Can we trust what we read in the Bible ?

1
Can we trust what we read in the Bible ?

• Is religion like a drug (feel good) ?
• Or is it more than good feeling ?

2
Did man created God ?

• Man has a need to explain mysteries, such as
  thunder (Thor god of thunder)
• Man is superstitious and ascribe good and bad
  fortunes to the supernatural (make a god for
  every goal, e.g., Mars, god of war, Hades, god of
  the underworld, etc)
• Examples where man created gods
• Greek gods Zeus, Appolo, etc
• Roman gods Saturn, Mars, Venus, etc

3
Did God created man (and this universe) ?

• Is evolution a proven theory ? (no !)
• What does Physics say about how the universe
  began ? (it has a beginning !)
• Can life come about by a pure natural process ?
• Physics, Chemistry, Biology and many other
  science disciplines have recently discovered this
  universe and life is only possible with a
  extremely small chance (like winning the lotto
  every week for 100 years straight !)
• In short many scientific evidence point to the
  fact that the universe and life have been
  designed by some super-intellectual being...

4
Which God made this universe and man ?

• Many world religions
• Judaism (Jewish Religion)
• Hinduism (Reality is just a dream of a god)
• Buddism (not really a religion but a philosophy)
• Islam (Allah is the only true god)
• Christianity (Jesus is the Son of God)
• Which one should we believe ?
• Can we know who is telling us about the true God?
• Did God reveal Himself to us in the past ?
• How can we find out which is the real God ?
• Through the study of History !

5
Fantasy, Legend and History

• Fairy tales completely invented by men
• The Lord of the Rings
• Gullivers Travels Pride and Prejudice etc
• Legends historical facts with embellishments
• King Arthur (there were probably several Arthurs
  that got blend into one Arthurian legend)
• Trojan War (the war was real, Troy is real, but
  the heroes and their characters have been
  beautified)
• History accounts of real events in the past
• Holocaust
• Nanjing Massacre

6
How do we tell if some event is Historical ?

• Historical documents

Writings
Pictures
Ancient artifacts
Archeological sites
7
Human nature and history

• Every major historical events is told twice !
• Holocaust
• "I don't see any reason to be tasteful about
  Auschwitz. It's baloney, it's a legend. Once we
  admit the fact that it was a brutal slave labour
  camp and large numbers of people did die, as
  large numbers of innocent people died elsewhere
  in the war, why believe the rest of the baloney?"
  
  David Irving
• Nanjing massacre
• a group of Japanese rightists held a conference
  in Osaka on Sunday questioning the 1937 Nanjing
  Massacre which they called "the biggest lie of
  the 20th century." January 25, 2000, The China
  Post
• It is crucial to know who is telling the truth !

8
How can you tell who is telling the truth ?

• Stones do not lie look at the evidence !
• ALWAYS compare the account of the historical
  event with the historical evidence

The Holocaust Evidence
The Nanjing Massacre Evidence
9
Honest questions about the Bible

• So, is the Bible a fairy tale ?
• Or is the Bible a book of legends ?
• E.g., Jesus was real, but he was just a wise man
  and not the Son of God as the Bible claims
• E.g., the resurrection was just a myth
• Or is the Bible a historical book ?
• Jesus was real and He was really the Son of God
• Jesus really died and resurrected (and those that
  saw this freaked out completely)
• (And if it is a historical book and what it said
  is true, are you ready to face the consequences ?)

10
Showing the New Testament is Historical

• Show that the New Testament was written about
  30-60 years after Jesus death
• Legendary stories are only added to oral accounts
  after more than 100 years
• Hostile witnesses were alive when New Testament
  was written and circulated these hostile
  witnesses would make sure that false information
  about the Gospels will not be passed down
• Show that the New Testament was passed down to us
  reliably
• The New Testament we have now is 99.5 identical
  to the original

11
Showing the Bible is Historically Reliable

• Never trust a document that says that it is true
  without evidence to support it
• When we study the Bible, we do NOT assume the
  Bible is true instead, we first find out if the
  Bible is reliable (true)
• We use historical sources outside the Bible to
  gain knowledge about the Bible and its accuracy

12
Testimonies on the Authorship of the gospels

• Irenaeus (120-203 AD) wrote
• "Matthew published his Gospel among the
  Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and
  Paul were preaching and founding the church in
  Rome. After their departure Mark, the disciple
  and interpreter of Peter, also transmitted to us
  in writing those things which Peter had preached
  and Luke, the attendant of Paul, recorded in a
  book the Gospel which Paul had declared.
  Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who
  also reclined on his bosom, published his Gospel,
  while staying at Ephesus in Asia."

13
Testimonies on the Authorship of the gospels

• Eusebius (c. 260 - c. 340)
• "The Gospels containing the genealogies, he
  says, were written first. The Gospel according to
  MARK had this occasion. As Peter had preached the
  Word publicly at Rome, and declared the Gospel by
  the Spirit, many who were present requested that
  Mark, who had followed him for a long time and
  remembered his sayings, should write them out.
  And having composed the Gospel he gave it to
  those who had requested it. When Peter learned of
  this, he neither directly forbade nor encouraged
  it. But, last of all, JOHN, perceiving that the
  external facts had been made plain in the Gospel,
  being urged by his friends, and inspired by the
  Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel." This is the
  account of Clement.

