Is the New Testament reliable?
Bibliographical Test
This test compares a document with other ancient history from the same period. It asks:- How many copies of the original document are in existence?
- How large of a time gap is there between the original writings and the earliest copies?
- How well does a document compare with other ancient history?
Imagine if we had only two or three copies of the original New Testament manuscripts. The sampling would be so small that we couldn't possibly verify accuracy.
On the other hand, if we had hundreds or even thousands, we could easily weed out the errors of poorly transmitted documents.
So, how well does the New Testament compare with other ancient writings with regard to both the number of copies and the time gap from the originals? More than 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament exist today in the original Greek language. When counting translations into other languages, the number is a staggering 24,000-dating from the 2ND to 4TH centuries.
Compare that with the second-best-documented ancient historical manuscript, Homer's Iliad, with 643 copies.8 And remember that most ancient historical works have far fewer existing manuscripts than that one does (usually fewer than 10). New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger remarked, "In contrast with these figures [of other ancient manuscripts], the textual critic of the New Testament is embarrassed by the wealth of his material."9
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This is an excerpt from Y-Jesus Magazine. Click here to see Y-Jesus Magazine.
