Can We Trust the New Testament? (Al Walmsley)
- Do you believe the Bible is the word of God?
- Is it true?”
- Is it historically trustworthy”
- Two questions which must be asked when investigating the reliability of the New
Testament
1. Do we have an accurate copy of the originals?
2. Do those copies tell the truth?
- Question 1
- We have earlier manuscripts (mss)
- We have more mss (~5700 Gk mss alone)
- More accurately copied mss (Mahabharata: 95%. Iliad: 90%. NT: 99.9%)
- More abundantly supported mss (18,000 non-Gk mss. 36,000 quotes)
- So how do we know we have an accurate copy of the NT?
- By applying the Bibliography test: The one applied to all ancient writings
- Bibliography Test addresses to questions
1. How many mss do we have?
2: What is the timeline (amount of time between the original writing and the copy of
the mss)?
- Quest. 1: How many mss?
- General rule: More copies, the easier it is to recreate the original
- Compare copies and find and resolve errors
- Quest. 2: What is the timeline?
- General rule: The closer the mss is to the original, the more accurate the copy
- John Ryland Fragment: segment of John’s Gospel dated 117-138 AD –
undisputed
- Magdaline Fragment: Dated around 60 AD – disputed
-Nine fragments of N found mixed with Dead Sa Scrolls dated 50-70 AD
Author | Book | Date Written | Earliest Copies | Time Gap | No. of Copies |
Homer | Iliad | 800 B.C. | c. 400 B.C. | c. 400 Years | 643 |
Herodotus | History | 480-425 B.C. | c. 900 | c. 1350 Years | 8 |
Thucydides | History | 460-400 B.C. | c. 900 | c. 1300 Years | 8 |
Plato | 400 B.C. | c. 900 | c. 1300 Years | 7 | |
Demosthenes | 300 B.C. | c. 1100 | c. 1400 Yrs | 200 | |
Caesar | Gallic Wars | 100-44 B.C. | c. 900 | c. 1000 Yrs | 10 |
Livy | History of | 59 B.C. – 17 | c. 4th Cent. partial. mostly 10th Cent. | c. 400 Yrs c. 1000 Yrs | 1 Partial 19 Copies |
Tacitus | Annals | 100 | c. 1100 | c. 1000 Yrs | 20 |
Pliny Secundus | Natural History | 61 – 113 | c. 850 | c. 750 Yrs | 7 |
New Testament | 50-100 | c. 114 (frag.) c. 200 (bks) c. 250 (most of N.T.) c. 325 | +50 Yrs 100 Yrs 150 Yrs 225 Yrs | 5366 |
Source: The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, 1999. Josh McDowell. Page 38
- Diocletian (Roman Emperor)
- 303 AD: ordered destruction of all mss and Christian books
- Hundreds, maybe thousands, of mss destroyed
- Could re-build entire NT from quotes from early church fathers
- With exception of 11 verses (mostly from 3 John)
- So beyond reasonable doubt, we have an accurate copy of the original
2. Question 2 of Bibliographical Test: Is what we have today true?
- Expected Testimony
- Messiah would be a man (Gen 3:15)
- Line of David (Jer. 23:5, 33:15)
- Born in Bethlehem
- God and Man (Is. 9:6)
- Visits the Temple
- Dies in 33 AD (Dan 9:24)
- Rises from dead (Is. 53:11)
- Early Testimony
- 33 AD: Cross
- Mid 50’s: Mark and I Cor
- 62 AD: Acts (Luke written before Acts), James
- Mid 60’s: Romans, II Cor, Galatians
- Paul dies in 68 AD, so his writings were complete by then
- 70 AD: Temple
- Eyewitness Testimony
- Luke 3:1-2
- Mentions exact date (29 AD)
- Eight historical figures
- All eight lived at same time
- Embarrassing Testimony
- Apostles looked dim-witted
- Didn’t understand Jesus teaching (Mk. 9:32, Luke 18:34)
- Uncaring
- Fell asleep in the Garden
- Didn’t try to give him a decent burial
- They were rebuked
- Peter called “Satan” (Mk: 8:33)
- Paul rebuked Peter (Gal 2:11)
- Were cowards
- Peter denied Christ three times
- Disciples hid after the Crucifixion
- Women were brave
- Were doubters
- Disciples denied Jesus arose
- Doubted after the Resurrection (Mt 28:17)
- Jesus
- Considered out of his mind by his own family (Mk. 3:21, 31)
- Not believed by his own half-brothers (John 7:5)
- Called madman (Jn 10:20 and a drunkard (Mt. 11:19)
- Excruciating Testimony
- Disciples suffered for their beliefs/faith
- What did they have to gain by making up a story?
-Had every reason to deny the whole thing to save their lives
- Why would they die for a lie?
- We have overwhelming evidence to believe what was written was true
