reliability, authority, innerancy of the bible

H o p eFo

r The Hurting

A Study in 1 Peter

www.confidentchristians.org

The Apologetics Essentials

Authority andInerrancy of Scripture

A Robust Defense of theNew Testament

Apologetic Essentials – Reliability, Authority, and Inerrancy of the bibleBy: Tyler Geffeney

IntroductionWhat the world says about the Bible?


“If you believe that the Bible is real because of faith, we can't touch you … they [Christians] pride themselves on believing things that are hard to believe in. They think God will bless them for that.

But if you want history or fact in your Bible, you are so screwed”– Penn Jillette


“Atheists are free to admit the limits of human understanding in a way that religious

people are not. It is obvious that we do not fully understand the universe; but it is even more obvious that neither the Bible nor the

Koran reflects our best understanding of it.”

– Sam Harris


How do we know that the bible isn’t just an ancient book of mythology inspired by the lore of nearby cultures who religions share similar plot lines replete with narratives of dyeing and rising Gods and accounts of supernatural explanations for the way the world is?

Why should we believe the bible?”


Why should we believe the bible?”

What distinguishes the bible from other sacred texts (i.e. The book of Mormon, the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Tripitaka (Pali Canon), the Qu’ran, Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard)


1.Pre-suppositional: 2.Evidential (proof based)

The 2 Methodologies for establishing biblical authority


Pre-supposition

al:

The bible is self-authenticating

As the Word of God, it

determines how we regard the Word of God.

Presuppositional - Defined


Why I don’t prefer Presuppositional approach

1. It commits a tautology (circular reasoning)2. Same basis for belief in all the other scriptures of the

World Religions.3. Jesus was an Evidentialist4. Faulty understanding of categories regarding the bible

as subjected to authority of historical sciences.


Presuppositional

“I am interested in not only defending what Scripture says about Scripture, but defending it by means of the Bible’s own worldview, it’s own epistemology, and its own values.

John M. Frame

“That there is a circularity here I do not doubt. I am defending the Bible by the Bible.”

Frame, Doctrine of the Word of God, Volume 4: pg. 7


EvidentialismChrist appealed to the use of reason

and evidence to authenticate his identity:

“If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, …believe the works so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

(John 10: 38)


Evidentialist – My approach. 4 steps

1. Establish the Historical Reliability of Scripture


Evidentialist – 4 steps

2. Demonstrate Jesus’ divine messianic identity establishing his categorical Authority.



3. Establish divine authorship and Authority of the OT based on testimony of Jesus.



4. Demonstrate Jesus’ promised New Testament


Evidentialist – 4 steps1. Establish the Historical Reliability of Scripture

Manuscript

Archeology

Prophecy

Scientific Validation


Historical Reliability of the NT Manuscripts

1. Bibliographic test

2. Internal Evidence

3. External Evidence (Validation)

Approaching the bible using the standard methodologies for historical inquiry.


1. Bibliographical Test – how reliable are the manuscripts and how early is the dating?

2. Internal Evidence Test – are there multiple attestations, is the document free of contradictions, and do the accounts match?

3. External Evidence Test – is there external evidence that corroborates the document’s testimony?

How to Judge a Text’s Historical Reliability


Bibliographic test

1. How early are the texts written

2. # of manuscripts do we have

3. Time gap between authorship and earliest extant copies


Bibliographic test1. How early are the texts

written

• Matthew: Written to Jewish believers; dated A.D 42• Luke: Written to Gentiles; dated A.D. 58-60• Mark: Written to Roman/Gentile believers; dated A.D. 66-67

(probably earlier)• John: Written to Christian believers; dated before A.D. 90*

- Dr. David Alan Black, New Testament Scholar, Why Four Gospels?


Bibliographic test

John A.T. Robinson argues that the entire New Testament was written before A.D. 70. - Dr. John A.T. Robinson, Liberal Scholar, Redating the New Testament?


The Bibliographical Test – Why Care About Early Dating?

• Means the accounts were written close to the actual events.

• Eyewitnesses can refute written error.• Too soon for legend to creep in?

• Dr. A. N. Sherwin Write, professor of ancient history, has shown (via the writings of Herodotus) that it takes it takes more than two generations to pass before legend can corrupt a historical account.


