KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Thru standard methods of textual criticism, we can reconstruct the original New Testament documents with 99+% accuracy
- Because of the extraordinary number of manuscripts, a large number of variants should be expected
- Far from calling the purity of the text into question, it is this outstanding manuscript evidence that leads to a more accurate reconstruction
- Far from calling the purity of the text into question, it is this outstanding manuscript evidence that leads to a more accurate reconstruction
- Moreover, the nature of the variants raise little concern
- Only .1% of variants are both viable and meaningful and no such variant affects a central doctrine of Christianity
- 75-80% of variants are due to spelling differences
- Only .1% of variants are both viable and meaningful and no such variant affects a central doctrine of Christianity
- The evidence for the purity of the New Testament text is superior to that of any document from ancient history.
“Neillology Answers” is intended to give viewers quick answers to important questions while providing resources for further study.
This is not intended to be a comprehensive treatment of the question which requires considerable time and explanation – my goal here is to give you substantive, easy-to-remember, answers to tough questions.
For more information on this topic, viewers are encouraged to read Can We Still Believe the Bible, by Craig Blomberg.
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