Manuscript evidence for superior New Testament reliability


The New Testament is constantly under attack and its reliability and
accuracy are often contested by critics. But, if the critics want to
disregard the New Testament, then they must also disregard other
ancient writings by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. This is because the
New Testament documents are better preserved and more numerous than
any other ancient writing. Because the copies are so numerous, they
can be cross checked for accuracy. This process has determined that
the biblical documents are extremely consistent and accurate.
There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today for
the New Testament.1 If we were to compare the number of New Testament
manuscripts to other ancient writings, we find that the New Testament
manuscripts far outweigh the others in quantity.


Author2 Date
Written Earliest Copy Approximate Time Span between original & copy
Number of Copies
Accuracy of Copies

Lucretius died 55 or 53 B.C. 1100 yrs 2 ----
Pliny 61-113 A.D. 850 A.D. 750 yrs 7 ----
Plato 427-347 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 yrs 7 ----
Demosthenes 4th Cent. B.C. 1100 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----
Herodotus 480-425 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----
Suetonius 75-160 A.D. 950 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----
Thucydides 460-400 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----
Euripides 480-406 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1300 yrs 9 ----
Aristophanes 450-385 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 10 ----
Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 10 ----
Livy 59 BC-AD 17 ---- ??? 20 ----
Tacitus circa 100 A.D. 1100 A.D. 1000 yrs 20 ----
Aristotle 384-322 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1400 49 ----
Sophocles 496-406 B.C. 1000 A.D. 1400 yrs 193 ----
Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95%
New
Testament 1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D. 2nd Cent. A.D.
(c. 130 A.D. f.) less than 100 years 5600 99.5%


As you can see, there are thousands more New Testament Greek
manuscripts than any other ancient writing. The internal consistency
of the New Testament documents is about 99.5% textually pure. That is
an amazing accuracy. In addition there are over 19,000 copies in the
Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic languages. The total supporting
New Testament manuscript base is over 24,000.
Almost all biblical scholars agree that the New Testament
documents were all written before the close of the first century. If
Jesus was crucified in 30 A.D., then that means that the entire New
Testament was completed within 70 years. This is important because it
means there were plenty of people around when the New Testament
documents were penned who could have contested the writings. In other
words, those who wrote the documents knew that if they were
inaccurate, plenty of people would have pointed it out. But, we have
absolutely no ancient documents contemporary with the first century
that contest the New Testament texts.
Furthermore, another important aspect of this discussion is the
fact that we have a fragment of the gospel of John that dates back to
around 29 years from the original writing. This is extremely close to
the original writing date. This is simply unheard of in any other
ancient writing and it demonstrates that the Gospel of John is a first
century document.
Below is a chart with some of the oldest extant New Testament
manuscripts compared to when they were originally penned. Compare
these time spans with the next closest which is Homer's Iliad where
the closest copy from the original is 500 years later. Undoubtedly,
that period of time allows for more textual corruption in its
transmission. How much less so for the New Testament documents?


Important
Manuscript
Papyri Contents Date
Original Written
MSS
Date Approx.
Time Span Location
p52
(John Rylands
Fragment)3 John 18:31-33,37-38 circa
96 A.D. circa
125
A.D. 29 yrs John Rylands Library, Manchester, England
P46
(Chester Beatty Papyrus) Rom. 5:17-6:3,5-14; 8:15-25, 27-35, 37-9:32;
10:1-11, 22, 24-33, 35-14:8,9-15:9, 11-33; 16:1-23, 25-27; Heb.; 1 & 2
Cor., Eph., Gal., Phil., Col.; 1 Thess. 1:1,9-10; 2:1-3; 5:5-9, 23-28
50's-70's circa
200
A.D. Approx.
150 yrs Chester Beatty Museum, Dublin & Ann Arbor, Michigan,
University of Michigan library
P66
(Bodmer Papyrus) John 1:1-6:11,35-14:26; fragment of 14:29-21:9 70's
circa
200
A.D. Approx.
130 yrs Cologne, Geneva
P67 Matt. 3:9,15; 5:20-22, 25-28 circa
200
A.D. Approx.
130 yrs Barcelona, Fundacion San Lucas Evangelista, P. Barc.1



