Dependability of the Bible

Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy  1:8-13 about the wonderful freedom that  we  enjoy  in Christ, and about the relationship between this freedom and the Bible itself
"Therefore  do  not  be  ashamed  of   the testimony of our Lord, or of me  His  prisoner; but join with me in suffering  for  the  gospel according to the power of God;  who  has  saved us, and called us  with  a  holy  calling,  not according to our works, but  according  to  His own purpose and grace which was granted  us  in Christ Jesus from all  eternity,  but  now  has been revealed by the appearing  of  our  Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and  brought life  and  immortality  to  light  through  the gospel, for which I was  appointed  a  preacher and an apostle and a teacher.  For this  reason I also  suffer  these  things,  but  I  am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to  guard  what  I have entrusted to Him until that  day.   Retain the standard of  sound  words  which  you  have heard from me, in the faith and love which  are in Christ Jesus."
As we consider the Bible and seek to  give it its proper place in  our  lives,  there  are some questions that  we  must  deal  with.   In
considering these questions and their  answers, I  am  indebted  to  Wayne  Jackson  and   Bert Thompson of Apologetics Press and their monthly publication "Reason and  Revelation,"  to  F.F. Bruce  and  his   book   "The   New  Testament
Documents: are they reliable?" and Josh McDowell and his work "Evidence That Demands  a Verdict."
Before starting, I should point  out  that there is massive evidence for  the  originality and dependability of the Old  Testament.   But, since we  are  under  the  New  Testament,  our discussion will be limited to the latter book.
The Roman  emperor  Diocletian  issued  an order in 303 to stop the Christians and destroy their Scriptures.  But just a few years  later, in 312, Constantine took over the throne.   The following year he issued  the  Edict  of  Milan offering toleration to the Christian  religion. Within  25   years   of   Diocletian's   edict, Constantine  ordered  that  50  copies  of  the Scriptures be prepared at  government  expense. The French philosopher  Voltaire  claimed  that within  100   years   Christianity   would   be eliminated and forgotten.  But within 50  years of his death, Voltaire's house was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society and his press was used to print Bibles.
There are those today who doubt  that  the books of the Bible as we know  them have  come down through the ages without being altered  to such  an  extent  that   they   are   virtually worthless.  Others doubt that men such as Paul, James, Peter and others wrote books at all, and some go  so  far  as  to  say  that  God  never intended for us to have a written guide.   They say that, since we do not have an original copy of any New Testament book, we  cannot  be  sure what it said,
Are the skeptics right?  Is our  faith  in the Bible shaky at best?
Interestingly enough, it is precisely  the lack of original documents that allows us to be sure about what we have.  If what  we  accepted was based on  a  single,  supposedly  original, copy, it would be fair to raise questions about it being a forgery or being altered.  But  what we  have  are  copies,  taken  from   locations separated by thousands of miles and hundreds of
years, uncovered at periods throughout the past centuries.  They are written  in  a  number  of languages.  There are  more  than  5300  known Greek manuscripts of all or  part  of  the  New Testament,  There are  also  more  than  10,000 Latin Vulgate versions,  plus  at  least  9,300 other early versions.  That makes  a  total  of over 24,000 manuscripts.  The New Testament was written  between  40-l00  AD   The   earliest manuscript is from 125 A. D. , a  mere  25  years after that last  book  was  originally  penned. The closest thing from antiquity is  the  Iliad of Homer.  There are 643 copies,  the  earliest of which is dated 500 years after the  original work.
Remember that the New Testament  has  been around for 1900 years, during most of which  it has transmitted by hand-written  copies.   A.T. Robinson has estimated that the  New  Testament is  about  99.9%  pure.   That  is,  there   is agreement on nearly every verse as to  what  it originally said,  Of the variations that exist, none change any matter  of  doctrine.   Compare this  to  the  works  of  William Shakespeare, written some 300 years ago  and  always  handed down in printed form.   According  to  a  quote originally  appearing  in  the  "North  American Review" and repeated by John Lea  in  his  work "The Greatest Book in the World," "in every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays there are probably  a hundred readings  still  in  dispute,  a  large portion of which materially affect the  meaning of the passages in which they occur."
Even if we  did  not  have  any  of  these manuscripts, we could  reconstruct  nearly  all the New Testament from the works of second- and third-century church writers, sometimes referred to as "church fathers."  Several  authors  have stated  this  fact,  and  Sir  David  Dalrymple decided  to  see  if  this  was  true.    "That question roused my curiosity," he  wrote,  "and as I possessed all the existing  works  of  the Fathers of the second and  third  centuries,  I commenced to search, and up to this time I have found the entire New Testament,  except  eleven verses.  Clement of Rome, who lived during  the latter part of the first century and early part of the second, quoted from Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts,  1  Corinthians,  Titus,  Hebrews  and  I Peter,   Another  First-   and   second-century figure, Ignatius, quoted  from Matthew,  John, Acts,   Romans,   1   Corinthians,   Galatians, Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  1  &   2 Thessalonians, 1  &  2  Timothy  and  1  Peter. Clement of Alexandria, who  lived from  l50  to 212 AD had 2,400 quotes from all  but  three books  of  the   New  Testament.    Tertullian (l60-220) quoted the New  Testament  more  than 7,000 times,  Hippolytus, Origen  and  Cyprian, all of whom died in the third  century,  quoted 1,300, l8,000 and  1,030  times,  respectively. One researcher  located  86,489  quotations  in various works before he died.
In  addition,  we  could   cite   numerous historical facts and non-Christian  writers  to back up the claims that the events recorded  in the New Testament occurred when  it  says  they did, and were recorded when we think they were.
Which books belong in the  New  Testament? Very early in the  second  century  there  were already lists containing the epistles  of  Paul and the four Gospels, with Acts, 1 Peter and  1 John added shortly.  A fragment from the end of the second  century  lists  or  refers  to  all except Hebrews, James and 1 & 2  Peter.   Other lists were compiled in the third  century,  and all  27  books  of  the  New  Testament   were recognized by the second  half  of  the  fourth century.  We should clarify  that  it  was  the authority of these books that caused them to be recognized, and not their recognition that gave them authority.  It was no small thing for  the early Christians to  decide  which  books  were inspired  and  which  were  not.   During   the persecution,  they  were  put  to   death   for possessing their  Scriptures.   They  certainly did not want to die for a book  that  was  less than inspired.  Then, when Constantine  ordered the preparation of 50 copies of  the  Bible  we had an  emperor  requesting  the  exact  books:
nothing more, nothing  less.   There  has  been little disagreement  about  the  New Testament cannon since two councils held in North  Africa in the late 300's.
Those who question that the words recorded in the New  Testament  are  those  of  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter  and  Jude must  do  so  by  being  ignorant  of,  or   by ignoring, the weight of facts,
What  are  we  going  to  do   with   this information?  Now that we have established  the fact that what we have in our hands  is  indeed the work of the first-century authors  to  whom they are attributed, we still must decide  what role these writings are  intended  to  have  in controlling   our   personal   and    religious practices.  Be sure and listen next week as  we look at this all-important aspect of  the  Word of God.  If this Word is the Truth  which  will set us free, how are we to handle it  in  order to obtain that freedom?

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."