Twelve Points That Show Christianity is True Owning Your Worldview Considers: By: Dr. Norman Geisler

Building Foundations Apologetics Logical Foundation (Points 1 and 2) Supernatural Foundation (Points 3 through 5) Historical Foundation (Points 6 through 12) Point 6a: The New Testament Documents are Reliable - The Documents are Copied Correctly This session will cover point 1 of 12.

Review: We established a logical framework for evaluating the exclusivity claims of the Christian worldview. We reviewed a summary of Apologetic arguments. We defined what miracles are and are not. We discussed the concept that miracles are used by God to confirm His messengers and their message.

A Higher Standard All religions hold that their texts are sacred and true. Since Christianity claims to be founded in truth and not "just so" stories, we must hold our sacred scriptures to a higher standard. We have nothing to fear since the truth (the Bible) can withstand the scrutiny. The tools we use are literary criticism, history, archeology, etc.

A Higher Standard Traditional Christianity holds that the Bible (the original autograph) is infallible and inerrant. If an autograph was ever found to be false or in error then Christianity would be in crisis. Translations can introduce inconsistencies, but those can all be rectified by going back to the original texts.

A Higher Standard If it can be shown that any of the original authors of the Bible were in error, then the Christian worldview is difficult to salvage. If it cannot be shown that any of the original authors of the Bible were in error, then we should have great confidence in the biblical foundation of the Christian worldview.

Opposition In order to undermine the Christian worldview many sources attempt to discredit the Bible and cause confusion. TV networks run shows cast doubt on the Bible's completeness by introducing writings from the intratestamonial period. Those works are out of context. Yet, it is suggested they are Biblical. Movies about Biblical events take "artistic liberty" and retell the story in a way that undermines the traditional Christian worldview. Scholars "atomize" their work and come to faulty conclusions because they fail to consider the full context of the Bible.

Opposition Opponents of the Bible use literary criticism to critique the Bible. They hold the Bible to a higher standard than other ancient texts, while claiming it is just an ancient text. When compared on even terms; the age, volume, and accuracy of NT writings are far superior to any other ancient writing.

The “Telephone” Misconception Opponents of the Bible will argue that from one translation to the next the Bible picks up ever more errors so it can no longer be trusted. They relate it to the kids game called “Telephone”. This is completely false since new translations return to the early source manuscripts and not other modern translations. It would be like “Telephone” but each child walks over to the first child and ask them what they said. Individual translations are occasionally in error, but the entire body of Biblical texts are not suspect.

The Accuracy Discussion Any time we discuss accuracy of the Bible, the opposition will typically distance themselves from arguing against the original autograph’s accuracy. To the Christian it is a given that the original autographs are inerrant and infallible. The opposition will typically challenge the accuracy of the modern translations. Current accuracy is more easily investigated and debated.

Documents are Copied Correctly NT authorship of autographs is early. The gap between the autographs and the earliest existing manuscripts is small. The large volume of existing ancient manuscripts allows for error proofing.

Authorship is Early (per Gary Habbermas) 30 A.D.: Jesus is crucified. (+0) 31 A.D.: The early creed originates around this time 35 A.D.: Paul receives the early creed from Peter, John and James in Jerusalem 55 A.D.: 1 Corinthians (+25) 70 A.D. Mark (+40) 80 A.D. Matthew (+50) 85 A.D. Luke (+55) 95 A.D. John (+65)

Authorship is Early Early authorship is advantageous for several reasons: The authors were in a position to have first-hand knowledge of the events they were writing about. Witnesses can discredit any writings they know to be false. Falsified claims typically don't survive long. There is no time for legendary elements to be integrated into the text.

Autograph to Existing Text We start seeing existing NT fragments within 100 years of the original autographs. Next to the New Testament the shortest time from autograph to existing manuscript belong to the works of Homer (The Iliad & The Odyssey) - 400 years. The average time gap for ancient texts is 1,000 years.

Autograph to Existing Text The John Ryland Papyri (fragments of John) - 200 A.D. (approx. 105 yr. gap) The Bodmer Papyri (fragments of John, 1 & 2 Peter, and Jude) - 200 A.D. (approx. 105 yr. gap) The Chester Beaty Papyri (almost the entire NT) - 250 A.D. (approx. 155 yr. gap) The Codex Vaticanus (almost the entire Bible) - 350 A.D. (approx. 255 yr. gap)

Autograph to Existing Text A short span of time from the writing of the original autograph to the time when the existing texts were copied is beneficial because: Less time for unintentional errors to be introduced. Less time for intentional reshaping of the stories. This could include legendary elements or removing undesirable or embarrassing details. Less actual copying will have occurred. Less changes in the language that was originally used.

So Many Manuscripts There are approx. 5,800 NT manuscripts. This can be a complete work to a scrap of paper. New manuscripts are being located every year. The next best ancient example is The Iliad It has 1,800 manuscripts. The typical ancient work has 10 - 20 manuscripts.

So Many Manuscripts Across the 5,800 NT manuscripts there are 400,000 variations. Critics point to this as a reason that the NT manuscripts are unreliable. A variation is not as problematic as the critic would lead you to believe. ANY deviation would be considered a variation, including alternate spellings, misspellings, and grammatical errors.

So Many Manuscripts Consider the following variations: YOU HAVE WON TEN MILLION DOLLARS THOU HAST WON 10 MILLION DOLLARS Y’ALL HAVE WON $10,000,000 you have won ten million dollars

So Many Manuscripts Consider the following variations: YOU HAVE WON TEN MILLION DOLLARS (0) THOU HAST WON 10 MILLION DOLLARS (8) Y’ALL HAVE WON $10,000,000 (16) you have won ten million dollars (27) Critics would state that there are 51 variations an therefore you couldn’t possibly know the original meaning.

So Many Manuscripts Consider the following variations: HAVE YOU WON TEN MILLION DOLLARS (translation error) UOY HAVE WUN TEN MILLION DOLLARS (spelling error) YOU HAVE WON FIFTY MILLION GOLD BARS (legendary) YOU H E WON TEN MIL ON DOLLARS (damage) HE GAVE ME A BROWN CAMEL (fabrication) Could a reasonable person reconstruct (error correct) the original sentence with a high level of accuracy? Would the meaning survive?

Conclusion The NT has been copied correctly! The time from the events of the Bible until they were written down were anywhere from 25 to 100 years. The time from the writing of the original autographs to the copying of existing manuscripts is around 150 years. There are so many NT manuscripts that we can compare them and be extremely confident that we know what the original autographs said (word for word). If someone rejects the Bible on these criteria, they have to throw out every other ancient text ever written.