Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
[1]
AUTHOR DATE EARLIEST TIME SPAN NUMBER OF ACCURACY
WRITTEN COPY COPIES
Livy Ca. 10 BC - - 20
New Test. Ca. AD 60 ca. AD 130 About 100 years About 14,000 99.5%
*Taken directly from Ken Boa’s I’m Glad You Asked page 78
GOD BREATHED John’s gospel was likely written. Scholar Carsten Peter Thiede even claims that
he has dated a fragment of Matthew to about AD 60. By comparing the ancient
manuscripts, we find that the vast majority of variations are minor elements of
spelling, grammar, and style, or accidental omissions or duplications of words
or phrases. Only about four hundred (less than one page of an English transla-
tion) have any significant bearing on the meaning of a passage, and most are
footnoted in modern English translations. Overall, 97 to 99 percent of the New
Testament can be reconstructed beyond any reasonable doubt, and no Chris-
tian doctrine is founded solely or even
primarily on textually disputed passages.
Moreover, the Scripture quoted
2 Timothy 3:16-17
in the works of the early Christian writers
All Scripture is breathed The transmission (mostly AD 95–150) are so extensive that
out by God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, process of Scripture is, virtually the entire New Testament can be
for correction, and for by God’s providential reconstructed, except for eleven verses,
training in righteousness, grace, without peer. mostly from 2 and 3 John.
that the man of God may be
competent, equipped for Critics of the accuracy of the
every good work.
Bible routinely claim that it is in fact a se-
ries of fables and legends that have
[2]
developed over hundreds of years be- consistency of the Bible, I will provide 12. Crucified with thieves (Isa. 53:12
cause there are not enough copies of a few simple examples that illustrate cf. Matt. 27:38)
ancient manuscripts to alleviate their the amazing internal unity of the Bible. 13. Forsaken by God (Ps. 22:1 cf.
skepticism. However, a simple shep- Neither Islam nor any other world Matt. 27:46)
herd boy dealt a death blow to their religion or cult can present any spe- 14. Lots cast for His clothing (Ps.
criticisms in 1947. He wandered into a cific prophecies concerning the com- 22:18 cf. John 19:23)
cave in the Middle East and discov- ing of their prophets. In the Bible, 15. Buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isa.
ered large pottery jars filled with however, we see hundreds of fulfilled 53:9 cf. Matt. 27:57)
leather scrolls that had been wrapped prophecies extending hundreds and 16. Resurrected & exalted (Ps. 16:10,
in linen cloth. Amazingly, the ancient sometimes more than a thousand Isa. 52:13, 53:10–12 cf. Acts 2:25–
copies of the books of the Bible were years into the future. At the time of its 32)
in good condition despite their age writing, upwards of one-quarter of 17. Ascended into heaven (Ps. 68:18
and the harsh climate because they Scripture was prophetic in nature. cf. Acts 1:8, Eph. 4:8).
had been well sealed for nearly nine- Consider the following prophecies and The Bible is clearly a book of his-
teen hundred years. What are now their fulfillment in Jesus Christ: tory and not just philosophy because it
known as The Dead Sea Scrolls are 1. Born of a woman (Gen. 3:15 cf. continually promises concrete histori-
made up of some forty thousand in- Matt. 1:20; Gal. 4:4) cal events that, in time, come to pass
scribed ancient fragments. From these 2. Descendant of Abraham (Gen. exactly as promised. These fulfillments
fragments, more than five hundred 22:18 cf. Matt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16) of prophetic promises show the divine
books have been reconstructed, in- 3. Born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14 cf. Matt. inspiration of Scripture and prove that
cluding some Old Testament books 1:18) a sovereign God rules over human his-
such as a complete copy of Isaiah. 4. Born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2 cf. tory and brings events to pass as He
Simply, if someone seeks to elimi- Luke 2:1–7) ordains them. Consequently, we can
nate the trustworthiness of the New 5. Prophesied by the forerunner John trust the internal consistency of the
Testament, then to be consistent they the Baptist (Isa. 40; Mal. 3:1 cf. Bible to be a chorus of faithful wit-
would also have to dismiss virtually John 1:19–52) nesses who sing together in harmony.
