1. Is the Bible Really True? The Issue- Since we do not have the original manuscripts, how can we determine the original text?

2. 3 Factors Determine the Answer Can you guess the 3? How many ________ exist? How _______ are the manuscripts What is the exact _______ of the ________? For example, if the # of mss are few and the time gap between the original and the oldest copy is wide, then the original is harder to reconstruct. But, if many copies and close in date to the original, it can be done.

3. The reliability of the manuscripts By comparing the ____________, scholars can determine the _____________ with a high degree of accuracy. The Old Testament We have more than _______manuscript copies. As old ones wore out, new ones were needed. So, how do we know our OT is accurate?

4. The Old Testament The Masoretic Text- the __________ were the custodians of the Old Testament text and they were ____________. They counted the number of letters, words and lines so they could determine the middle of a book. If one mistake was made, the whole ___________ was destroyed. Thus, the quality of the manuscripts is ___________.

5. The Old Testament The Masoretic text was our oldest manuscript and dated to about ___________AD The ____________ were discovered in _____ and are dated to ____________ When scholars compared the two texts, ___% were word for word. The __% differences were in spelling and numbers. E.G. color/colour; conjunctions might be different

6. The Old Testament The ___________- the __________ translation of the OT This dates to ____________ BC Comparing this to the Masoretic text revealed a __% accuracy rate. Unlike the Qur’an, the Biblical text often indicates where there is a _______________.

7. The New Testament We have over _______ manuscripts in _______. The Iliad by Homer- 647 manuscripts. The typical number of manuscripts for Plato, Aristotle, and most other ancient writers is between 1 and 20. We have more and earlier mss evidence for ______ than anyone else in the ancient world, including Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. Thus, if you ______ the NT because you can’t be sure it represents the originals, all ancient history, philosophy, and poetry must be rejected as well.

8. The New Testament Many of the complete mss date back to the 4 th century and earlier. Some of the fragments go back to the year 200 and earlier. Scholars compare the Greek mss to those translated in other languages. We have over _______ in _____, and _____ in other languages. This staggering amount of mss given scholars confidence to believe we know what was in the originals.

9. The New Testament The 3 rd issue is looking at the __________. A mss expert sums up the variants in the NT:  Spelling differences (the movable nu)  Inconsequential word order (Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ) and synonyms  Meaningful but not viable– 1 John 5:7,8 (see the textual note in the NIV)  Variants that are meaningful and viable.

10. The New Testament The mss expert says those in category 4 are less than ___ of all the variations. There may be two readings for example This is where the analytical skills of the professional textual critic are applied to sort out the unlikely variants. They have a specific set of rules that enable them to resolve most of the conflicts. And, the text always tells us when there are variants. That is a sign of honesty, not dishonesty.

11. The New Testament There are 2 large textual variants in the NT, each involving 12 verses. Mark 16: 9-20 John 7: 53-8:11 The earliest and best mss lack these verses. Additionally, they do not fit with the author’s style. No essential truths are lost if these verses are not authentic.

12. The New Testament Scholars believe ___% of the NT is accurate. In the entire text, only about ___ lines (____ words) are in doubt. Keep in mind the variants only occur because we have so many copies of the manuscripts. So, this is actually a stronger, not weaker, foundation for realizing what the original documents said since we have so many mss. There are no __________________ on any major points of Christian _________. Nothing we are commanded to do is jeopardized at all by these variants.

13. What did Jesus Think? Did Jesus Have the Originals? No, and He still said the Scripture could not be broken

14. Preservation of the Books If God chose to reveal information about Himself and have it recorded in the Bible, why would He not ensure that the manuscripts would remain ___________________________? Given that God is __________________ and _____________, He is capable of ensuring we have reliable manuscripts. So, for the vast majority of the words of the NT, our modern English translations accurately represent what the original authors wrote.