the Bible – the book
III. THE NEW TESTAMENT TEXT
A. Introduction
So far, we have looked at the New Testament to see that it was written by eyewitnesses or close associates and contemporaries of the eyewitnesses who left a record that incorporates a very detailed and accurate description of the people, places, and events of the day in which they lived.
The written testimony of the authors, along with the testimony of their lives, demonstrates that these men were conducting themselves with integrity and pure motives. The end result is an accurate and trustworthy historical document bearing witness to the life and teaching of Jesus Christ and the early Christian Church.
Attention will now shift to the transmission of the written documents down through the ages. The important question to answer is this, ” Is the New Testament we now have in our hands today an accurate copy of the original New Testament documents as penned by the original authors almost two thousand years ago? The study of the transmission of the text of the New Testament is fascinating and will demonstrate the reliability and trustworthiness of the New Testament we possess today.
This aspect of the study of the Bible is vast in scope and cannot be covered here in an exhaustive fashion. The purpose here is to introduce the reader to some of the important facts to be considered and to provide enough information to satisfy the legitimate questions that are raised in an honest search for the truth. A list of books has been provided in the bibliography for those who wish to investigate this topic even further.
While a Christian is called to exercise faith in many aspect of his life, when it comes to the New Testament documents his faith is resting on a solid foundation of fact regarding the trustworthiness and reliability of the written record before him. Jesus promised that His words would not pass away, and the history of the transmission of the text of the NT demonstrates that He has kept that promise!