A Short Farewell

 

So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, adieu…

-Sound of Music

 

So goes the lyrics of one of my daughters favorite songs. The first time this song is sung in the movie it is with a bit of humor as the young Von Trapp children are heading to bed amidst their father’s dinner party.

The next time, however, that this song is sung there is a bit of weight added to the event. Captain Von Trapp, who is moments away from leading his family on a daring escape from German recruiters, is literally saying good-bye to a nation of people that he has grown up amongst, served alongside, and even led through hard times.

In a small, perhaps even incomparable way, these feelings resonant through me as we are preparing to say farewell to yet another place, pack our belongings again, and set out for a new destination.

In a way, my “church planting” internship is over… In a way, it has just begun. It will, in many ways, take years for me to digest all of what I have seen, heard, and even experienced this year.

I have seen the difference between true church and corporate religiosity, heard the words of sermons, songs, and sayings… Some worthwhile and some of little worth.

But the experiences… Those have been priceless. I have experienced family as few people will ever get to, experienced the sort of pharisaical rejection that has landed many people firmly outside “the church,” and finally experienced freedom in a way in which I can now see that we have all been created to enjoy.

The result of it all is simply… I am tired.

I have driven studied, worked, traveled, researched, written, and spoken to the point of exhaustion… And now I am going to take a break… And rest.

I am going to be taking a break from many things for awhile, one of which will be writing. I am not sure when I will pick up again, but I am sure that I will.

Over the next year or so I plan to fix up a house for my wife and kids, enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life, and simply… rest.

When I return to writing it will be to take on a project that I am already excited about. In a nutshell, I am going to attempt to mesh the events of The Bible with those of the history of civilization, unrolling the ancient manuscripts into the story forms that they were originally laid out in, and painting as close a picture as possible to how we got to where we are today.

I am estimating that this project will most likely take anywhere from 2-3 years so I am going to need all the rest I can get!

Thank you all for reading through TRUTH as the articles came out. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback (both positive and negative), and thank you especially to my beautiful wife who has lovingly stood at my side through what has, without a doubt, been one of the most discouraging and confusing times in my life.

Psalm 14:1

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous. You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

 

Final Conclusion

The Bible… Its Worth A Read

 

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

-Psalm 14:1

If you have followed along to date, then you will have traveled a road of just over 50 articles. This road began, naturally enough, at the beginning. We began by examining The Cosmos, and made a case for an actual beginning point of the universe.

We followed this road as far back as we could go, reaching into the realms of potential and actual infinites, and as a result, we were able to deduce that anything which has come into existence must have a beginning.

With this beginning point in mind we then set out to determine what all could be learned about the origins of our beginnings. We looked into the studies of physics, geology, and cellular and molecular biology.

We saw that what lies at the foundation of all that is is something that meets all of the requirements for design, and with this in mind, we called this designer “God,” and began to attempt to define this “God” through the lenses of multiple world-views.

On this part of the journey we looked into Postmodernism, Atheism, Pantheism, Panentheism, Polytheism, Finite Deism, and finally Monotheism.

Having seen the fallibility of each of these world-views, with the exception of Monotheism, we then began down the path of the many monotheistic options that are available to us today (Sikhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity).

We saw that each of these religions claimed to have a divine revelation from God and so we investigated each of these revelations.

While Sikhism was found wanting, Islam’s Qur’an looked promising until it began pointing us to the Jewish TaNaKh & Christian New Testament. At this point we came to a crossroads. Are these collections worth reading? In the case of the Tanakh we had 3 religions pointing to it (Islam, Judaism, & Christianity), but with major disagreements about whether or not it could be trusted.

This led us to examine the Tanakh even further. We looked at an overview of the collection, submitted it to both internal and external evidence tests, examined some codexes and collections, and summarized our conclusions by stating that it did indeed seem to present itself as a reliable document, begging to be read and interpreted.

In like manner, we submitted the Christian New Testament to the same examinations. We overviewed the collection, prodded it with examinations, looked into both the quantity and quality of its oldest manuscripts. The result was the same as that of the examination of the Tanakh. Like its Older Testamental Counterpart, the Christian New Testament begged to be read and interpreted.

