Over the years I have been asked about the Bible (in particular the New Testament). As a Bible teacher I encounter people on planes, airports or on the streets that I speak with regarding my faith in Jesus Christ. And this is one of the most common questions, “The Bible has been changed (and specifically the New Testament).”
This always interest me because most people are just regurgitating something they heard a professor say or some other “religious leader” that thinks the NT has been corrupted. Or read some “convincing article” on the internet that has lead them astray.
The fact of the matter is that the NT is accurate and has NEVER been changed. It was not written hundreds of years after Christ.
The NT can compete up with any given classical piece of ancient literature (and actually has much more validity than many pieces of ancient literature COMBINED).
Look at these ancient writings. Look at the date “Recorded” to “Dates of mss (manuscripts)” and “time span”. The NT easily, by itself can stand against criticism. The numbers speak for themselves.
This always interest me because most people are just regurgitating something they heard a professor say or some other “religious leader” that thinks the NT has been corrupted. Or read some “convincing article” on the internet that has lead them astray.
The fact of the matter is that the NT is accurate and has NEVER been changed. It was not written hundreds of years after Christ.
The NT can compete up with any given classical piece of ancient literature (and actually has much more validity than many pieces of ancient literature COMBINED).
Look at these ancient writings. Look at the date “Recorded” to “Dates of mss (manuscripts)” and “time span”. The NT easily, by itself can stand against criticism. The numbers speak for themselves.
It bothers me that universities will take a document written by Aristotle and see that there’s a1400 year time gap (time span) between the time it was written (recorded) and the earliest date of the manuscript (date of mss) and only have 40 copies and call writings like this 100% accurate. When the New Testament has a 5-30 time gap and we have 5700 manuscripts that DO NOT contradict themselves. The NT has greater historical validity and accuracy than any of Aristotle’s writings… combined!
Another question I would ask is, “The NT has been changed…really? When and where?” If there was any time in history that the NT was changed don’t you think that we could point back to it and say, “Right here. Here is when it was changed.” Don’t you hank that there would have been a huge roar in the early church? And where are these “other documents”? We do not seem to have any writing that are different from the NT. We do have some i.e… the Gospel of Barnabas or the Gospel of Thomas or Judas. All of these have been proven to be be forgeries.
From bible.org, “How Accurate is the Bible?”
“The New Testament can be regarded as 99.5 percent pure, and the correct readings for the remaining 0.5 percent can often be ascertained with a fair degree of probability by the practice of textual criticism. Some of these variant readings crept into the manuscripts because of visual errors in copying or because of auditory errors when a group of scribes copied manuscripts that were read aloud. Other errors resulted from faulty writing, memory, and judgment, and still others from well-meaning scribes who thought they were correcting the text. Nevertheless, only a small number of these differences affect the sense of the passages, and only a fraction of these have any real consequences. Furthermore, no variant readings are significant enough to call into question any of the doctrines of the New Testament.”
So next time someone asks you “How do you know the NT wasn't just made up and or changed?” Just tell them because it makes no logical sense for one. Secondly there is not one single shred of (good or reliable) evidence that is has been.
Hope this helps.
Another question I would ask is, “The NT has been changed…really? When and where?” If there was any time in history that the NT was changed don’t you think that we could point back to it and say, “Right here. Here is when it was changed.” Don’t you hank that there would have been a huge roar in the early church? And where are these “other documents”? We do not seem to have any writing that are different from the NT. We do have some i.e… the Gospel of Barnabas or the Gospel of Thomas or Judas. All of these have been proven to be be forgeries.
From bible.org, “How Accurate is the Bible?”
“The New Testament can be regarded as 99.5 percent pure, and the correct readings for the remaining 0.5 percent can often be ascertained with a fair degree of probability by the practice of textual criticism. Some of these variant readings crept into the manuscripts because of visual errors in copying or because of auditory errors when a group of scribes copied manuscripts that were read aloud. Other errors resulted from faulty writing, memory, and judgment, and still others from well-meaning scribes who thought they were correcting the text. Nevertheless, only a small number of these differences affect the sense of the passages, and only a fraction of these have any real consequences. Furthermore, no variant readings are significant enough to call into question any of the doctrines of the New Testament.”
So next time someone asks you “How do you know the NT wasn't just made up and or changed?” Just tell them because it makes no logical sense for one. Secondly there is not one single shred of (good or reliable) evidence that is has been.
Hope this helps.
