Ok, so now that I've given some evidence for the accuracy of the Old Testament, I'm going to do the same thing for the New Testament. So here's some bibliographic evidence, internal evidence, and external evidence.
Bibliographic - There are way more copies of the New Testament than any other ancient manuscript. There are around 25,000 copies. The manuscript with the second highest number of copies is Homer's Iliad. Guess how many copies (it doesn't come even close). Only 643, compared to the New Testament's 25,000. The firsts copies are also closer than any other document. The earliest copy is within 50 yrs, and the earliest complete copy of the New Testament is within 225 years. Other texts don't have copies for at least 400 years--most are over 1,000 years for the first copy.
Internal - There are no known contradictions. If something doesn't match up, there has been, so far, an explanation for it. And, just because it hasn't been explained yet, doesn't mean that it won't be explained eventually. For example it appears that the accounts of Judas' death as told in Matthew contradicts that of Acts. Matthew says that Judas hung himself, and Acts says that Judas fell in a field and his body burst open. Now, the only way that this could happen is if Judas hung himself above a field to fall in to. Sure enough, the site that is considered to be where Judas died is a field beside a cliff.
External - Many other writers from the time of Christ confirm the truth of the gospels (I had some great quotes from New Evidence that Demands a Verdict--but, I don't have the book with me.) Josephus is a good example of another writer confirming events in the gospels. Several times he refers to writings in the New Testament.
Hope that helps. If you have any questions please leave a comment!
Never surrender!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Why the Old Testament is reliable
So, why is the Old Testament reliable? I'll show some bibliographic evidence, internal evidence, and external evidence.
Bibliographic Evidence - Because of how many years the documents would have had to survive, there aren't as many copies of the Old Testament as there are of the New Testament. But, throughout the years these copies are 95% the same. And these 5% of differences are because of typos and slight spelling variations--none of the meaning of a text is changed. Compare that to the Egyptian Book of the Dead. There are hardly any copies of this text and there are major differences between copies as well--the meaning of certain passages is totally changed. Also, there are the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are a thousand years older than the previous oldest copy of the Old Testament and still they are accurate.
Internal Evidence - If something is found in the Bible that is a contradiction then it cannot be true. Although there can be statements that appear to contradict, there is always an explanation (even if we have not found it yet). For example, Proverbs 26:4 says "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him." While Proverbs 26:5 says, "Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes." These statements appear to contradict. But, do they really? Verse 4 says do not answer a fool in the same way and look like a fool yourself. Verse 5 says to answer a fool and tell him of his folly so he does not think he is wise. These verses do not contradict each other, but rather compliment each other.
External Evidence (Texts) - The Bible records the names of many foreign kings which, of course, were also recorded in other texts from that time. The amazing thing is that, although I think I read that there were some spelling variations, these names were essentially accurate. Compare that to the records of Manetho the High Priest (of something?). He recorded the names of the kings of various Egyptian dynasties. But, when these records are compared to other records of these same kings it is found that less than half of his names can be confirmed.
External Evidence (Archaeological) - There is new evidence being found all the time, but here are some examples. There are ruins of cities and indication of commerce where the Bible records the location of Sodom and Gomorrah. The interesting thing about that is there is also evidence of an earthquake that wiped out the cities. At the ruins of Jericho the walls appear to have fallen outward instead of inward. And probably the most intriguing--to me at least--is that the Bible claims that when Saul died his armor was kept in the Canaanite temple of Ashtaroth and his head was kept in the Philistine temple of Dagon. Skeptics said that it was impossible for the temples of two enemies to be in the same location. But, there were two temples discovered that were connected by a hallway. Guess what, one temple was for the Canaanite goddess Ashtaroth, and the other temple at the other end of the hallway was for the Philistine god, Dagon.
There is plenty of other evidence as well--I'm not trying to write a book or anything. If you have any questions, I'll answer them as soon as I can (Barbara, I'll get to yours asap!). Oh, and I really do recommend reading Josh McDowell's book New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. I saw that Amazon has copies for around $7.
Never Surrender!
