New Testament and Its Reliability
I am not a pastor nor a church elder nor an apologetic, but as a believer of Christ I find it fundamental to understand and be able to defend the reliability of the Bible which Christians consider as the Word of God. The bad news is I don't know how and where to start, the good news is there are already scholars and organizations who spent years of researching and studying about the Bible.
On my quest to learning the Bible, in its historical perspective, I find the following comparison from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry where New Testament is correlated to other ancient writings of Plato, Aristotle, Homer etc. The results were outstanding!
This research tells us that the Bible or the New Testament evidences are conclusive. It far outweighs other ancient books in terms of number of copies(5600) and accuracy of the copy which is almost perfect(99.50%). The higher the number of copies, tells us that it would be more difficult for people who wants to alter its content as there will be thousands of copies other people during first century that were accessible for comparison. Another conclusion this table tells us, is that the New Testament have the earliest approximate time span between the original manuscripts were written and the time manuscripts were copied. This all the more supports the credibility of the New Testament as there were greater number of people who can attest to the validity of its content, I bet some of the apostles or people who witness the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus could have been alive in less than 100 years, and they are the best witnesses who can affirm or refute the writings.
Aside from learning evidences about the authenticity of the Bible, it encourages me to read and reflect on it more, knowing it's one of the greatest gift God gave us, next to Jesus Christ.
For more details and questions you could always refer to this website which helped me tremendously https://carm.org/questions/about-bible
On my quest to learning the Bible, in its historical perspective, I find the following comparison from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry where New Testament is correlated to other ancient writings of Plato, Aristotle, Homer etc. The results were outstanding!
| Author | 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 | A.D. 61-113 | A.D. 850 | 750 yrs | 7 | ---- |
| Plato | 427-347 B.C. | A.D. 900 | 1200 yrs | 7 | ---- |
| Demosthenes | 4th Cent. B.C. | A.D. 1100 | 800 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Herodotus | 480-425 B.C. | A.D. 900 | 1300 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Suetonius | A.D. 75-160 | A.D. 950 | 800 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Thucydides | 460-400 B.C. | A.D. 900 | 1300 yrs | 8 | ---- |
| Euripides | 480-406 B.C. | A.D. 1100 | 1300 yrs | 9 | ---- |
| Aristophanes | 450-385 B.C. | A.D. 900 | 1200 | 10 | ---- |
| Caesar | 100-44 B.C. | A.D. 900 | 1000 | 10 | ---- |
| Livy | 59 BC-AD 17 | ---- | ??? | 20 | ---- |
| Tacitus | circa A.D. 100 | A.D. 1100 | 1000 yrs | 20 | ---- |
| Aristotle | 384-322 B.C. | A.D. 1100 | 1400 | 49 | ---- |
| Sophocles | 496-406 B.C. | A.D. 1000 | 1400 yrs | 193 | ---- |
| Homer (Iliad) | 900 B.C. | 400 B.C. | 500 yrs | 643 | 95.00% |
| New Testament | 1st Cent. A.D. (A.D. 50-100) | 2nd Cent. A.D. (c. A.D. 130 f.) |
less than 100 years | 5600 | 99.50% |
This research tells us that the Bible or the New Testament evidences are conclusive. It far outweighs other ancient books in terms of number of copies(5600) and accuracy of the copy which is almost perfect(99.50%). The higher the number of copies, tells us that it would be more difficult for people who wants to alter its content as there will be thousands of copies other people during first century that were accessible for comparison. Another conclusion this table tells us, is that the New Testament have the earliest approximate time span between the original manuscripts were written and the time manuscripts were copied. This all the more supports the credibility of the New Testament as there were greater number of people who can attest to the validity of its content, I bet some of the apostles or people who witness the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus could have been alive in less than 100 years, and they are the best witnesses who can affirm or refute the writings.
Aside from learning evidences about the authenticity of the Bible, it encourages me to read and reflect on it more, knowing it's one of the greatest gift God gave us, next to Jesus Christ.
For more details and questions you could always refer to this website which helped me tremendously https://carm.org/questions/about-bible
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