![]() Our next question: “Why the 27 books of the New Testament were accepted, while others were not?” One critic, Sir William Ramsey investigated Luke’s gospel and the Book of Acts. Ramsey was surprised to find the books to be historically accurate with great precision and concluded that the works were completely authentic. As a result, he trusted Christ and become a great defender of the faith. Some skeptics claim that none of the New Testament gospel writers met Jesus. The gospel of John bears all the marks of a true eye-witness account. It was clearly written by a Palestinian Jew, of the 1st century who was familiar with Jewish customs, religion, and geography. John also says, “And the Word Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory.” Reliability of the New Testament AuthorsĮye-Witnesses: Many of the men who wrote the New Testament actually witnessed the events they recorded. The Apostle Peter said, ‘We were eye-witnesses of his majesty.” The Apostle John says, “We have seen with our eyes, have looked upon, and our hands have handled," referring to Jesus. This shows how quickly these gospels traveled. In 30 years, people had copied and transported this gospel far from its origin in Ephesus. Hundreds of copies were made. It would have been impossible for anyone to collect and change them all. This is why we can be assured that we have what was originally written by the apostles themselves. How reliable is the recorded information of the New Testament authors? A small papyrus fragment with a small portion of the gospel of John copied onto it was found in Egypt dating to the early 2nd century. They date from about AD 100 to about AD 700. For example, the Apostle John wrote the fourth gospel at the end of the 1st century. Some even have large portions of the New Testament while others contain a single book or page. ![]() Scholars have discovered about 120 of these early manuscripts. Earliest Manuscripts of the New TestamentĮarly papyrus copies rapidly circulated throughout the Roman Empire. So we see that the New Testament epistles were written by the apostles during a period in history where the eye-witnesses were still alive, therefore they were personally able to validate the writings of the New Testament and prevented any myth from developing in the accounts. So what are the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament and how many do we have? These early epistles all clearly refer to Jesus as Lord, a reference to his deity. Many New Testament Epistles were written before these gospel accounts. James, the Brother of Jesus, penned his book around AD 45, just over a decade after Christ’s death. Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians around AD 47 to 48. The three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) were penned before AD 70. Matthew, one of the 12 disciples, recorded his first-hand account. Mark recorded the Apostle Peter's recollections. Luke, missionary companion of the Apostle Paul, consulted many eye-witnesses. John, also an eyewitness of Christ, penned his gospel toward the end of the 1st century. ![]() This oral message took on a written form. Its essential message appears in the four gospels. The New Testament records the virgin birth, miracles, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but many are skeptical of the New Testament’s claims concerning Christ. So how can we know if the claims of the New Testament are true? We must first explore the origin of the New Testament. Jesus’ disciples first proclaimed Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection right after his resurrection and accession back to Heaven. New Testament History: A Narrative Account, Ben Witherington III we must always ‘consider the source’ of the information as we evaluate its interpretation of the data.” Thus, all the relevant ancient data must be critically sifted and evaluated. Whether we are dealing with Roman writers like Tacitus or Jewish writers like Josephus or the New Testament writers themselves, none of these writers is attempting to give us an ‘objective’ assessment of the data, if by ‘objective’ one means value free or purely neutral. “We have no ancient sources about Jesus and Christianity from ‘neutral’ observers.
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