1. Citations from Early Church Fathers Help Prove Early Dating

• Matthew• Mark• Luke• Romans• 1 Corinthians• Ephesians• 1 Timothy• Titus• Hebrews• James• 1 Peter

Clement (c. A.D. 95)

•All 4 Gospels• Acts• Romans• 1 & 2 Corinthians• Galatians• Ephesians• Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians • 1 & 2 Timothy

• Titus• Philemon • Hebrews• James• 1 & 2 Peter• 1 & 3 John • Revelation

Ignatius (c. A.D. 107)

Polycarp (c. A.D. 110)

•All 4 Gospels• Acts• Romans• 1 & 2 Corinthians• Galatians• Ephesians• Philippians • Colossians • 2 Thessalonians • 1 & 2 Timothy• 1 Peter & 1 John

Evidence for Early Dating of the New Testament



2. The Scriptures are silent regarding the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70

•Mark 13:1-2Then as He [Jesus] went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” 2 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” NKJV

•Jesus prophesied here and in other places in the New Testament that the temple, as well as the city of Jerusalem, would be destroyed [Matt.23:35-36, 38; 24:1-2; Luke 21:5-6, and v.20-24].

•In Matthew 23:36, and v. 38 Jesus said that that judgment would even come upon the generation that was alive at that time.

•And it is a well-established historical fact that these things did happen in A.D. 70. (Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews.)



2. The Scriptures are silent regarding the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70 (Cont…)The Book of Hebrews, as well as 2 Thessalonians [2:4], speak of the Jewish temple and the activities associated with it as though it were still standing. [See: Heb. 5:1-3; 7:23,27; 8:3-5; 9:25; 10:1,3-4, 11; 13:10-11; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-2] As you may remember, the book of Hebrews is an exhortation to discouraged Hebrews, Jews, who had received Christ but were tempted to go back to…

--Judaism--it’s sacrificial system--and worship in the temple.

That clearly implies that the temple was still standing, for you can’t go back to the sacrificial system and worship in the temple if there is no temple. So, this silence regarding the destruction of the temple, as well as the references that imply that the temple was still standing, are best explained by the fact that the New Testament was largely finished by A.D.70.



3. The Scriptures are silent regarding the great persecution of A.D. 64•.



4. Luke is silent about the martyrdom of Paul in 64 A.D.

• Acts (in second half) was dedicated to the ministry and life of paul. Even built up to his anticipated martyrdom in Rome.

• It defies credulity that Luke would leave out this detail if written after.

• Gospel of Luke was written prior to Acts.

•The Gospel of Matthew was written prior to Luke.



5. Paul quotes Luke’s Gospel and refers to it as Scripture in 1 Timothy 5:18.

5:18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” NKJV When Paul quotes the scripture that says, “The laborer is worthy of his wages” we know Paul was quoting the gospel of Luke. Why? Because this passage is something that only Luke (10:7) records for us. This statement is found nowhere else in the Bible, Old Testament or New.



6. Book of John refers to the pool of Bethesda still being in existence.

John 5:1-3 “After this there was [ past tense] a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is [switch to the present tense, saying in effect “Right now, there is, at the time I, John, write this”] in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. ”

The Pool of Bethesda that John refers to here (see photo) was present at the time that he was writing this gospel.

But this pool, the pool of Bethesda, was destroyed in A.D. 70 with the destruction of the temple and was completely buried, which helps again establish that the gospel of John was probably written before A.D. 70


More Evidence for Early Dating of the New Testament

7. Philologists Abbé Carmignac. (French biblical scholar expert in Qumran Hebrew) and Claude Tresmontant determined that the Synoptics were written in Hebrew (or Aramaic) and not Greek as is commonly supposed.

. Abbé JeanCarmignac

EXAMPLE: In Luke 9:51, the Greek text reads: "He fixed his face to go to Jerusalem," which makes no sense in Greek or in English but proves to be a Hebrew expression frequently used in the Old Testament meaning "He firmly decided."

Hebrew though was no longer used after the scattering of Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD. 70

. Claude Tresmontant

NOTE: The historian Papias mentions that the gospel of Matthew was originally in Aramaic or Hebrew and attributes the gospel to Matthew the apostle.


