We Rely on the New Testament
You have learned many things about the books of the New Testament in the previous lessons. You have learned about the political, religious, and cultural circumstances that surrounded them. You have learned some facts about their authors and considered some reasons why they were written. You have read each one and studied its message.
But there are still some questions that need to be answered. For example, why does the New Testament contain just the 27 books we have studied and no others? How were these books passed on to us? What evidence is there to show that they exist today in the same form in which they were first written during the first century?
You will find answers to these questions in this lesson. You will discover how the New Testament was formed. You will become acquainted with the evidence we have that it has been accurately passed on to us. The facts you learn will help you realize that you can have complete confidence in the New Testament. You can rely on it with assurance as you seek to serve the Lord and live for Him.
The Holy Spirit not only inspired the writers of the New Testament books but also guided the church in forming the New Testament and transmitting it to us. Your study of these processes will help you see why you can rely on the New Testament as God’s Word for us today.
Formed Under God’s Guidance
The formation of the New Testament was a process that went on for several years after the books themselves were written. The books were circulated, gathered into collections, used by church leaders, and officially recognized by church council.
Written by Chosen Men
Not very long after Jesus’ ascension, God inspired certain men to write the books you have studied, which we call the New Testament. At first the apostles preached from their own first-hand experience with Christ and showed how He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies (see Acts 2:14–40; 3:17–26; 7:2–53; 8:26–35, for example). Then Paul, Peter, and others wrote letters to various churches and individuals to confirm in writing what they had already explained through preaching and teaching. Later, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote the Gospels so that believers would have an accurate record of Jesus’ life and teachings, and Luke wrote the book of Acts. Finally, the apostle John was asked to write the things God revealed to him in order to show believers what would take place in the future (Revelation 1:1, 11). The whole group of 27 writings was produced between AD 49 and AD 95.
Collected by Believers
Some churches exchanged the letters they had received (see Colossians 4:16). Copies were made of the various writings, and before very long, churches in many cities had them.
Not long after the separate writings were circulated and copied, certain ones were grouped together. In the New Testament itself, Peter wrote of Paul’s letters as if they were already an accepted unit (2 Peter 3:15–16). Manuscripts have been found in which Paul’s letters were all placed together in just such a way. In addition, it appears that the four Gospels were often bound together.
Sometimes Acts was included with this group. Other similar collections were made during the years after the books were written, and soon all the New Testament books were joined together. One important manuscript that we have from the fourth century contains the entire New Testament.
Affirmed by Church Leader
The books of the New Testament were recognized as God’s Word by those who received them. As we have seen, Peter regarded Paul’s writings as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15–16). In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul applied the term “Scripture” both to a quotation from the Old Testament, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and something Jesus said: “The worker deserves his wages” (Deuteronomy 25:4; Luke 10:7). Paul and John both expected their letters to be read to the church, as was the custom with Old Testament Scriptures in the synagogue (1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16; Revelation 1:3).
During the years that followed the writing and circulation of the New Testament books, other church leaders in different places recognized them as God’s Word. They quoted from various New Testament books in their writings, giving them the same respect as was given to the Old Testament Scriptures. The following chart summarizes some of these leaders, when and where they lived, and the books of the New Testament they quoted from or referred to in their writings.
The leaders named on the chart not only quoted and referred to the New Testament books, but they also relied on them when opposing false teachers. Irenaeus and Origen, for example, appealed to the New Testament writings when they wrote against errors such as Gnosticism. (You will recall that in Lesson 9, you learned that 1 John was written against an early form of this same kind of false teaching—the idea that spirit is good and matter is evil.) The use these church leaders made of the New Testament books shows their high regard for them.
Recognized by Church Council
Toward the last part of the fourth century, the church leaders gave formal recognition to the books that were accepted as inspired. Those that were accepted were spoken of as belonging to or forming the canon of Scripture, that is, the body of writings that were divinely inspired and authoritative.
There were three main reasons why this formal recognition was made: 1) the appearance of other writings that were accepted by some as inspired, 2) the influence of the incomplete list or canon of Marcion, and 3) the persecution of Diocletian.
