 Did you know… that the New Testament was written in the first century and not hundreds of years later, as some might argue?
The writings range from some letters of Paul written just a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion (3 to 7 years) to the Gospel of John written 60 some years after such event. The New Testament was written by those who either knew Jesus personally and were direct eyewitnesses of His life, claims, and deeds, or were close companions to disciples of Jesus, testifying of what they had seen and experienced with their own eyes and writing to an audience who had also experienced the life, deeds, and claims of Jesus. Although we do not have in our possession the original copies, what we have is an incredible abundance of early manuscripts that make the the New Testament incredibly pure and amazingly accurate, 99.6% accuracy that is according to scholars! The 0.4% variances are insignificant in nature and have absolutely no bearing on the Christian doctrine. The other amazing part that makes the New Testament so credible is that we have absolutely no manuscripts nor writings of the first century from opponents of Christianity that deny nor contest the claims the disciples of Jesus were making. On the contrary, the writings we have attest of the events and claims of the New Testament (even if they denied the claims themselves–so for instance, no one would deny Jesus’ claims to deity or that he was viewed as deity by His followers and that His disciples believed they had seen Him risen from the dead. What they would reject are the claims themselves), making it the more credible. Although the Gospel of John is the last writing, it is the earliest manuscript we have in our possession, dated from only 30 years after it was written. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are believed to have been written within 40 years of Jesus’ death and resurrection. We have over 24,000 manuscripts (5,600 in Greek alone) circulating around the world (and by the way, it is only in the late 2nd and 3rd century that we start seeing some pseudo-gospels such as the Gnostics which start giving a different view to Jesus, His claims, and the events around His life). How does that compare to other events of antiquity? The New Testament puts to shame any other writings and is second to none in its accuracy and purity. Take for instance the work of Plato. What we have are only 7 manuscripts and the span between the actual writings and the earliest manuscripts is 1,200 years. As far as Aristotle, number of manuscripts 49 and span 1,400 years. Caesar, manuscripts 10 and span 1,000 years. Finally, the second most abundant and accurate writing is Homer’s Iliad with 643 manuscripts and a span of 500 years. And yet, no one denies such figures of antiquity and such writings. Why do we then so stubbornly reject the accuracy of the New Testament? Thanks for reading! Finish the article over at GrowingDeeperRoots.org |