Where Did it Come From? Keith Campbell, Ph.D.

Review Oct. 26: Four Sources of Authority Preview Scripture Today: “The Bible…Where did it Come From” Nov. 16: “The Bible…Why Trust It?” Nov. 30: “The Bible…How to Read It?” Tradition Reason Experience For full schedule of Dinner Lectures visit

Where did the New Testament (NT) come from? Discussion of OT omitted: Less debated (see resources at PPT end). Who decided what books belong in the NT? Was a book(s) left out or should one(s) be added? Is the NT we have today, the same as the original one? Why are there so many different translations of the Bible today?

The unbeliever: Skeptical people rightly want and deserve to know (evangelism) The believer: Encourages our faith (discipleship)

Where Did our NT Come From?

AD 30–33: Jesus ministers and dies; the Church begins. AD 40–95: First Generation Christians (the NT writers) Wrote documents (Gospels, letters, etc.) about Jesus and the newly formed Church. AD 95–350: Second and Third Generation Christians Second generation Christians (aka the “Apostolic Fathers”) used these documents as Scripture (holy writings). And, finally, through decades of practical usage and several official Church debates, third generation Christians (aka the “Church Fathers”) recognize the NT as a closed canon of Scripture that completes the OT.

c. AD 40—95 (NT writers: First Generation Christian Writers) ▫ The Four Gospels ▫ Paul’s Letters ▫ Other (called “General”) Letters  Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude ▫ Book of Revelation NT writers seem aware that God was inspiring new documents in their day: 1 Tim 5:18: “For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain“ [Deut 25:4] and "The worker deserves his wages“ [Luke 10:7]. 2 Pet 3:16: “[Paul’s] letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

c. AD 95—150 (“Apostolic Fathers”: Second Generation Christian Writers) ▫ “1 Clement” (c. AD 100 by Clement of Rome) ▫ 1 st available Christian document outside the NT ▫ Shepherd of Hermas (early AD 100’s) ▫ Didache (early AD 100’s) ▫ “Letter to the Philippians” (c. AD 110–140 by Polycarp of Smyrna) ▫ Heavily depends on the NT writers and calls some of their works “Scriptures” ▫ Ignatius of Antioch: wrote at least seven letters en route to martyrdom (c. AD 105–120) Apostolic Fathers depended heavily on the NT documents, often calling them “Scripture”

c. AD 150—400 (“Church Fathers” [Third Generation Christians] and many writers who dissented from orthodoxy) Church Fathers refuted the dissenters and solidified the NT Side note: c. AD 150—250: Gnostic Gospels (popularized by Dan Brown in “The Da Vinci Code”)  A collection of 52 later texts about Jesus  Examples: Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Peter, etc.  The point: These were written 120+ years after Jesus

Apostolicity: Direct or indirect association of a given document with an apostle (a first-century eyewitness). Orthodoxy: Whether a given writer conformed to the Church’s “rule of faith” Antiquity: Written during the apostolic era (not later) Church usage: Widely used by the Church

Did the Church Fathers get it right? Is the canon opened or closed? Can books be added today? Should some books be included and others excluded?

Based on arguments in my next lecture (an unashamed plug for the 2 nd Dinner Lecture!), I assume that God has spoken to us in written form. It makes good historical sense to me (agreeing with the Church Fathers) to Include only documents written by eyewitnesses and Their close associates in close historical proximity to Jesus. There are only a limited number of Christian documents that meet this criteria. In other words, we don’t have a lot to choose from!

These available documents are the ones that make up our current NT. If we miscalculate the NT by several 1 st Century documents, then the major doctrines of Christianity remain intact. I trust the second and third generation Christians: Apostolic Fathers: Read the individual NT documents as authoritative witnesses to Jesus and the Gospel Church Fathers: Solidified the NT documents as a closed set of Scriptures.

Is the NT we have today, the same as the original one?

The most scientific discipline in biblical studies is called “Textual Criticism.” Textual Criticism tries to uncover the original wording of the NT. See Diagram on Whiteboard Most Text Critics think that we can arrive at about a 97%- 99% accuracy to the originals. See Bruce Metzger, The Text of the New Testament (1992). Contrast with Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus (2005). But, Ehrman even concedes that no major Christian doctrine hangs in the balance.

We have about 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad. The earliest extant copy is about 1000 years after the original. For most other ancient books, we only have a handful of copies: Plato (several), Caesar’s Gallic Wars (9), Josephus (several) Historians consider this to be a lot of copies We have 25,000 ancient copies of the NT, with 5,000 in close historical proximity to the original. Our earliest copy: 120 A. D. (Chester Beatty Manuscript: A fragment of John’s Gospel)

The evidence suggests “Yes.”

Why are there so many different translations of the Bible today?

“All translation is treason!” Accurate translation is sometimes difficult! Bilingual people experience this often More difficult with ancient texts Different goals of modern Bible translators: Word-for-Word Thought-for-Thought See Diagram on next slide

Having many translations is good, not bad! Especially for non-Hebrew and non-Greek readers Best to utilize many translations

Where did the NT come from? Emerged as Scripture through practical use via the second generation Christians (the Apostolic Fathers) and was officially recognized during the time of the third generation Christians (the Church Fathers) Is our NT the same as the original one? 97–99% accurate, with no major Christian doctrines questionable. Why do we have so many modern translations? Because translation is challenging and because of different translational goals (word-for-word and thought-for-thought)

part-1 The Canon of Scripture, by F. F. Bruce (available on Kindle):

The Bible…Why trust it?