And this, is where we can draw our conclusion. Like it or not… The Bible has to be investigated. It has to be read, has to be interpreted, has to be dug into… Dissected if you will.

It claims to be God’s revelation to man. It claims to contain the very writings, words, and images of God. It claims to provide a purpose for a species which is deeply obsessed with that very idea.

And so this is what must, naturally, come next. Or so it would seem. First, however, we will take a side-path… A rabbit trail if you will. For you see, before a piece of literature can properly be interpreted… The rules of interpretation must first be agreed upon.

This means that the next thing we must do is dive into the world of hermeneutics… Or Biblical Interpretation.

New Testament Part 4… Manuscript Accuracy & New Testament Conclusion

New Testament Part 4

Manuscript Accuracy & New Testament Conclusion

 

If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures.

–Daniel Webster

When it comes to New Testament manuscript accuracy we can look both to the various versions of the early New Testament collection as well as the extensive references that early church leaders made to the New Testament.

Accuracy of Manuscripts Supported By Various Versions

The fact that there are so many New Testament manuscripts in different languages not only helps in dating different manuscripts, but in comparing the accuracy of the manuscripts.

Syriac Versions

Syriac Peshitta (AD150-250), accounts for more than 350 manuscripts.

Old Syriac Version contains four Gospels, copied about the fourth century.

Palestinian Syriac (AD 400-450)

Philoxenian (AD 508)

Harkleian Syriac (AD 616)

Latin Versions

Codex Vercellensis (AD 360)

Latin Vulgate (AD 366-384), constructed by Jerome, secretary to Damasus, Bishop of Rome, and attested to by other historical figures

African Old Latin (AD 400), shows marks of having been copied from a 2^nd century papyrus

Codex Corbiensis (AD 400-500), contains the four gospels

Codex Palatinus (Fifth Century AD)

Coptic (or Egyptian) Versions

Sahidic (3^rd Century AD)

Bohairic (4^th Century AD)

Middle Egyptian (4^th or 5^th Century AD)

Accuracy of Manuscripts Supported By Early Church Fathers

The patristic citations of Scripture are not primary witnesses to the text of the New Testament, but they do serve two very important secondary roles.

1) They give overwhelming support to the existence of the twenty-seven authoritative books of the New Testament canon.

2) The quotations are so numerous and widespread that if no manuscripts of the New Testament currently existed, the New Testament could be reproduced from the writings of the early Fathers alone.

“These quotations are so extensive that the New Testament could virtually be reconstructed from them without the use of New Testament Manuscripts.”

Some of the most important early witnesses to the New Testament manuscripts among the church fathers were:

Clement of Rome (AD 95), called a disciple of the apostles by Origen, and said to have been appointed by Peter, Irenaeuas says of Clement that he “had the preaching of the Apostles still echoing in his ears and doctrine in front of his eyes.”

Clement quotes from: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, 1 Corinthians, Titus, Hebrews, 1 Peter.

Ignatius (AD 70-110), Bishop of Antioch was said to have known the apostles well. He quotes from: Matthew, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, James, 1 Peter.

Polycarp (AD 70-156), Bishop of Smyrna, martyred at 86 years old, was a disciple of the Apostle John.

Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-212) 2,400 of his quotes are from all but 3 books of the NT.

Tertullian (AD 160-220), a presbyter of the church in Carthage quotes the NT more than 7,000 times, 3,800 of which are from the Gospels.

Hippolytus (AD 170-235) referneces the NT more than 1,300 times

Justin Martyr (AD 133) battled the heretic Marcion.

Origen (AD 185-253), a man who compiled more than 6,000 works, lists more than 18,000 NT quotes!

Cyprian (c. AD 250), Bishop of Carthage, uses approximately 740 OT citations, and 1,030 NT citations.

All in all, this totals approximately 32,000 citations of the NT prior to the time of the council of Nicea (AD 325).

If the references made by Eusebius, who lived during the time of the council of Nicea, are added the total grows to more than 36,000 citations!

