ACE Interview Mark Strauss "Reliability of the New Testament Manuscripts"

Summary

In this discussion, Mark Strauss, a professor at Bethel Seminary, addresses skeptics' doubts about the authenticity of the New Testament. He explains that while original manuscripts don't exist, the New Testament has more and earlier manuscript evidence than any other ancient literature. With over 5,000 manuscripts and the use of textual criticism, scholars are confident that we have a version of the New Testament very close to the original authors' writings, often estimated to be around 95% accurate.

Takeaways

• 📝 The original manuscripts of the New Testament, known as autographs, no longer exist, which is common for ancient literature.
• 📝 Despite the lack of autographs, we have more manuscript evidence for the New Testament than for any other ancient work.
• 📝 Over 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament exist, some dating back to within a few decades of the original writings.
• 📝 The science of textual criticism allows scholars to understand and correct copying errors over time.
• 📝 There is a broad consensus among scholars, regardless of their theological stance, that we have a text close to the original authors' writings.
• 📝 The New Testament's manuscript evidence is more reliable and closer in time to the original writings compared to other ancient literature.
• 📝 The level of agreement with the original texts is estimated to be around 95%, indicating a high degree of accuracy.
• 📝 The abundance of manuscripts provides a solid foundation for confidence in the New Testament's authenticity.
• 📝 Christian scholars encourage further reading and study to understand the reliability of the New Testament documents.
• 📝 Modern Bibles often indicate places of disagreement or different wordings in footnotes, showing transparency in textual variations.

Q & A

Why do skeptics question the authenticity of the New Testament?

Skeptics question the authenticity of the New Testament because the original manuscripts, known as autographs, do not exist. They argue that without these originals, we cannot be certain of the text's accuracy.

What is the significance of not having the autographs of ancient literature?

The absence of autographs is not unusual for ancient literature, including works like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Most ancient documents have not survived, but this does not invalidate the reliability of the texts we do have.

How does the number of New Testament manuscripts compare to other ancient works?

The New Testament has more manuscript evidence than any other ancient work of literature, with over 5,000 handwritten copies, some dating back to within a few decades of the original writings.

What is the role of textual criticism in understanding the New Testament?

Textual criticism is the science and art of analyzing and comparing manuscript copies to identify and correct errors in transmission. It helps scholars determine the most accurate version of the text.

What is the consensus among biblical scholars regarding the accuracy of the New Testament text?

There is a broad consensus among biblical scholars, regardless of their ideological stance, that the current New Testament texts are very close to the originals, with estimates suggesting around 95% accuracy.

How does the age of New Testament manuscripts compare to other ancient literature?

New Testament manuscripts are significantly older than those of other ancient works, with some existing within the first few decades of the documents' creation, compared to potentially 1,000 years for Greek literature.

What does the term 'manuscript evidence' refer to in the context of the New Testament?

Manuscript evidence refers to the physical copies of the New Testament that have been preserved and studied, providing scholars with tangible data to assess the text's authenticity.

Why should people not be alarmed by variations in New Testament manuscripts?

Variations in manuscripts are expected and do not undermine the overall reliability of the text. Scholars are aware of these discrepancies and often note them in modern Bible translations.

What resources are available for those interested in learning more about the reliability of the New Testament?

There are numerous resources, including writings by Christian scholars, that argue for the reliability of the New Testament documents and explain the evidence supporting their authenticity.

How do modern Bible translations handle instances where there are different wordings in the manuscripts?

Modern Bible translations often indicate places of disagreement or different wordings in footnotes or marginal notes, allowing readers to be aware of the textual variations.

What advice does Mark Strauss give to those concerned about the authenticity of the New Testament?

Mark Strauss encourages individuals to explore the resources available, read more about the subject, and understand that the scholarly consensus supports the high reliability of the New Testament documents.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Authenticity of New Testament Manuscripts

Josh Chatraw interviews Mark Strauss, a professor at Bethel Seminary, about the authenticity of the New Testament. Strauss addresses skeptics' concerns about the absence of original manuscripts, comparing the situation with other ancient literature like Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. He explains that while original copies are lost, the New Testament has an abundance of reliable manuscript evidence, with over 5,000 handwritten copies, some dating back to within decades of the original writings. Strauss highlights the science and art of textual criticism, which helps scholars understand and correct copying errors over time. He asserts that there is a broad consensus among scholars that the New Testament documents are approximately 95% accurate to the original authors' writings.

Keywords

💡Autographs

Autographs refer to the original documents or manuscripts written by the author of a work. In the context of the video, it discusses the absence of the original manuscripts of the New Testament. The video emphasizes that while autographs are absent, the reliability of the New Testament is not compromised because of the extensive manuscript evidence available.

💡Manuscripts

Manuscripts are handwritten or typed copies of a document, especially of an ancient or historical nature. The video highlights that there are over 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament, which is a significant number compared to other ancient works. These manuscripts provide a strong basis for the reliability of the text.

💡Textual Criticism

Textual criticism is the study of the transmission of documents to determine their authenticity and accuracy. The video mentions that textual criticism involves understanding the tendencies of copyists and how they might have made mistakes, which helps scholars assess the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts.

💡Reliability

Reliability, in this context, refers to the trustworthiness and accuracy of the text as it has been transmitted over time. The video argues that the New Testament is highly reliable due to the sheer number of manuscripts and the early dates of some of them.

💡Consensus

Consensus refers to a general agreement among scholars. The video mentions a broad consensus among biblical scholars that the New Testament texts are close to the originals, regardless of their ideological stance.

💡Skeptics

Skeptics are individuals who question the validity or authenticity of something. In the video, skeptics are mentioned as those who doubt the authenticity of the New Testament due to the lack of original manuscripts.

