https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Can-We-Trust-the-Text-of-the-Bible.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: II Peter 1:12-21<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. I was discussing with a gentleman about the location of a particular city mentioned in the\nBible.\n A. He had found an old map that placed Baal Zephon on the Mediterranean Sea\ninstead of on the edge of the Red Sea. Doesn\u2019t this prove, he asked, that the\ncrossing of the Red Sea is allegorical and not a historical event?\n B. I pointed out that even though his map might be old, it still was produced\nthousands of years after the crossing of the Red Sea. Archeologists have not\nlocated Baal Zephon. Thus the uninspired map makers guessed as to where the\ncity might be located.\n
C. The problem is that they ignored what God said about the matter.<\/p>\n
1. God lead Israel by the way of the Red Sea – Exodus 13:18<\/p>\n 2. Baal Zephon was on the opposite shore from where the Israelites camped\non the shore of the Red Sea – Exodus 14:2\n 3. In case there is any confusion about which sea is under consideration,\nPharaoh\u2019s army drowned in the Red Sea – Exodus 15:4\n D. His response surprised me. In part, he wanted to know what I meant by uninspired\nmap makers. \n 1. In his view, something penned in the 1800’s is just as authoritative as the\nBible.\n 2. He acknowledged there was a lack of archeological evidence, but in his\nmind that meant the Bible was just as suspect as his map. \n
E. Thus unless man proves it, it can be altered at anyone\u2019s whim<\/p>\n 1. The man went on to make a series of outrageous claims where he not only\nrelegated events in the Bible to mere myths, but he also claimed people\ndidn\u2019t know how to read Hebrew and rewrote words in the Old Testament\nby changing the vowels.\n 2. But then, he had no respect for the text because he saw it as a work of man\nand not God.\n
II. All Scripture is inspired<\/p>\n
A. Comes from the breath of God – II Timothy 3:16-17<\/p>\n
B. Written, not in man\u2019s words, but God\u2019s words – II Peter 1:20-21<\/p>\n
III. But how reliable is our text?<\/p>\n
A. How do we know that what we have today is what was originally penned?<\/p>\n
1. How do we know that there aren\u2019t significant errors in our text?<\/p>\n 2. How do we know that there hasn\u2019t been some secret collusion to modify\nour text?\n
B. After all this is what Muslims and Mormons claim about the Bible<\/p>\n 1. They well know that Bible contradicts their holy books, but they also\nclaim to be a follow-on religion to what is found in the Bible\n 2. How do you handle that the earlier book shows the later books to be\nwrong?\n 3. Why, announce that there is complete agreement between your religion\nand the original text of the Bible, but then claim that the text we have\ntoday has been altered from the original.\n
C. The Bible isn\u2019t the only ancient text in the world<\/p>\n
1. The question of accuracy of the copies comes up in all ancient texts<\/p>\n 2. But we can apply tests to the documents we have to see whether the claim\nof accuracy stands or not\n
D. How many copies exist?<\/p>\n 1. The more copies, the more comparisons we can make to find slips of the\npen by those making the copies. Thus, the more the better.\n
2. Other ancient documents<\/p>\n
a. The Annals of Tacitus, a Roman historian – 2<\/p>\n
b. The writings of Plato – 7<\/p>\n
c. The writings of Herodotus – 8<\/p>\n d. Thucydides, considered to be a very accurate historian, 8 copies\nplus a few fragments\n
e. Caesar\u2019s Gallic Wars – 10<\/p>\n f. The Roman historian Livy wrote 142 books of which only 35\nsurvived and we have 20 copies.\n g. Popular classical authors are better represented. We have hundreds\nof copies of Euripides, Cicero, Ovid, and Virgil\n h. The best representative is Homer\u2019s Illiad, which we have 1758\ncopies.\n
3. And the New Testament?<\/p>\n
a. We 5,800 complete or mostly complete manuscripts<\/p>\n
b. We have 13,000 fragments<\/p>\n
c. There are 10,000 Latin translations of the Greek text<\/p>\n d. There are another 8,000 manuscripts in Syriac, Armenian,\nEthiopic, Coptic, Gothic, Slavic, Sahidic, and Georgian\n
e. Not enough? <\/p>\n (1) A study done at the British Museum documented 89,000\nquotes or allusions to the New Testament in the writings of\nearly Christian writers.\n (2) Daniel Wallace in Reinventing Jesus<\/i>, 2006, estimates that\nthere are now about 1 million citations\n f. Oh, and we have 1,800 lectionaries, which are reading lessons\nfrom early church services dating from the sixth century.\n