If the critics of the Bible dismiss the New Testament as reliable
information, then they must also dismiss the reliability of the
writings of Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, Homer, and the other authors
mentioned in the chart at the beginning of the paper. On the other
hand, if the critics acknowledge the historicity and writings of those
other individuals, then they must also retain the historicity and
writings of the New Testament authors; after all, the evidence for the
New Testament's reliability is far greater than the others. The
Christian has substantially superior criteria for affirming the New
Testament documents than he does for any other ancient writing. It is
good evidence on which to base the trust in the reliability of the New
Testament.




1. Norman Geisler & Peter Bocchino, Unshakeable Foundations,
(Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2001) p. 256.

2. This chart was adapted from three sources: 1) Christian
Apologetics, by Norman Geisler, 1976, p. 307; 2) the article
"Archaeology and History attest to the Reliability of the Bible," by
Richard M. Fales, Ph.D., in The Evidence Bible, Compiled by Ray
Comfort, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Gainesville, FL, 2001, p. 163; and
3) A Ready Defense, by Josh Mcdowell, 1993, p. 45.

3."Deissmann was convinced that p52 was written well within the reign
of Hadrian (A.D. 117-38) and perhaps even during the time of Trajan
(A.D. 98-117)" (Footnote #2 found on pg. 39 of The Text of the New
Testament, by Bruce M. Metzger, 2nd Ed. 1968, Oxford University
Press, NY, NY). Bruce Metzger has authored more than 50 books. He
holds two Masters Degrees, a Ph.D. and has been awarded several
honorary doctorates. "He is past president of the Society of Biblical
Literature, the International Society fo New Testament Studies, an the
North American Patristic Society." -- From, The Case for Christ, by
Lee Strobel, Zondervan Publishers, 1998, Grand Rapids, MI: pg. 57.



http://www.carm.org/evidence/textualevidence.htm

The New Testament is constantly under attack and its reliability and
accuracy are often contested by critics. But, if the critics want to
disregard the New Testament, then they must also disregard other
ancient writings by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. This is because the
New Testament documents are better preserved and more numerous than
any other ancient writing. Because the copies are so numerous, they
can be cross checked for accuracy. This process has determined that
the biblical documents are extremely consistent and accurate.

Manuscript evidence for superior New Testament reliability

Manuscript evidence for superior New Testament reliability


The New Testament is constantly under attack and its reliability and
accuracy are often contested by critics. But, if the critics want to
disregard the New Testament, then they must also disregard other
ancient writings by Plato, Aristotle, and Homer. This is because the
New Testament documents are better preserved and more numerous than
any other ancient writing. Because the copies are so numerous, they
can be cross checked for accuracy. This process has determined that
the biblical documents are extremely consistent and accurate.
There are presently 5,686 Greek manuscripts in existence today for
the New Testament.1 If we were to compare the number of New Testament
manuscripts to other ancient writings, we find that the New Testament
manuscripts far outweigh the others in quantity.

As you can see, there are thousands more New Testament Greek
manuscripts than any other ancient writing. The internal consistency
of the New Testament documents is about 99.5% textually pure. That is
an amazing accuracy.

Almost all biblical scholars agree that the New Testament
documents were all written before the close of the first century.

Jesus was crucified in 30 A.D., then that means that the entire New
Testament was completed within 70 years. This is important because it
means there were plenty of people around when the New Testament
documents were penned who could have contested the writings.

words, those who wrote the documents knew that if they were
inaccurate, plenty of people would have pointed it out.

absolutely no ancient documents contemporary with the first century
that contest the New Testament texts.

Furthermore, another important aspect of this discussion is the
fact that we have a fragment of the gospel of John that dates back to
around 29 years from the original writing. This is extremely close to
the original writing date. This is simply unheard of in any other
ancient writing and it demonstrates that the Gospel of John is a first
century document.