“Is the Bible a Fake, like the Da Vinci code says it is?”

 What The Bible can do!  The Witness of the church  The Bible’s Historical Credibility Contrasted with the Da Vinci Code

 Military historian, Prof. C. Sanders in his book "The Introduction to Re­search in English Literary History" explains three basic principles (of historiography) by which any ancient document can be checked out. They are simply the bibliographical test, the test of internal evidence and the test of the external evidence.

THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST

HISTORIAN WHEN WRITTEN EARLIEST COPY TIME SPAN #COPIES Herodotus BC 900 AD1,300 yrs8 Plato BC 900 AD1,200 yrs7 Aristotle BC 1100 AD1,400 yrs49 Caesar BC 900 AD1,000 yrs10 Pliny AD 850 AD750 yrs 7 N.T.48 AD 130 AD 80 yrs 24,630+

THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST THE INTERNAL TEST

 EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS  They speak as HISTORIANS  The COMPARATIVE DOCUMENTS confirm its accuracy

THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TEST THE INTERNAL TEST THE EXTERNAL TEST

 EARLY CHURCH WRITINGS As a result we have a direct chain of Christian writers... JESUS - JOHN - POLYCARP ( AD) - IRENAEUS ( AD)

 JEWISH AND ROMAN DOCUMENTS  Jewish - Mishnah - Gemaras – Talmud  Roman THALLUS 52 AD. Attempts to explain away the dark­ness at the crucifixion as an eclipse of the sun. TACITUS 112 AD, SEUTONIUS 120 AD, PLINY THE YOUNGER 112 AD, & FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS 80 AD.

 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE The world's foremost archaeologists confirm the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts through their findings. PROFESSOR NELSON GLUECK the renowned Jewish archaeologist wrote: “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical Reference.”

 What The Bible can do!  The Witness of the church  The Bible’s Historical Credibility Contrasted with the Da Vinci Code  The Witness of JESUS CHRIST

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