14
Further evidence for the Gospels authorship

• There are no competing authors
• The lack of prominence of the first 3 authors
  substantiates the fact that they were the genuine
  authors
• Conclusion that we can draw
• Authors of the Gospels were likely Matthew, Mark,
  Luke and John (these are real people)
• All of these people either knew Jesus personally
  (Matthew, John) or knew someone who do
  (Mark-Peter, Luke-Paul) First-hand information
  !

15
When was the New Testament written

• Gospel of Matthew

Magdalen papyrus - fragment (dated around
150 A.D., but a more recent dating place it
possible around 50 A.D. !)
Bible scholars believe that the Gospel of Matthew
is written before 80 A.D. (most like around 60
A.D.)
Chester Beatty paparys P45 - fragment
(dated 200-250 A.D.)
16
When was the New Testament written

• Gospel of Mark

Qumran cave 7 (7q5 is Mark 652-53)
(dated around 50 A.D. !)
Bible scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark
is written before 70 A.D. (most like around 50
A.D.)
Codex Vaticanus c. 350 A.D.
17
When was the New Testament written

• Gospel of Luke

Codex Vaticanus c. 350 A.D.
Codex Sinaiticus c. 350 A.D.
Bible scholars believe that the Gospel of Luke
was written before 80 A.D. (most like around 60
A.D.)
18
When was the New Testament written

• Gospel of John

Rylands papyrus dated around 125 A.D.
Bible scholars believe that the Gospel of John
was written before 90 A.D. (most like around 70
A.D.)
Brodmer papyrus dated around 200 A.D.
19
Comparing Bible and Ancient History

• Text books in middle/high schools on Greek and
  Roman history are based on text by 3 main ancient
  historians
• Tacitus (60 A.D.)
• Plutarch (60 A.D.)
• Suetonius (110 A.D.)

Text on Bible is much better preserved than on
any ancient history
20
The Bible Then and Now

• OK, we have seen that the New Testament was
  written within 30-60 years after Jesus death and
  the information in the original was probably very
  accurate
• The text of the Bible that we have today may or
  may not be the same as the original text
  depends on how accurate the original text is
  passed down
• Next
• How is the Bible passed down through the ages ?
• How accurate is the Bible today compared with the
  original ?

21
How is the Bible passed down ?

• Printing press was invented in 1555...
• Ancient Bible was written on papyrus scrolls
• The scrolls deteriorate by use and a new copy of
  the text is made when the scroll is worn

22
How careful was the Bible copied ?

• The copiers of the Bible text use special care to
  make sure the text was accurately copied !
• They count the number of words in each chapter
  and check if the count in the copy was correct
• They count the number of letters on each line and
  check if the count in the copy was correct

23
Evidence of careful copying of the Bible

• Before the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, the
  earliest copy of the Book of Isaiah was from
  around 980 A.D.
• In 1947, a Dead Sea scroll was discovered that
  contained the entire book of Isaiah dated around
  250 B.C. (over 1000 years earlier)
• The content of the scrolls are virtually
  identical except for a few copy errors

24
Testimonial to Bibles Accuracy

• Norman L. Geisler William E. Nix said
• The New Testament has not only survived in more
  manuscripts than any other book from antiquity
  (i.e., there are many more copies of the New
  Testament from ancient times in the world today),
  but the New Testament has also survived in a
  purer form than any other book - a form that is
  99.5 pure (i.e., 99.5 of the New Testament that
  we read today is exactly the same as the orignal
  copy that was written almost 2000 years ago !!!)

25
Counterfeits and pretenders...

• As with any historical account of any importance,
  there are people that want to change the account
  for their benefit
• How can we identify counterfeiters ?
• The origin of these accounts are later than the
  original account
• Examples
• Gospel of Thomas dated around 150 A.D.
• Gospel of Peter dated around 130 A.D.
• (Compare these dates with the original gospels
  70-90 A.D.)

26
Sample apocryphal gospel of Thomas

• Verse 15 Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare
  me to something and tell me what I am like."
• Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just
  messenger.
• Verse 114 Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary
  leave us, for females don't deserve life."
• Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make
  her male, so that she too may become a living
  spirit resembling you males. For every female who
  makes herself male will enter the kingdom of
  Heaven."
• Compare with what the earlier (real) gospels say
  on these topics beware of false gospels !
• More recent perversion DaVinci Code Dan Brown

27
More on the reliability of the (real) gospels

• A number of characteristics of the gospels make
  them more reliable
• The gospels are historical narratives (reads like
  a biography) people and places mentioned can be
  (and have been) checked !
• They report the uglier side of the characters
  even on important character like Peter (Peter
  denied Jesus three times) If you want to start a
  new fantasized religion, you do not make an
  important figure in the religion as a wimp)
• Womens testimony were worthless (not allowed) in
  the ancient Jewish society and yet, the first
  people that discovered the empty tomb were all
  women !

28
Summary

• The original gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and
  John) were written within 30-60 years of Jesus
  death
• Original gospels were very accurate
• Short time between time when events happened and
  the recording of these events
• Hostile witnesses are still alive and will make
  certain that any Christian fantasies are
  corrected
• The Bible text were copied very carefully and
  passed down
• The New Testament that we have now is 99.5
  identical to the original