Bibliographic Evidence - Because of how many years the documents would have had to survive, there aren't as many copies of the Old Testament as there are of the New Testament. But, throughout the years these copies are 95% the same. And these 5% of differences are because of typos and slight spelling variations--none of the meaning of a text is changed. Compare that to the Egyptian Book of the Dead. There are hardly any copies of this text and there are major differences between copies as well--the meaning of certain passages is totally changed. Also, there are the Dead Sea Scrolls. These are a thousand years older than the previous oldest copy of the Old Testament and still they are accurate.
Internal Evidence - If something is found in the Bible that is a contradiction then it cannot be true. Although there can be statements that appear to contradict, there is always an explanation (even if we have not found it yet). For example, Proverbs 26:4 says "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him." While Proverbs 26:5 says, "Answer a fool according to his folly, Lest he be wise in his own eyes." These statements appear to contradict. But, do they really? Verse 4 says do not answer a fool in the same way and look like a fool yourself. Verse 5 says to answer a fool and tell him of his folly so he does not think he is wise. These verses do not contradict each other, but rather compliment each other.
External Evidence (Texts) - The Bible records the names of many foreign kings which, of course, were also recorded in other texts from that time. The amazing thing is that, although I think I read that there were some spelling variations, these names were essentially accurate. Compare that to the records of Manetho the High Priest (of something?). He recorded the names of the kings of various Egyptian dynasties. But, when these records are compared to other records of these same kings it is found that less than half of his names can be confirmed.
External Evidence (Archaeological) - There is new evidence being found all the time, but here are some examples. There are ruins of cities and indication of commerce where the Bible records the location of Sodom and Gomorrah. The interesting thing about that is there is also evidence of an earthquake that wiped out the cities. At the ruins of Jericho the walls appear to have fallen outward instead of inward. And probably the most intriguing--to me at least--is that the Bible claims that when Saul died his armor was kept in the Canaanite temple of Ashtaroth and his head was kept in the Philistine temple of Dagon. Skeptics said that it was impossible for the temples of two enemies to be in the same location. But, there were two temples discovered that were connected by a hallway. Guess what, one temple was for the Canaanite goddess Ashtaroth, and the other temple at the other end of the hallway was for the Philistine god, Dagon.
There is plenty of other evidence as well--I'm not trying to write a book or anything. If you have any questions, I'll answer them as soon as I can (Barbara, I'll get to yours asap!). Oh, and I really do recommend reading Josh McDowell's book New Evidence that Demands a Verdict. I saw that Amazon has copies for around $7.
Never Surrender!
But what is truth?
So, if there is absolute truth, what is it? God is truth. And as Christians we find His truth in the Holy Scriptures, aka the Bible. Most Christians just accept the Bible as truth. Why? Well, probably because that's what we were taught in Sunday School. But, what will you say when someone (an atheist most likely) questions your belief in the absolute authority of the Bible? I hope your answer won't be "umm . . . uh . . . I don't know."
Why is the truth of the Bible so important? If the Bible is not true, then Christianity is completely false. It is a lie. I will not dedicate my life to something false. That is why it is so important to know why the whole Bible is true.
If we want to determine if a document is historically accurate, it is run through several tests. It is tested bibliographically--which means that we check to see if there are any inconsistencies in the copies. Then there is the internal evidence test which determines if there are any inconsistencies or contradictions within the text. And lastly we check for external evidence and look at artifacts and other texts from that time.
If you want more information I recommend reading Josh McDowell's New Evidence that Demands a Verdict.
Never Surrender!
Why is the truth of the Bible so important? If the Bible is not true, then Christianity is completely false. It is a lie. I will not dedicate my life to something false. That is why it is so important to know why the whole Bible is true.
If we want to determine if a document is historically accurate, it is run through several tests. It is tested bibliographically--which means that we check to see if there are any inconsistencies in the copies. Then there is the internal evidence test which determines if there are any inconsistencies or contradictions within the text. And lastly we check for external evidence and look at artifacts and other texts from that time.
If you want more information I recommend reading Josh McDowell's New Evidence that Demands a Verdict.
Never Surrender!
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