Is the New Testament Accurate and Reliable?

Existing Manuscripts

    Many people wonder if today's Bible matches that of the original.

    • The fact is that there are over 24,000 surviving ancient manuscripts, which is more than any other ancient work.
    • When the text of these manuscripts are compared, they show a remarkable textual reliability.
    • Forty of the Greek manuscripts date back before 300 AD and several date to the second century. One portion of the Gospel of John dates to circa 110 AD (as a point of reference, Jesus was crucified around 32 AD).

    "At present, we have more than six thousand manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament or portions thereof. No other work of Greek literature can boast of such numbers… Furthermore, it must be said that the amount of time between the original composition and the next surviving manuscript is far less for the New Testament than for any other work in Greek literature."
    Philip W. Comfort, Bible Researcher

Internal Test

    When researchers analyze historical documents, they use several criteria to determine accuracy. Below we walk through each criterion and evaluate how the Bible stands.

    Historical Criteria

    New Testament

    Was the author in the position to know what they where writing about?

    All of the New Testament was written by either those who witnessed the events first-hand or recorded direct eyewitness accounts.

    Do the writings contain specific, often irrelevant material? Accurate first-hand accounts often contain specific details, to the point that they seem irrelevant.

    The gospel accounts include massive amounts of details that do not add any relevance to the account. A few examples from the Resurrection account are below:

    • John ran faster than Peter to the tomb.
    • Peter entered the tomb first.
    • The cloth covering Jesus was folded up and placed by itself.

    Does the writing contain material that might cast a negative image on the writer or heroes of the story?

    The New Testament contains several instances of information that casts a shadow on the apostles. A few examples are below:

    • The Gospel of Mark is written on Peter's eyewitness account, yet tells us that Peter denied the Lord three times.
    • Women were the first witnesses to Jesus' resurrection. In that culture the testimony of women was not seen as reliable.
    • Through-out the entire gospels the disciples are described as full of doubt.

    Is the document reasonably self-consistent?

    There are no contradictory accounts in the New Testament teachings.

    Would the authors of the document have a motive for fabricating what they wrote?

    The writers of the New Testament had no reason to fabricate what they wrote. In fact they had everything to lose (family, friends, even their lives).

    Are there other sources that confirm material in the original work?

    There are several historical documents which mention the existence of Jesus and his followers.

Archaeological Evidence

    Archaeology has shown that many of the events, places, and people of the New Testament are consistent with history.

    • Many of the cities mentioned in the New Testament accounts have recently been found in archeological projects. These cities include the towns of Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin, and Tiberias.
    • Several sites described in the New Testament have been rediscovered recently. These include the Pool of Bethesda, the Pool of Siloam, and Jacob’s Well.
    • Mentions of many of the individuals of the New Testament accounts have been found. These include Pontius Pilatus and King Herod.
    • The New Testament account mentions a census taken that required all men to return to the city they were originally from. The record of this type of census was unproven until recently when a official government order from 104 AD was found describing the practice as law.

When Were They Written

    The entire New Testament was written before 150 AD with many of the books completed much earlier.

    • Experts date Mark as the earliest gospel at 68 AD.
    • Matthew is believed to be written between 70-85 AD.
    • Luke is usually placed in the 80-95 AD time frame.
    • The rest of the New Testament is believed to have been written between 51-150 AD .
    • Some scholars believe that all of the gospels were written before 70 AD as Jesus prophesized the destruction of the Jewish Temple, which did occur in 70 AD. These scholars believe the gospels would have mentioned this fact if they were written after the destruction.

Witnesses

    Most of the New Testament was written while first-hand witnesses to Jesus' miracles and resurrection were still alive. If the events that are described in the gospels are not true, those who knew better had the ability to speak out against their reliability.

    "After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep." 1 Corinthians 15:6

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