E. Where were these copies found?<\/p>\n 1. If the source of the copies all came from one place, then it would be\npossible for someone to modify the text.\n 2. Multiple regions and from multiple time frames make a concerted effort to\nmodify the text nearly impossible.\n 3. The New Testament texts were found in Egypt, Ethiopia, Palestine, Syria,\nTurkey, Greece, and Italy\n 4. Also because we have numerous old translations, alterations in one\nlanguage could be detected by comparing it to the other translations.\n
F. How much time passed between the original writings and the surviving copies?<\/p>\n 1. If there is a large gap, then it is possible for a change to be introduced early\non and we would be unable to detect it.\n
2. Other ancient documents<\/p>\n a. Histories of Herodotus – earliest copy was made 1,350 years after\nthe original!\n b. Histories of Thucydides – earliest copy was made 1,300 years after\nthe original\n
c. Caesar\u2019s Gallic Wars – 950 years after the original<\/p>\n
d. Annals of Tacitus – 950 years after the original<\/p>\n
e. Histories of Tacitus – 750 years after the original<\/p>\n
f. The Illiad – 350 to 400 years after the original<\/p>\n g. The Roman History of Livy – 350 years after the original and the\ncopy is only a fragment\n
3. The New Testament<\/p>\n a. We have several fragments dated to 40 to 100 years after the\noriginal writings\n (1) John Ryland Fragment contains five verses from John 18\ndates to 100-150 AD (a gap of about 50 years)\n b. The Boder Papyri is dated about 200 AD and contains most of the\nGospel of John, I Peter, II Peter, and Jude (a gap of about 100-140\nyears)\n c. The Chester Beatty Papyri is dated about 250 AD and contains\nmost of the New Testament (a 150-200 year gap)\n d. We have several Greek manuscripts which date to 300 to 400 years\nafter the original\n e. Some of the translations are older. Most, though, are from the 300’s\nand later.\n f. The quotes and allusions in the early Christian writers date from 95\nAD to the early 400’s. Most come from the second and third\ncentury.\n
G. Variation<\/p>\n
1. How different are the various copies from one another?<\/p>\n
a. Scribes make errors, so we expect some variation.<\/p>\n
b. But the more there are, the less certain we can be about the original<\/p>\n
2. Ancient manuscripts<\/p>\n
a. Few copies make variation analysis difficult to do<\/p>\n b. Homer\u2019s Illiad, which we have 1569 ancient copies show a 5%\nvariation in the text\n
3. New Testament<\/p>\n
a. Less than \u00bd percent is in question<\/p>\n b. Most of these are minor spelling differences or slight variations in\nphrasing. \u201cIn would be a mistake, however, to assume that the only\nchanges being made were by copyists with a personal stake in the\nwording of the text. In fact, most of the changes found in our early\nChristian manuscripts have nothing to do with theology or\nideology. Far and way the most changes are results of mistakes,\npure and simple \u2013 slips of the pen, accidental omissions, in\nadvertent additions, misspelled words, blunders of one sort or\nanother\u201d [Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus<\/i>, p. 55]\n
c. Most translations note the disputed variations in their margins.<\/p>\n
d. What about the claim that there are 400,000 variants?<\/p>\n (1) The number takes the current standard text and counts each\nmanuscript or fragments difference from the standard.\n (2) \u201cVariant reading should not be counted by adding all the\nvarious readings in all the manuscripts. For example, a\nword spelled differently from the standard text in 500\nmanuscripts is not counted as 500 variants. It is counted as\none variant\u201d [Norman Geisler, \u201cUpdating the Manuscript\nEvidence for the New Testament,\u201d 2013]\n (3) In other words, the 400,000 number is inflated and not an\naccurate reflection of the situation.\n (4) Westcott and Hort estimated that the New Testament is\n98.33 percent free of any substantial variation\n (5) Ezra Abbot said that 99.75 percent pure from rival readings\nthat would make a difference in the text\n (6) A.T. Robertson estimates that 99.9% of the New Testament\nis free from any real concern.\n e. Sir Frederick Kenyon, a noted authority on New Testament Textual\ncriticism, stated \u201cNo fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith\nrests on a disputed reading … It cannot be too strongly asserted that\nin substance the text of the Bible is certain: especially is this the\ncase with the New Testament.\u201d\n
