New Testament Transmission:
Last week we looked at the transmission of the Old Testament from the time of Moses to today, roughly a 3500 year period. The New Testament has a shorter transmission timeline, yet it comes under attack by skeptics more than the Old Testament. Could that have anything to do with Jesus being a major part of it?
Over the next few weeks we will look at the transmission and selection process of the New Testament books. We will also look at why we know there were no books, or so-called gospels, left out of the Bible. And, we will look at the reasons we know the books of the New Testament are correct through the science of textual criticism.
Let’s start with the evidence that most scholars agree on:
Historical standards tell us that the earlier an ancient account was written (closer to the events) and the more copies of the account we have, the higher the reliability will be—the New Testament fits this category:
- New Testament documents are considered primary eyewitness accounts, not secondary, because they were written in the first century during the time people involved were alive to confirm or dispute the events
- The writings of the New Testament were immediately copied and widely dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and beyond (see the book of Acts) thus eliminating time for changes, forgeries, or embellishments
- We have over 25,000 early New Testament manuscripts and fragments from five different document families from ancient Christian communities, dating as early as the second century, and most of these documents can be viewed in various libraries, museums, and churches around the world
- Scholars find a 99.5% agreement between these early manuscripts with variations stemming mainly from differences in spelling, grammar, word order, and minor deletions or additions (noted in modern Bible footnotes)—none of which effects any doctrine of the Christian faith
New Testament Manuscript Families:
- The Western Text: (2nd to 13th century)
- Includes two early second century manuscripts from the Old Latin and Syriac translations
- Used mainly in North Africa, and then early on in the west
- Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian used this text
- The Alexandrian Text: (3rd to 12th century)
- Originated in Alexandria, Egypt and was used by the early Alexandrian Church fathers
- The Caesarean Text: (3rd to 13th century)
- Thought to be a compilation of the Western and Alexandrian texts
- Origen and Eusebius are associated with this group of texts
Most of our modern English Bibles today are taken from one of these two families; the difference between them is about 200 variants or the equivalent a few words:
- The Proto-Alexandrian Texts/Critical Text: (2nd to 4th Century)
- Best known as the “Critical Text” because it has some of the oldest copies available including: Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus, Papyrus 66 and the Bodmer Papyrus 75
- The New American Standard Version (NAS[V]B), English Standard Version (ESV), and New International Version (NIV) reflect this family of texts
- The Byzantine Text/Majority Text: (5th to 10th Century)
- Best known as the “Majority Text” because there are more available copies
- Adopted in Constantinople and used as the common text in the Byzantine world
- Martin Luther translated his German Bible from this family
- The King James Version (KJV, NKJV) reflects this family of texts
Let’s put this together with the Old Testament:
As previously discussed, the books of the Christian Old Testament are the same as the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). These books are the ones used and accepted by the Jews as Scripture from the time of Moses, through the history of the Nation of Israel, to the time of Jesus. We also find Jesus and the New Testament authors quoting from these same Old Testament books.
Skeptics will say that the New Testament was changed over time, but this is far from true. What is important to remember is that the Christian faith was a missionary faith from its very inception (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). The Apostle Paul and others quickly disseminated the New Testament into surrounding regions (beginning in Acts 8) and continuing on into the known world through the writings of the Epistles. This rules out any possibility of changes or additions from the original writings, as manuscripts everywhere would have to be changed to match as well. In addition, because of the quick transmission in the first century eyewitnesses were still alive to dispute errors or changes that could have taken place.
Chain of Custody first three centuries:
As we have seen from the Old Testament, Scribes were responsible for the protection and transmission of the writings. With the onset of the New Testament and the rapid transmission of the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles these writings were copied and preserved in the Christian communities. If changes or corruptions occurred from the originals, they would have to go around changing all of the copies as well. We do not find this in the multitudes of early manuscripts available for comparison. This is called textual criticism (we will look at that later on).
In his book “Cold Case Christianity, J. Warner Wallace put together a “Chain of Custody” for the New Testament documents from the time that Jesus’ ministry ended (c. 33 AD/CE) to the final canonization in 393-397 AD/CE that can be seen in the following chart:
| Apostle Peter AD 50
(John-Mark) |
Apostle Paul AD 60 | Apostle John AD 70 |
| Anianum AD 75 | Linus AD 70 | Ignatious AD 110 (7-16 books
Polycarp AD 110 (14-16 books) |
| Avilius AD 95 | Clement of Rome AD 95 (7 books) | Irenaeus D 185 (24 books) |
| Kedron AD 100
Primus AD 115 |
Evaristus AD 100
Alexander AD 110 |
Hippolytus AD 220 (24 books) |
| Justus AD 130 | Sixtus AD 120
Telesphorus AD 130 Hyginus AD 135 |
|
| Pantaenus AD 195 | Pius 1 AD 150
Justin Martyr AD 160 (5 books) Tatian AD 175 (20 books) |
|
| Clement of Alexandria AD 210 (22 books) | ||
| Origin AD 250 (27 books) | ||
| Pamphilus AD 300
Eusebius AD 335 (27 books) |
The first complete New Testament: Codex Sinaiticus, Council of Laodicea AD 350-363
Watch J. Warner Wallace explain the “Chain of Custody” at the ApolgeticsCanada Conference:
Join us next week as we look at the canonization process and the translations of the Scripture early on from the original languages.
Reflection and challenge:
- Reflect on the evidence presented for the transmission of the New Testament over time. How has it changed your level of confidence int he Bible we have today?
- Prayer: Praise God for giving us so much evidence for the reliability of His Word. Ask Him how you can share what you are learning with others and make a commitment to study the Bible with a renewed enthusiasm.
- Challenge: Read “Cold Case Christianity,” by J. Warner Wallace.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————
You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in! Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.
Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.
Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.
Teri Dugan
TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com
1 Peter 3:15
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.