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The Genuineness and Authenticity of the Bible:
Genuineness defined. By genuineness we mean that the books of the Bible were actually written by the men whose names they bear, or that there is sufficient proof of their authorship, and that they were written at the time claimed.
Authenticity defined. By this we mean that the Bible relates truthfully the matters it deals with, and the contents are as originally written.
Six Proofs Bible Genuine and Authentic:
- Claims of the Bible Itself:
(1) The prophets of the O.T. claimed they were sent by God and that their messages were given to them by God (Luke 1:70; 2 Peter 1:21). Over 2,500 times the prophets claimed that God spoke by them (Isaiah 8:5; Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 2:4; etc.).
(2) The whole Bible centers around the person and work of Jesus Christ. In the O.T. we have hundreds of predictions, and in the N.T. we have the fulfillment and continuation of His life and ministry. He Himself claimed to have been sent by God (John 8:42; John 7:16; John 17:8). He performed miracles to confirm His mission (Acts 10:38); what He foretold came to pass and will yet come to pass. He put His seal upon the genuineness and authenticity of the O.T. (Matthew 5:17-18; Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:40-42; Luke 24:44; John 5:39).
(3) The Bible also represents the commission of the apostles as divine. God confirmed their ministry by signs and wonders (Mark 16:15-20; Acts 2:41-46; Acts 5:1-15; Hebrews 2:1-4). In all their writings they confirmed the teachings of Christ, and their declaration thereof was by supernatural powers.
(4) The testimony of the N.T. to the genuineness and authenticity of the O.T. is plain to see. The O.T. is quoted about 250 times in the N.T., and alluded to about 850 times. All O.T. books are either quoted or alluded to except Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.
- Testimony of Secular History: The events of Bible history were well known among all nations. Happenings of the N.T., having come to the knowledge of the then known world, were referred to by various secular authors of the first 4 centuries of the Christian era. Jerome, in A.D. 392, mentioned about 50 other authors as making quotations about and referring to N.T. events. They belonged to all parts of the world, but they agreed on one thing-that the Jewish scriptures were genuine and authentic, referring to them as a distinct volume universally received as such. No event in ancient history can produce more than a fraction of the evidence by which the Bible in its entirety is sustained as genuine and authentic.
- Ancient Manuscripts: No original MS can be produced due to the perishable material written on, such as paper and vellum (skins of animals). However, because of the dry climate of Egypt and Palestine, many thousands of copies-whole books or parts thereof-have been preserved for us. It is not necessary to produce original MSS to prove the genuineness and authenticity of the Bible any more than it would be necessary to produce the original Declaration of Independence to prove the many copies we have contain the statements of the original. Scholars are willing to admit the genuineness and authenticity of other writings if there are as many as 10 copies of the originals to be found. On this basis the Bible can be proved genuine and authentic thousands of times.
Number of Manuscripts:
(1) Uncial Manuscripts. All letters of uncial copies are 1 in. high; they are the oldest MSS before the 9th century A.D.
Gospels 101
Acts; General Epistles 22
Pauline Epistles 27
Apocalypse (Revelation) 9
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Total 156
(2) Cursive Manuscripts. Cursive copies are those in running handwriting as introduced about the 9th century A.D. and used in Bible-making up to the invention of the printing press in A.D. 1456.
Gospels 1,420
Acts; General Epistles 450
Pauline Epistles 520
Apocalypse (Revelation) 195
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Total 2,585
Since the catalog of these MSS was made there have been many new discoveries of whole books and portions of the Bible-the Dead Sea scrolls of Isaiah and other ancient writings, for instance. Some Bible texts have been found which are at least 100-200 years earlier than the above. Besides these Greek MSS there are many in Syriac, Coptic, Latin, and other languages, of both testaments, some dating back to the 3rd century, B.C. In 1897 literally tons of papyri were found in the Nile valley about 120 mi. south of Cairo, thousands of pieces being written in the language of the N.T. In another discovery there were at least 1,000,000 papyri; of these many thousands have never been edited. Other collections have also been located, some dating back to A.D. 100-600, and new discoveries are being made all the time. A recent report says that there are about 5,000 Greek MSS of the N.T. in all, and from 20,000 to 30,000 in other languages besides 100,000 to 200,000 quotations in the writings of the early church fathers. See Patristic Quotations, point 5, below.
Uncial Manuscripts:
(1) Sinaiticus or Codex Aleph, dating back to the 4th century. It was discovered by Dr. Tischendorf in the St. Catherine convent on Mt. Sinai in 1859. It contains the whole Bible besides the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, in part.
(2) Alexandrinus or Codex A, dating back to the 5th century. It contains the whole Bible, except for parts of Genesis, 1 Kings, Psalms, Matthew, John, and 2 Corinthians.
(3) Vaticanus or Codex B, dating back to the 4th century. It contains almost all of the O.T., and the N.T. down to Hebrews 9:14.
(4) Ephraem or Codex C, dating back to the 5th century. It contains part of the O.T. and all the N.T. books except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John.
(5) Bezae or Codex D, dating back to the 6th century. It is written in Greek and Latin parallel columns and contains most of the gospels, Acts, and the epistles.
(6) Claromontanus or Codex D, also in Greek and Latin like the Codex Bezae, and dating back to the 6th century. It contains most all the epistles.
Besides these there are many more dating back from the 6th to the 10th centuries which space will not permit the listing of.
- Lectionaries: These are collections of the gospels and epistles for reading in churches, some dating back from the 7th to the 10th centuries. They help in determining the exact text. Of these there are more than 1,000 of the gospels and 300 of the Acts and epistles.
5 Patristic Quotations: These are quotations of the Bible by early Christian writers-those of the first 3 centuries. They help in determining the exact text, filling the gap between the time of the apostles and the earliest MSS of the 4th century. If the N.T. were destroyed it could be practically reproduced from these quotations of the early fathers alone. See The Ante-Nicene Fathers volumes.
6 Ancient Versions: The many ancient versions of Scripture in many languages, dating from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D., add much to the proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the Bible.
(1) Septuagint in Greek, 3rd century B.C.
(2) Chaldee targum, paraphrases of portions of the O.T., 8th-11th centuries A.D.
(3) Samaritan Pentateuch, 1st or 2nd century A.D.
(4) Version of Aquila, Greek of the O.T. about A.D. 160
(5) Version of Theodotian, O.T. in Greek, 2nd century A.D.
(6) Version of Symachus, O.T. in Greek, 2nd century A.D.
(7) Peshitta Syriac version, 2nd century A.D.
(8) Arabic version, 8-12th century A.D.
(9) Armenian version, 5th century A.D.
(10) Egyptian version, 4th century A.D.
(11) Ethiopic version, 4th century A.D.
(12) Gothic version, 4th century A.D.
(13) Georgian version, 6th century A.D.
(14) Latin version, 4th century A.D.
(15) Persian version, 2nd century A.D.
The Bible text as we now have it is the same as that passed down through all these sources from the earliest times, so there should be no question in the mind of anyone regarding the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures.
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