The Reliability of the New Testament: How We Got Our Bible
The New Testament we hold in our hands today has a long and fascinating history. From the pens of the apostles and their companions to the printed copies in our pews, the transmission of the New Testament reflects God’s providential care over His Word. But how do we know the New Testament we read is trustworthy and accurately represents what was originally written?
1. The Originals and the Copies
The apostles and early church leaders wrote the books of the New Testament between approximately 45 and 100 A.D. However, we no longer have the original manuscripts. Instead, what we have are thousands of handwritten copies, known as manuscripts, produced by scribes over the centuries.
While this may sound concerning at first, consider this: the sheer volume of manuscripts far surpasses any other ancient document. With over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts, and thousands more in other languages, the New Testament is the most well-attested text of the ancient world.
2. Comparing the Manuscripts
When scholars compare these manuscripts, they find an incredibly high degree of agreement—over 99% of the text is consistent across copies. The differences that do exist are often spelling errors, word order changes, or minor discrepancies that do not affect core doctrines or teachings.
The process of textual criticism allows scholars to reconstruct the original wording by comparing the various manuscripts. Even skeptics acknowledge that the essential message of the New Testament remains unchanged despite the transmission process.
3. Early Church Fathers and Quotations
In addition to manuscripts, the writings of the early church fathers—pastors and theologians from the first few centuries—contain thousands of quotations from the New Testament. In fact, if we lost all existing manuscripts today, we could reconstruct nearly the entire New Testament simply from their writings.
4. Why This Matters
The reliability of the New Testament isn’t just an academic question—it’s foundational to our faith. If the text of the New Testament has been accurately preserved, then we can have confidence that the words we read are the very words inspired by God, pointing us to salvation through Jesus Christ.
5. A Call to Trust and Study
As believers, we are called not only to trust in the Word but to engage deeply with it. The rich history of the New Testament’s transmission invites us to appreciate the care and dedication of those who came before us. It also serves as a reminder that God’s Word endures and that His truth will never pass away.