Are the Biblical Documents Reliable?

Are the BiblicalDocuments Reliable? How do we know the Bible we have today is even close to the original? Aren’t the copies through the years full of errors, embellishments, additions and deletions?

3 Errors to Avoid • Assume Inspiration of the document • Many documents “claim” inspiration • Our task is to prove the inspiration • Is is circular reasoning to assume the thing you are trying to prove.

3 Errors to Avoid • Assume Inspiration of the document • Their Bible looked like ours • Arrangement / title of books • Chapter and verse divisions • The documents are a collection of ancient source autographs. • Start with modern “authorities”

Is the Document Valid? • Bibliographical – What is the textual tradition? Were many copies made and distributed? • Internal Evidence – What does the document claim for itself? • External Evidence – Does it align with other facts, dates, people?

The Scribe No copiers, scanners, or printing presses Copies were made by hand – by scribes The believed they were dealing with the Word of God The Old Testament

The Scribe The Massoretic Text Early 10th century Massoretes specialized in copying texts Copy Isaiah Then total the letters, words, lines, letters per line, etc. The Old Testament

The Scribe The Massoretic Text They would note the middle letter of the book, middle letter of each page All present copies of Hebrew texts come from this period The Old Testament

The Scribe The Massoretic Text Dead Sea Scrolls 1947, clay jars containing leather scrolls were found The city of Qumran was dedicated to making copies of Scripture It dates from 250 BC – 100 BC The Old Testament

The Scribe The Massoretic Text Dead Sea Scrolls Most of the documents are dated around 250-150 BC Major find – complete Isaiah scroll 1,000 years OLDER than oldest copy The Old Testament

The Scribe The Massoretic Text Dead Sea Scrolls There was no significant difference in the documents that are 1,000 years apart There were no textual changes Only a few minor errors The Old Testament

The Scribe The Massoretic Text Dead Sea Scrolls The Septuagint Septuagint – often called LXX (70) There were 70 Jewish scholars Greek translation of the Old Testament In Alexandria, Egypt about 200 BC Jesus quoted from it The Old Testament

Manuscript Evidence There are more than 4,000 different manuscripts containing all or most of the NT They are written on different materials The New Testament

Manuscript Evidence Papyrus & Parchment Papyrus – reed, split, pressed, made a durable “paper” Parchment – sheep or goat skin – split to very thin Parchment was very expensive and only used for important documents The New Testament

Manuscript Evidence Papyrus & Parchment Examples Codex Vaticanus – Codex Siniaticus – Parchment copies of the entire NT (325 – 450 AD) The New Testament

Manuscript Evidence Papyrus & Parchment Examples Older Papyrii – Earlier fragments (180-225 AD) Chester Beatty Papyrus (P45, P46, P47) – Luke, John, Rom., 1 & 2 Cor., Gal., Eph., Phil., Col., 1 & 2 Thess., Heb. - and parts of Matt., Mark, Acts, and Rev. The New Testament

Manuscript Evidence Papyrus & Parchment Examples Oldest fragment – Rylands Papyrus (P52) – John 18:31-33, 37 It dates at 130 AD Found in Egypt All of this evidence creates a bridge back to the first century The New Testament

Manuscript Evidence Papyrus & Parchment Examples Versions In addition to Greek manuscripts – There are more than 1,000 translations – Syria, Coptic, Armenian, Gothic, Ethiopic Also about 8,000 Latin Vulgate (384-400 AD) The New Testament

Manuscript Evidence Papyrus & Parchment Examples Versions Church Fathers Many writers (100-450 AD) Some were students of or traveled with an apostle ALL of the NT is quoted by the church fathers Except 11 verses! The New Testament

A Comparison

The Anvil Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's doorAnd heard the anvil ring the vesper chime:Then looking in, I saw upon the floorOld hammers, worn with beating years of time.

The Anvil "How many anvils have you had," said I,"To wear and batter all these hammers so?""Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eye,"The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

The Anvil And so, thought I, the anvil of God's word,For ages skeptic blows have beat upon;Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard,The anvil is unharmed . . . the hammer's gone. Author unknown

Inspiration • Define: Inspiration • Greek – God breathed in • God gave the thoughts, ideas and the very words to express those ideas • God chose the words from the writer’s vocabulary to express His thoughts

Inspiration • The original autographs ARE inspired • Copies of the original are not inspired • Translations are not inspired • The translators are not inspired • Does this mean we can’t have trust in the Bible? Not at all.

Changes • Dittography – Writing twice what should have been written once – latter instead of later; good instead of god; too instead of to; my, my instead of my • Fission – Improperly dividing one word into two words – nowhere becomes now here

Changes • Fusion – Combining two words to form one – there in becomes therein • Haplography – Writing once what should be written twice – later instead of latter; god instead of good, my instead of my, my.

Changes • Homophony – Writing a word with a different meaning when both words have the same pronunciation – deer for dear; die for dye • Transposition – The reversing of letter order – stop for pots; no for on; pot for top

26 Documents

Copying Checks • In English we have letters “a, b, c, d” and we have numbers “1, 2, 3, 4” • Greek and Hebrew uses letters for numbers – A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4 • Similar in English with the letter o and the number 0. The context will tell if it is a letter or number

Bottom Line • The biblical copies are so accurate that all of the biblical documents are 98.5% textually pure. • The Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah was 1,000 years older than any previous copy, but was over 95% textually identical.

Bottom Line • We have more than 5,000 Greek manuscripts of the NT • We also have 19,000 manuscripts of ancient origin translations • All of the NT is quoted by the early church fathers (except 11 verses) • The NT is very well preserved

Bottom Line • It is obvious that the NT is far better preserved than an other ancient text • People have no problem believing in Caesar, Plato, Aristotle • Historians quote Josephus as a Jewish historian

Bottom Line • There is more evidence for Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount than for the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

Are the Biblical Documents Reliable?