This week we are continuing our roadmap in Christian Apologetics, with more conversations. The is part one of a series within our class on the topic of the Bible. We will be looking at questions such as: How do we know the Bible is the Word of God; how did we get the Bible; and how have scholars authenticated the books? We will look at these and more over the next few sessions.

Overview Notes From the Presentation

Christian Apologetics: More Conversations

How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?

The Bible’s Authenticity

If God exists, miracles are possible, and we’ve already proven God’s existence beyond a reasonable doubt!
Thus, miracles are possible and God’s Word being recorded and passed down over time is one of the most evidential miracles we have!
Evidential because of the mounds of evidence that supports the Bible’s reliability, historicity and transmission over time.

MAPS-S

The acronym MAPS-S give us a snapshot of the evidence for the inspiration, inerrancy and reliability of the Bible.

M = Manuscript evidence

A = Archeological evidence

P = Evidence from Prophecy fulfillment

S = Evidence based on Scientific authenticity

S = Evidence from Saved Lives over the centuries

Manuscript Evidence

Strong historical and literary support
Excellent transmission over time
Accurate translations
Thorough canonization process – no inspired books are left out
Contains multiple eyewitness accounts
Authentication by both Christian and non-Christian sources
The science of textual criticism eliminates errors in the copies

1. Strong historical and literary support

66 books, 40 authors from various stations of life such as kings, peasants, doctors, herdsmen, fishermen, tax collectors etc.
Written over a period of 1500 years, from 10 different countries, with a cast of characters depicted in 1551 places.
Various subjects and teachings are recorded, yet…

IT HAS A SEAMLESS AND COHESIVE STORYLINE!

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time and is considered by scholars to be a

Literary Masterpiece!

2. Excellent Transmission over time!

Old Testament: All 39 books are verified by…

God’s direction and inspiration: This would include God’s own eyewitness account of Creation and the antediluvian period; God spoke directly to the early authors and God Himself even penned part of the Law given to Moses.
Oral transmission over time is very reliable – Example: Adam to Moses had only 5 generational links between them (see the genealogies for ages and overlaps of the generations).
Written transmission and Scribal preservation via Moses and the Levitical Priests and Scribes (there are over 4000 specific rules to be followed for Scribal copying of the Scripture).

The Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Old Testament books are confirmed by comparing…

Septuagint: Dated 250 BC
Massorite texts: Dated AD 800-900

Note: There is approximately a 1000-year gap – Do we have the right information that hasn’t been changed over time? YES!

Dead Sea Scrolls, first discovered in 1947, are dated 200-100 BC, answering this question by matching both previous texts with minimal variants!

New Testament: All 27 books are verified by…

All 27 books are primary sources, written in the first century within a generation of the events.
All 27 books are based on eyewitness accounts
All 27 books were transmitted quickly (via the Roman Road and easy access to the Greek language)
There are 5 main text families with over 25,000 early manuscripts in which to compare =100% certainty in meaning/verba; and 99.5% certainty in words/vox (.5% is difference in some spelling, grammar and word order)

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 last 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 Gospels into surrounding regions (beginning in Acts 8) and continuing on into the known world along with the writings from the Epistles. This rules out any possibility of changes from the originals, as manuscripts everywhere would have had to be changed to match. 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 doctrinal changes or corruptions occurred after the originals we would find this in the multitudes of early manuscripts from the document families 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:

Mark/Apostle Peter AD 50	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

^“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)

Going Deeper

“Cold Case Christianity,” by J. Warner Wallace, former Cold-Case Homicide Detective and Author

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN2EKL7E2Vg&t=817s

Reflection

If you only had one minute for each question, to the best of your ability, give a quick answer in your own words, (note – these are building from the presentation notes each week):

What are the four important areas for Christian growth?
What are the twelve points that will help you tell the Bible’s Big Picture?
What are the two most important questions you can ask when someone makes a claim about Christianity, or a belief that they hold to be true that is in conflict with the Christian Worldview?
What is the Moral Law argument for the existence of God? Give an example.
How is evil defined from a Christian Worldview? Give an example.
What are the three factors in identifying sources of evil?
What three characteristics does Satan possess that he wants to bring out in us?
What does it mean for a Christian to have a proper perspective of eternity?
What is a miracle, and how is it different from natural occurrences?
What does the acronym MAPS-S stand for, and how does it help us confirm the Bible’s reliability?

Bible Study

Note: Basic answers to the questions are posted mid-week for your review, and to add to a leader’s guide for future studies!

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

Class Bible study:

Questions are taken directly from the chapters, and answers should be found and cited from the Scripture text in order to be Biblically accurate (unless asked to summarize in your own words). Study Bibles, commentaries and your own thoughts can be used for “Discussion” or “Going Deeper” questions. Cite your sources to share with your group.

1. Review of Daily Devotional:

Do you have any last comments to share on your daily devotional? We you able to commit to one? Do you have any questions, or suggestions, about starting one for this summer?

2. Review of Class Topics:

With your table group, discuss today’s apologetics presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting, or asking any questions.

Read Colossians 4:1-18 with your group then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

3. What are some important things Paul says about prayer (4:1-4)? What parts could we incorporate into our own prayer time?

4. How should we conduct ourselves toward outsiders (non-Christians), and why do you think this would be important for Christians to model, especially in our culture today (4:5-6)?

5. Going Deeper: Paul, like many authors of antiquity, likely dictated to a scribe and then ended with an authentication of some sort. Most ancient letters or epistles, like this one, also end with greetings and, or updates from others who were known to both the author and recipients. This also helps us with confirmation of other Biblical characters.

a. How did Paul end this Epistle, and why is that important (4:18)?

b. Make a list of the people who Paul mentions, and research what we can know about them; some will be more familiar than others (4:7-17).

6. Discuss: What are some of the important things you learned this spring from your studies in the books of Philippians and Colossians? Are there life applications from these Epistles for today that you can put into practice and, or share with others?

7. Memory verses: Recite Philippians 1:9-10; Philippians 3:14; Philippians 4:6-8; Philippians 4:12-13; Colossians 1:16-17; Colossians 2:8; Colossians 3:12-13 and add Colossians 4:5-6

Join us next week as we continue our study in Christian Apologetics with more conversations on the topic of the Bible!

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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