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.