Sunday, June 5, 2011

Historical Veracity of the Bible

For comparison:

There are about 5300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament plus over 10,000 Latin Vulgate and at least 9300 other early versions AND 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in existance

The closest document of antiquity to even approach that in such numbers is Homer's Iliad of which there are only 643 in existance. The first complete preserved text of Homer is only from the 13th century

Lets go into the others shall we, since you pointed out that there is considerable time between Jesus' life and the first written found document about Jesus

Ceasar's earliest works was written between 100-44BC of which the earliest copy in existance is from 900AD. Thats a 1000 year gap. Only 10 copies exist. Did Ceasar really exist?

Plato's works were written between 427-347BC of which the earliest copies in existance is from 900AD, a gap of 1200 years. Only 7 copies in existance. Did Plato exist?

Aristotle's works were written between 384-322BC, and the earliest copies are from 1100AD. Thats a gap of 1200 years, only 10 copies in existance remaining. Did Aristotle exist?

In comparison, most of the New Testament were written in the latter part of the 1st Century, the earliest manuscripts (excluding scraps) are from the 4th Century. Only a 250-300 year gap.

So again, if Jesus's existance is in doubt, all of these, from Ceasar to Plato to Aristotle have even worse proof of their existance

The existence of Socrates is even worse, as the only proof of his existence is Plato's writings

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