Can we trust the bible? Manuscript Evidence

Are the New Testament Documents Reliable?

INTRODUCTIONS/RECAP

The cause of the universe, often called the prime reality or the uncaused first cause or simply, God, must have the following attributes:

1.    The cause must be uncaused.

2.    The cause must be timeless, spaceless and immaterial.

3.    The cause must be powerful.

4.    The cause most be intelligent.

5.    The cause must be personal.

6.    The cause must be the moral—standard for absolute goodness.

Monotheistic religions:

Now, as you know, there are three major Monotheistic religions: 

1.    Judaism

2.    Christianity and

3.    Islam

Orthodox Judiasm

Traditional or orthodox Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah or that he was divine or that he was prophet. Some orthodox Jews believe that he was a teacher or charismatic leader, while others believe he was a heretic that was crucified for his heresy. 

Islam

As for Islam, Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet and that he was born of a virgin and that Jesus was nailed to a cross. Muslims, however, do not believe that Jesus died on the cross but rather that he only appeared to die but was saved by Allah. 

Christianity

Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah, God’s great prophet and God himself. They believe that he was crucified, that he died on the cross and that he rose from the dead to prove that he was God. 

Now, as you can see, there are undeniable difference between the Jewish, Muslim and Christian understanding of Jesus.

Is Christianity True?

I will try and show that Christianity is true by:

1.    Establishing that the New Testament Documents are Historically reliable

2.    Examining the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.

NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS:

Reliability:

To say that something is reliable is to say that it is consistent and accurate.

Inerrancy:

To say that something is inerrant is to say that it is perfect and without error. 

In this episode I will not be arguing for the inerrancy of the bible but rather for the historical reliability of the bible.

MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE:

Manuscripts vs Autographs:

The only real objection that anyone can raise against the New Testament is the fact that, so far, none of the original written documents—called autographs—of the New Testament have been discovered. We only have copies—called manuscripts—of the original writings. But does that mean we cannot know what the originals said? Not at all.

More Manuscripts:

There are 5,800 handwritten Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition to that, there are approximately 20,000 manuscripts in other languages (e.g., Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic). 

Earlier manuscripts:

The earlies undisputed manuscript is a segment of John 18:31-33,37-38 known as the John Rylands fragment (because it is housed in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England). Scholars date this particular fragment between A.D.117-138 but some say it might be even earlier. 

More Abundantly Supported Manuscripts

The early church fathers—men of the second and third century like Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, and others—quoted the New Testament approximately 36,289 times in their writings. So, we not only have thousands of manuscripts, but we also have thousands of citing by the early church fathers. As such one could read nearly the entire New Testament simply by reading through the writings of the early church fathers.