Category Archives: Historical Reliability of the Bible

Arguments suporting the Bible’s reliability as a collection of historical documents, with a particular emphasis on the New Testament

12.22.14
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How We Got the New Testament

Carthage

The city of Carthage, now a suburb of Tunis in Tunisia, was the site of the Synod of Carthage in 397 A.D. It was a key city in the Roman Empire at the time.

A favorite charge brought by some “scholars” and atheists is that the New Testament is not reliable because it was assembled hundreds of years after the birth of Christianity at the third Synod of Carthage in 397 AD.   They further claim that by then, politics and power struggles had more to do with the selection of New Testament books than reliable theology.  As such, certain books were “deemed” Holy Scripture and other, more accurate books (e.g. the Gospel of Thomas) were cast away and banned.

Therefore, they assert, Christian practice and doctrine today look very different from the early church and from what Jesus intended.  This claim cuts to the very core of Christianity.  Does the New Testament accurately reflect Jesus’ teachings or is it merely a collection of the most politically expedient books that happened to “win out” at the time?  Let’s take a look. Continue reading →

11.05.14
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About That Error-Filled New Testament…

Codex_Sinaiticus_open_full

The Codex Sinaiticus, a handwritten Greek manuscript written in the middle of the fourth century. It is the earliest existing complete copy of the New Testament.

“Don’t you know that the New Testament is full of errors?  Over the years, scribes made copy after copy, and introduced so many alterations, errors, and variations that today we can’t even be sure what the original texts said!  In fact, scholars have shown that the surviving manuscripts have around 400,000 variations.  That’s a horrible number, especially considering that the entire New Testament only has about 138,000 words!” Continue reading →

10.29.14
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The Truth About Jesus’ Burial

800px-Sisto_Badalocchio_001

One assertion made by anti-Christian authors, such as Bart Ehrman in his recent book, How Jesus Became God, is that Jesus was never buried in a tomb.  Contrary to gospel accounts, they say, the Roman authorities did not allow executed criminals to be buried.  Instead, Jesus would have been left hanging on the cross to become carrion for birds and dogs.  There was no “empty tomb” from which the resurrected Jesus could have emerged because, simply put, there was no tomb. Continue reading →

10.06.14
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Six Facts About Jesus – Part III

6 Facts IIIIn The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Gary R. Habermas, Ph.D. and Michael R. Licona, Ph.D. lay out five facts about Jesus that are basically beyond dispute.  These facts are nearly universally accepted by scholars, both Christian and skeptic.  To those facts, I have added one of my own (#1 below).  These facts are strongly attested historically, and they do not rely on the Bible being divinely inspired or even reliable to be accepted: Continue reading →

09.29.14
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Six Facts About Jesus – Part II

6 Factss IIIn The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Gary R. Habermas, Ph.D. and Michael R. Licona, Ph.D. lay out five facts about Jesus that are basically beyond dispute.

These facts are nearly universally accepted by scholars, both Christian and skeptic.  To those facts, I have added one of my own (#1 below).  These facts are strongly attested historically, and they do not rely on the Bible being divinely inspired or even reliable to be accepted: Continue reading →

09.23.14
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Six Facts About Jesus – Part I

6 Facts I

In a book that I highly recommend, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Gary R. Habermas, Ph.D. and Michael R. Licona, Ph.D. lay out five facts about Jesus that are basically beyond dispute.  These facts are nearly universally accepted by scholars, both Christian and skeptic.  They are strongly attested historically, and they do not rely on the Bible being divinely inspired or even reliable to be accepted.  Let’s take a look at those five facts, and while we’re at it, I’ll add one of my own: Continue reading →

09.13.14
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Do Greek Gospels Mean Weak Gospels?

376px-The_Evangelist_Matthew_Inspired_by_an_Angel (2)In a recent post, we explored the origins of the gospels.  These books outlining Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection, were written relatively soon after his crucifixion and, evidence indicates, are basically first- and second-hand accounts.  The gospels of Matthew and John were written by two of Jesus’ original disciples, at least according to tradition and to early church historians.

Recently, while on a trip across the country, I was reading a book that repeated a common argument against the gospels being eyewitness accounts.  Continue reading →

08.20.14
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They Died for A Lie?

The Exhortation to the Apostles by James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

The Exhortation to the Apostles by James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

The original disciples of Jesus—those to whom he had assigned the task of spreading his message throughout the world—made great claims about His resurrection.  The lives of the disciples after Jesus’ crucifixion, as well as their deaths, make a powerful argument for the truth of their claims.  Let’s explore how. Continue reading →

08.07.14
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Has The New Testament Been Reliably Passed Down to Us?

The Rylands Library Papyrus P52, thought to be the earliest extant fragment of a New Testament text. It contains part of the Gospel of John and dates between 117-138 A.D. Currently, it is displayed in a climate-controlled glass case at the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England.

The Rylands Library Papyrus P52, thought to be the earliest extant fragment of a New Testament text. It contains part of the Gospel of John and dates between 117-138 A.D. It is displayed in a climate-controlled case at the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England.

The New Testament is a diverse collection of 27 books, mostly written during the first century A.D. by a range of authors.  Four of these books, called the gospels, relate the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Another book, Acts of the Apostles, traces the early history of the Christian church as it was formed and began to spread.  Twenty-one books are letters, written by various authors (one of whom was a very important missionary, Paul).  These letters, or epistles, consist of doctrine, counsel, conflict resolution in the early church, and so on.  A final book, Revelation, is a work of apocalyptic prophecy.  Over the early centuries of Christianity, these 27 books became recognized as the church’s official canon.

Given the awesome span of time between their original writing and today, it’s no surprise that we no longer have the original texts.  The books come down to us today thanks to the work of monks and scribes who, over the centuries, copied and recopied the scrolls, attempting to faithfully reproduce the texts and preserve them for future generations.

Continue reading →

07.19.14
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Jesus Outside the Bible

Christ,_by_Heinrich_Hofmann

Christ, by Heinrich Hoffman

Critics of Christianity will often assert that Jesus and his “resurrection” must not have made any significant impact during the first century.  After all, they add, outside of a few gospel accounts and letters in the New Testament, nobody really mentions Jesus or Christians.  He must have been rather obscure, as was his band of followers.  Only after hundreds of years of legendary development did Jesus become considered as the divine Son of God.  If he had been a big deal at the time, then more people would have written about him.

To an uninformed listener, that assertion sounds plausible and even reasonable.  Continue reading →