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Introduction / Accusation #1
“THE BIBLE: SO MISUNDERSTOOD IT'S A SIN”
Five accusations of Biblical credibility:
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Uncertainty over “which books belong in the Bible”
“Error-plagued manuscripts”
“Humanly added sections”
“Bad English translations”
“Numerous internal contradictions”
Introduction
“TEST everything; HOLD FAST what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5.21)
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The Bible’s “Scientific Method”
James and 2 Peter are the two most disputed books of the New Testament Canon
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Accusation #1
Some believe James was not written to Christians but to Jews, and that although James DOES belong in the Biblical canon, it actually belongs in the OT, or perhaps “between the testaments”… …and that it has little value to the modern Christian that perhaps faith lessons we could glean from Genesis or other OT books that technically don’t apply to us today. So, they say, even though it was written after the cross, it was written to non-Christian Jews.
But this viewpoint is seriously problematic…
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Accusation #1
James certainly wasn’t addressing nonChristian Jews because…
James 2.1 (ESV) My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. James 1.25 (ESV) But the one who looks into the perfect* law, the law of liberty (freedom), and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. * [τέλειος=brought to its end, finished, complete, perfect]
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Per James 1.25… The Law of Moses was neither “perfect” nor a “law of freedom.” It wasn’t perfect because… H7.19 …the law made nothing perfect [τελειόω=to make perfect, complete]; H8.7
…if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
OT’s primary “faults”? Imperfect sacrifices and no permanent forgiveness of sins, which Christ, our Perfect Sacrifice, took care of.
And it wasn’t a law of freedom because… G4.3 So also, when we were children, we were [when under the LOM] in SLAVERY under the basic principles of the world. G2.4
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[Paul referred to the "FREEDOM we have in Christ Jesus.“]
The Law of Moses The Law was designed by God from the beginning to be a temporary law.
--Jesus said He didn’t come to “abolish it” (M5.17; Greek=destroy) --Paul said the Law was “abolished” (E2.15; Greek=deactivated/unemployed) So, the Law was deactivated, but not destroyed.
EXAMPLE: Like a B-17 WW2 aircraft in a museum, complete with bullet holes from battles— it’s still useful for learning things from, still inspires us with reminders of the acts of courage as we gaze at its bullet holes from battles, but replaced eventually by much better aircraft. But UNLIKE this example, the Law was perfectly created for its [temporary] job, since God, it’s Creator, is perfect. (Just as we are imperfect, by the purposeful design of a perfect Creator.
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Arguments against 2 Peter…
Wasn’t listed in the Muratorian Fragment (last pages missing)
Slow acceptance into the New Testament canon (was a late writing, and appeared at a time of intense persecution=less distribution)
Quoted less than any other book by early Christian writers (was a small book, containing 1600 words, less than 1% of NT’s 190,000; came later; came during intense persecution, certainly for Peter himself)
Was it borrowed from Jude? (does it really matter?)
1 & 2 Peter weren’t written by the same person (Amanuensis used in 1P, but not in 2P—see1P5.12)
The doctrines of 1 & 2 Peter “don’t match” (2P=‘Gnostic’?)
Contradictions between 1 & 2 Peter (2P emphasizes human effort “too much”. EG: 2P1.10 “as long as you practice [ποιέω=to do/practice] these things, you will never fall.”)
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2 Peter was likely written during a time of intense persecution‌
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Accusation #1
Timeline of Persecutions in the Early Church 35
Stephen martyred; Paul converted
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Apostle James beheaded by Herod Agrippa
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Jews expelled from Rome
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Nero launches persecution
65? Peter and Paul executed (historians differ‌some say 1 & 2 Peter written ~AD `67-68) 80s
Domitian develops emperor worship
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Domitian executes or exiles several family members on charges of "atheism"
107 Simeon, cousin of Jesus and bishop of Jerusalem, killed for political (anti-Semitic) reasons 110 Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, martyred in Rome http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1990/issue27/2726.html
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Both 1 & 2 Peter refer to or imply this intense, “global” persecution…
1 Peter 5.9 (ESV) Resist him (Satan), firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (NOTE:1 Peter mentions suffering 5x MORE than 2 Peter—assuming 2P1.14 implies persecution).
2 Peter 1.14 (ESV) …the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
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The severe persecution undoubtedly made… -- Peter’s finding an amanuensis more difficult, -- Copying 2P more difficult, and… -- Distributing 2P much more difficult (hence fewer copies of and quotations from 2P).
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Accusation #1
But how do we explain the “rough style of writing” of 2 Peter but not of 1 Peter? Does this mean 1 & 2 Peter had two different authors?
