1. The Case for the Historic New Testament
PROVING THE PAGES
The Case for the Historic New Testament

2. WHAT WE’VE LEARNED SO FAR
The Historic Jesus
Pagan Sources
Jewish Sources
Lessons
Historic person
Deity?
Reliable!

3. WHAT IS FAITH?
F A I T H
acts
ctions
ndividual
rust
ope

4. The elephant
Can you use the Bible to study with someone who doesn’t believe in the Bible?
How do you respond to someone who thinks the Bible is not…. -accurate? –inspired? –true?

5. The New Testament itself speaks to itself!
Presenting the bible…
So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. -Romans 10:17
When asked we say the NT is a reliable source of history that presents facts & evidence for the claims of Christ!
The New Testament itself speaks to itself!

6. Our Process GOAL PROCESS
To prove the New Testament is a history book that can be believed as real & reliable
PROCESS
Prove Jesus existed
Prove the New Testament talks about real history
Prove the New Testament can be trusted compared to other histories
THEREFORE: If all these be true, then what the New Testament says about Jesus MUST BE BELIEVED

7. Last Week Contemporary Documentation Acts & Josephus; Paulus
Historical Context
Letters of Paul
Gospels & Acts
To people, places, events, churches, morals, ethics, situations, etc…
Acid Test
Apostolic Fathers

8. Manuscript Attestation
Can we trust the manuscripts of the New Testament to be accurate?
Why is this an issue?
We don’t have the original writings (signatures) of the NT writers
We rely on manuscripts, or copies of the originals

11. Manuscripts NOT speaking about translations
Manuscripts are COPIES of the originals
Not just word for word, but LETTER FOR LETTER
Secular histories encounter some of the same problems…

12. Classical Histories Caesar’s Gallic Wars Written: 58-50 BC
# of Manuscripts: 9-10
Originals?: NO
Oldest Copy: 9th Century AD
Gap: 800 years

13. Classical Histories The Roman History of Livy Written: 59 BC – 17 AD
Number of Books: 147
# of Manuscripts: 35
Originals?: NO
Oldest Copy: 4th Century AD (29 of the 35)
Gap: years

14. Classical Histories Histories of Tacitus Written: 100-115 AD
Modern Books known: 14.5
# of Manuscripts: 2
Oldest Copy: 9th Century
Gap: 800 years

15. Classical Histories Annals of Tacitus Written: 100 AD
# of Manuscripts: 10 full, 2 partial
Oldest Copy: 11th Century
Gap: years

16. Classical Histories The History of Thucydides Written: 460-400 BC
# of Manuscripts: 8
Oldest Copy: 900 AD
Gap: 1300 years

17. Classical Histories The History of Herodotus Written: 480-425 BC
# of Manuscripts: 8
Oldest Copy: 900 AD
Gap: 1300 years

18. Classical Histories
Average gap between original & closest copy: 908 yrs
NONE of this histories as we have it today can be compared with originals
FF Bruce: “Yet no classical scholar would listen to an argument that the authenticity of Herodotus or Thucydides is in doubt because the earliest MSS of their works which are of any use to us are 1,300 years later than the originals.”

19. How far removed are the copies of the Bible?
Biblical timeframe
Already established:
Jesus existed
The NT talks of HISTORIC things
It was written and in circulation BY 100 AD
How far removed are the copies of the Bible?

20. The bible Codex Sinaiticus Contains ENTIRE BIBLE Date of Copy: 350 AD
Gap: 250 years
Currently located between 4 separate institutions: the British Library; the University Library in Leipzig, Germany; the Nat’l Library of Russia in St. Petersburg; & St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mt. Sinai in Saudi Arabia

21. The bible Codex Viticanus Whole new testament Date of Copy: 350 AD
Gap: 250 years
Located at the Vatican Library in Rome

22. The bible Codex Alexandrinus Whole New Testament
Copied about mid 400s AD
Gap: 350 years
Named after Alexandria, where it was located until the 14th century
Located at the British Museum

23. The bible Codex Ephremaic Also called the Codex Ephraiemi Rescriptus
Palimpsest
Every NT book except 2nd Thess. & 2nd John
Copied: mid 400s AD
Gap: years
Located in the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris

24. The bible
Codex Bezae
Contains Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, parts of Acts & 3rd John
Copied: AD
Gap: 400 years
Contains Greek & Latin text
Located at Cambridge University Library in

25. The bible Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri
Fragments containing portions of 11 different codices of the Bible
3 contain most of the NT
1 Fragment contains Gospels & Acts & is dated AD
Gap: years

26. The bible Rylands Fragment/Papyri
Fragment containing John 18:31-33, 37ff
Dated:130 AD
Shows John was circulating in Egypt only 40 years after it was written
Earliest known fragment of the NT
Located at John Rylands University Library, Manchester, UK

27. The bible Bodmer Papyri 22 Papyri discovered in Egypt in 1952
Contains Gospel of John, Jude, 1st & 2nd Peter
Partial texts of Luke & John
Dated 200 AD
Gap: 100 years

28. “The Case for Historic Christianity” by Edward C. Wharton
Sunset Press

29. Other manuscript facts
Over 5,000 copies of the Greek NT in whole or in part
10,000 historic Latin Manuscripts
9,300 various other historic manuscripts in ancient languages
- Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts

30. FF Bruce: “IF the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.” (The New Testament Documents, p. 15)

31. Next week Copying Methods The Resurrection Its Implications
What the empty tomb proves