💡Ancient Literature

Ancient literature refers to written works from historical periods. The video contrasts the availability of manuscripts for the New Testament with that of other ancient literature, such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, to show that the New Testament is exceptionally well-attested.

💡Hand-Copied Documents

Hand-copied documents are written copies made by hand before the advent of modern copying technologies. The video discusses how the New Testament manuscripts were created in a period before printing presses, and despite this, we have a large number of them.

💡Original Authors

Original authors are the individuals who first penned the texts. The video suggests that through the process of textual criticism and the analysis of manuscripts, scholars can have confidence that the New Testament is close to what the original authors wrote.

💡Confidence

Confidence here refers to the assurance that the current versions of the New Testament are accurate representations of the original texts. The video encourages viewers to have confidence in the reliability of the New Testament documents.

💡Resources

Resources in this context refer to the scholarly works and research that support the reliability of the New Testament. The video encourages viewers to explore these resources to understand the extensive evidence supporting the New Testament's authenticity.

Highlights

Mark Strauss, a professor at Bethel Seminary, discusses the reliability of the New Testament documents.

Strauss addresses skeptics' concerns about the absence of original New Testament manuscripts.

Ancient literature, including Homer's works, also lacks original copies.

99% of ancient documents have been lost due to natural decay over time.

The focus should be on the reliability of hand-copied documents.

The New Testament has more manuscript evidence than any other ancient work.

Over 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament exist, some dating within decades of the original writings.

Textual criticism is a science that helps gauge copyist errors in ancient documents.

There is a broad consensus among scholars that the New Testament is close to the original authors' writings.

The New Testament's originality is estimated to be around 95% accurate.

Josh Chatraw emphasizes the substantial evidence supporting the New Testament compared to other ancient works.

Other ancient works may have only a few manuscripts, while the New Testament has thousands.

Manuscripts of the New Testament are closer in time to the original writings than other ancient literature.

The New Testament's manuscript evidence is highly reliable.

Christian scholars encourage people to trust the New Testament documents as being very close to the originals.

The abundance of manuscripts allows for detailed analysis and understanding of textual discrepancies.

Bibles often indicate different wordings or disagreements in the footnotes.

Christian scholars are aware of textual discrepancies and encourage further reading on the subject.

Transcripts

>> JOSH CHATRAW: I'm here with Mark Strauss who is a professor at Bethel Seminary in San

Diego, California where the weather is always nice.

We're actually filming this in San Diego, and it's cold back home where I'm from now

at Liberty.

Mark, tell us a little bit—.

One of the things that skeptics like to bring up today is that, “Well, we have no idea

what the New Testament really said.

The original words that the Gospel author wrote, or that Paul wrote.

We don't have those original manuscripts, so we can't have confidence that we actually

know what was there.”

What are some general ways that someone could respond to this type of thinking? 

>> MARK STRAUSS: Yeah, some people are really bothered when they hear we don't have what

are called the autographs.

We don't have the original copies of what Paul wrote or what Mark wrote or what Matthew

wrote.

Really, that shouldn't surprise us at all, because if you look at ancient literature

in general, the great works of ancient literature—Homer's Iliad, Homer's Odyssey—we don't have original

copies of anything.

99% of what was copied down in the ancient world disappeared, turned to dust, because

things over time, they just wear out and they disappear.

The question is do we have reliable hand-copied documents.

This was in the period of the X before Xerox, or before copying, or before the printing

press, and so everyone copied things by hand.

And yet what we do have in the New Testament, is we have more reliable manuscript evidence

for the New Testament documents than from any ancient work of literature, bar none.

By far, we have more than 5,000 manuscripts, handwritten copies of the New Testament—many

very early, some within a few decades of when they were actually written.

That's far earlier than any other ancient work of literature.

And then we have what we call a science and art of textual criticism, which are certain

rules that we can basically gauge the way copyists tended to make mistakes as the passed

down these documents.

So, that I think there's a broad consensus among biblical scholars—whether they're

conservative; whether they're liberals—that we have something close to what the original

authors actually wrote.

Sometimes stated to be something like 95% or so close to what the original authors wrote.

So, I think we can have confidence that we have something very close to the originals.

>> CHATRAW: And yeah, what you were saying about the amount of evidence we have compared

to other ancient works.

One of the things, that is data.

It's basically raw data.

It is hard evidence, and I don't know of anyone who actually disputes that.

No matter where you're at, there's no other source of literature from that time period

that's as well attested as the New Testament.

>> STRAUSS: Not even close.

And people would say we have pretty reliable copies of this ancient work, or this ancient

work, and yet they might have a half-dozen.

Or at most, the greatest works of Greek literature, maybe 100.

We have much larger and much closer.

For those works of Greek literature they might be within 1,000 years of when they were first

written, and we have things in the first decades of when the New Testament was written.

So, no question about it, we have highly reliable manuscript evidence. 

>> CHATRAW: So, one of the takeaways for those watching at home is that when you begin to

hear this kind of rhetoric about all the New Testament, and we can't—we don't have the

original copies, so we can't trust them.

I would encourage you.

There are so many resources out there.

There's so much by Christian scholars who are writing and saying that that's just not

the case.

We can have confidence in the New Testament documents that they were, you know, they were

very close to the originals, and we likely have the wording.

And it's a matter of sometimes it's what we have too much.

It's not that we're missing it, but we have so many manuscripts it's like we have 105%.

We've got to figure out, okay, we know where the places are where there's a disagreement.

And we have a couple different wordings, and oftentimes your Bibles will actually indicate

that at the bottom.

And that's what they're talking about.

And so, you don't need to be alarmed by that.

This is something that Christian scholars know about, and I would encourage you to read

more about it.