1. The appearance of other writings.
The 27 books of our New Testament were not the only writings about Christ and the apostles that were composed during the first 150 years of the church’s existence. Luke said in the introduction to his Gospel account, “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us” (Luke 1:1). Paul warned the Thessalonians not to believe any letter that contradicted what he said about the Day of the Lord, even if such a letter claimed to be from him (2 Thessalonians 2:2).
Later on, such writings as 1 Clement (circa AD 96), The Epistle of Barnabas (circa AD 130), The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (circa AD 120), and The Shepherd of Hermas (circa AD 140) appeared. These writings were devotional and were highly regarded by certain churches. In the second and third centuries, a considerable number of other writings appeared that also claimed to be inspired. Among these were the Acts of Peter, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the Gospel of Thomas. Many of them were of a fanciful and imaginative nature.
Faced with this situation, the leaders of the church needed to state which books had been accepted by all as the authentic products of the Holy Spirit.
2. The list of Marcion (circa AD 140).
Along with the appearance of other writings, there was the growing influence of the incomplete list or canon of Marcion. Marcion was a false teacher who accepted only the Gospel of Luke and ten of Paul’s epistles after he had removed from them everything he did not like. He rejected the other books that had already been recognized by most leaders as being inspired and gathered many followers who accepted his incomplete list. The church leaders needed to affirm the authority of the books that Marcion denied.
3. The persecution of Diocletian.
Another factor that led to the formation of the canon was the law made by the Roman emperor Diocletian in AD 303. According to this law, all sacred books were to be burned. This made it important for the church leaders to give formal recognition to those books that should be preserved and protected from destruction.
A significant event in the formation of the New Testament canon was the Third Council of Carthage, which was held in AD 397. Previous church councils had met in various places, such as the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), the Council of Laodicea (AD 363), and the Damasine Council (AD 382), and various lists were produced. However, at the Third Council of Carthage, the first formal statement was made regarding which books were to be considered canonical, that is, part of the canon. This statement was a list that named the same 27 books our New Testament contains, no more and no less.
Each book that was included in the canon had to meet all of the following tests:
1. Apostolicity. It had to have an apostle or a person who was closely associated with an apostle as its author.
2. Spirituality. It had to have a spiritual and moral character of the highest kind, concentrating on the person and work of Christ.
3. Universality. It had to have been accepted by the church as a whole.
4. Inspiration. It had to give unmistakable evidence that it had been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
It is important to realize that church leaders could not make a writing part of the canon. Either a certain letter or book was inspired by the Holy Spirit and authoritative by its very content or it was not. The leaders’ task was to recognize those writings that were worthy of canonical status and include them in the canon. It is evident that the Holy Spirit guided the leaders, for the books they acknowledged have stood the test of time and have been sufficient for the church’s every need.
Faithfully Preserved And Transmitted
In the previous section, we studied how the New Testament was formed. Now we will consider the evidence we have that it has been carefully copied and passed on to us just as it was first written. As we study this evidence, we will discover the reasons why we can be sure that our New Testament is a trustworthy record of the life of Jesus and the teachings of the apostles.
Many Ancient Manuscripts Exist
None of the original manuscripts of the New Testament books has survived—for example, the letter of 1 Corinthians, which Paul himself wrote. However, many hundreds of copies of them have been found and preserved. Some of these are from as early as the second century after Christ. These manuscripts and writings can be divided into four basic groups: the Greek papyri and parchments, the translations and versions, the quotations made by the church leaders, and the lectionaries or reading lessons used in the churches.
The Greek Papyri And Parchments
As you know, the writers of the New Testament used the Greek language. The original letters and books and the first copies of them were written on a substance called papyrus; later, copies were made on parchment.
