Evidence for the Canon

1
Evidence for the Canon

• Are the documents reliable?
• Are there variant readings?
• Do these variants make the Bible less reliable?

2
Introduction

• We have studied how the canon was assembled.
• We have studied how the original documents were
  written
• Now the focus is on the reliability of the Bible.

3
Introduction

• Some questions that need to be answered
• Are the books we have reliable?
• Are they accurate to the original work?
• Would Peter, Luke or Paul recognize the books
  that claim their authorship?
• What about the variant readings?
• What about number of documents and fragments
  discovered?

4
New Testament

• Scholars testify

• Philip Schaff Fewer than 400 out of 150,000
  documents have any problem.
• None of these variants include an article of
  faith or precept of duty which is not abundantly
  sustained by other and undoubted passages.

5
New Testament

• Scholars testify

• Geisler and Nix If one word is misspelled in
  3,000 different manuscripts, this is counted as
  3,000 variants or readings.
• F. F. Bruce The wealth of attestation is such
  that the true reading is almost invariably bound
  to be preserved by at least one of the thousands
  of witnesses.

6
New Testament

• Scholars testify

• Sir Fredric Kenyon No fundamental doctrine of
  the Christian faith rest on a disputed reading.
• It cannot be too strongly asserted that in
  substance the text of the Bible is certain.

7
New Testament

• Scholars testify

• Sir Fredric Kenyon Especially is this the case
  with the New Testament. The number of manuscripts
  of the NT, of early translations from it, and of
  quotations from it in the oldest writers of the
  Church, is so large that it is practically
  certain that the true reading of every doubtful
  passage is preserved in some one or other of
  these ancient authorities.

8
New Testament

• Scholars testify

• Howard Vos From the standpoint of literary
  evidence the only logical conclusion is that the
  case for the reliability of the New Testament is
  infinitely stronger than for any other record of
  antiquity.

9
Manuscripts of Antiquity
10
Manuscripts of NT
11
Manuscript Evidence

• A. T. Robertson There are more than 13,000
  copies of complete works of the NT.
• This does not include the 10s of thousands of
  fragments and partials
• This does not include the quotations by early
  church fathers
• This does not count the 76 complete papyri of the
  entire NT.

12
Manuscript Evidence

• Sir Fredric Kenyon The interval then between
  the dates of the original composition and the
  earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to
  be in fact negligible, and the last foundation
  for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down
  to us substantially as they were written has now
  been removed. Both the authenticity and the
  general integrity of the books of the NT may be
  regarded as finally established.

13
Dating of NT Documents

• Dating procedures for these documents include
• Materials used
• Letter size and form
• Punctuation
• Text divisions
• Ornamentation
• Color of ink
• Texture and color of the parchment

14
Famous Early Documents

• John Ryland a 2.5 X 3.5 inches contains John
  1831-33 from 117-138 AD
• Chester Beatty Papyri A book of more than 220
  pages, 10 X 8 inches 200 AD
• Bodmer Papyrus Earliest known copy of Luke and
  John printed in uncials 175-225 AD

15
Famous Early Documents

• Codex Sinaiticus 350
• Codex Vaticanus 325 250 AD
• Many others too numerous to list all

16
Supported by Church Fathers

• Tertullian 160 220
• Origen 185 253 more than 6,000 writings
• Ignatius 70 110
• Polycarp 65 155 Student of John
• Iraneaus 180 Student of Polycarp
• Josephus 37-100 Jewish historian

17
Early Church Fathers

• Eusebius 130 Mark, having been the
  interpreter of Peter wrote down accurately all
  that he (Peter) mentioned, whether saying or
  doings of Christ, not, however, in order. For he
  was neither a hearer nor a companion of the Lord
  but afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter,
  who adapted his teachings as necessity required,
  not as though he were making a compilation of the
  sayings of the Lord.

18
Early Church Fathers

• Iraneaus (180) He was a student of Polycarp,
  who was a student of John. Iraneaus became the
  bishop of Lyons (now part of France). He
  converted almost the entire population of Lyons
  and sent other missionaries to other parts of
  pagan Europe.
• Polycarp (70-156) He was a disciple of John.
  He was burned at the stake at 86 years of age.

