{"id":56723,"date":"2006-12-06T22:02:00","date_gmt":"2006-12-07T04:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=56723"},"modified":"2022-12-06T22:06:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T04:06:06","slug":"has-the-bible-been-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/has-the-bible-been-changed\/","title":{"rendered":"Has the Bible Been Changed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Greg Gwin\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Bible-Reading-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"111\" height=\"73\" \/>We are frequently asked about the reliability of our Bibles. Specifically, how can we be sure that the Bibles we are reading today are true to the original messages delivered so long ago? In particular, can we be sure that the New Testament has not been altered and changed in the almost 2000 years since it was written?<\/p>\n<p>The answer to these questions is a resounding <strong>yes<\/strong>, we can be absolutely certain that we have good, reliable copies of the messages as they were originally written. To illustrate how we can have this confidence, consider this illustration:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At a potluck dinner, Sally has a delicious dish and several other ladies ask for her recipe.<\/li>\n<li>Sally makes three handwritten copies of her recipe and gives them to Anna, Betty, and Clara.<\/li>\n<li>A good while later, Anna pulls out that recipe and is preparing to fix the dish. She calls Sally to confirm the ingredients, but Sally has lost her original copy of the recipe.<\/li>\n<li>Is there any way for Anna to confirm the accuracy of her copy?<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yes<\/strong>, although the original has been lost, Anna can compare her copy to those of Betty and Clara. If all three agree, she can have good confidence that her copy is exactly like the original.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now, take this illustration and apply the same principle to the New Testament. Admittedly, the original &#8216;autograph&#8217; copies of these documents are all lost and unavailable. But, there are literally thousands of copies of those originals, many dating back to the immediate time frame in which the originals were written. By comparing these thousands of copies, and by observing their nearly perfect similarities, we can conclude that our Bibles today are true to the originals. In fact, there is no book of antiquity that comes even close to the Bible in being able to provide this sort of documentary evidence for authenticity and accuracy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yes<\/strong>, you can trust your Bible!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Greg Gwin We are frequently asked about the reliability of our Bibles. Specifically, how can we be sure that the Bibles we are reading today are true to the original messages delivered so long ago? In particular, can we be sure that the New Testament has not been altered and changed in the almost&hellip;<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[568,219],"class_list":["post-56723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-bible"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-study-bibles-or-commentaries-written-by-members-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":56723,"position":0},"title":"Are there study Bibles or commentaries written by members of the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is there a study Bible whose commentator is a member of the church of Christ? I can't seem to find one. Maybe not a study bible but a commentary (maybe written in a separate book) written by a member of the church of Christ. Just as long as it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19395,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-our-bible-text-reliable\/","url_meta":{"origin":56723,"position":1},"title":"Is Our Bible Text Reliable?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Abraham Smith \u201cThe Judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward\u201d (Psalms 19:9-11).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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\/2020\/01\/person-holding-blue-ballpoint-pen-writing-in-notebook-210661-300x200.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":56723,"position":2},"title":"Why isn&#8217;t &#8220;The Tales of the Patriarchs&#8221; 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? Answer: It should be noted that the Dead Sea Scrolls contained\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58899,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/selecting-a-quality-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":56723,"position":3},"title":"Selecting a Quality Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Goforth Many articles have been written over the years concerning various translations of the Bible available. Which ones are good and reliable, which should be avoided like the plague, the specific errors or positive qualities, etc. of each. This series, however, views the physical construction of Bibles and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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\/2007\/02\/giltedge-300x143.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40830,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/tips-in-searching-for-a-quality-made-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":56723,"position":4},"title":"Tips in Searching for a Quality Made Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne Goforth The past week I have been searching for a new Bible. I'm really tired of replacing one every 4-5 years, even when they are warranted for life, so I've been researching Bible construction. I already knew I wanted a KJV and NKJV, but the question was about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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\/2013\/01\/yap-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":32161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-word-of-the-lord-endures-forever\/","url_meta":{"origin":56723,"position":5},"title":"The Word of the Lord Endures Forever","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton A serious flaw in modern thinking is that you can dismiss the Bible as the authority on moral issues like adultery, fornication, homosexuality, drunkenness, etc. because the Bible has been corrupted and changed over the centuries. They make this argument, not because they looked at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","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\/2020\/04\/Reading-the-Bible-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}