Is the Bible we used today faithful to the original languages or is it corrupted?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on December 19, 2009 at 7:10pm

Christians have a firm foundation for confidence in the unchanging text of both Testaments. Not only is there a super-abundance of 5,664 Greek manuscripts from which the original wording of New Testament books can be determined; there are also 18,000 other manuscripts in several other languages, e.g., Armenian, Latin Vulgate, Ethiopic, and more.

It is rare for secular books of antiquity to have as many as even a dozen ancient manuscripts. Typically their best copies date about 700-1000 years after the date of composition. By contrast, there are complete papyrus manuscripts of many entire New Testament books that date from a mere 100 years after the originals. One papyrus scrap of John 18 has been dated to as early as 115 A.D., just 25 years after John was written!

Sir Frederic Kenyon, former director of the British Museum, said that…

“in no other case is the interval of time between the composition of the book and the date of the earliest manuscripts so short as in that of the New Testament.”

Based on his findings, he concluded:

"The last foundation for any doubt that the scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed."

For more information about the interesting findings of Bible archaeology, see ChristianAnswers.Net/archaeology

Permalink Reply by swtswan on February 4, 2010 at 6:09am

In my opinion, Nope!, I have over 9 different vrsions of the Bible, and an AL QUARIN (Musim version of our bible) <- though theyd be upset at me referring to it that way, The oldest Bible dated back to the first edition, which may have been lost since the babilonian times, It has yet to surface;.... but the next closest version, is the Duey rhimes version, and they all pretty much stay as close to the original meaning of the word as theyve prayed over while writing, with countless scholars and religeious folk and seem to have accomplishd ther goals, though it may be in many different versions, mostly to accommaate themny different languages and cultures their goal is the same; to reach HIS people from he Jewish versions, ( I think theres about 4 at least; that I can think of just in that genre alone, to the NIV, the Catholic, to the New American, KJV, etc;,... I dont own the KJV yet, but working on it, They are all great referrences to explore the Fathers word, and each will bring the reader to a greater understanding of depth and scope of God and HIs commandments, The more you read the more shall be opened unto you, And Theres so much more;... but back to the question in hand, No, in my opinion, what Ive read in the Al Quarin/ Koran, its self conflicting in itself, half of it says to love your brother and help those less fortunate on one hand, and the other half says to kill the infadel, and So much more, check it out for yourselves, In my opinion, what can one expect from a fugitive who hid in the mountains for 6 months to escape being killed for his radicl beliefs, than to write His version/ though jaded at times of what he thought should be the laws set forth? As he believed, more probly due to lack of sleep, severe neglect and isolation in those mountains wrote what was supposedly inspired by Allah? Anyway, as I must appologize for my opinion, these are my observations, and research alone and not endorsed by any religeious nor non religeious affiliations,...GOD Bless in your findings~;~+

Permalink Reply by swtswan on February 4, 2010 at 6:36am

I must aplogize again, that I really have to do more research in the one area I am having problems with, it is not a discrepancy in the Bible that I am saying; just something my limited knowledge is wrestling with on a personal level, there are no discrepancies in the word itself, just something I need to understand better; and I know the Father will enlighten me when the time comes, it is through diligent prayer and supplication which brings about wisdom and knowledge a life time journey,...Amen

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on February 8, 2010 at 12:30am

No apology needed sister Swtswan and your impute is appreciated.

Please do share your apparent discrepancy and bless us with allowing us to wrestle with the issue too.:)

Blessings

Permalink Reply by Rodney M Hall on February 7, 2010 at 2:12pm

That is a very good question. And it is one that I have wondered about many times. Wondering how something that was origanally passed on by word of mouth could have survived all these years. But then one day, A wonderful young lady from my church gave me a few books to read. The one that comes to mind when I read this question is called "The Case For Christ" written by Lee Strobel. On the front cover it reads "A journalist's personal investigation of the evidence of Jesus."
In the book he talks of many things including the validity of of the Gospels. What he writes about is not his own opinion. He interviews many highly educated individuals. Now there are far too many examples to give here. So my suggestion is to get the book and read through it. Regardless of how you feel about the subject or how much you believe that you understand, I am sure that you will learn something interesting and worth while.
I know that it made a huge difference in my life. I hope that it does for you as well.

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on February 8, 2010 at 12:43am

Rodney,

I can't remember if i own the book you mentioned and i don't feel like looking for it among my books right now hahaha but i do remember seeing the video and have attached it here.

Thank you so much for reminding me of it Rodney,

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on February 8, 2010 at 12:31am

Before 1948, the oldest complete Hebrew manuscript dated to 900 A.D. The Dead Sea discoveries brought shocking news. A complete scroll of Isaiah was found, which is dated to about 100 B.C. With one stroke, we leaped 1000 years deeper into the past, in terms of the oldest known copy of Isaiah!

It gets interesting at this point, since scholars can see how well the Massoretic copiers had preserved the Old Testament text. As scholars compared the two Isaiah texts (from 900 A.D. & 100 B.C.), they were startled by the precision of copying.

