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Authenticity of the New Testament

A. Aim: To demonstrate that the New Testament of the Bible is the Scripture that Jesus delivered to His disciples.

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26 (NIV))
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16,17 (NIV))
"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." (Revelation 22:18,19 (NIV))

God takes the preservation of His word very seriously. He will not let it be corrupted. The following historical evidence bears this out.

B. Manuscript Evidence

New Testament manuscripts predating Muhammad:

Number of Greek New Testament manuscripts predating Muhammad that are currently in existence available for study: 192.
Number of Greek lectionaries (Books used in church services which contain scripture portions) predating Muhammad that are currently in existence: 5.
Number of translations of the Greek New Testament predating Muhammad that are in existence: 33.
This total of 230 manuscripts are originally from the same geographic areas as the Old Testament manuscripts mentioned earlier. These manuscripts all agree with the thousands of manuscripts that exist dating from and after Muhammad's time up until our present Bibles.
The earliest manuscript known is a papyrus fragment containing portions of the verses of John 18:31-33,37-38. It is dated with certainty to at least as early as AD 125. It is housed at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. There are also two Greek fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls that may very well be from the Gospel according to Mark and 1 Timothy. Both of these fragments date to before AD 70.(12) The earliest complete copy of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus which dates to the AD 300's. It is on public display in the British Museum in London.
Between all these manuscripts there are many variants in the texts, primarily consisting of scribal errors. Please note the following facts concerning these variants:

All of the variants have been preserved out of respect for the text of the Word of God. Rather than lose any of God's word, these variations have been preserved, catalogued, studied, and evaluated with the highest and most impartial degrees of scholarship possible so that the true text may be determined.

None of these variants affect any major or minor doctrine of the Christian faith. The content of the New Testament is not in question.

The largest passages of some dispute (Mark 16:9-20; John 7:53-8:11; and 1 John 5:8) likewise do not affect any major or minor doctrines in the New Testament. Also, the degree they are in dispute is greatly exaggerated and precise translations of the New Testament include them in the text or in the margin so that they are available to the reader.

With all this in mind, the New Testament is at least 99.5% accurate with the other .5% in dispute fully available for study. (13) It is not a question of the .5% being missing. This .5% is included so that none of God's word is mistakenly excluded.

It has been asserted that the net effect of these errors of transmission is like the effect of a drop of urine in a cup of water thereby contaminating the whole cup. This is not an accurate picture. An accurate picture is that of dirt and stones present in a bag of rice. One doesn't throw out the rice because of a few stones! One washes it and removes the stones which are easily seen, then cooks the rice and enjoys it. Even if a stone gets cooked with the rice it can still be removed and the rice is not contaminated. This is the situation with the New Testament. All of the stones are known and have been removed. Any dirt that may be left in that .5% cannot contaminate the 99.5% and is easily seen and removed.

C. Evidence from the Apostolic Fathers

These are early Christian church leaders who wrote extensive commentaries on the Bible who lived in the centuries before Muhammad (AD 69 - AD 150).

Almost the entire New Testament can be reconstructed from the quotations of Scripture in their writings. These quotations are catalogued and in no way disagree with the manuscript evidence explained above. (14)
There is an unbroken line of testimony from our day concerning the authenticity of the New Testament going through the Apostolic Fathers to the closest disciples of Jesus. (15) The unswerving testimony of these writings is that the New Testament we possess contains what Jesus taught and revealed to his disciples in the first century.

D. God's miraculous preservation of the Bible through 250 years of intense persecution

Within twenty years of the Church's beginning the Roman Emperor Nero started the first of ten major state sponsored persecutions against Christians that continued through the next two and a half centuries. The last of these in AD 303 ordered the destruction of all Christian Scriptures. The manuscripts we have from before this time survived this persecution. (16)

E. All attempts to change the New Testament have failed

The most significant attempt known to this writer before the time of Muhammad is that of Marcion (died AD 160). Because of his theological ideas he rejected the entire Old Testament, and only accepted ten of Paul's epistles and a changed version of the Gospel according to Luke as Scripture (He omitted all Old Testament references in Luke's Gospel). He also did not believe that Jesus was really a man but only appeared to be one. (17) Note this was a failed attempt! God and Christians preserved God's word, guarding it from corruption. Note also the motive of the attempt: to make the Bible conform to one man's religious ideas and his personal beliefs about Jesus. It was not a change claiming to go back to some more historical or accurate original version given by Jesus. It was a change made by a man who didn't like what the Bible said about Jesus.

The most significant modern attempt is that embodied in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, used by the sect known as the "Jehovah's Witnesses." This is not an attempt to change the actual Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts but it is a translation purporting to correct all of the other English translations of the Bible which they believe to be corrupt. Their translation purports to be a scholarly translation yet none of the translation committee have recognized degrees in Greek or Hebrew exegesis.(18) Also, the verses that they translate in significantly different ways from other English translations are all done to line up with their particular peculiar doctrines. Their lack of success in changing the Bible can be seen in that this sect is the only one who uses this translation, and this translation is not regarded as reliable, neither by secular scholars nor by Christian scholars.

F. Relationship of the New Testament to the Old Testament

Another significant line of evidence supporting the Bible's trustworthiness is seen in the harmonious relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament. These books agree with each other and complement each other to an extent not seen in any other literature of their kind. This is more incredible when it realized that they were written over a 1500 year period with God using at least 40 human authors. To demonstrate this, two issues will be presented and briefly demonstrated, Jesus' identity as the Messiah and the theme of sacrifice.

G. Conclusions

The Old and New Testaments have been preserved carefully through their long histories. They have withstood tests from heretics and emperors to change and destroy them. This all only confirms what we would expect from God, that He would preserve His holy Word and not allow men to corrupt it.