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MYTHS ABOUT. THE BIBLE. MYTH #1. The Bible’s text has been corrupted over time. OLD TESTAMENT. OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS. AD 900’s. 1947 – 1956 Dead Sea Scrolls. 33 AD (plus or minus 200 yrs). OVER 800 – 1000 YEARS. ONLY ABOUT 13 VARIANTS IN ALL OF ISIAH.
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MYTHS ABOUT THE BIBLE
MYTH #1 The Bible’s text has been corrupted over time
OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS AD 900’s
1947 – 1956 Dead Sea Scrolls 33 AD (plus or minus 200 yrs)
OVER 800 – 1000 YEARS ONLY ABOUT 13 VARIANTS IN ALL OF ISIAH http://carm.org/old-testament-corrupted
HEREDOTUS MANUSCRIPTS: 8
JOSEPHUS MANUSCRIPTS: 9
LIVY MANUSCRIPTS: 20
TACITUS ONE: 9TH CENTURY MANUSCRIPT
NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS: 5 500 Over 500 before 10th Century http://danielbwallace.com/2012/05/01/the-bart-ehrman-blog-and-the-reliability-of-the-new-testament-text/
5500 GREEK, PLUS: LATIN, SYRIAC, COPTIC, ARAMAIC TRANSLATIONS 19000
The position I argue for in ‘Misquoting Jesus’ does not actually stand at odds with Prof. Metzger’s position that the essential Christian beliefs are not affected by textual variants in the manuscript tradition of the New Testament.
One is the word, the Parent of the light of everything, he who came forth from the Silence, he whose name is an invisible symbol. A hidden, invisible mystery came forth: Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, ooooooooooooooooooooooo, Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO The Gospel of the Egyptians From Nag Hammadi Codices IV, end pg 43 - 44
Simon Peter said to them, “Mary should leave us because women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said, “I myself will lead her so as to make her male, so that she may become a living spirit resembling you males. Every woman who makes herself male will enter the Kingdom of heaven.” Gospel according to Thomas (saying 114)
MYTH #2 The Bible simply full of Myths and Legends
HOW THE GOSPEL WRITERS GOT IT RIGHT!
LOCATIONS PLACE NAMES
PEOPLE’S NAMES PETER SIMON JAMES JESUS JUDAS NAOMI MARY
ANCIENT BIOGRAPHY RATHER THAN MYTH
ORAL TRADITION
TIME FRAME ORAL HISTORY RATHER THAN ORAL TRADITION
PAUL IS OUR EARLIEST SOURCE
Paul writes as if he knows that his audience are aware of details of Jesus’ life: He holds up Jesus’ life as THE model to imitate: 1 Cor 11:1, 2 Cor 8:9, 10:1, Rom 15:2-3, (Eph 5:1) Phil 2:5-7, 3:8-10) Paul knew Jesus’ earthly life was characterized by meekness, gentleness, self-sacrificial love and humble service (2 Cor 10:1, Phil 2:5-7) Paul knew: Jesus had been born and raised as a Jew (Gal 4:4) He descended from Abraham and David (Gal 3:16, Rom 1:3) Jesus had a brother named James (Gal 1:19) and other brothers (1 Cor 9:5) Paul knew a number of Jesus’ disciples and that Peter was married (1 Cor 9:5, 15:3-7) Paul knew: Jesus had been betrayed (1 Cor 11:23), executed by crucifixion (1 Cor 1:17-18, Gal 5:11 6:12, Phil 2:8, 3:18), with the help of certain Judean Jews (1 Thess 2:14-15) Jesus had instituted a memorial meal the night before his death (1 Cor 11:23-25) Jesus was buried after His death and was resurrected 3 days later (Rom 4:24-25, 6:4-9, 8:11, 34, 1 Cor 6:14, 2 Cor 4:14, Gal 1:1, 1 Thess 4:14) Paul was aware of a number of contemporary people who were eyewitnesses of the risen Christ (1 Cor 15:4-8)
Resources for further reading: www.carm.org – very easy reading on lots of topics This is a good link to start with: http://carm.org/bible For more in depth reading: www.tektonics.org and www.christianthinktank.com Great stuff! Worth the effort
More websites: http://danielbwallace.com/2012/05/01/the-bart-ehrman-blog-and-the-reliability-of-the-new-testament-text Check out the website, but this is great reading on texts, in response to Bart Ehrman (quoted earlier) http://bible.org/article/gospel-according-bart Also a great response to Ehrman’s one book in particular, but good info on lots of stuff Check out the bible.org website for more info on other topics too!
Some recommended books: Can we trust the Gospels By Mark D. Roberts http://markdroberts.com/?cat=18 (Check out his blog too) Lord or Legend By Gregory A. Boydand Paul Rhodes Eddy
The Case for Christ and The Case for The Real Jesus – both by Lee Strobel
All of these book recommendations are very accessible reading, you don’t need to know lots of stuff to understand. And there are many more resources, but these are a great start.