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Accusation #1
ANSWER: Peter had an amanuensis when he wrote his first epistle (Silas, see 1P5.12), did not when he wrote his second epistle— presumably due to the persecution.
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Accusation #1
Remember, Peter was not formally educated…
Acts 4.13 (ESV) Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, [ἀγράμματος=illiterate, unlearned] common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
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“THE BIBLE: SO MISUNDERSTOOD IT'S A SIN”
Five accusations of Biblical credibility:
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Uncertainty over “which books belong in the Bible”
“Error-plagued manuscripts”
“Humanly added sections”
“Bad English translations”
“Numerous internal contradictions”
Introduction
These attacks are extremely serious, because God will compare our lives to His Word to determine our eternal destinations… John 12.47-48 [ESV] If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world… …The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a Judge; THE WORD that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
Revelation 20.12 [Here’s what will happen ‘on the last day’…] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened [records of men’s deeds?]. Then another book was opened [see J12.48], which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
James 1.21 [Put away all evil and in its place]…receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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“THE BIBLE: SO MISUNDERSTOOD IT'S A SIN”
Five accusations of Biblical credibility:
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Uncertainty over “which books belong in the Bible”
“Error-plagued manuscripts”
“Humanly added sections”
“Bad English translations”
“Numerous internal contradictions”
Introduction
"There are more variations among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament," says Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, a groundbreaking biblical scholar and professor at the University of North Carolina who has written many books on the New Testament. [Textual reconstructionists] were already working from a fundamentally flawed document. Errors and revisions by copyists had been written in by the fifth century…
Newsweek: “The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s a Sin”
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Eberhard Nestle estimated this number as 150,000–200,000 variants.[3] Bart D. Ehrman has estimated that there are "between 200,000–400,000 variants [in] several million pages of manuscripts."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_variants_in_the_New_Testament
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Why did early Christians make so many copies?
1. 2. 3.
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Judged by it (J12.48; Rv20.12) Gifts of the HS passing away (A8.18; 1C13.8) Commanded to make copies?? (1Th5.27; Cl4.16)
Introduction
These attacks are extremely serious, because God will compare our lives to His Word to determine our eternal destinations… John 12.47-48 [ESV] If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world… …The one who rejects Me and does not receive My words has a Judge; THE WORD that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
Revelation 20.12 [Here’s what will happen ‘on the last day’…] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened [records of men’s deeds?]. Then another book was opened [see J12.48], which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
James 1.21 [Put away all evil and in its place]…receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
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Was copying NT letters commanded?
1 Thess 5.27 (ESV) I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. Col 4.16 (ESV) And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter FROM* Laodicea. *εk= out of, from, by, away from=like exit'; not to be confused with pros=for, to (see p46 on Ephesus) TO SAY THEY ‘FURIOUSLY MADE COPIES’ IS SPECULATIVE…THERE REALLY AREN’T A GREAT NUMBER OF MSs FROM THE FIRST 4 CENTURIES, BUT ONE REASON IS THE MATERIAL THE EARLIEST MSs WERE WRITTEN ON WAS PAPYRUS, WHICH LASTED ~100 YEARS ON AVERAGE.
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Accusation #1
Smyrna
Near Laodicea and Hierapolis
Iconium
Ephesus
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Introduction / Accusation #1
A ‘VARIATION’ IS NOT AN ‘ERROR’ The word "error" is often confused with the word "variation"—but the two are far from the same. "A textual variant [variation] is simply any difference from a standard text (e.g., a printed text, a particular manuscript, etc.) that involves spelling [i.e., abbreviations], word order, omission, addition, substitution, or a total rewrite of the text.“ VARIATIONS ARE NORMAL AND EXPECTED. If [a copyists] eye[s] skips to an earlier word, they may create a repetition (error of dittography). If their eye skips to a later word, they may create an omission, or they may resort to performing a slight rearranging of words to retain the overall meaning without compromising the context. Spellings occasionally change. Synonyms may be substituted. A pronoun may be changed into a proper noun (such as "he said" becoming "Jesus said"). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_variants_in_the_New_Testament
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Why does the NT have the most ‘variations’?
To be sure, there are more variants for the New Testament than for any other piece of ancient literature, but that's because there are more manuscripts for the New Testament than for any other piece of ancient literature. Consider the King James Version compared to virtually any modern New Testament translation: There are about 5000 differences in the underlying Greek text between these two. The vast majority of the differences cannot even be translated. The KJV is based on significantly later manuscripts, yet not a single cardinal doctrine of the Christian faith is affected by the different variants. Daniel B Wallace
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People are obviously using different techniques for counting “variations.”
