact that there is a place in the night sky where no stars or planets can be viewed even by the most powerful telescopes.

Job 26:7

4. Unlike the belief of other nations that the world was held up by something, the Jews believed it was “hung upon nothing.”

Job 26:7

5. The Bible talks about the “paths of the sea” which prompted Matthew Fontanie Murray, the father of oceanography to chart the ocean currents.

Psalms 8:8

6. The Bible is supported by scientific findings that prove the presence of tropical humid conditions over the earth at first.

Genesis 2:6

7. The Bible suggests the cycle of precipitation

Eccles.

1:7

8. The Bible accurately states that unlike other things, seeds to be used for planting are not contaminated by contact with diseased animals.

Lev.

9. The Bible concurs with relatively recent scientific findings that water was on the earth early in the creation.

Genesis

11:37

1:2

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10. The Bible is supported by scientific findings that prove animal life was first found in the seas.

Genesis 1:20

11. The Bible points out the principle of erosion.

Job 14:19

12. The Bible accurately states what clouds are made of.

Job 26:8

13. The Bible says “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,….” The word in the original Hebrew means sphere. So Jews were aware of the proper shape of the earth thousands of years before the rest of the world.

Isaiah 40:22

14. The Bible states that lightning is produced naturally with rain.

Jer. 10:13; 51:16

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Evidence from the field of

Medicine 1. The practice of circumcision has been found to inhibit the growth of germs and dramatically reduces cervical cancer among women.

Genesis 17:12

2. The Bible gives specific details for diagnosing leprosy confirmed by modern medicine.

Lev. 13

3. The Bible states principles of bacterial infection from person to person and how to avoid this contamination although they had no knowledge of microorganisms.

Lev. 15:19-33

4. Unlike Israel’s contemporary cultures, the Jews believed that blood was necessary for life to exist and did not practice “bleeding” which was used as late as the 1880’s.

Lev. 17: 11-14

5. The Bible names specific animals and types of animals that can and cannot be eaten.

Lev. 11

6. The Bible gives specific instructions for the disposal of human waste products.

Deut. 22:12-13

7. The Bible gives instructions for the preparation of game before eating it.

Lev. 17:13

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8. The Bible instructs people not to eat animals that have died naturally.

Lev. 17:15

9. The Bible enumerates several principles of quarantine for contagious diseases.

Lev. 13-15

Evidence from the field of

History

1. The story of the flood is corroborated by findings in the ancient city of Sumer, and Dr. Richard Andree has recorded 88 other flood traditions from nearly every part of the world.

Genesis 6:9-8:22

2. The Bible states that there was one original language, which is supported by modern day philologists. Alfred Trombetti, renowned etymologist, affirms that he can prove the common origin of all languages.

Gen 11:1

3. Empires named in the Bible are corroborated by archaeological finds, e.g. the Hittites were uncovered in 1871 in Syria.

Genesis 15:20

4. Archaeology confirms that the walls of Jericho fell outwards so completely that the attackers were able to clamber over their ruins into the city.

Joshua 6:20

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5. The exile of the Jews is corroborated by archaeologist’s find of Jewish names in the upper stratum of Babylonian ruins.

II Kings 24 & 25

6. The Bible names specific rulers, which are corroborated by archaeological findings, e.g. 500 contract tablets were found confirming the existence of Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel 2 & 3

7. Archaeology confirms the names of the gods and religious practices of other nations as recorded in the Bible, e.g. Baal, Ashtoreth.

Judges 10:6

8. The Bible names many of the earliest cities, which have been uncovered by archaeologists, e.g.

Ur, Nineveh.

Genesis 11:31; Genesis 10:11-12

9. The Bible accurately names some of the first musical instruments, e.g. harp, flute.

Genesis 4:21

Evidence from the field of

Geography

1. The Bible accurately names and gives the location of rivers, e.g. Tigres and Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14

2. The Bible accurately names the earliest occupations, e.g. raising livestock and blacksmith.

Genesis 4:20-22

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3. Accurate elevation of Jerusalem is indicated as “up”.

Luke 2:42; Luke 10:30

4. Accurate elevation of Jericho indicated is “down”.

Luke 19:28

5. The Bible accurately gives the names of the earliest civilizations.

Genesis 10:4

6. The Bible mentions vegetation of particular cities, e.g. cedars of Lebanon.

I Kings 4:33

7. The Bible mentions specific minerals found in particular areas, e.g. gold and onyx.

Genesis 2:12

Evidence from the field of

Prophecy

The Old Testament was written hundreds of years before these events occurred in the life of Christ.

1. The place of the birth of Christ.

Micah 5:2 19

2. The coming of John the Baptist.

Malachi 3:1

3. That Jesus’ ministry would be to the poor.

Isaiah 61:1

4. That Jesus would be born of a virgin.

Isaiah 7:14

5. That Jesus’ hands and feet would be pierced.

Psalms 22:16

6. That lots would be cast for his clothes.

Psalms 22:18

7. The words of the soldiers at the cross.

Psalms 22:7,8

8. That Jesus would be buried in a rich man’s tomb.

Isaiah 53:9

Evidence from the field of

Psychology The example of Bible characters such as David and the prophets, Job, Jesus and the apostles, provide ways to manage common human emotions as well as coping with interpersonal conflict and parenting.