More Evidence for Early Dating of the New Testament

7. Philologists Abbé Carmignac. (French biblical scholar expert in Qumran Hebrew) and Claude Tresmontant determined that the Synoptics were written in Hebrew (or Aramaic) and not Greek as is commonly supposed.

EXAMPLE: In Luke 9:51, the Greek text reads: "He fixed his face to go to Jerusalem," which makes no sense in Greek or in English but proves to be a Hebrew expression frequently used in the Old Testament meaning "He firmly decided."

Hebrew though was no longer used after the scattering of Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD. 70

NOTE: The historian Papias mentions that the gospel of Matthew was originally in Aramaic or Hebrew and attributes the gospel to Matthew the apostle.

. Abbé JeanCarmignac

. Claude Tresmontant


Bibliographic test2. # of manuscripts copies

When more than one ancient manuscript is considered excellent, and when 6 or more is deemed an embarrassment of riches, what shall we say when the New Testament has

24,970+


Bibliographic test2. # of manuscripts copies

Lucr

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Plato

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Her

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Sueton

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Thucy

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Eurip

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Tacitu

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Aristo

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Sophoc

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Hom

er (I

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New

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ent

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

# of Manuscript Copies


Bibliographic test1. Time gap between authorship and earliest extant

copies

Lucr

etius

Pliny

Plato

Demos

then

es

Herod

otus

Suet

onius

Thuc

ydides

Eurip

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Aristo

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Caesa

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Tacitu

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Soph

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Homer

(Iliad

)

New T

esta

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200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Time Span (years)


“The interval, then, between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence

becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the

Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed.

Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be

regarded as finally established.” – Frederic G. Kenyon

Former director/principal librarian of the British Museum


Internal Evidence


The Key Factor Needed For Historical “Believability”

Eyewitness accounts that were accurately and faithfully recorded by those who can be trusted.

Internal TestThe Bible contains unflattering statements about the followers of Christ which appear to be at odds with the general purpose of the book, indicating the writers were reporting historical truth. These counterproductive features include:

• Testimony of women in an era when it is not valued• The apparent triumph of the enemies of Christ• The weakened and helpless appearance of the Messiah at crucifixion• The portrayal of the disciples as fearful of their enemies• The characterization of failure and denial (Peter)• The constant admission of the disciples’ slow understanding

Internal Test• The Bible lacks the mythological tone usually associated with other Mesopotamian or gnostic literature (2 Peter 1:16)

“Rum thing,” he went on “All that stuff of Frazer’s about the Dying God. Rum thing. It almost looks as if it has really happened once.” To understand the shattering impact of it, you would need to know the man (who has certainly never since shown any interest in Christianity). If he, the cynic of cynics, the toughest of the toughs, were not – as I would still have put it -”safe,” where could I turn?

(Lewis, C.S., Surprised by Joy)


David Hume’s Test of Witnesses

• Are the witnesses many in number?• More than any other from antiquity.

• Are the witnesses truthful?• The authors died rather than recant• Include embarrassing details about themselves and Jesus.

• Do the witnesses contradict? • No. The accounts all agree on the core facts surround Jesus and

events.

• Are the witnesses non-prejudicial?• Some apostles actually disbelieved at first (Thomas, James,

Paul)


David Hume’s Test of Witnesses

The writers died for their testimony – no one dies for what they know is false.

•Peter recorded by Clement of Rome 5:5-7

•Paul also recorded by Clement of Rome 5:5-7

•James’ the brother of Jesus death is referred to by Hegesippus (in Eusebius) and Josephus

•James the son of Zebedee in Acts 12:2


External Evidence

1.Extra Biblical Christian Writers

2.Extra biblical Non Christian Writers


Citations from Early Apologists Church fathers

1. Extra Biblical Christians Writers


1. Extra Biblical Non Christians Writers


The External Evidence Test – Josephus

• Born A.D. 37; Jewish historian• Wrote History of the Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jewish

People.• Events mentioned by Josephus: include famine in the days of

Claudius (Acts 11:28).• People mentioned by Josephus: The Herods, Pilate, John the