Early Patristic Quotations of The New Testament

Writer	Gospels	Acts	Pauline Epistles	General Epistles	Revelation	Totals
Justin Martyr	268	10	43	6	3 w/ 266 Allusions	330
Irenaeus	1,038	194	499	23	65	1,819
Clement (Alex.)	1,107	44	1,127	207	11	2,406
Origen	9,231	349	7,778	399	165	17,992
Tertullian	3,822	502	2,609	120	205	7,258
Hippolytus	734	42	387	27	188	1,378
Eusebius	3,258	211	1,592	88	27	5,176
TOTALS	19,368	1,352	14,035	870	664	36,289

“Sir David Dalrymple was wondering about the preponderance of Scripture in early writing when someone asked him, ‘Suppose that the New Testament had been destroyed, and every copy of it lost by the end of the thirteenth century, could it have been collected together again from the writings of the Fathers of the second and third centuries?’ After a great deal of invstigation, Dalrymple concluded: ‘Look at those books. You remember the question about the New Testament and the Fathers? That question roused my curiosity, 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.”

Conclusions on The New Testament

After only a brief survey of the New Testament collection, we can see that this collection attests to its own development, is founded on the authority of the eyewitnesses to the events it describes, is attested to by non-biblical writers, both Christian and non-Christian alike, who often give canonical lists which are identical to the lists we have today.

Furthermore, the New Testament is supported by archeological evidence, The New Testament can be said to be true to the originals as supported by the vast quantity of NT manuscripts, the accuracy of the manuscripts, the close proximity to the events which they depict, and even the vast amount of quotes from the early church fathers.

The New Testament has never been proven incorrect in any way. In fact, nearly every criticism that has ever been raised about the contents of the New Testament fallen flat. The New Testament stands alone as a collection of 27 books, all of which carry within them God’s revelation to man.

Again, we are not speaking to hermeneutics or interpretation here, but we are speaking volumes about the fact that, just as we saw with the Old Testament, the New Testament stands on its own and begs to be read, begs to be translated, and begs to be dug into in an attempt to unearth all the treasures it holds.

New Testament Part 3… Time Proximity & Manuscript Quantity

New Testament Part 3

Time Proximity & Manuscript Quantity

The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it.

–Napoleon

 

When it comes to the authenticity of the New Testament there are three things that should be considered.

• Time Proximity
• Manuscript Quantity
• Manuscript Accuracy

Time Proximity

Despite the breadth of eyewitness accounts that make up the New Testament collection, however, many people still argue the reliability and authenticity of the New Testament books. One of the most popular arguments against the New Testament is that “it was either written too long after the life of Jesus and the boom of the early churches, or the earliest remaining documents are so far after the originals that they cannot ”

Truth be told, this argument is nothing more than a straw man, propped up in an attempt to scare off would be seekers by making them think that the books were written by crazed men, too far removed from the time of the events to know what they were talking about.

William Foxwell Albright, one of the world’s foremost biblical archaeologists, said: “We

can already say emphatically there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about AD80, two full generations before the date (AD130-150) given by the more radical New Testament Critics of today.”

Albright reiterates this point in an interview for Christianity Today, 18 Jan 1963: “In my opinion, every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between the forties and eighties of the first century (very probably some time between about AD50-75). Thanks to the Qumran discoveries, the New Testament proves to be in fact what it was formerly believed to be: the teaching of Christ and His immediate followers between cir. 25 and cir. 80 AD.”

Dr. John A.T. Robinson, comes to some startling conclusions in his groundbreaking book Redating The New Testament. His research has led to the conviction that the whole of the New Testament was written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD.

Dating of New Testament Books

WORK	CONSERVATIVE DATING	LIBERAL DATING
Paul’s Letters	AD 50-66	AD 50-100
Matthew	AD 70-80	AD 80-100
Mark	AD 50-65	AD 70
Luke	Early AD 60’s	AD 70-90
John	AD 80-100	AD 90-100

The Number of Manuscripts and Their Closeness to The Original

“On the basis of manuscript tradition alone, the works that make up the Christians’ New Testament were the most frequently copied and widely circulated books of antiquity.”

