Christianity and the New Testament in particular, seem to be under attack form all angles. The "New Atheists", led by Richard Dawkins, have declared the New Testament to be mythology. Yet no book form the ancient world is as well supported as the New Testament, no book has as many copies that date so closely to the events described. In short, the New Testament is the champion of all the works of antiquity.
One can use several different ways to prove the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts. These include the number, dating, accuracy and confirmation of the available manuscripts. The number of New Testament manuscripts is vast compared with the typical book form antiquity, which has only seven to ten manuscript copies. The New Testament has almost 5,700 Greek manuscript in existence - this makes it the best textually supported book from antiquity. No other book, fragment, or work, comes close.
But how close to the crucifixion can we get? When was the New Testament written? Was it, as stated in the Da Vinci Code, authored hundreds of years after the event described? Hardly. The earliest undisputed manuscript of a New Testament book is the John Rylands Papyri (P52, dated A.D. 117) which survives form within about a generation of the time most scholars believed it was composed (AD 95). Since it was composed in Asia Minor and discovered in Egypt, the demand for circulation time (time for written information to travel in the ancient world was much longer than today) would place the composition of John in the first century. Not 325 AD, as Dawkins and company propose.
Why this is important is best summed up by noted British manuscript scholar, Sir Frederick Kenyon. He stated," The interval then between the dates of 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 Scripture 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 New Testament may be regarded as finally established."
Stated simply, no other book form the ancient world has as small a time gap (between composition and the earliest manuscript copies) as the New Testament. The tragedy of this is that most Christians do not know this. They are unaware of how easy it is to defend the Bible. They are unversed in basic apologetics. Teaching simple facts, like those outlined above, would help Christians, especially Christian youth, stand up to the doubt that surrounds them. It is time to start the widespread teaching of Christian apologetics, espesally to teens.
One can use several different ways to prove the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts. These include the number, dating, accuracy and confirmation of the available manuscripts. The number of New Testament manuscripts is vast compared with the typical book form antiquity, which has only seven to ten manuscript copies. The New Testament has almost 5,700 Greek manuscript in existence - this makes it the best textually supported book from antiquity. No other book, fragment, or work, comes close.
But how close to the crucifixion can we get? When was the New Testament written? Was it, as stated in the Da Vinci Code, authored hundreds of years after the event described? Hardly. The earliest undisputed manuscript of a New Testament book is the John Rylands Papyri (P52, dated A.D. 117) which survives form within about a generation of the time most scholars believed it was composed (AD 95). Since it was composed in Asia Minor and discovered in Egypt, the demand for circulation time (time for written information to travel in the ancient world was much longer than today) would place the composition of John in the first century. Not 325 AD, as Dawkins and company propose.
Why this is important is best summed up by noted British manuscript scholar, Sir Frederick Kenyon. He stated," The interval then between the dates of 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 Scripture 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 New Testament may be regarded as finally established."
Stated simply, no other book form the ancient world has as small a time gap (between composition and the earliest manuscript copies) as the New Testament. The tragedy of this is that most Christians do not know this. They are unaware of how easy it is to defend the Bible. They are unversed in basic apologetics. Teaching simple facts, like those outlined above, would help Christians, especially Christian youth, stand up to the doubt that surrounds them. It is time to start the widespread teaching of Christian apologetics, espesally to teens.
About the Author:
Keith Deltano is a exciting and captivating youth speaker He uses comedy to take on contemperarytopics. He is one of the nations most booked and influential youth speakers
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