Baptist, Felix, Festus, Annas, Capiaphas, Ananias, James “the brother of the so-called Christ” and Jesus:

• “Festus was now dead, and Albius was but upon the raid; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of the judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered him to be stoned” – Antiquities 20.9.1



• Josephus mentions the death of John the Baptist:• “Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of

Herod’s army came from God, and very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, who was called the Baptist; for Herod slew him” – Antiquities 18.5.2



• A disputed passage in Josephus’ work mentions Jesus.• Most scholars do believe that a Christian sympathizer tampered

with the text, but they also believe Josephus did write about Jesus• The accepted rendering is:“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his

conduct was good and was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.” – Antiquities 18.3.3


The External Evidence Test – Tacitus

• Born A.D. 56.• Senator and Roman historian.• Records account of Christians and validates gospel

history:• “Nero substituted as culprits and punished with the utmost

refinements of cruelty, a class of men loathed for their vices whom the crowd styled Christians. Christus, from whom they got their name, had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate when Tiberius was emperor.” – Annals, Book 15.


The External Evidence Test – Pliny the Younger

• Born A.D. 61.• Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor.• Records account of Christians and validates belief of

Christ’s deity was long before council of Nicaea:• “They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed

day before it was light, when they sang an anthem to Christ as God, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to commit any wicked deed…” – Letters, Series 10.


The External Evidence Test – Lucian

• Born A.D. 125.• Greek writer and critic of Christianity.• Records account of Christians, Christ’s crucifixion and

worship:• “The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day

– the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites and was crucified on that account… these misguided creatures … deny the gods of Greece and worship the crucified sage and live after his laws” – The Works of Lucian of Samosata.


The External Evidence Test – Celsus

• Second century Greek writer.• Critic of Christianity.• Records account of Christians and worship of Jesus:• “Now if the Christians worshipped only one God they might have

reason on their side … But as a matter of fact they worship a man who appeared only recently. And their worship of this Jesus is the more outrageous because they refuse to listen to any talk about God, the father of all, unless it includes some reference to Jesus… .And when they call him Son of God, they are not really paying homage to God, rather, they are attempting to exalt Jesus to the heights.” – Contra Celsum.


The External Evidence Test – The Talmud

• The Jewish Talmud is the primary text of Rabbinic Judaism.

• Records death of Jesus: “On the eve of Passover Yeshua was hanged … since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover!” – Sanhedrin 43a.


The External Evidence Test – Others

SUETONIUS 120 AD; Christ was the reason for the Jews being expelled from Rome.

PHILEGON, 1st CENTURY HISTORIAN "during the time of Tiberius Caesar an eclipse of the sun occurred during the full moon.”

MARA BAR-SERAPION (73 A.D.): Calamities brought by deaths of Socrates, Pythagorus and un just killing of Jesus by the Jews.


Bibliographic Test – In Conclusion

“To be skeptical of the resultant test of the New Testament books is to allow all of classical antiquity to slip into obscurity, for no documents of the ancient period are as well attested bibliographically as the New Testament” – John Warwick Montgomery.

Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Christian Thought" at Patrick Henry College.


1. Bibliographical Test – The New Testament documents have no rival in the ancient world in terms of number of manuscripts and early dating of those manuscripts.

2. Internal Evidence Test – The New Testament is free of contradictions and tells the same story regarding Jesus Christ.

3. External Evidence Test – Extra-biblical testimony and archaeology confirm the New Testament writer’s facts.

What Grade Does the New Testament Get?



Manuscript

Archeology

Prophecy


Joseph P. Free Archaeology and Bible History, 1

“In addition to illuminating the Bible, archaeology has confirmed countless pages which have been rejected by critics as unhistorical or contradictory to known facts.”


Archeology

William F. Albright

The Archaeology of Palestine, 127,128

“The excessive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth- and nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.”

Pontius Pilate InscriptionFound by Antonio Frova atCaesarea Martima, this 1st

century AD slab inscription gives the name and title of the biblical figure Pontius Pilate who condemned Jesus to the cross(Matthew 27:2; Luke 3:1)

It reads:

…]sTiberievm…pon]tivsPilatvs…praef]ectvsIvda[ea]e

“Tiberium Pontius Pilate Prefect of Judea”

Tomb of Lazarus On the east side of the Mt. of Olives. It appears that by the 2nd century AD the location had been identified as such. The church historian, Eusibius (4th century), says that the city was renamed the “Place of Lazarus.”

