Transcript M Y T H: The Bible Is Unreliable

M Y T H:
The Bible
Is Not Accurate
University Church of Christ
How Important
Is Biblical Accuracy?
Does it matter?
Can’t we accept the Bible as myth
containing useful moral principles?
Bible presents itself as having
to do with what is true
Makes explicit claims of historicity
Not undateable past
No “once upon a time”
Luke 3:1-2
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea,
and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his
brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea
and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of
Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John
the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
2 Peter 1:16-18
For we did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he
received honor and glory from God the Father,
and the voice was borne to him by the
Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard
this very voice borne from heaven, for we
were with him on the holy mountain.
Attacks On Scripture
Attacks on Christianity and the Bible are as
old as Scripture
Modern attempts to undermine come from
different directions
New Atheists
“Their multiple authors — none
of whom published anything until
many years after the Crucifixion —
cannot agree on anything of
importance. Matthew and Luke
cannot concur on the Virgin Birth
or the genealogy of Jesus.”
The DaVinci Effect
“The Bible did not arrive by fax
from heaven…The Bible is the
product of man, my dear. Not of
God. The Bible did not fall
magically from the clouds. Man
created it as a historical record
of tumultuous times, and it has
evolved through countless
translations, additions, and
revisions. History has never had
a definitive version of the book.”
To say that the Gospel of
Judas reveals anything
factual about Judas, Dr. [Ben]
Witherington said, “is like
saying a document written
150 years after George
Washington died tells us the
inside truth about George
Washington.”
New York Times
April 7, 2006
‘Scholars on all sides agree that the text was
probably produced by a scribe in a Gnostic
community of Cainites — early Christians
who regarded the traditional villains of the
Bible, including Cain and Judas, as heroes.’
“Document Is Genuine,
but Is Its Story True?”
April 7, 2006
‘As the findings have trickled down to churches
and universities, they have produced a new
generation of Christians who now regard the
Bible not as the literal word of God, but as a
product of historical and political forces that
determined which texts should be included in
the canon, and which edited out.’
“‘Gospel of Judas’ Surfaces
After 1,700 Years”
April 6, 2006
The DaVinci Effect
The Bible manuscripts are unreliable
– Conspiracies of changed manuscripts
Yet Gnostic Gospels become, well, gospel
Pseudepigrapha seen as completely reliable
Jesus is not God, but Mary Magdalene
becomes a goddess
Bible Written Late?
19th Century charges against Bible
Written very late (2nd-3rd Century)
Not written by apostles or eye-witnesses
Truth: Biblical documentary evidence far
stronger than any other ancient document
John Rylands Fragment
John Rylands Fragment
Text: John 18:31-33/ John 18:37-38
Found in Egypt
– ~1920
Dated to AD 120-130
– Some date it even earlier
Liberal scholars once argued that John was
written in the late second century
– ~AD 175 or later
Rylands fragment supports a late first
century date
New Testament Manuscripts
No ‘autographs’, or the actual original written
by the author
– Does not exist for any ancient manuscript
Nearly entire NT exists in manuscripts from
before AD 300
Codex Vaticanus: the earliest of the great
parchment manuscripts at about AD 300
Codex Sinaiticus: dates to about 350 AD
Number of NT Manuscripts
5,300 Greek MSS
10,000 Latin Vulgates
9,300 Others
Total: 24,000 copies
Total MSS compiled prior to 600 AD = 230
Author
Date Written
Earliest Copy
Time Span
Copies (extent)
Herodotus (History)
480 - 425 BC
900 AD
1,300 years
8
Thucydides (History)
460 - 400 BC
900 AD
1,300 years
?
Aristotle (Philosopher)
384 - 322 BC
1,100 AD
1,400 years
5
Caesar (History)
100 - 44 BC
900 AD
1,000 years
10
Pliny (History)
61 - 113 AD
850 AD
750 years
7
Suetonius (Roman History)
70 - 140 AD
950 AD
800 years
?
Tacitus (Greek History)
100 AD
1,100 AD
1,000 years
20
Secular Manuscripts:
Biblical Manuscripts: (note: these are individual manuscripts)
Magdalene Ms (Matthew 26)
1st century
50-60 AD
co-existant (?)
