Topic(s): Bible Study
Todd Clippard
With reference to the “original scriptures,” to our knowledge they do not exist. The early writings were on primitive paper or animal skins, thus making them highly susceptible to the elements, particularly humidity and light. Also, because the Bible was copied extensively and circulated widely, there would be no way to know if a manuscript was an original, even if it could be dated to the first century.
However, there are thousands of manuscript copies of the New Testament
writings, including some that date to the early second century. In 2003,
I had the privilege to see the oldest complete Bibles ever found — the
Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus. Both are housed at the British
Library in London. Both date to the late third – early fourth century.
They are named from the area in which they were found – Sinaiticus was found
on the Sinai Peninsula and Alexandrinus near Alexandria in Africa.
Translations are made using a body of manuscripts, comparing the various
texts and determining the best renderings. Some question the validity of
the Bible based upon a few variations within the manuscript bodies, but
consider the following facts:
Of Plato’s Republic there are only seven manuscripts dating to about 1400 years after he died;
Of Aristotle’s Rhetoric, there are only 49 manuscripts dating to about 1200
years after he died;
And there are no original manuscripts of Shakespeare’s work – around the
year 1600.
Generally speaking, no one argues about the validity of these works despite the miniscule and far removed manuscript evidence. But there are 20,000+ catalogued manuscripts and fragments of the New Testament, some dating to early in the fourth century. Of the variations within these thousands of manuscripts:
1) the variations within them could be written on a single sheet of paper (e.g., “John” vs “Johnn”);
2) only 8 or 9 verses are under suspicion as being non-canonical, that is, may not belong in the text (Acts 8:37; 1 John 5:7-8); and
3) of these variants or “suspicious” verses, not one changes or alters in any way one single Bible doctrine!
We can know the Bible is reliable because of the overwhelming manuscript evidence. There is no reason to doubt its validity simply because the original writings no longer exist.
