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Is The New Testament Trustworthy?

No one questions the authenticity of Plato, Aristotle, or Homer, but the manuscript evidence for each of these is far less than that of the Bible.  We can be assured that the Bible text we have today is the text of the first century.

The Iliad and The Odyssey
Written: around 900 B.C.
Earliest available manuscript: 400 B.C. (500 years later)
Total manuscripts: 643

Works of Plato
Written: 427-347 B.C.
Earliest available manuscript: A.D. 900 (1200 years later)
(There is one fragment from 3″ century B.C.)
Total manuscripts: 7

Works of Aristotle
Written: 384-322 B.C.
Earliest available manuscript: A.D. 1100 (1400 years later)
Total manuscripts: 49

Works of Julius Caesar
Written: 100-44 B.C.
Earliest available manuscript: A.D. 900 (1000 years later)
Total manuscripts: 10

Works of Pliny
Written: A.D. 61-113
Earliest available manuscript: A.D. 850 (750 years later)
Total manuscripts: 7

The New Testament
Written: 1st Century
Earliest available manuscript: 1st Century (within 30-40 years)
Total manuscripts: 5,800

The Bible has over 5,800 early Greek manuscripts available to confirm the accuracy of today’s New Testament. In addition, there are thousands more in Latin, Syriac, Slavic, Gothic, Ethiopic, Coptic and Armenian.

– via House-to-House