Apologetics - V

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Evidence For The Early Existence Of The New Testament

In our last lesson we looked at the evidence found in internal and historical evidence for the early existence of the New Testament and why this is crucial. In continuing this lesson we will be looking at the evidence for the early existence of the New Testament in the papyri fragments.

CHESTER BEATTY BIBLICAL PAPYRI (dated 200-250 A.D.)
Made public in 1931, contains the Gospels, Acts, Paul's Epistles, and Revelation
PAYPRUS BODMER II (dated 200 A.D.)
Discovery announced in 1956 contains fourteen chapters of John, and portions of the last seven chapters
EARLY CHRISTIAN PAPYRI (dated 150 A.D.)
Made public in 1935, written by someone who had the four gospels before him and knew them well
JOHN RYLANDS MSS (dated 130 A.D.)
This is oldest fragment of the NT "Because of its early date and location (EGYPT), some distance from the traditional place of composition (ASIA MINOR), this portion of the gospel of John tends to confirm the traditional date of the composition of the gospel."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE, Geisler & Nix
Looking at the evidence for the early existence of the New Testament we find patristic writings.
EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS (dated 120 A.D.)
A personal acquaintance of John, the apostle, he quotes from the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 1 John
LETTERS OF IGNATIUS (dated 115 A.D.)
Written to several churches in Asia Minor, he quotes from Matthew, John, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus
EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS (dated 95 A.D.)
This letter was written to encourage the church to respect their elders, he quotes from the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Titus, Hebrews, and 1 Peter

The implications of this evidence shows that the New Testament was in existence and well known by the end of the First Century A.D. As stated by Nelson Glueck, former president of the Jewish Theological Seminary in the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and renowned Jewish archaeologist: "In my opinion, every book of the New Testament was written between the forties and eighties of the First Century A.D."
"We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after 80 A.D." - W. F. Albright, biblical archaeologist.

Thus the New Testament passes the "Acid Test" for the authenticity of "any" document of antiquity. It was written in the same generation in which the events took place. It was circulated among the very people about whom these documents spoke while they were still alive to deny them! For example, remember Clifford Irving and his "biography" of Howard Hughes? It was quickly denounced as a fraud by those who knew best and soon lost its credibility. The fact that the first generation preserved the New Testament for posterity shows their regard for the genuineness of its contents.

But the "ACID TEST" is only the FIRST test any historical document must pass. So what if it was written early? How do we know that what we read today is an accurate representation of the original "autographs" (the manuscripts actually penned by the authors)? How can we be sure that in the passing of time the content of the original did not become corrupted through mistakes in copying? These questions shall be examined in the next study...

The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000