Reason 8 of 13
We can know what the New Testament first said
The New Testament survives in more Greek manuscripts, from closer to its writing, than any other ancient book. Textual critics can compare them and recover the original wording with great confidence.
The size of the evidence
The Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF) in Münster catalogues more than five thousand Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, from small fragments to complete Bibles, plus thousands of early translations and countless quotations by early church writers.
Some papyri are very early. A fragment of John 18 in the John Rylands Library (P52) is usually dated to the first half of the second century, and substantial papyri of the Gospels and Paul (such as P46, P66 and P75) date to around AD 200.
Differences between copies
Hand copying produced differences, called variants. The great majority are spelling, word order or obvious slips. Because there are so many copies from different places, scholars can compare them and see where a change crept in. The few longer passages whose originality is doubted, such as Mark 16:9-20 and John 7:53-8:11, are marked in most modern Bibles.
3it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; 4that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
Luke 1:3-4 (WEB) · context
The Old Testament too
Before 1947 the oldest complete Hebrew manuscripts of Isaiah dated to around AD 1000. The Great Isaiah Scroll found at Qumran among the Dead Sea Scrolls is about a thousand years older and agrees closely with the later text.
8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8 (WEB) · context
The strongest objection, stated fairly
The Bible has been copied and translated so many times that nobody can know what it originally said.
How it answers
Modern translations are made from the Greek and Hebrew manuscripts directly, not from a chain of translations. The more copies there are, the easier it is to spot changes, and no other ancient text comes close to the New Testament's evidence.
35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Matthew 24:35 (WEB) · context
Where Christians disagree
- Textual critics agree on the method but weigh the variants differently. Bart Ehrman (Misquoting Jesus, 2005) stresses the changes scribes made; his own teacher Bruce Metzger, and most evangelical textual critics, stress that no central Christian belief rests on a doubtful reading.
Sources
- Bruce M. Metzger and Bart D. Ehrman, The Text of the New Testament, 4th edition (Oxford, 2005)
- Institute for New Testament Textual Research (INTF), Kurzgefasste Liste der griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testaments
- Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005)
- The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a), Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Why the evidence matters
If Jesus rose, His offer is real
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.