1. Feelings of guilt are to be shared with others.

James 5:16

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2. An example of unhealthy functioning, Judas was filled with remorse, kept his feelings inside, and then committed suicide, being unwilling to forgive himself. He released some anger upon others then turned it all upon himself.

Matthew 27:1-5

3. Peter wept bitterly following his betrayal of Christ and is one example of healthy remorse.

Luke 22:60-62

4. David expressed his guilt feelings and found relief.

Psalms 51

5. Paul expressed anger about injustice done to him.

Acts 23:2,3

6. Paul expressed anger about injustice done to others.

Gal. 2:11-13

7. Anger is to be expressed and resolved in a timely healthy way.

Ephesians 4:26

8. Anger must not involve physical retaliation.

Matthew 5:39

9. Anger should not involve name-calling.

Matthew 5:22

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10. If someone offends you, tell him or her and if they are sorry, you must forgive them.

Luke 17:3,4

11. Parents should not be harsh in their discipline of children, but should provide nurturing and sound values. Parent-child conflicts can lead to emotional problems if not resolved.

Ephesians 6:4

12. Paul recognizes the basic conflict between the id (basic impulses) and the super-ego (values and beliefs).

Romans 7:24,25

13. David talked out and expressed his feelings of depression, which were so severe that he felt suicidal. He describes feelings of rejection, abandonment and anger.

Psalm 88

14. The process of grieving and the need to express feelings associated with various stages of grief, are presented in the book of Job who lost all his children and possessions.

Job

15. Each individual must take responsibility for his own feelings and behaviour. The attitude of “he made me do it or feel this way� is contrary to biblical principles.

Genesis 3:9-13

Col. 3:21

22

Ezekiel 18;19;20

16. The Bible encourages people to develop a strong adult ego rather than to be dominated by the immature child ego.

Hebrews 5:11-14; I Cor. 13:11

17. Paul did not stay depressed over his weaknesses but reinterpreted them as strength.

I Cor. 12:7-10

18. Human beings are basically good from birth.

Matthew 18:1-5,10

19. Sex in marriage is to be enjoyed as healthy/wholesome.

I Cor. 7:3-5

20. Spouses are not to deny sexual needs of one another except by mutual agreement.

I Cor. 7:3-5

21. A soft response reduces the other person’s anger.

Proverbs 15:1

22. The remedy for anxiety is to focus on what’s happening now rather than on what might happen tomorrow. Fear is about the future.

Matthew 6:34

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Evidence from the field of

Social Laws

1. The Bible states that cities of refuge were to be established for persons involved in the death of another, to await fair trial.

Numbers 3:5

2. A system of trial and judgement was established.

Ex. 18:22-26; Deut. 1:16; 16;18;25:1

3. Legal judgement was based upon credible witnesses.

Deut. 5:20; 17:6,7; 19:15-18

4. A year of Jubilee (shouting) occurred every fifty years when all debts were cancelled, indentured servants freed, and all property was redistributed to the original owners.

Lev. 25:10-54; 27:17:24

5. The poor were guaranteed an income and provisions and could not be charged interest on loans.

Ex. 23:11; Deut. 15:4-11

6. Exploitation of labour is condemned.

James 5:1-6

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7. In the New Testament, the accumulation of wealth in the midst of human misery is condemned.

Luke 6:20-24

8. In the kingdom of God, the poor are favored.

James 1:9,10;2:5

9. The rich are required to distribute their wealth to the poor in order to have treasure in heaven.

Matthew 19:21

10. Christians were not to use threats or coercion against their slaves. The element of coercion was removed from every relationship, including the institution of slavery.

Philemon & Ephesians 6:5-9

11. Heterosexual monogamy is the Biblical plan for marriage.

Matthew 19:4-9

12. Divorce is permitted in cases of adultery.

Matthew 19:4-9

13. Runaway slaves were not to be returned to their master but could live in peace.

Deut. 2:15,16

Dr. Jose O'Callaghan ultimately identified eight different scroll fragments from Cave Seven that appear to be quotes from New Testament passages. The scholarly magazine Bible Review ran a fascinating article on Dr. O'Callaghan, these scrolls, and their possible connection with the New Testament in an article in December, 1995.

The fragments appeared to O'Callaghan to be portions of the following verses from the Gospels and Paul's Epistles: "For the earth brings forth fruit of herself. . ." (Mark 4:28).

"And he saw them toiling in rowing; . . ." (Mark 6:48).

"And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar. . ." (Mark 12:17) 25

"And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship. . ." (Acts 27:38).

"And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . ." (Romans 5:11-12).

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness. . ." (1 Timothy 3:16).

"For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer. . ." (James 1:23-24).

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