![]() Papyrus was popular because it was readily available and relatively inexpensive. (I’ll say more about the dating of the gospels in Chapter 4.) They were written on scrolls of papyrus (a rough, paper-like substance). The documents we know as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written sometime in the second half of the first century A.D. The Relationship Between Existing Manuscripts and the Original Compositions Our New Testament is translated from Greek manuscripts. The Old Testament in English comes directly from Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts. Every modern translation of Scripture is based upon manuscripts written in the same languages as those used by the original writers. ![]() But the Bible has not “evolved through countless translations,” as if our English versions stand at the end of a long chain of multi-lingual transformations. At last count, the New Testament has been translated into 1,541 languages. ![]() Teabing exaggerates in saying that the Bible has been captured in “countless translations.” It has indeed been translated into more languages than any other book, by far. Though there is plenty of history in Scripture, the biblical writers focused mainly upon God’s action, salvation, and revelation within history. It’s true that the Bible “did not fall magically from the clouds.” It was in fact written by human beings who lived in “tumultuous times.” Yet the biblical documents were not created primarily as a “historical record” of these times. The Bible is indeed a human product, though this in no way requires that it could not also be “of God.” For centuries, Christians have affirmed that the Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by God. History has never had a definitive version of the book.” (p. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Teabing “reveals” the true nature of the Bible in this way: This criticism appears, for example, on the lips of Sir Leigh Teabing, a fictional historian in Dan Brown’s wildly popular novel, The Da Vinci Code. Critics of Christianity often allege that the gospels as we know them don’t resemble the originals. It’s not uncommon these days for people to answer “No” to this question. Thus you might sensibly wonder if the gospels bear any resemblance to what the original writers actually penned almost 2,000 years ago. Aren’tyougladthingshavechanged? What you read in your Bible is the result of centuries of preservation, translation, and publication. None of these items were present in the original manuscripts of the writings we call Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, however. You’ll see book names, chapter and verse numbers, punctuation, and paragraphs. If you open a Bible and look for the gospels, you’ll find them in English translation, neatly collected at the beginning of the New Testament. The following series in an excerpt from my book, Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.Ĭan We Know What the Original Gospel Manuscripts Really Said?
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