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Is it 150,000, 400,000, or 1,000,000? Are we including only the 5,800 Greek MSs, or also the 19,000 early translations into other languages? Are we including the 1,000,000 quotations by early Christian writers? (Enough to reconstruct the entire New Testament) Are we counting a variation every time it occurs in every MS— or only once per NT verse/word, and ignoring if the same variation is found in another MS?
Because of the widely varying approaches to counting variations, the best way to see “how substantial� variations actually are is simply to look at examples of them.
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Accusation #1
For example, abbreviations account for a huge number of variations, yet have no effect on the ultimate meaning of the Bible.
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Accusation #1
The manuscript starts with “Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ” meaning “Paul the apostle of Christ”—earliest know copy of Ephesians, and several other Pauline epistles as well.
Papyrus 46 (~AD 175-225) Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
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Note the abbreviations
Papyrus 46 (~AD 175-225) Hebrews 10-8-? Creative Commons 3.0
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Accusation #1
Translation of P46, folio 31, recto side Hebrews 10.8-20
Papyrus 46 (~AD 175-225) Hebrews 10.8-20 TRANSLATION
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Accusation #1
Here’s a look at ‘every’ variation of Matthew 1… (misspellings, abbreviations, and other insignificant variations are obviously excluded)
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Accusation #1
Here's every substantial variation in Matthew 1‌ Matthew 1:3 Î–ÎąĎ Îľ — 1 B mae-1 Î–ÎąĎ Îą — rell (i.e., all other extant MSS that have been collated at this passage) Matthew 1:6 ΔιυΚδ δξ Îż Î˛ÎąĎƒÎšÎťÎľĎ…Ď‚ (Also David the king) — C K L W Δ Î 33 157 892 1071 đ?”? itmss vg syrh geo ΔιυΚδ δξ (Also David) — 1 ‍×?‏B Γ Ć’1 Ć’13 579 700 itg1,k vgmss syrs, c,p cop arm Didymus Matthew 1:16 “Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.â€? Î™ÎˇĎƒÎżĎ…Ď‚ (Jesus) — omitted by Ć’1
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Here's every substantial variation in Matthew 1... (continued)
Matthew 1:18 Î™ÎˇĎƒÎżĎ… (Jesus) — W Î§Ď ÎšĎƒĎ„ÎżĎ… (Christ) — 71 Latt syrs,c Diatessaronsyr Theophilus Irenaeuslat Chromatius Jerome-pt Augustine Î§Ď ÎšĎƒĎ„ÎżĎ… Î™ÎˇĎƒÎżĎ… (Christ Jesus) — B Origenpt Jeromept Î™ÎˇĎƒÎżĎ… Î§Ď ÎšĎƒĎ„ÎżĎ… (Jesus Christ) — rell Matthew 1:19 Î´ÎľÎšÎłÎźÎąĎ„ÎšĎƒÎąÎš (divorce) — 1‍×?‏B Z Ć’1 Ď€ÎąĎ ÎąÎ´ÎšÎłÎźÎąĎ„ÎŻĎƒÎąÎš (renege the marriage vow) — *‍×?‏W Ď€ÎąĎ ÎąÎ´ÎľÎšÎłÎźÎąĎ„ÎšĎƒÎąÎš (renege the marriage vow) — 2‍×?‏C L Θ Ć’13 33 đ?”? Matthew 1:21 τξΞξτιΚ δξ ĎƒÎżÎš υΚον (Then she will bring forth to you a son) — syrs,c τξΞξτιΚ δξ υΚον (Then she will bring forth a son) — rell Matthew 1:21 (cont) ιυτος ÎłÎąĎ ĎƒĎ‰ĎƒÎľÎš τον ÎşÎżĎƒÎźÎżÎ˝ (for he will save the world) — syrc ιυτος ÎłÎąĎ ĎƒĎ‰ĎƒÎľÎš τον Νιον ιυτου (for he will save his people) — rell
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Introduction / Accusation #1
Here's every substantial variation in Matthew 1... (continued)
Matthew 1:22 δια Ησαιου του προφητου (through Isaiah the prophet) — D 269 954 ita,b,c,d vgmss syrs,h,pal copsams arm Diatessaronsyr Irenaeuslat
δια στοματος Ησαιου του προφητου (through the mouth of Isaiah the prophet) — syrc δια του προφητου (through the prophet) — rell Matthew 1:23 καλεσεις το ονομα (yousg will call his name) — D*,2 itd(c),ff1 copbomss Origen Eusebius καλεσει το ονομα (he will call his name) — itd* καλεσουσιν το ονομα (they will call his name) — rell