• He became bishop at the church of Larnaca. • Archaeologists uncovered his sarcophagus in the 900’s and found this inscription: “Lazarus. Four Days

Dead. Friend of Christ.”

Caiaphas OssuaryThis ornate 1st century AD limestone ossuary was discovered among 12 ossuaries in Caiaphas’ family tomb in the early 1990 south of Jerusalem.

• Aramaic Inscription on the side panel reads: “Caiaphas” which most likely is the High Priest mentioned in the Gospels (Mt 26:57; Jn 18:13f)

Yehohanan Crucifixion In 1968, excavators found aninscribed 1st century AD limestone bone box (ossuary)in Jerusalem containing thebones of a male crucifixionvictim named “Yehohanan benHagkol.”

• The wrist and right heel bone still had the Roman seven inch crucifixion spikes nails in tact

• Confirms the Romans practiced crucifixion in the 1st century AD in Jerusalem and legitimizes the manner of Christ’s death as described in the Bible (Psalm 22 Mt 27; Mk15; Lk 23; Jn 19)

Politarch Inscription

Some thought Luke was mistaken when he called the “rulers of the city” at Thessalonica “politarchs” (Acts 17:6). This criticism was due to the absence of any extra biblical Greek literature using the term. Recently, several politarch inscriptions were found in Thessalonica, Greece.

• 19 of the 32 “politarch” inscriptions come from Thessalonica, with 3 of these dating to the 1st century AD• Elsewhere in Acts, Luke correctly names officials as Praetors at Philippi (Acts 16:20)

Luke’s Precise Use of Vocabulary in the Book of Acts

• Correct language spoken at Lystra as Lycaonian (14:11)• Proper form of the name Troas (16:8) • Uses “politarchs” as proper designation of magistrates in Thessalonica (17:6)• Correct Athenian slang word for Paul as spermologos (17:18)• Uses areopagites as the proper title for a member of the Athenian court (17:34)• Proper title of grammateus for the chief executive magistrate (“clerk”) in Ephesus (19:35)• Uses correct Roman authorized title of honor neokoros (19:35)• Uses the plural anthupatoi which could be referring to two men functioning as proconsuls at this time (19:38)• Uses precise term bolisantes for taking soundings and records the correct depth of the water near Malta (27:28)• Applies correct title “first man of the Island” (protos tes nesou) to Malta’s leader (28:7)

Grammateus at Ephesus

CC-Art.com

According to Sir William Ramsay, Luke records without error:

• 32 Countries

• 54 Cities

• 9 Islands

• 12 Confirmed Ruling Figures (Luke 1-3)

Luke the Historian

Coin of King Aretas IV2 Corinthians 11:32

Sir William Ramsay The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the

Trustworthiness of the New Testament, 222

“Luke is a historian

of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy . . . This author should be

placed along with the very greatest of historians.”

Tyrannus Inscription at Ephesus: shows that the name mentioned in Acts 19:9,“Tyrannus,” was used in Ephesus during 1st century AD

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Manuscript

Archeology

Prophecy



ProphecyFulfilled prophecy is something that utterly sets the Bible apart from every other religious book.

There are 26 other religious books that people of faith believe are divinely inspired (the Hindu Vedas, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, etc.). Of these twenty-six books, NONE of them contain any specific, fulfilled prophecies. Not one.

NOTE: Claims that the Book of Mormon and The Qu’ran have these are incredulous. They are not only vague in the extreme, they were not even written in such a way as to be taken as prophetic.


