THE TABLE BRIEFING
Challenges to the Reliability of the New Testament Text
BY DARRELL L. BOCK AND MIKEL DEL ROSARIO
FORMAT: PDF
SOURCE: BIBLIOTHECA SACRA,175 (January-March 2018): 96-105
THIS PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE IS PART OF THE TABLE BRIEFING SERIES. ©2018 BY DALLAS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. USED BY PERMISSION.
INTRODUCTION
Copyists make mistakes. How can you claim to know what the New Testament says when there are hundreds of thousands of textual variants?” Many skeptics bring up challenges like this to undercut the idea that most English translations of the Bible reflect what the biblical authors wrote. Have we lost the message of the New Testament?
We talked with textual critic Daniel Wallace in an episode of The Table about how to approach the issue of manuscript differences in the transmission of the Scriptures. Wallace is Senior Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts.
This discussion highlights answers to four key questions that can encourage believers as they engage in everyday conversations about the reliability of the text: Why do New Testament manuscripts contain so many differences? Do variants suggest completely different, competing theologies? What essential doctrines are at stake? How does textual criticism relate to the reliability of the New Testament? [Download the full-length article]
Have we lost the text of the New Testament? No. Download this article on engaging challenges to the reliability of the New Testament text and see how well God has preserved his Word. Click To Tweet