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Is the New Testament Accurate and Reliable?
Existing Manuscripts
Many people
wonder if today’s Bible matches that of the original.
- The fact is there are over
24,000 surviving ancient manuscripts. More than any other ancient work.
- When the text of these
manuscripts are compared, they show a remarkable textual reliability.
- Forty of the Greek
manuscripts date back before 300 AD, several date to the second century. One
portion of the Gospel of John dates to circa 110 AD (as a point of
reference, Jesus was crucified around 32 AD).
“At present,
we have more than six thousand manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament or
portions thereof. No other work of Greek literature can boast of such numbers…
Furthermore, it must be said that the amount of time between the original
composition and the next surviving manuscript is far less for the New
Testament than for any other work in Greek literature.”
Philip W. Comfort, Bible Researcher
Internal Test
When
researchers analyze historical documents, they use several criteria to
determine accuracy. Below we walk through each criterion and evaluate how the
Bible stands.
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Historical Criteria
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New Testament
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Was the author in the
position to know what they where writing about? |
All of the New Testament
was written by either those who witnessed the events first-hand or
recorded direct eye witness accounts. |
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Do the writings contain
specific, often irrelevant material? Accurate first-hand accounts often
contain specific details, to the point that they seem irrelevant.
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The gospel accounts
include massive amounts of details that do not add any relevance to the
account. A few examples from the Resurrection account are below:
o John ran faster than
Peter to the tomb.
o Peter entered the
tomb first.
o The cloth covering
Jesus was folded up and placed by itself. |
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Does the writing contain
material that might cast a negative image on the writer or heroes of the
story? |
The New Testament
contains several instances of information that casts a shadow on the
apostles. A few examples are below.
o The Gospel of Mark
is written on Peter’s eyewitness account yet tells us that Peter denied
the Lord three times.
o Women were the first
witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. In that culture the testimony of women
was not seen as reliable.
o Through-out the
entire gospels the disciples are described as full of doubt.
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Is the document
reasonably self-consistent? |
There are no
contradictory accounts in the New Testament teachings. |
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Would the authors of the
document have a motive for fabricating what they wrote? |
The writers of the New
Testament had no reason to fabricate what they wrote. In fact they had
everything to lose (family, friends, even their lives). |
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Are there other sources
that confirm material in the original work? |
There are several
historical documents which mention the existence of Jesus and his
followers. |
Archaeological Evidence
Archaeology
has shown many of the events, places, and people of the New Testament are
consistent with history.
- Many of the cities
mentioned in the New Testament accounts have recently been found in
archeological projects. These cities include the towns of Capernaum ,
Bethsaida , Chorazin, and Tiberias.
- Several sites described
in the New Testament have been rediscovered recently. These include the
Pool of Bethesda, the Pool of Siloam, and Jacob’s Well.
- Mentions of many of the
individuals of the New Testament accounts have been found. These include
Pontius Pilatus and King Herod.
- The New Testament account
mentions a census taken that required all men to return to the city they
were originally from. The record of these types of census was unproven
until recently when an official government order from 104 AD was found
describing the practice as law.
When Were They Written
The entire
New Testament was written before 150 AD with many of the books completed
much earlier.
- Experts date Mark as
the earliest gospel at 68 AD
- Matthew is believed to
be written between 70-85 AD
- Luke is usually placed
in the 80-95 AD time frame
- The rest of the New
Testament is believed to have been written between 51-150 AD
- Some scholars believe
that all of the gospels were written before 70 AD as Jesus prophesized
the destruction of the Jewish Temple, which did occur in 70 AD. These
scholars believe the gospels would have mentioned this fact if they
were written after the destruction.
Witnesses
Most of
the New Testament was written while first-hand witness to Jesus’ miracles
and resurrection were still alive. If the events that are described in the
gospels are not true those who knew better had the ability to speak out
against their reliability.
“ After
that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same
time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” 1
Corinthians 15:6
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