Counting Greek copies alone, the New Testament is preserved in some 5,656 partial and complete manuscript portions that were copied by hand from the second through the fifteenth centuries. Today, we now have more than 5,686 known Greek manuscripts,  over 10,000 Latin vulgate, and almost 9,300 other early version manuscripts of the New Testament. Combined, this is nearly 25,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in existence today.

No other document of history even begins to approach such numbers and attestation. In comparison, Homer’s Iliad is second, with 643 manuscripts that still survive. The first complete text of Homer dates from the thirteenth century.

Type of Manuscript	# of Copies in Existence
Extant Greek Manuscripts
Uncials	307
Minuscules	2,860
Lectionaries	2,410
Papyri	109
SUBTOTAL	5,686
Manuscripts in Other Languages
Latin Vulgate	10,000+
Ethiopic	2,000+
Slavic	4,101
Armenian	2,587
Syriac Pashetta	350+
Bohairic	100
Arabic	75
Old Latin	50
Anglo Saxon	7
Gothic	6
Sogdian	3
Old Syriac	2
Persian	2
Frankish	1
SUBTOTAL	19,284+
TOTAL ALL MANUSCRIPTS	24,970+

The importance of the sheer number of manuscript copies cannot be overstated. As with other documents of ancient literature, there are no known extant (currently existing) original manuscripts of The Bible. Fortunately, however, the abundance of manuscript copies make it possible to reconstruct the original with virtually complete accuracy.

“To be skeptical of the resultant text 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.”

Besides the number of manuscripts available, the interval of time between the compilation of the book and the earliest dated manuscripts is staggering when compared to other ancient works.

AUTHOR	BOOK	DATE WRITTEN	EARLIEST  COPIES (c.)	TIME GAP (yrs)	# OF COPIES
Homer	Iliad	800 B.C.	400 B.C.	400	643
Herodotus	History	480-425 B.C.	A.D. 900	1350	8
Thucydides	History	460-400 B.C.	A.D. 900	1300	8
Plato		400 B.C.	A.D. 900	1300	7
Demosthenes		300 B.C.	A.D. 1100	1400	200
Caesar	Gallic Wars	100-44 B.C.	A.D. 900	1000	10
Livy	History of Rome	59 B.C. -  17 A.D.	4th Century Partial Mostly 10th Century	400  1000	1 Partial  19 Copies
Tacitus	Annals	A.D. 100	A.D. 1100	1000	20
Pliny Secundus	Natural History	A.D. 61-113	A.D. 850	750	7
New Testament		A.D. 50-100	114 (Fragments)  200 (Books) 250 (Most of NT) 325 (Complete NT)	50  100 150 225	5366

“The New Testament is easily the best attested ancient writing in terms of the sheer number of documents, the time span between the events and the documents, and variety of documents available to sustain or contradict it. There is nothing in ancient manuscript evidence to match such textual availability and integrity.”

Important New Testament Manuscripts (MS)

Of the early manuscripts, some of the most important are as follows:

John Ryland’s MS (AD 130), oldest extant fragment of the New Testament, found near Egypt.

Bodmer Papyrus II (AD150-200), includes abundant fragments of the Gospel of John, some of which may even date to the mid first century.

Chester Beatty Papyri (AD 200), contains major portions of the New Testament, including the Diatessaron (Harmony of the four Gospels), which has been confirmed by historical figures to have been developed by Tatian around AD 160.

Codex Vaticanus (AD 325-350), contains nearly all of The Bible. After a hundred years of textual criticism, many consider Vaticanus as one of the most trustworthy manuscripts of the New Testament text.

Codex Sinaiticus (AD 350), contains almost all of the New Testament and over half of the Old Testament.

Codex Alexandrinus (AD 400), was written in Greek in Egpyt and contains almost the entire Bible.

Codex Ephraemi (AD 400s), supplies enough evidence to make it an important text for certain portions of the New Testament. Every book is represented except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John.

Codex Bezae (AD 450+), contains the Gospels and Acts in both Greek and Latin.

Codex Washingtonesis (AD 450), contains the four Gospels.

Codex Claromontanus (AD 500s), contains the Pauline Epistles and is also in both Greek and Latin.

These manuscripts combine to build a compelling case for the New Testament collection. The case can, however, be dismantled if the accuracy of the manuscripts were to be called into question.