Indholdsfortegnelse
Understanding God's word is of great importance to all who call on God's name. Study of the Bible is one of the primary ways that we learn to communicate with God.
The Bible stands alone in many ways. It is unique in:
popularity. Bible sales in North America: more than $500 million per year. The Bible is both the all-time and year-to-year best seller!
authorship. It was written over a period of 1600 years by 40 different authors from different backgrounds, yet reads as if written by one.
preservation. F. F. Bruce in Are New Testament Documents Reliable? compares New Testament manuscripts with other ancient texts:
Tabel 1.1. Sammenligning af det Nye Testamentes manuskripter med andre forhistoriske tekster.
| Værk | Blev skrevet | Første Kopi | Tidsforløb | Antal Kopier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herodotus | 448-428 f.kr. | 900 e.kr. | 1300 år | 8 |
| Tacitus | 100 e.kr. | 110 e.kr. | 1000 år | 20 |
| Caesar's Galliske Krig | 80-58 f.kr. | 900 e.kr. | 950 år | 10 |
| Livy's Roms historie | 59 f.kr. - 17 e.kr. | 900 e.kr. | 900 år | 20 |
| Det nye testamente | 40 e.kr. - 100 e.kr. | 130 e.kr. Delvise manuskripter 350 e.kr. Hele manuskripter | 30 - 310 år | 5000 Græske & 10,000 på Latin |
Ten copies of Caesar's Gallic War exist, the earliest of which was copied 900 years after Caesar wrote the original, etc. For the New Testament we have full manuscripts dating to 350 A. D., papyri containing most of the New Testament from the 200s, and a fragment of John's gospel from 130 A. D. How many manuscripts do we have to compare to each other? 5,000 in Greek and 10,000 in Latin!
"I ægthed og helhed af beviserne hvorpå det hviler, så er teksterne i det Nye testamente absolutte og urørlige, alene med hensyn til andre oldhistoriske prosa." | ||
| --Textual critic F. J. A. Hort, "The New Testament in the Original Greek", vol. 1 p561, Macmillan Co., quoted in Questions of Lifep. 25-26 | ||