IV. Collaborating evidence<\/p>\n A. If the Bible is an account of events that took place in history, then there will be\nother references to at least major events or people in the Bible\n B. Many things are coming to light from archeology, enough that we could spend a\nlong time talking about them.\n C. But for the moment, let us look at three secular historians who were not motivated\nto support Christianity to see what they recorded\n 1. Josephus, a Jewish historian commissioned to write a history of the Jews\nfor Rome\n a. \u201cNow, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod\u2019s\narmy came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what\nhe did against John, that was called the Baptist; for Herod slew\nhim, who was a just man and commanded the Jews to exercise\nvirtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety\ntowards God, and so to come to baptism.\u201d [Antiquities, 18:5:2]\n b. \u201c Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful\nto call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher\nof such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to\nhim both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the\nChrist; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principle men\namongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him\nat the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again\nthe third day, as the divine prophets had foretold and ten thousand\nother wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians,\nso named from him, are not extinct at this day. [Antiquities,\n18:3:3]\n 2. Caius Cornelius Tacitus, was a Roman who became consul in 97 A.D. He\nhated Christians, but he does say\n
a. Christ was the founder of a sect of Christians<\/p>\n
b. Christ was put to death as a criminal<\/p>\n
c. He was executed by Pontius Pilate<\/p>\n
d. Tiberius was emperor of Rome<\/p>\n
e. Jesus was born in the reign of Augustus<\/p>\n f. This \u201cpernicious superstition\u201d was checked for a time by the death\nof its founder\n g. It broke out again and spread not only over Judea but reached the\ncity of Rome\n
h. Christians were persecuted in Rome under Nero<\/p>\n i. Vast numbers were discovered and condemned being accused of\nburning the city and because of their \u201chatred\u201d for mankind.\n j. They were hated as the offscourings of the earth and the filth of all\nthings\n
k. They were destroyed to gratify the cruelty of one man<\/p>\n 3. Pliny, the Younger, was Proconsul of Bithynia from 106 to 108 AD. He\nwrote a letter to Trajan, Emperor of Rome for advice in which we learn\nmany things\n a. Many Christians of every age and rank and of both sexes were in\nBithynia\n b. Their teaching and influence were such that heathen temples were\nalmost deserted and the sellers of sacrifices could hardly find\npurchasers\n c. None who were really Christians could, by any means, be\ncompelled to make supplication to the image of Caesar, or the\nstatue of the gods.\n d. After the most searching inquiry, including torture to force\nconfessions, he had found no vice among them\n e. They suffered for the name of being Christians without any charge\nof crime\n f. They were accustomed, on stated days, to hold two meetings; one,\nfor singing \u201cin concert\u201d hymns to Christ, and for making vows to\nlive righteously; and the other, for eating a \u201charmless meal.\u201d\n
g. Those who were Roman citizens were sent to Rome for trial<\/p>\n
V. Summary<\/p>\n A. F. F. Bruce: \u201cThe evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much\ngreater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of\nwhich no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection\nof secular writings, their authenticity would generally be as beyond all doubt.\u201d\n B. Josh McDowell: \u201cAfter trying to shatter the historicity and validity of the\nScripture, I came to the conclusion that they are historically trustworthy. If one\ndiscards the Bible as being unreliable, then he must discard almost all literature of\nantiquity. One problem I constantly face is the desire on the part of many to apply\none standard or test to secular literature and another to the Bible. One needs to\napply the same test, whether the literature under investigation is secular or\nreligious. Having done this, I believe one can hold the Scriptures in his hand and\nsay, \u2018The Bible is trustworthy and historically reliable.