the entire canon of Western literature 6. Rejected by his own people (Isa. 3. The Historical Test
and pull everything from Homer to 53 cf. John 1) The historicity of Jesus and events
Plato to Aristotle off of bookstore 7. Presented as a king riding a don- surrounding the time of His life has
shelves and out of classroom discus- key (Zech. 9:9 cf. Luke 19:35–37)
been well established by early Roman,
sions. The transmission process of 8. Betrayed by a friend (Ps. 41:9 cf. Greek, and Jewish sources. Such an-
Scripture is, by God’s providential Matt. 26:50)
cient historians include Flavius Jose-
grace, without peer. 9. Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver phus, Mara BarSerapion, Cornelius
2. The Internal Test (Zech. 11:12 cf. 26:15) Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger,
This test of the Bible’s accuracy is 10. Blood money thrown on temple
Lucian, and the Jewish Talmud. Sim-
indeed important because each book floor & used to buy a potters field ply, when the New Testament men-
is a witness to a body of truth and, (Zech. 11:13 cf. Matt. 27:5–7)
tions such historical facts as rulers,
much like a legal case in our day, if a Note: the temple was destroyed in nations, people groups, political
witness were to contradict himself, 70 AD so the Messiah must have events, and the existence of Jesus,
then his testimony would not be come prior to then.
non-Christian historical sources con-
deemed trustworthy. While there is not 11. Crucified (Ps. 22:16 cf. Luke firm the accuracy of the New Testa-
sufficient space in such a brief hand- 23:33) Note: crucifixion didn’t exist
ment accounts.
book to thoroughly defend the internal until hundreds of years after
Psalms was written
[3]
Why Are There Different Bible Translations?
In translating the Bible into Eng- of the ESV), the NASB was
lish, four general categories of transla- widely regarded as the most
tion are most common: word-for-word scholarly word-for-word
translations, thought-for-thought translation. It did not be-
translations, paraphrases, and corrup- come widely popular, how-
tions. The same four options are also ever, because of its tight
used in the translation of other ancient copyright and sometimes
books into English. stiff translation of poetry
In June of 2007, the elders at that lost some of the
The ESV is
Westwood Bible Fellowship decided to beauty of the original
the preferred
establish the English Standard Version writings. Thankfully, the
translation at
(ESV) as our primary house translation. ESV has preserved the
WBF
Word-for-Word degree of accuracy pre-
Word-for-word translations (also sent in the NASB while also (NLT), Contemporary English
doing a better job of translating the Version (CEV), and the Good News
known as literal translations) make a
special effort to carefully interpret each poetic parts of Scripture in a more Bible (GNB). The benefit of thought-
word from their original Greek, He- fluid manner. for-thought translations in general is
brew, and Aramaic into English. Word- The philosophy of word-for-word that they are easy to understand and
for-word translations emphasize God, translation guided virtually every Eng- make the Bible accessible to a wide
lish Bible translation until the middle of number of people.
the divine author of Scripture, over the
human reader of Scripture. The result the twentieth century. At that time, Going one step further than
is a striving for the precision of what thought-for-thought translation be- thought-for-thought translations are
the Bible says, much like one would came popular. paraphrases, which combine both
word translations are generally written or functional equivalence) attempt to Paraphrased translations pay even
at an upper high school reading level. convey the full nuance of each pas- less attention to specific word mean-
Word-for-word translations tend to sage by interpreting the Scripture’s ings than thought-for-thought transla-
be the best for studying because of entire meaning and not just the indi- tions in an attempt to capture the po-
their accuracy, though they sometimes vidual words. Thought-for-thought etic or narrative essence of a passage.
lose the poetic nuances of the original translations may include words that For this reason, many paraphrased
languages. Probably the best word- were not included in the original text in translations do not even have verse
for-word translations are the English an effort to give the same meaning divisions in them. Examples of para-
Standard Version (ESV), the New that the reader of the original lan- phrased translations include The Mes-
American Standard Bible (NASB), and guages would have had. sage (TM), The Living Bible (TLB), and
the New King James Version (NKJV). The best and most widely read The Amplified Bible (TAB).
The King James Version (KJV) is also a thought-for-thought English translation
word-for-word translation, but be- is the New International Version (NIV).
cause it was translated 400 years ago, Other thought-for-thought translations Westwood Bible Fellowship
www.westwoodbf.com
it is very difficult for some people to include Today’s New International Ver-
read. For many years (until the arrival sion (TNIV), New Living Translation
[4]