Prophecies about Jesus DESCRITPION O.T. REFERENCE N.T. FULFILLMENT

1. Born of a Virgin Isaiah 7:14 Matthew 1:18, 24,252. Son of God Psalm 2:7 Matthew 3:173. Lineage of King David Jeremiah 23:5 Luke:23, 314. Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2 Matthew 2:15. Ministry begins in Galilee Isaiah 9:1 Matthew 4:126. He would be a miracle worker Isaiah 35:5,6 (32:3,4) Matthew Ch 8 & 97. Timing during 2nd temple Malachi 3:1 Matthew 21:128. He would be resurrected Psalm 16:10 Acts 2:319. Sold for 30 pieces of silver Zechariah 11:12 Matt 26:1510. Betrayal money goes to potter Zechariah 11:13 Matt 27:511. Suffer wounds for our Isaiah 53:5 Matt 27:26 transgressions12.Hands and feet pierced Psalm 22:16(Zech 12:10) Luke 23:3313.Garments divided by lot Psalm 22:18 John 19:23-2414.He would be pierced Zechariah 12:10 John 19:3415.Bones not broken Psalm 34:20 John 19:3316.Darkness over the land Amos 8:9 Matt 27:4517.Buried in a rich man’s tomb Isaiah 53:9 Matt 27: 57-60



Manuscript

Archeology

Prophecy




•The Bible was completed long before the invention of microscopes, telescopes, satellites, and all the other technological innovations that have allowed us to investigate certain phenomenon of the world and the universe.

•That the Bible not only does not contain any scientific errors, but anticipates later discoveries, in expressions contrary to the opinions of their day.

• denotes a divine authorship and is powerful support for innerancy.

•Compare.: Without exception, every ancient religious writing has certain unscientific views of astronomy, medicine, hygiene, and more.


Compare - Vedas

For example, the Hindu Vedas teach that

1. the Earth is flat and triangular.

2. earthquakes are the result of elephants shaking their bodies underneath the ground.

3. They also claim that civilizations live on the back side of the moon

4. that there are cities on the Sun.


Compare –Qu’ran

The Qur’an says that the Sun sets in a muddy spring.

, "when he reached the setting-place of the Sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring.”(Surah 18:86)


Astounding Scientific Foresight in the Bible

DESCRITPION REFERENCE

1. The Sun on a circuit through space. Psalm 19:62. The Earth is Spherical Job 26:103. Earth suspended on nothing Job 26:74. The stars are beyond ability to count * Jeremiah 33:325. The universe had a beginning in space and time Genesis 1:16. The universe is sustained with immutable laws Jeremiah 33:257. Universe subjected to law of decay Romans 8: 18-21 (2nd law of thermodynamics)

* The Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus (190-120 B.C.) said there were exactly 1,026 stars, Ptolemy (c. 85-A.D. 165) said there were 1,056 stars, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) counted 1,006. When Galileo pointed his telescope to the heavens in 1608, he discovered that these previous counts were way off and that the Bible was actually right.


Authority of JesusBuilding the Bibles authority foundationally on Jesus



Jesus authority is categorically verified by:

A. Fulfilled prophecyB. The workings of miraclesC. Raising himself from the dead.D. The most influential man who ever

lived.

2. Demonstrate Jesus’ divine messianic identity establishing his categorical Authority.



Jesus Ratifies the Old Testament by authenticating it by his teaching as:

A. Historically:B. As the Words of GodC. As an unassailable authority

3. Establish divine authorship and Authority of the OT based on testimony of Jesus.



Historically.

Jesus consistently treats Old Testament Historical Narratives as straightforward records of fact (including the most controversial narratives)

- Matt 12:41 “The men of Nineveh will stand- Luke 11:50 -51 “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah…

The essential thrust of these passages are lost if the events to which they refer were not actually historic.

The Lukian passage also has Jesus ratifying the entirety of the OT Greek Septuagint.



Jesus refers to the OT Scripture as the very words of God.

Romans 9:17 “The scripture says to Pharaoh”

Matthew 19:4-5 “The Creator said, ‘for this reason…..”

B. As the Words of God



Jesus uses OT scripture as the absolute and final court of appeals in all matters of controversy.

Matt 23:23 - “neglected weightier provisnsMatt 5:17-20 - “Jot nor title” Matt 22:29 - Dispute with Sadducees turned

on verb tense Matt 4: - Satan refuted with God’s Word

without retort

As an unassailable authority



4. Demonstrate Jesus’ promised New Testament

John 14:26

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.


Top Objections to the BibleWhat are some of the most common objections to the New Testament?


