M Y T H: The Bible Is Not Accurate

1. M Y T H:The Bible Is Not Accurate University Church of Christ

2. How Important Is Biblical Accuracy? • Does it matter? • Can’t we accept the Bible as myth containing useful moral principles? • Bible presents itself as having to do with what is true • Makes explicit claims of historicity • Not undateable past • No “once upon a time”

3. Luke 3:1-2 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 

4. 2 Peter 1:16-18 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

5. Attacks On Scripture • Attacks on Christianity and the Bible are as old as Scripture • Modern attempts to undermine come from different directions

6. New Atheists “Their multiple authors — none of whom published anything until many years after the Crucifixion — cannot agree on anything of importance. Matthew and Luke cannot concur on the Virgin Birth or the genealogy of Jesus.”

7. The DaVinci Effect “The Bible did not arrive by fax from heaven…The Bible is the product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book.”

9. To say that the Gospel of Judas reveals anything factual about Judas, Dr. [Ben] Witherington said, “is like saying a document written 150 years after George Washington died tells us the inside truth about George Washington.” New York Times April 7, 2006

10. ‘Scholars on all sides agree that the text was probably produced by a scribe in a Gnostic community of Cainites — early Christians who regarded the traditional villains of the Bible, including Cain and Judas, as heroes.’ “Document Is Genuine, but Is Its Story True?” April 7, 2006

11. ‘As the findings have trickled down to churches and universities, they have produced a new generation of Christians who now regard the Bible not as the literal word of God, but as a product of historical and political forces that determined which texts should be included in the canon, and which edited out.’ “‘Gospel of Judas’ Surfaces After 1,700 Years” April 6, 2006

12. The DaVinci Effect • The Bible manuscripts are unreliable • Conspiracies of changed manuscripts • Yet Gnostic Gospels become, well, gospel • Pseudepigrapha seen as completely reliable • Jesus is not God, but Mary Magdalene becomes a goddess

13. Bible Written Late? • 19th Century charges against Bible • Written very late (2nd-3rd Century) • Not written by apostles or eye-witnesses • Truth: Biblical documentary evidence far stronger than any other ancient document

14. John Rylands Fragment

15. John Rylands Fragment • Text: John 18:31-33/ John 18:37-38 • Found in Egypt • ~1920 • Dated to AD 120-130 • Some date it even earlier • Liberal scholars once argued that John was written in the late second century • ~AD 175 or later • Rylands fragment supports a late first century date

17. New Testament Manuscripts • No ‘autographs’, or the actual original written by the author • Does not exist for any ancient manuscript • Nearly entire NT exists in manuscripts from before AD 300 • Codex Vaticanus: the earliest of the great parchment manuscripts at about AD 300 • Codex Sinaiticus: dates to about 350 AD

18. Number of NT Manuscripts • 5,300 Greek MSS • 10,000 Latin Vulgates • 9,300 Others • Total: 24,000 copies • Total MSS compiled prior to 600 AD = 230

20. “... to be skeptical of the resultant text of the New Testament books is to allow all of classical antiquity to slip into obscurity, for no documents of the ancient period are as well attested bibliographically as the New Testament.” —John Warwick Montgomery History & Christianity

21. Biblical Minimalism • Scholars and archaeologists who deny the Biblical record of Israel and the United Kingdom • Dispute the Exodus, the Conquest and the idea of a powerful Israel under David and Solomon

22. Tel Dan Inscription • Discovered 1993 • Dates to 9th Century BC • Victory stele of king of Damascus • Aramaean • Mentions “Israel” and “House of David”

23. Solomon’s City Wall • Discovered 2010 by Dr. EilatMazar • Dates to 10th Century BC • Likely built by Solomon • Show’s organizational strength of United Monarchy Dr. EilatMazar

24. Solomon’s City Wall “The city wall that has been uncovered testifies to a ruling presence. Its strength and form of construction indicate a high level of engineering.” Dr. EilatMazar

25. Solomon’s City Wall “A comparison of this latest finding with city walls and gates from the period of the First Temple, as well as pottery found at the site, enable us to postulate with a great degree of assurance that the wall that has been revealed is that which was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem in the latter part of the tenth century B.C.E..” Dr. EilatMazar

26. Biblical Minimalism “It’s bad for business to find things from the Bible these days. It makes us look like unsophisticated messianic fanatics” —“Reclaiming Biblical Jerusalem,” aish.com

27. The Biblical Hittites • Mentioned more than 50 times in Scripture • Abraham purchased Sarah’s grave from Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23) • Bible ridiculed—Hittites only a myth • Until 1903 when Hittite capital Hattusha was excavated in Turkey • Now no one questions the Hittites

28. Hattusha

29. The Biblical Hittites • Egyptian treaty with Hittites later discovered • Ramesses II & Hatusilis III • Oldest treaty ever found • ca. 1274 BC • Lack of external evidence does not disprove Biblical accounts

30. Biblical Witness • God does not ask for unreasonable faith • We have supporting evidence of archaeology and extra-Biblical writings • Biblical witness progressively proven true on random, unpredictable facts • The more a witness is verified the more likely we can rely upon it for unverifiable information

31. New Testament & Resurrection • Ultimately, the reliability—and relevance—of Scripture depends solely on one event • If the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not historically true nothing else matters • If Jesus did raise, the rest is confirmed

32. 1 Corinthians 15:14-19 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

33. The Testimony of Their Lives • The testimony of the apostles in the lives is the greatest witness of all • Before and after crucifixion: frightened men

34. Matthew 26:56b Then all the disciples left him and fled.

35. John 20:19-20 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 

36. Acts 4:1-13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 

37. Faithful Unto Death • History records that these once fearful men were willing to give their lives • Peter—who denied—crucified upside down • Paul—who persecuted—proclaims and dies for Christ • No one gained anything but persecution • Yet no one denied • These witnesses but their lives where there mouth was • What event could cause this?

38. 1 John 1:1-3 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.