3. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, 17 that the man of God
may be complete, thoroughly equipped
for every good work.
4. 2 Peter 1:16
“We did not follow cleverly invented
stories when we told you about the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his
majesty.”
Luke 1:1
5. Hebrews 1:1-2
“God, who at various times and in
various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these
last days spoken to us by His Son, whom
He has appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the
worlds;”
6. How can we be sure the Bible
was not changed overtime?
7. The Manuscript Evidence
“The New Testament is by far the most
reliable ancient writing known today. There
exist as many as an astounding
25,000 ancient manuscripts that contain all or
portions of the New Testament.”
Rob Van De Weghe, Prepared to Answer: A Guide to Christians
Evidences, pg 109
8. The Manuscript Evidence
To compare this to the other ancient writings:
Homer’s Iliad is in “second place” behind the New
Testament with no more than 643 copies.
By contrast, the manuscripts for most other
ancient books date from about a 1,000 years after
their original composition.
The oldest copy of the Iliad dates about 500 years
after the original. This is a dramatic contrast to the
oldest papyrus text of the New Testament, a part of
chapter 18 of the Gospel of John, dated at near 125
AD.
9. Overview of NT manuscripts versus other writings of the same period
Author and
Work
Date of events Date of
writing
Earliest
text
Event to
writing
Event to text
Matthew,
Gospel
4 BC - AD 30 55- 70 ca. 200 <50 years <200 years
Mark,Gospel 27 – 30 AD 50 -70 ca. 225 <50 years <200 years
Luke,Gospel 5 BC - AD 30 55 -70 ca. 200 <50 years <200 years
John,Gospel 27-30 AD 85-95 ca. 130 <80 years <100 years
Paul, Letters 30 AD 50-65 ca. 200 20-30 years <200 years
Josephus,
War
200 BC - AD 70 ca. 80 ca. 950 10-300 years 900-1,200 years
Josephus,
Antiquities
200 BC - AD 65 ca. 95 ca. 1050 30-300 years 1,000-1,300 years
Tacitus,
Annals
AD 14-68 100-120 ca. 850 30-100 years 800-850 years
11. Why do some verses only appear
in a few versions?
Acts 8:37
NU-Text and M-Text omit this verse. It is found
in Western Texts, including the Latin tradition.
12. Some estimated as many as 200,000 variant
readings. First, these are not “errors” but
only variations, the vast majority of
which are strictly grammatical.
Second, these readings are spread over
more than 5,300 manuscripts, so that a
variant spelling of one letter of one word in
one verse in 2,000 manuscripts is counted as
2,000 “errors.”
The Manuscript Evidence
13. And finally, the conclusion of the renowned
Bible scholar F.F. Bruce:
“The variant readings about which any doubt
remains among textual critics of the New
Testament affect no material question of
historic fact or of Christian faith or practice.”
The Manuscript Evidence
14. Letters by Early Christians
“...so extensive are the citations that if all other sources
for our knowledge of the text of the New Testament
were destroyed, they (the citations of the early
Christian writers) would be sufficient alone for the
reconstruction of practically the entire New
Testament.”
Bruce M. Metzger
The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and
Restoration 3rd Edition. 1992
16. Antiquities 18:63 of Josephus
“About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one
ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of
extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who
accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many
of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When he was indicted
by the principal men among us and Pilate condemned him
to be crucified, those who had come to love him originally
did not cease to do so; for he appeared to them on the
third day restored to life, as the prophets of the Deity had
foretold these and countless other marvelous things about
him, and the tribe of the Christians, so named after him,
has not disappeared to this day.”
Josephus –The Essential Works (Grand Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 1994).
Story of glenn fink saying there are 3 books missing
Critics say there are over 200,000 errors in the bible and variations
-this raises some questions to me??? I have believed my life that God gave this book which is God inspired….surely there are o errors....
A manuscript is a handwritten copy
A manuscript is a handwritten copy
Another great attestation for the authority of our New Testament is huge number of quotations found in letters and other writings from the leaders of the early church.
There is no disputing if Jesus really lived and was a man….the dispute is if He is the Son of God
Despite all the very convincing evidence, most it is not conclusive….