Objection #1

• Why were they converted? What would cause devout Jews to abandon their beliefs and write what they did?

• They had no motive to lie? What they received was mistreatment, social ostracizing and even death.

• Using such line of argumentation would rule out the writings of a holocaust victim who chronicled their experience in the death camps.

“The New Testament writers were biased. You can’t trust writings by those who were converted.”


Objection #2

• True, we have something better – thousands of early manuscripts that all agree on the events in question.

• Keep in mind that a single source could be polluted or corrupted whereas multiple copies that all tell the same story are a clearer witness to the actual events.

• Hundreds of years of rigorous textual criticism with 5,300+ Greek manuscripts allow for utter assurance we have what was originally written.

“We don’t have the original texts / autographs of the New Testament. All we have are copies.”


Objection #3“There are contradictions and / or differences in the manuscript copies.”

What good is it to say that the autographs (i.e., the originals) were inspired? We don’t have the originals! We have only error-ridden copies, and the vast majority of these are centuries removed from the originals and different from them, evidently, in thousands of ways….There are more variations among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament. [emphasis in the original]

(Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus—The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, first paperback edition (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2007), 7, 90.



New Testament specialist Daniel Wallace notes that although there are about 300,000 individual variations of the text of the New Testament, this number is very misleading. Most of the differences are completely inconsequential--spelling errors, inverted phrases and the like. A side by side comparison between the two main text families (the Majority Text and the modern critical text) shows agreement a full 98% of the time. Wallace, Daniel, "The

Majority Text and the Original Text: Are They Identical?," Bibliotheca Sacra, April-June, 1991, 157-8.

Of the remaining differences, virtually all yield to vigorous textual criticism. This means that our New Testament is 99.5% textually pure. In the entire text of 20,000 lines, only 40 lines are in doubt (about 400 words), and none affects any significant doctrine. Geisler and Nix, 475.

Greek scholar D.A. Carson sums up this way: "The purity of text is of such a substantial nature that nothing we believe to be true, and nothing we are commanded to do, is in any way jeopardized by the variants.” Carson, D.A., The

King James Version Debate (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979), 56.



One New Testament Scholar says:

“In spite of these remarkable [textual] differences, scholars are convinced that we can reconstruct the original words of the New Testament with reasonable (though probably not 100 percent) accuracy.

(The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, published by Oxford University Press in 2003, pg. 481)


Examples of “Meaningful” Variants?

• An example of ‘meaningful variant’ is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:7.

• Paul either describes himself as ‘gentle’ or as ‘little children’ – one letter difference: epioi vs. nepioi.

• Does this call into question anything about the New Testament or about Paul that is ‘meaningful’ where the Christian faith is concerned?


What is a “Meaningful” Variant?

• ‘meaningful variant’ is found in Mark 1:41. Was Jesus

• “ Moved with compassion”• “Angry”

• Does this call into question anything about the New Testament or about Paul that is ‘meaningful’ where the Christian faith is concerned?


Objection #4

• Such an objection is typically caused by an anti-supernatural worldview that rules out miracles in an a priori manner.

• Other historians reference miracles also. Josephus cites Jesus as doing extraordinary feats (in his historically accepted version of Jesus in Antiquities); the Talmud refers to Jesus and His miracles as originating from sorcery, as does work from Celsus, the ancient critic of Christianity in the second century.

“The New Testament contains stories of miracles and we know that miracles just don’t happen.”


“For many readers it is precisely these miracle-stories which are the chief difficulty in the way of accepting the New Testament documents as reliable. To some extent

it is true to say that the credibility of these stories is a matter of historical evidence. If they are related by authors who can be shown on other grounds to be

trustworthy, then they are worthy of at least serious attention by the historian. . . . No doubt, the historian

will be more exacting in his examination of the evidence where miracles are in question. But if the

evidence is really good, he will not refuse it on a priori grounds.”

– F. F. Bruce


ConclusionsFinal Thoughts

H o p eFo

r The Hurting

A Study in 1 Peter

www.confidentchristians.org

The Essentials of Apologetics

Why Scripture…?A Defense of theNew Testament

reliability, authority, innerancy of the bible

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