Isaiah 53, for example, has 166 words, and there are only 17 letters that differ. Ten are just spelling differences. Four are "minor stylistic changes, such as conjunctions." The three remaining letters that differ are the word "light," added in verse 11, which does not affect the meaning.

As Geisler and Nix pointed out,

"Thus in one chapter of 166 words, there is only one word (three letters) in question after a thousand years of transmission—and this word does not significantly change the meaning of the passage."

[For further reading, see: What is the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls? (ChristianAnswers.Net

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on February 8, 2010 at 12:32am

In his book, Introduction in Research in English Literary History, C. Sanders sets forth three tests of reliability employed in general historiography and literary criticism.{1} These tests are:

Bibliographical (i.e., the textual tradition from the original document to the copies and manuscripts of that document we possess today)
Internal evidence (what the document claims for itself)
External evidence (how the document squares or aligns itself with facts, dates, persons from its own contemporary world).
It might be noteworthy to mention that Sanders is a professor of military history, not a theologian. He uses these three tests of reliability in his own study of historical military events.

We will look now at the bibliographical, or textual evidence for the Bible's reliability.

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on February 8, 2010 at 12:33am

The scribe was considered a professional person in antiquity. No printing presses existed, so people were trained to copy documents. The task was usually undertaken by a devout Jew. The Scribes believed they were dealing with the very Word of God and were therefore extremely careful in copying. They did not just hastily write things down. The earliest complete copy of the Hebrew Old Testament dates from c. 900 A.D.
During the early part of the tenth century (916 A.D.), there was a group of Jews called the Massoretes. These Jews were meticulous in their copying. The texts they had were all in capital letters, and there was no punctuation or paragraphs. The Massoretes would copy Isaiah, for example, and when they were through, they would total up the number of letters. Then they would find the middle letter of the book. If it was not the same, they made a new copy. All of the present copies of the Hebrew text which come from this period are in remarkable agreement. Comparisons of the Massoretic text with earlier Latin and Greek versions have also revealed careful copying and little deviation during the thousand years from 100 B.C. to 900 A.D. But until this century, there was scant material written in Hebrew from antiquity which could be compared to the Masoretic texts of the tenth century A.D.

Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on February 8, 2010 at 12:35am

The Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, also confirms the accuracy of the copyists who ultimately gave us the Massoretic text. The Septuagint is often referred to as the LXX because it was reputedly done by seventy Jewish scholars in Alexandria around 200 B.C. The LXX appears to be a rather literal translation from the Hebrew, and the manuscripts we have are pretty good copies of the original translation.

Conclusion
In his book, Can I Trust My Bible, R. Laird Harris concluded, "We can now be sure that copyists worked with great care and accuracy on the Old Testament, even back to 225 B.C. . . . indeed, it would be rash skepticism that would now deny that we have our Old Testament in a form very close to that used by Ezra when he taught the word of the Lord to those who had returned from the Babylonian captivity."{4}

The New Testament

The Greek Manuscript Evidence
There are more than 4,000 different ancient Greek manuscripts containing all or portions of the New Testament that have survived to our time. These are written on different materials.
Papyrus and Parchment

During the early Christian era, the writing material most commonly used was papyrus. This highly durable reed from the Nile Valley was glued together much like plywood and then allowed to dry in the sun. In the twentieth century many remains of documents (both biblical and non-biblical) on papyrus have been discovered, especially in the dry, arid lands of North Africa and the Middle East.

Another material used was parchment. This was made from the skin of sheep or goats, and was in wide use until the late Middle Ages when paper began to replace it. It was scarce and more expensive; hence, it was used almost exclusively for important documents.

Examples

1. Codex Vaticanus and Codex Siniaticus

These are two excellent parchment copies of the entire New Testament which date from the 4th century (325-450 A.D.).{5}

Permalink Reply by Rodney M Hall on February 9, 2010 at 3:53pm

Hey David,
Thanks for putting the video here. I really enjoyed watching it. And all of the other information is great. We do need to understand it all.

Permalink Reply by Stacey Osana Arquines on April 24, 2010 at 12:11am

Isnt it if people add or remove words in the Holy Bible that is already written, they will have their share for trying to corrupt the word of God? like translations are understandable but ultimately there is one truth.

I stick with one bible sometimes look up other versions online... i talk to God to tell me what I need to know lol if that makes sense he teaches me everything. I have tried other books but I am always reminded to stick with his word for the truth and about everything that I want to know and serve the Lord and recognize Jesus Christ.

In the end I rely on God's voice and listen to what Jesus tells me to do. I look to the word whenever I am asked to and I read a chapter everyday and find other versions like 2 or 3 to compare and see if I understood the same thing pretty much for me the truth of God withstands. Sometimes I make a fool out of myself for trying to test God's own voice that I hear all the time and Jesus laughs at me but in a loving way. Tis good they warned me lol

aites bro lata

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