19
NT Evidence

• Luke 11-3 Some who followed Christ wrote of
  his life
• 2 Peter 116 We were eyewitnesses of his
  majesty
• 1 John 13 That which we have seen and heard
• Acts 222 Miracles God did in your midst

20
NT Evidence

• John 2030-31 Signs done in the presence of his
  disciples
• Luke 31-2 All the current leaders are listed
  by name and title
• Acts 2624-26 Apostles did not do things
  hidden, in a corner

21
F. F. Bruce

• Indeed, the evidence is that the early
  Christians were careful to distinguish between
  the saying of Jesus and their own inferences or
  judgments. Paul, for example, when discussing the
  vexed questions of marriage and divorce in 1
  Corinthians 7, is careful to make this
  distinction between his own advice on the subject
  and the Lords decisive ruling I, not the
  Lord and again, Not I, but the Lord.

22
OT Reliability

• Not as many manuscripts as the NT
• The Talmudists (100-500 AD)
• Jews who spent time cataloging civil and
  religious law
• They had an intricate system for transcribing
  scrolls for the synagogues

23
Talmudist Rules

• Only written on skins of clean animals
• Fastened together with strings from clean animals
• Prepared for the use in synagogues only
• Every skin must contain a certain number of
  columns, equal throughout the codex
• Ink should be black not red, green or other
  colors

24
Talmudist Rules

• Each column must be at least 48 letters
• Each column should not be more then 60 lines
• The original must be an authentic copy
• Space between every consonant a hairs breadth
• Name of God must be written with a new pen, newly
  dipped in ink

25
Talmudist Rules

• Never allow an interruption during the writing of
  a name of God
• Even if the king speaks to you
• Write the name of God with washed hands
• If any rules are broken the scroll must be
  burned, destroyed or just used in a school for
  practice

26
Massoretic Period (500-990)

• Massorites Word means tradition
• They sought to hold on to the tradition of using
  Hebrew as it became a dead language
• They added vowel markings to insure proper
  pronunciation

27
Massoretic Period (500-990)

• They also added the calculations to insure
  accuracy
• They counted letters per line
• They counted words per line
• They counted lines per page
• The counted words per page
• All the totals were checked against the authentic
  document being copied

28
Archaeology for OT

• Walls of Jericho Garstand As to the main
  fact, the, there remains no doubt the walls fell
  outwards so completely that the attackers would
  be able to clamber over their ruins into the
  city.

29
Archaeology for OT

• Sodom and Gomorrah W. F. Albright, M. G. Kyle
  They found at the southeast corner of the Dead
  Sea five oases made fresh water streams, and
  centrally located high place for religious
  festivals. The pottery found in that area dated
  between 2500 and 2000 BC.
• Thousands of other examples could be cited.

30
OT Reliability

• Robert Dick Wilson In 144 cases of
  transliteration from Egyptian, Assyrian,
  Babylonian and Moabite into Hebrew and in 40
  cases of the opposite, or 184 cases in all, the
  evidence shows that for the 2300 to 3900 years
  the text of the proper names in the Hebrew Bible
  has been transmitted with the most minute
  accuracy.

31
The Hebrew Text

• Cairo Codex 895 AD This book is a Massoretic
  text of the Old Testament. It is kept in the
  British Museum.
• Codex Babylonicus Earliest complete OT 1008
  AD This codex is at a museum in St. Petersburg,
  Russia
• Aleppo Codex 900 AD It was discovered in 1958
• British Museum Codex 950 AD This book
  contains Genesis through Deuteronomy

32
Dead Sea Scrolls

• 40,000 fragments located here
• 500 complete books
• Every book in the OT was found here except Esther
• There are commentaries on almost every OT book
• Discovered in 1947

33
Dead Sea Scrolls

• City of Qumran
• Occupied by Essenes strict sect seeking to
  preserve the Jewish religion
• Leather scrolls preserved in clay jars, sealed
  tops
• Value of the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Isaiah scroll from around 150 BC
• 1,000 years older than previously known
• No significant changes in the text

34
Conclusions

• New Testament
• The evidence is overwhelming.
• The books of the NT are reliable.
• Old Testament
• The documents are reliable
• Archaeology supports the OT
• We have the Word of God.