Can the Bible be Trusted

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Can the Bible be Trusted

• By Jay Brennan

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Da Vinci Code Claims

• More than eighty gospels were considered for the
  New Testament, and yet only a relative few were
  chosen for inclusionMatthew, Mark, Luke, and
  John among them. (pg. 231)
• Fortunately for historians, some of the gospels
  that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed
  to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in
  the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the
  Judean desert. And, of course, the Coptic Scrolls
  in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. (234)

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• The Nag Hammadi scrolls . . .tell . . . an
  alternative history of the time of Jesus and Mary
  Magdalene (Dan Brown)
• Teabing calls these texts the earliest Christian
  records (245) and the unaltered gospels (248).

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Dead Sea ScrollsJewish Documents
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What are the Nag Hammadi Documents?

• Accidentally discovered in 1945 near the
  Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi.
• Inside the jar, they found thirteen leather-bound
  volumes containing fifty-two treatises.not 80 as
  the DaVinci Code claims

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What are the Nag Hammadi Documents?

• The books included Gospels (e.g. Thomas, Philip),
  Acts (e.g. Peter and the Twelve Apostles),
  letters (e.g. Peter to Philip) and Apocalypses
  (e.g. Paul, Peter).
• So, why arent these books in the Bible?

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How Did we Settle on 27 Books of the N.T.?

1. They were a response to heretics. Ex. - Marcion-
   A.D. 140
2. They were a response to persecution. Diocletian-
   A.D. 303
3. They were upheld by the early church
   leaders.Polycarp (A.D. 115) Justin Martyr (A.D.
   100-165) Ignatius (A.D. 50-115)

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Criteria of Canonicity Inclusion in N.T.

• Five criteria
• Apostolic written or sanctioned by an apostle
• Ancient had to be written near the time of
  Christ of his followers.
• Orthodox Consistence of Doctrine with rest of
  Scripture.
• High Moral and Spiritual Value
• Wide spread acceptance

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Reliability of the New Testament

• Four criteria
• Manuscripts
• Archeology
• Prophecy
• Statistics

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New Testament Manuscripts
ImportantManuscriptPapyri Contents DateOriginal Written MSSDate Approx.Time Span Location
p52(John RylandsFragment)3 John 1831-33,37-38 circa96 A.D. circa125A.D. 29 yrs John Rylands Library, Manchester, England
P46 (Chester Beatty Papyrus) Rom. 517-63,5-14 815-25, 27-35, 37-932 101-11, 22, 24-33, 35-148,9-159, 11-33 161-23, 25-27 Heb. 1 2 Cor., Eph., Gal., Phil., Col. 1 Thess. 11,9-10 21-3 55-9, 23-28 50's-70's circa200A.D. Approx.150 yrs Chester Beatty Museum, Dublin Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan library
P66 (Bodmer Papyrus) John 11-611,35-1426 fragment of 1429-219 70's circa200A.D. Approx.130 yrs Cologne, Geneva
P67  Matt. 39,15 520-22, 25-28   circa200A.D. Approx.130 yrs Barcelona, Fundacion San Lucas Evangelista, P. Barc.1
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New Testament Manuscripts

• This is papyrus p52, the oldest known
  fragment of any gospel.
• The front is John 1831-33 (shown), the back is
  John 1837-38.
• It is dated about AD 125, only 35 years after
  this Gospel was written.

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New Testament Manuscripts

• This is papyrus p46, one of the most
  extensive collections containing large sections
  of Romans, all of Hebrews, I and II Cor.
• Hebrews in background, II Corinthians in
  foreground.
• It is dated about AD 200, about 150 years after
  most books were written.
• You can see this at the University of Michigan,
  Ann Arbor.

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Manuscripts Reliability of

• Bibliographical Test
• Internal Test
• External Test

This is a section of p66
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Manuscripts Reliability- Bibliographical Test

• The number of copies of the manuscripts
• The time span between the original and the
  earliest known copy

This is a section of p67
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Author2 DateWritten Earliest Copy Approximate Time Span between  original copy Number of Copies Accuracy of Copies
 Pliny 61-113 A.D. 850 A.D. 750 yrs 7 ----
 Plato 427-347 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 yrs 7 ----
 Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 10 ----
 Aristotle 384-322 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1400 49 ----
 Sophocles 496-406 B.C. 1000 A.D. 1400 yrs 193 ----
 Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95
 New Testament 1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D. 2nd Cent. A.D. (c. 130 A.D. f.) less than 100 years 5600 99.5
New Testament Between 100 and 300 yrs. 14,970 99.6
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EARLY PATRISTIC QUOTATIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
WRITER Gospels Acts Pauline General Revelation Total
Epistles Epistles
Justin Martyr 268 10 43 6 3 330
Irenaeus 1,038 194 499 23 65 1,8.19
Clement Alex. 1,017 44 1,127 207 11 2,406
Origen 9,231 349 7,778 399 165 17,922
Tertullian 3,822 502 2,609 120 205 7,258
Hippolytus 734 42 387 27 188 1,378
Eusebius 3,258 211 1,592 88 27 5,176
Totals 19,368 1,352 14,035 870 664 36,289
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Internal Test

• Luke 11-3 - Many have undertaken to draw up an
  account of the things that have been fulfilled
  among us, just as they were handed down to us by
  those who from the first were eyewitnesses and
  servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself
  have carefully investigated everything from the
  beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an
  orderly account for you, most excellent
  Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of
  the things you have been taught.
• 2 Peter 116
• John 1935
• I Corinthians 153-8

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External Test
Josephus (Jewish historian, priest, Pharisee) The Antiquities 18.63-64 c.93 a.d. About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.
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MAPS Archaeology

• Joshua 6
• Pontius Pilate
• John 5
• 25,000 sites Nelson Glueck, the renowned Jewish
  archaeologist has said, It may be stated
  categorically that no archaeological discovery
  has ever controverted a biblical reference

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MAPS Prophecy
The Messiah would Old Testament reference New Testament fulfillment
Be A descendent of David 2 Samuel 712-16 Jer. 235 Psalm 893-4 Matthew 1 Luke 127,32,69
Be Born in Bethlehem Micah 52 Luke 24-20
Be Born of a virgin Isaiah 714 Matthew 1 Luke 1
Be The seed of the woman come to destroy the work of Satan Genesis 315-16 1 John 38 ultimately Rev. 2010
Be a Priest in the order of Melchisedek Ps. 1104 Hebrews 56
Come before the Scepter passed from the tribe of Judah Genesis 4910 11AD
Come while the temple of Jerusalem is standing Mal. 31 Dan. 926 Zech. 1113 Haggai 27-9 Mt.2112
Open the eyes of the blind Is. 2918 Mt.927-31,1222,2029 Mk.822-26,1046 Lk.1114,1835 Jn.91-7
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MAPS Statistics

• The likelihood of just eight of prophecies were
  fulfilled in one person would be 1 in
  100,000,000,000,000,000
• 1 with 17 zeroes
• Would be like covering the state of Texas with
  silver dollars two feet deep.

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Evidence the Bible is from God

• Historically accurate
• Internally consistent
• Corresponds to external historical records
• Prophecies were fulfilled
• Statistically probable
• It transforms lives