\u2019\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Peter 1:12-21 I. I was discussing with a gentleman about the location of a particular city mentioned in the Bible. A. He had found an old map that placed Baal Zephon on the Mediterranean Sea instead of on the edge of the Red Sea. Doesn\u2019t this prove, he asked, that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[568,219],"class_list":["post-5364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-bible"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7026,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-map-shows-baal-zephon-to-be-on-the-mediterranean-sea-so-doesnt-this-prove-the-crossing-of-the-red-sea-to-be-allegorical\/","url_meta":{"origin":5364,"position":0},"title":"My map shows Baal Zephon to be on the Mediterranean Sea, so doesn’t this prove the crossing of the Red Sea to be allegorical?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I found an old map in my Tanach that shows Baal Zephon was on the Mediterranean with a thin ridge to the east. I note that both the Torah and the King James Version gives \"the sea\" for the crossing. This indicates to me that in the subsequent verses\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3924,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/crossing-the-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":5364,"position":1},"title":"Crossing the Sea","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The Junior High class had an excellent question the other day: Just where did the Israelites cross over from Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula? If you look at the maps in the back of most of our Bibles you will find multiple routes shown. None of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/RedSea.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58765,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-dead-sea-scrolls-show-that-the-bible-was-modified-over-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":5364,"position":2},"title":"Do the Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Bible was modified over time?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, You have answered my questions before (thanks for that), and I hope you won't mind doing so again. I was researching the Dead Sea Scrolls and came across the following: How close is the Bible to the Dead Sea Scrolls? 6 Myths About the Dead Sea Scrolls The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3919,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-you-locate-pi-hahiroth-migdol-and-baal-zephron\/","url_meta":{"origin":5364,"position":3},"title":"How did you locate Pi Hahiroth, Migdol, and Baal Zephron?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In surfing the net I located your\u00a0map of the crossing of the Red Sea\u00a0- your map shows the possible locations of the towns mentioned in\u00a0Exodus 14:2 - Pi Hahiroth , Migdol and Baal Zephon. Where exactly has your research been located as the maps in the back of my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/Exodus-Large.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/Exodus-Large.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/Exodus-Large.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/Exodus-Large.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10458,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-your-map-show-israel-in-egyptian-territory-when-the-bible-says-they-left-egypt\/","url_meta":{"origin":5364,"position":4},"title":"Why does your map show Israel in Egyptian territory when the Bible says they left Egypt?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why does your map of the Exodus route so blatantly defy what the Scriptures tell us happened and instead follows the theories of secular men? Doesn't the Bible tell us that the Hebrews left Egypt completely the day following Passover (Exodus 12:51)? Don't all accounts of when the Hebrews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/Exodus-Large-300x218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-isnt-the-tales-of-the-patriarchs-included-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":5364,"position":5},"title":"Why isn’t “The Tales of the Patriarchs” included in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently learned about \"The Tales of the Patriarchs,\" a scroll found among the Dead Sea scrolls. If other books of the Bible were found among the Dead Sea scrolls, why isn't this book included in the Bible? 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