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Introduction / Accusation #1
Here's every substantial variation in Matthew 1... (continued)
Matthew 1:24 áź?ÎłÎľĎ Î¸Îľá˝śĎ‚ (woke) — ‍×?‏B C* Z 071 Ć’1 Î´ÎšÎľÎłÎľĎ Î¸Îľá˝śĎ‚ (was awakened) — C3 D L W 087 Ć’13 33 đ?”? Matthew 1:25 ουκ ÎľÎłÎšÎ˝Ď‰ĎƒÎşÎľÎ˝ ιυτΡν ξως ου (was not knowing her until which [time]) — omitted by itk syrs Matthew 1:25 (cont.) υΚον (a son) — ‍×?‏B Zvid 071vid Ć’1 Ć’13pt 33 1192 itb,c,g1,k syrc,palmss mae-1 geo Ambrose Chromatius ιυτω υΚον (to him a son) — syrs τον υΚον (the son) — copbo υΚον ιυτΡς (her son) — 1182 copsa τον υΚον τον Ď€Ď Ď‰Ď„ÎżĎ„ÎżÎşÎżÎ˝ (the firstborn son) — D* L itd,q τον υΚον ιυτΡς τον Ď€Ď Ď‰Ď„ÎżĎ„ÎżÎşÎżÎ˝ (her firstborn son) — rell
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Introduction / Accusation #1
The vast majority of variations are said to be in the “Gospels”, since about half of all Greek MSs are said to be copies of the Gospels (3000=Gospels, 800=Pauline, 700=Acts & General Epistles, 300=Revelation, 2000=Lectionaries).
So, to close out part 2, let’s take a quick look at the entire Book of Revelation to get an idea of the number of variations there are in non-Gospel books… (Don’t worry, this shouldn’t take
long)
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Accusation #1
Here's every substantial variation of Revelation… Rev 1:4-7 Apparently some MSs don’t have these verses. In P18, an extremely early fragment [All 7 major English xlations contain them] Rev 1:5 λυσαντι ημας εκ (freed us from) — \mathfrak{P}18, אc, A, C, 2020, 2081, 2814 λουσαντι ημας απο (washed us from) — P, 046, 94, 1006, 1859, 2042, 2065, 2073, 2138, 2432 Rev 1:6 βασιλειαν (kingdom) — א, A, 046, 1854, 2050, 2351 βασιλεις (kings) — P, ByzA Rev 5:9 ἠγόρασας τῷ θεῷ (redeemed to God) — A, eth ἠγόρασας τῷ θεῷ ἡμας (redeemed to God us) — 046, 1006, 1611, 1859, 2020, 2042, 2053,
2065, 2081,
2138, 2432, copbo א
ἠγόρασας ἡμας τῷ θεῷ (redeemed us to God) — 94, 1828, 2073, 2344, copsa ἠγόρασας ἡμας (redeemed us) — 2065*, 2814, Cyprian Rev 8:13 “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew…” αετου (eagle) – א, A, 046 αγγελου (angel) – ByzA 46
Here's every substantial variation of Revelation… (continued) Rev 11:18 τοις δουλοις σου και τοις προφηταις (thy servants and prophets) — \mathfrak{P}47, 0308 ,א τοις δουλοις σου τοις προφηταις (thy servants prophets) — A, Byz Uncial 0308: (Servants and prophets) Rev 13:18 εξακοσιοι εξηκοντα εξ (six hundred sixty-six) — אA P 046, most minuscules, Byzpt lat syr cop arm eth Irenaeus Hippolytus Origen Victorinus Gregory Primasius Andrew Beatus Arethas
χξϲ (666) — \mathfrak{P}47 051 Byzpt εξακοσιοι εξηκοντα πεντε (six hundred sixty-five) — 2344 εξακοσιοι τεσσαρακοντα εξ (six hundred forty-six) — itar εξακοσιοι δεκα εξ (six hundred sixteen) — C vgms Irenaeusmss Tyconiuspt Caesarius χιϲ (616) — \mathfrak{P}115 Rev 22:14 ποιουντες τας εντολας αυτου (those who do His commandments) —046 94 205 209 1611supp 1854 1859 2030 2042 2065 2073 2138 2329 2377 2432 2814 Byz itgig syr copbo (Tertullian) Cyprian Tyconius (Caesarius) Andrew (Beatus) Arethas
τηρουντες τας εντολας αυτου (those who keep His commandments) — arm πλυνοντες τας στολας αυτων (those who wash their robes) — אA 1006 1841 2020 (2050) 2053 2062 itmss vg copsa eth Ambrose Apringius Fulgentius (Primasius) Haymo
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CONCLUSION: The second attack is invalid.
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Accusation #1