1. The linguistic evidence of the New Testament Manuscripts shows that they were
all written by AD 100."Even in much later manuscripts, as we have seen, the type
of Greek represented by the New Testament is that of the first century. Unless
we resort to the wholly improbable hypothesis of a deliberate and remarkably
successful use of archaic language, it is evident therefore that the books of
the New Testament were written in the first century." (Millar Burrows)
2.
The Old and New Testaments were translated as early as the first half of the
second century into Syriac and Old Latin. This makes the Bible the only Book
translated into another language before 100 years of its birth. These
translations were done to fulfill the missionary needs of Christians since
Christianity was born as a missionary faith from its very beginning.
3.
The canon of the New Testament was not born from one day to another in the
Council of Nicea (AD 325) as some critics of Christianity say. In the first
century the Fathers of the Church recognized which books were authoritative and
which were not. Justin Martyr (AD 100-165) wrote: "On the day called Sunday
there is a gathering...and the writings of the Apostles or the writings of the
Prophets are read...then the president (of the assembly) presents admonition and
invitation to the imitation of theses good things." As we see, the Christian
community had very clear which books to follow and translate, and it is
demonstrated that the ones fully accepted by the community were the written by
the Apostles.
4. Counting Greek copies alone, the New Testament is
preserved in some 5,656 partial and complete manuscript portions that were
copied by hand from the second to the fifteenth centuries. Christianity critics
say that there are thousands of variations from one manuscript to the other. The
only differences among the texts are of syntax (words’ order) and errors made by
the scribes. Yet, the huge amount of manuscripts clarify where these mistakes
are. Most Study Bibles have these slight variations singled out and explained.
It is important to mention that none of these variations change any doctrinal
truth of Christianity.
5. The earliest translations of the New Testament
(made in AD 150), prepared by missionaries to assist the propagation of the
Christian faith among peoples whose native tongue was Syriac, Latin or Coptic,
show the integrity and fidelity of the New Testament we have today. Today, there
are more than 15,000 existing copies of these early translations.
6. The
patristic citations of the Scriptures give overwhelming support to the existence
of the 27 authoritative books of the New Testament canon by the second century.
They quoted just from the 27 books we have today.
7. The quotations of
the Scriptures made by first and second century church fathers are so numerous
and widespread in their writings that if no manuscripts of the New Testament
were extant, the New Testament could be reproduced in its integrity (but 11
verses) from these writings alone.
8. “Besides textual evidence derived
from New Testament Greek Manuscripts and from early translations, the textual
critic has available a numerous scriptural quotations included in the
commentaries, sermons, and other treatises written by early church fathers (AD
100-300). Indeed so extensive are the citations that if all other sources for
our knowledge of the text of the New Testament were destroyed, they would be
sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire New
Testament”. (Metzger, TNT, 86)
9. The Bible is the only Holy Book that
contains fulfilled prophecy as well as prophecies in the process of completion
today. For example, the Bible prophecy of the rebirth of Israel in the Book of Ezekiel and the prophecy of the recent conflicts in the Middle East because of Jerusalem; Zechariah 12 says:
I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling...On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.
Psalm 83 says:
With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish.“Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation, so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week in Cairo:
"The Iranian people are ready to march on Israel to destroy it..."
He said in 2005, in front of 3,000 students:
"...Israel must be wiped off the map..."
The 1988 HAMAS Charter says:
"Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors."
