8/6/2019 TrustworthyWord_3_SecondQuestion

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/trustworthyword3secondquestion 1/1

 

June 26, 2011 Part 3

THE SECOND QUESTION (PART 1 – NEW TESTAMENT) Are you sure the original manuscripts of the Bible were copied

accurately from generation to generation?

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass

away” (Mark 13:31 ESV).

No ancient writing has close to as much evidence supporting its

present-day form as the New Testament. The trail of manuscript evidence

leads all the way back to the close of the 1st Century. From that ancient

day to ours there has never been a time in which the New Testament has

fallen into obscurity. Witnesses to its authenticity passed it on from

generation to generation free from all errors worthy of consideration.

Manuscript Evidence for Ancient Writings

Author Written Earliest Copy Time Span # Mss.

Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1,000 yrs 10

Plato 427-347 B.C. 900 A.D. 1,200 yrs 7

Thucydides 460-400 B.C. 900 A.D. 1,300 yrs 8

Tacitus 100 A.D. 1100 A.D. 1,000 yrs 20

Suetonius 75-160 A.D. 950 A.D. 800 yrs 8

Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643

New Testament  40-100 A.D. 125 A.D. 25-50 yrs 24,000

“There are tens of thousands of manuscripts of the NT… dating from the

2nd Century A.D. to the late 15th century, when the printing press was

invented. These… have been found in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey,

Greece, & Italy, making collusion unlikely. The oldest manuscript… [a

portion of John] has been dated to 125 A.D. …Many early Christian papyri,

discovered in 1935, have been dated to 150 A.D., & include the 4

Gospels…. The Chester Beatty Papyri, discovered in 1931, has been dated

to 200-250 A.D. & contains the Gospels, Acts, Paul's Epistles, & Revelation.

The number of manuscripts is extensive compared to other ancient

historical writings, such as Caesar's "Gallic Wars" (10 Greek manuscripts, the

earliest 950 years after the

original), the "Annals" of Tacitus

(2 manuscripts, the earliest 950

years after the original), Livy (20

manuscripts, the earliest 350

years after the original), and

Plato (7 manuscripts).

(Source: godandscience.org) 

SUMMER QUARTER COUPLES/FAMILY CLASS - 2011 

THE TRUSTWORTHY WORD 

ARE YOU SURE?

 Are you sure the original

manuscripts were copied

accurately from generation

to generation?

Three types of evidence

backing the text of the

New Testament: (1)

Manuscripts; (2) Versions;

(3) Quotations in ancient

writings.

Type 1: Papyri, Sinaitic,

Vaticanus, Byzantine

Type 2: Syriac, Latin,

Coptic

Type 3: Writings of the

“Church Fathers” from 1st 

C. to 1st Council of

Nicaea (A.D. 325)

Evidence for Book of

Mormon?

Evidence for the

Qu’ran? 

Are you sure?

WE AFFIRM THE BIBLE

HAS BEEN COPIED

ACCURATELY FROM

GENERATION TO

GENERATION.