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Manuscript
evidence for superior
New Testament reliability
The New Testament is constantly under attack and its
reliability and accuracy are often contested by critics. But, if the
critics want to disregard the New Testament, then they must also disregard
other ancient writings by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. This is
because the New Testament documents are better preserved and more numerous
than any other ancient writing. Because the copies are so numerous, they
can be cross checked for accuracy.
This process has determined that the biblical documents are extremely
consistent and accurate.
There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence
today for the New Testament.1 If we were to compare the number of New Testament
manuscripts to other ancient writings, we find that the New Testament
manuscripts far outweigh the others in quantity.
| Author2 |
Date
Written |
Earliest Copy |
Approximate Time
Span between original & copy |
Number of Copies
|
Accuracy of Copies |
| Lucretius |
died 55 or 53 B.C. |
|
1100 yrs |
2 |
---- |
| Pliny |
61-113 A.D. |
850 A.D. |
750 yrs |
7 |
---- |
| Plato |
427-347 B.C. |
900 A.D. |
1200 yrs |
7 |
---- |
| Demosthenes |
4th Cent. B.C. |
1100 A.D. |
800 yrs |
8 |
---- |
| Herodotus |
480-425 B.C. |
900 A.D. |
1300 yrs |
8 |
---- |
| Suetonius |
75-160 A.D. |
950 A.D. |
800 yrs |
8 |
---- |
| Thucydides |
460-400 B.C. |
900 A.D. |
1300 yrs |
8 |
---- |
| Euripides |
480-406 B.C. |
1100 A.D. |
1300 yrs |
9 |
---- |
| Aristophanes |
450-385 B.C. |
900 A.D. |
1200 |
10 |
---- |
| Caesar |
100-44 B.C. |
900 A.D. |
1000 |
10 |
---- |
| Livy |
59 BC-AD 17 |
---- |
??? |
20 |
---- |
| Tacitus |
circa 100 A.D. |
1100 A.D. |
1000 yrs |
20 |
---- |
| Aristotle |
384-322 B.C. |
1100 A.D. |
1400 |
49 |
---- |
| Sophocles |
496-406 B.C. |
1000 A.D. |
1400 yrs |
193 |
---- |
| Homer (Iliad) |
900 B.C. |
400 B.C. |
500 yrs |
643 |
95% |
New
Testament |
1st Cent. A.D.
(50-100 A.D. |
2nd Cent. A.D.
(c. 130 A.D. f.) |
less than 100 years |
5600 |
99.5% |
As you can
see, there are thousands more New Testament Greek manuscripts than any
other ancient writing. The internal consistency of the New Testament
documents is about 99.5% textually pure. That is an amazing
accuracy. In addition there are over 19,000 copies in the Syriac,
Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic languages. The total supporting New
Testament manuscript base is over 24,000.
Almost all biblical scholars agree that the
New Testament documents were all written before the close of the first
century. If Jesus was crucified in 30 A.D., then that means that the
entire New Testament was completed within 70 years. This is
important because it means there were plenty of people around when the New
Testament documents were penned who could have contested the
writings. In other words, those who wrote the documents knew that if
they were inaccurate, plenty of people would have pointed it out.
But, we have absolutely no ancient documents contemporary with the first
century that contest the New Testament texts.
Furthermore, another important aspect of this
discussion is the fact that we have a fragment of the gospel of John that
dates back to around 29 years from the original writing. This is
extremely close to the original writing date. This is simply unheard of in
any other ancient writing and it demonstrates that the Gospel of John is a
first century document.
Below is a chart with some of the oldest extant
New Testament manuscripts compared to when they were originally
penned. Compare these time spans with the next closest which is
Homer's Iliad where the closest copy from the original is 500 years
later. Undoubtedly, that period of time allows for more textual
corruption in its transmission. How much less so for the New
Testament documents?
Important
Manuscript
Papyri |
Contents |
Date
Original Written
|
MSS
Date |
Approx.
Time Span |
Location |
p52
(John Rylands
Fragment)3 |
John 18:31-33,37-38 |
circa
96 A.D. |
circa
125
A.D. |
29 yrs |
John Rylands Library,
Manchester, England |
P46
(Chester Beatty Papyrus) |
Rom. 5:17-6:3,5-14; 8:15-25, 27-35, 37-9:32; 10:1-11, 22, 24-33, 35-14:8,9-15:9, 11-33;
16:1-23, 25-27; Heb.; 1
&
2 Cor., Eph., Gal.,
Phil., Col.; 1 Thess. 1:1,9-10; 2:1-3; 5:5-9, 23-28 |
50's-70's |
circa
200
A.D. |
Approx.
150 yrs |
Chester Beatty Museum,
Dublin & Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan library |
P66
(Bodmer Papyrus) |
John 1:1-6:11,35-14:26;
fragment of 14:29-21:9 |
70's |
circa
200
A.D. |
Approx.
130 yrs |
Cologne, Geneva |
| P67 |
Matt. 3:9,15; 5:20-22, 25-28 |
|
circa
200
A.D. |
Approx.
130 yrs |
Barcelona, Fundacion San
Lucas Evangelista, P. Barc.1 |
If the critics
of the Bible dismiss the New Testament as reliable information, then they
must also dismiss the reliability of the writings of Plato, Aristotle,
Caesar, Homer, and the other authors mentioned in the chart at the
beginning of the paper. On the other hand, if the critics
acknowledge the historicity and writings of those other individuals, then
they must also retain the historicity and writings of the New Testament
authors; after all, the evidence for the New Testament's reliability is
far greater than the others. The Christian has substantially
superior criteria for affirming the New Testament documents than he does
for any other ancient writing. It is good evidence on which to base
the trust in the reliability of the New Testament.
______________________
1. Norman Geisler & Peter Bocchino,
Unshakeable Foundations, (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House
Publishers, 2001) p. 256.
2. This chart was adapted from three sources:
1) Christian Apologetics, by Norman Geisler, 1976, p. 307; 2) the
article "Archaeology and History attest to the Reliability of the
Bible," by Richard M. Fales, Ph.D., in The Evidence Bible,
Compiled by Ray Comfort, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Gainesville, FL, 2001,
p. 163; and 3) A Ready Defense, by Josh Mcdowell, 1993, p. 45.
3."Deissmann was convinced that p52 was written well
within the reign of Hadrian (A.D. 117-38) and perhaps even during the time
of Trajan (A.D. 98-117)" (Footnote #2 found on pg. 39 of The Text
of the New Testament, by Bruce M. Metzger, 2nd Ed. 1968, Oxford
University Press, NY, NY). Bruce Metzger has authored more than 50
books. He holds two Masters Degrees, a Ph.D. and has been awarded
several honorary doctorates. "He is past president of the
Society of Biblical Literature, the International Society fo New Testament
Studies, an the North American Patristic Society." -- From, The Case
for Christ, by Lee Strobel, Zondervan Publishers, 1998, Grand Rapids,
MI: pg. 57.
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