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Question: is the text of the Bible reliable?

1. F.F. Bruce writes, "There are in existence about 4,000 Greek
manuscripts of the NT in whole or in part" (NT Documents.16).
Taking into account later discoveries, Josh McDowell wrote, "There
are now more than 5,300 know Greek manuscripts of the New
Testament. Add over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9,300 other
early versions and we have more than 24,000 manuscript copies of
portions of the New Testament in Existence. No other document of
antiquity even begins to approach such numbers and attestation" (A
Ready Defense.43)
     Besides the number of manuscripts the interval of time between
composition of the book and the date of the earliest manuscripts is
so small as to be negligible. 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 regarded as finally
established (Frederic Kenyon,ibid.44).


2. The NT documents have been in existence for almost 1,900 years.
For 1500 years they were copied by hand. There are still only some
12 to 20 significant textual variations in the entire NT, and none
of these has any significant effect.

3. "We can only stand in awe of the Providential preservation of
the sacred text of the Word of God. Yes, we can trust the Bible. It
is a book by which we can both live and die" (W.Jackson, Fortify
Your Faith.74).


4. If one accepts the overwhelming evidence that God exists; that
He created the world, including man, it follows that God would
communicate with His creatures. If God has spoken (Heb. 1:1), it
would not seem unreasonable that God has taken steps to insure the
faithful preservation of His word. The Scriptures themselves affirm
their faithful perpetuity. "The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God shall stand forever" (Isa. 40:6; cf. 1 Pet.
1:24-25). 

5. In an exchange with the Sadducees regarding the resurrection of
the dead, Jesus asked, "Have you not read that which was spoken by
God? (Matt. 22:31), thus affirming that the Old Testament
Scriptures are the word of God. They were "spoken by God." Thus,
God's word had then been faithfully preserved in the written
record.

6. Dr. Robert Dick Wilson (1856-1930) mastered 45 languages, and
made a careful study of the OT text. As a result of his research,
he said "we are scientifically certain that we have substantially
the same text that was in the possession of Christ and the
apostles, and so far as anybody knows, the same as that written by
the original composers of the Old Testament  documents.

7. The Dead Sea scrolls, discovered in 1947 provide some of the
oldest Hebrew texts, yet their value has been primarily in the
field of apologetics. The scrolls were virtually identical, word
for word, with standard Hebrew texts. Variations were in minor
spelling differences and minute copyist mistakes.

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