How We Got

The Bible
Part 3
Reliability
The Reliability
Of the Bible
 Intense Scrutiny
Around the Middle of the 19th
century Scholar’s commonly
claimed that the Most important
books of the NT including the
Gospels and Acts, did not exist
before the middle of the 2nd
century.
 Intense Scrutiny

• F.C. Baur - Tubingen School, Germany.

• Walter Cassel Supernatural Religion, 1874.

The Weight of Evidence
The Weight of Evidence
• Caesar’s Gallic War
58-50 B.C.

– 10 Good Copies

– Earliest is 900 years

after Caesar’s day.
The Weight of Evidence
• 142 Books of the
Roman History of Livy
59 B.C. – A.D. 17

– Of the 142 books, only 35

survive today

– We only have 22 copies of

those books

– Earliest copy is from the 4th

century
The Weight of Evidence
• The Histories of
Tacitus A.D. 100

– Out of 14 books

– Only 4 ½ survive
today
The Weight of Evidence
• The Annals of Tacitus

– Of 16 books

– Only 10 survive in full

and 2 in part.
The Weight of Evidence
• The History of
Thucydides 450-400
B.C.

– 8 full MSS, the earliest

dating A.D. 900

– A few scraps of papyrus

from the 1st century.
 What to Look For

• The Number of Copies

• The Proximity to the Event

 The Weight of Evidence
• The New Testament

– 5000 Greek MSS of the New Testament

– Earliest, most important Date c. A.D. 350

• Codex Vaticanus - Vatican
• Codex Sinaiticus - British Musem
Codex Vaticanus
Codex Sinaiticus
 The Weight of Evidence
• The New Testament

– Papyrus Fragments discovered in the 20th

Century

• Fragments of an Unknown Gospel 150 A.D.

• Fragments of Papyrus Codex containing John

28:31-33 A.D. 130
Fragments of an Unknown
Gosepl
Fragments of John
 The Weight of Evidence
• Early Church Father’s (quotes and allusions)

– The New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers,

Oxford Historical Society, 1905
 The Weight of Evidence
• Archaeology

– Existence of Hittites

– The Isaiah Scroll (Dead Sea)

– Erastus’ inscription
Extent of the Hittite Empire
Isaiah Scroll
Erastus Inscription
 The Real Objection

• Not the Facts but the Implications

• The Fantastic Claims and Demands

Philosophical Arguments
For Reliability
 Philosophical Arguments
For Reliability

• Consistency:

Is the Bible Full of Contradictions?

 Philosophical Arguments
For Reliability

• Credibility of Witnesses:

How Do You Test Someone’s Testimony?

 Philosophical Arguments
For Reliability

• Self Defeating Testimony?:

Is there anything in the story that seems to

work against it?
 Philosophical Arguments
For Reliability

• Adverse Witness:

Do your enemies affirm anything to be true

that is against their self interest?
 Philosophical Arguments
For Reliability

• Changed Lives:

Test of Divine Revelation

 What Can We Prove
• We Have the testimonies of those who
were closest to Jesus.
• They Literally believed He was who He
said He Was.
• Enemies could not easily counter his
claims.
How We Got
The Bible
Part 3
Reliability