John Rylands (John)
90 AD
130 AD
40 years
Bodmer Papyrus II (John)
90 AD
150-200 AD
60-110 years
Chester Beatty Papyri (N.T.)
1st century
200 AD
150 years
Diatessaron by Tatian (Gospels)
1st century
200 AD
150 years
Codex Vaticanus (Bible)
1st century
325-350 AD
275-300 years
Codex Sinaiticus (Bible)
1st century
350 AD
300 years
Codex Alexandrinus (Bible)
1st century
400 AD
350 years
“... 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.”
—John Warwick Montgomery
History & Christianity
Biblical Minimalism
Scholars and
archaeologists who deny
the Biblical record of Israel
and the United Kingdom
Dispute the Exodus, the
Conquest and the idea of a
powerful Israel under
David and Solomon
Tel Dan Inscription
Discovered 1993
Dates to 9th Century BC
Victory stele of king of
Damascus
– Aramaean
Mentions “Israel” and
“House of David”
Solomon’s City Wall
Discovered 2010 by
Dr. Eilat Mazar
Dates to 10th Century BC
Likely built by Solomon
Dr. Eilat Mazar
Show’s organizational
strength of United Monarchy
Solomon’s City Wall
“The city wall that has been
uncovered testifies to a
ruling presence. Its
strength and form of
construction indicate a
high level of engineering.”
Dr. Eilat Mazar
Solomon’s City Wall
“A comparison of this latest
finding with city walls and
gates from the period of
the First Temple, as well as
pottery found at the site,
enable us to postulate with
a great degree of assurance
that the wall that has been
revealed is that which was
built by King Solomon in
Jerusalem in the latter part
of the tenth century B.C.E..”
Dr. Eilat Mazar
Biblical Minimalism
“It’s bad for business to find things from
the Bible these days. It makes us look like
unsophisticated messianic fanatics”
—“Reclaiming Biblical Jerusalem,”
aish.com
The Biblical Hittites
Mentioned more than 50 times in Scripture
Abraham purchased Sarah’s grave from
Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23)
Bible ridiculed—Hittites only a myth
Until 1903 when Hittite capital Hattusha was
excavated in Turkey
Now no one questions the Hittites
Hattusha
The Biblical Hittites
Egyptian treaty with
Hittites later discovered
– Ramesses II & Hatusilis III
Oldest treaty ever found
– ca. 1274 BC
Lack of external evidence
does not disprove Biblical
accounts
Biblical Witness
God does not ask for unreasonable faith
We have supporting evidence of archaeology
and extra-Biblical writings
Biblical witness progressively proven true on
random, unpredictable facts
The more a witness is verified the more likely
we can rely upon it for unverifiable
information
New Testament &
Resurrection
Ultimately, the reliability—and relevance—of
Scripture depends solely on one event
If the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not
historically true nothing else matters
If Jesus did raise, the rest is confirmed
1 Corinthians 15:14-19
And if Christ has not been raised, then our
preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We
are even found to be misrepresenting God,
because we testified about God that he raised
Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the
dead are not raised. For if the dead are not
raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and
you are still in your sins. Then those also who
have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in
Christ we have hope in this life only, we are
of all people most to be pitied.
The Testimony
of Their Lives
The testimony of the apostles in the lives is
the greatest witness of all
Before and after crucifixion: frightened men
Matthew 26:56b
Then all the disciples left him and fled.
John 20:19-20
On the evening of that day, the first day of the
week, the doors being locked where the
disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood among them and said to them,
“Peace be with you.” When he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his side. Then
the disciples were glad when they saw the
Lord.
Acts 4:1-13
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and
John, and perceived that they were
uneducated, common men, they were
astonished. And they recognized that they
had been with Jesus.
Faithful Unto Death
History records that these once fearful men
were willing to give their lives
Peter—who denied—crucified upside down
Paul—who persecuted—proclaims and dies
for Christ
No one gained anything but persecution
Yet no one denied
These witnesses but their lives where
there mouth was
What event could cause this?
1 John 1:1-3
That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we looked upon and have touched with our
hands, concerning the word of life—the life was
made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify
to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which
was with the Father and was made manifest to
us—that which we have seen and heard we
proclaim also to you, so that you too may have
fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is
with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.