Papyrus was a writing substance made from the leaves of the papyrus reed, which grows in Egypt. At first, manuscripts were copied onto rolls of papyrus. Then individual leaves were cut and bound together in a book form called a codex. Books today are still made in the same way. Papyrus was not expensive, but it was fragile. In a dry climate such as that of Egypt, papyrus sheets could last for hundreds of years. In a damp climate, though, they easily rotted. Despite their fragility, however, some 88 papyrus manuscripts have survived. The oldest of these that has been discovered to date is the Rylands Papyri 457 (P52). It is from the early part of the second century and contains portions of the Gospel of John. If the Gospel of John was written at the close of the first century (around AD 95), this means that this fragment comes from a manuscript produced less than 50 years later.
Six of the most important papyrus manuscripts are briefly described in the following chart.
Early Translations And Versions
Soon after the New Testament books were written and circulated, they were translated into various languages. Some of these translations were made two hundred years before Codex Vaticanus was produced. Thus they are an even earlier witness to the existence and form of the New Testament. Five of the most important versions are described in the following chart.
Writings Of The Church Fathers
In addition to the Greek manuscripts and the other language versions of the New Testament, there are many quotations from the New Testament in the writings of various church leaders beginning in the first century. These leaders include most of those listed in the previous chart you have studied, “Use of New Testament by Early Church Leaders.” The quotations by these writers show that manuscripts of the New Testament books were already known in many places at the time they were written. If all the quotations by these church leaders were put together, they would contain almost the entire New Testament.
Lectionaries
Besides the Greek manuscripts, the various versions, and the writings of the church fathers, there are also over 2,200 lectionaries that contain portions of the New Testament. These lectionaries were used for the public reading of the Scriptures in the churches. The oldest ones that have been found at this time are from the sixth century.
As you can see, there are at least 5,300 manuscripts of all or part of the New Testament, counting just the Greek papyrus, parchment, and vellum manuscripts and the church lectionaries.
It is interesting to compare the New Testament with other works that were written at about the same time in light of the number and age of the manuscripts that exist today. Three of these works are Annals of Imperial Rome, by Tacitus; Gallic War, by Julius Caesar; and The War with Hannibal, by Livy. All of these are writings about the political and military history of the Roman Empire. Notice how the New Testament compares with these writings as given on the following chart.
Truly, there is an overwhelming abundance of manuscripts of the New Testament. The sheer amount of evidence provided by the great numbers and early date of the papyri, parchments, vellums, lectionaries, quotations, and versions of the New Testament points to only one inescapable conclusion: the life, death, and resurrection of Christ is the best-documented event in all of ancient history.
Our Testament Is Completely Reliable
For fourteen centuries, the New Testament existed in manuscript form. Most of these manuscripts were kept in the large churches and monasteries of Europe, and some were kept in the homes of wealthy men. But this situation changed dramatically when printing was invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1437. The first book he printed in Mainz, Germany, in 1456 was the Bible—the Gutenberg Bible as it came to be known. This was a momentous event. Instead of being laboriously copied by hand, Bibles could be rapidly and inexpensively produced by the hundreds. Now everyone could have his or her own copy of the Old and New Testaments.
Many translations have been made of the Bible. Most of the modern ones, including the New International Version, are based on the best readings of all the available Greek manuscripts. There are some minor and insignificant variations among these sources. However, the actual differences among the hundreds of Greek manuscripts amount to so little that they could occupy less than two-thirds of one page of an entire New Testament—one one-thousandth part of the whole. This fact shows that all the manuscripts came from one original. It also shows that the men who copied the New Testament books did so with great care. The agreement among the manuscripts is so close that we can say with assurance that our New Testament faithfully represents the original writings in every respect.
You and I have the New Testament today because of the work of many faithful, dedicated Christians—those who wrote it as God inspired them; those who carefully copied, preserved, and transmitted it to us; those who patiently compared the hundreds of Greek manuscripts to produce our modern, accurate versions; and those who translated it into our languages. What a priceless treasure it is! It tells us about our incomparable Savior, the wonderful kingdom He came to establish, the power that is ours to serve Him, and the glory that we will share with Him forever. Let us study it with diligence. Let us take its message into our hearts. Let us teach its truth to others with full assurance, knowing that it is the active, living, life-changing Word of God.