Biblical Manuscripts and the Inerrancy of the New Testament

While I was writing this, I came to a conclusion that it is simply not possible to include all of the evidence that there is about the Bible's veracity. With mountainous piles of manuscripts, different translations, fulfillment of prophecies, historical and archeological finds, and so on, no one book can describe all that there is. Even with the vast amount of empirical evidence of the Bible's unchanging Word, it's authenticity, truthfulness, prophetic fulfillments, and that it is the divinely inspired Word of the Living God, there remains room to doubt for some. Even among professing Christians, almost half believe you can't take every word in it seriously or that some things in the Bible didn't really happen. The Bible can be examined by empirical methodologies, and it is possible to come to a clear conclusion about it. In latter chapters, historical, archeological, scientific, mathematical, and other methodologies will be used, in an empirical sense; and with tangible, quantifiable results.

When compared to most human historical documents, Biblical manuscripts reigns supreme by far. The greatest problem is a good one to have...that there is so much evidence to introduce as exhibit's A through the hundreds...that the case of the Bible being true, would have been solved long before it even started.

New Testament manuscripts have been preserved by the thousands. No other ancient works or events in human history has today what the Bible contains in documented and recorded histories. There are over 5,700 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including Syriac, Slavic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Coptic, and even Armenian. The dates of these manuscripts range from the 2nd century up to the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. And every year 2 or 3 New Testament manuscripts handwritten in the original Greek format are discovered. The latest large find was in 2008, when 47 new manuscripts were discovered in Albania, and at least 17 of them unknown to Western scholars. [1]

Here is a summary of what documents exist today.

Over 24,000 New Testament manuscripts, 5,000 of which date from the first century, which to Historians is a primary source from eye witnesses.

Over 5,600 Dead Sea Scrolls with different authors from the Old Testament, all agreeing textually with each other (about .01% which includes vowel's differentiation, consonant blends, etc. but never affecting the text or the context).

Forty authors in 3 different languages, covering 1,500 years, with 2 billion in publication since 1455. The Bible has always been the world's best seller.

From secular human history, we have some 7 remaining manuscripts of one of the earliest philosophers, Plato, from around 300 B.C. But the most recent copy of these compositions came 900 years after they were written!

Aristotle has 49 copies of his writings and the copy that is closest to the time of his living also came 900 years after he had written them.

The foundational evidence for the Bible is based upon 5,000 plus (and growing) manuscripts, many dating from their original writings and many as the originals, like in the New Testament writings. These came from the very same century (prior to 100AD) from which these events took place! Not 900 years after the fact like the false gospels of Judas and Mary.

There are more than 14,000 manuscripts and fragments of the Old Testament of which are divided into three different kinds:

(1) approximately 10,000 from the Cairo Geniza (storeroom) find of 1897, that date back as far as about A.D. 800. Then there are

(2) nearly 190 from the Dead Sea Scrolls finds from 1947 to 1955. The oldest of these dates all the way back to 250 to 200 B.C. The third type (3) contains, at minimum, 4,314 assorted other copies.

There was a remarkably short interval of time between the last of the Old Testament writings, (400 B.C.) to those of the New Testament (70 - 95 A.D.). Interestingly, the New Testament books validate the Old Testament's existence by it's frequent textual use. It stands to reason that Jesus Himself quoted it since He actually is the Word (John 1:1-3). By Jesus and the Apostles quoting the Old Testament, it proves that

(1) the Old Testament did exist, and

(2) that the Old Testament is an accurate, historical record of the events of past human activities, including ancient Israel (which is also supported by modern archeological records) and their encounters with God.

And based upon the common theme of God's Law in having two witnesses to confirm a thing, as to establish it as fact, the Old Testament and the New Testament confirm each other as true. They cross-validate each other in the sense that New Testament authors quote the Old Testament and that Old Testament prophecies came true in the New Testament. They are more than compatible, they are mutually inclusive. The short time period between the original Old Testament manuscripts ensures the trustworthiness of the New Testament manuscripts. Historically, the oldest manuscript ever found quoted verses in Numbers: 6:24-26. They date from 800-700 B.C.

The Old and New Testament authors were eyewitnesses of the events recorded in the Bible. When ancient Historians interviewed eyewitnesses to these events, the overwhelming majority described the events exactly as was recorded in the Bible. Many of the events, people, places, and customs in the New Testament have already been confirmed by secular historians who were almost contemporaries with New Testament writers. Secular historians like the Jewish Historian Josephus (before A.D. 100), the Roman Tacitus (around A.D. 120), the Roman Suetonius (A.D. 110), and the Roman governor Pliny Secundus (A.D. 100-110) make direct reference to Jesus or affirm one or more historical New Testament references. There is nothing like the New Testament in human history that comes close in comparison to it's validity, documentation, and writings as written closest to the original authors who recorded them. There is nothing that even comes remotely close. When you read it, you can have full faith and assurance that this is the Living Word of God that was passed done by meticulous care, and done so as divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit. The evidence is no less impressive for the New Testament than it is for the Old Testament. But that is for yet, another article.

1.http://www.christiantoday.com/article/nt.scholar.on.discovery.of.giant.trove.of.bible.manuscripts/18204.htm

[This is an excerpt from Chapter One of "Blind Chance or Intelligent Design?, Empirical Methodologies and the Bible"]