Object Lesson: Reliability of the New Testament
It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. I hope you didn’t feel neglected! I’ve just been crazy busy. I’m done with seminary for the time being, so I’ve got a bit more time. (Not much, but enough to at least do a quick post.)
I needed to come up with a way to help illustrate some of the evidence for the reliability of Scripture. I was brainstorming and came up with an idea for an object lesson. The video should give you the general idea.
If you want to do something similar, here are some of the facts from the presentation.
| Author | Time Span Between Original and Copy | Number of Copies | Accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plato | 1,200 Years | 7 | - |
| Caesar | 1,000 Years | 10 | - |
| Aristotle | 1,400 Years | 49 | - |
| Homer (Iliad) | 500 Years | 643 | 95% |
| New Testament | 30 Years | 5,600 | 99.5% |
The information for the New Testament in the table above is just for Greek manuscripts. There are another 19,000 or so manuscripts translated into other languages.
If you’d like to get more information on the manuscript evidence for the New Testament, here are a few links to get you started:
Manuscript Evidence for Superior New Testament Reliability
Manuscript Support for the Bible’s Reliability
The Bible’s Manuscript Evidence