Textual Integrity Of The Bible
Is the Bible that we have in our hands today unchanged? Or has it undergone extensive revisions and alterations? Truth is the first victim in the Christian apologetical literature. This is because if they tell the truth about the Church history and its role in formulating the Bible (or Bibles) as well as the manuscript tradition of the New Testament, belief in the Bible as the "Word" of God would take the beating and the Churches would go absolutely empty. Hence it is not be surprising to find an average Christian's knowledge about his own scriptures is pretty close to zero.
This page is to educate the Muslims about the Bible of the Christians, concerning mainly with its compilation and textual reliability. It is often seen that Christian missionaries dupe less-knowledgeable Muslims about the Bible by saying that the Qur'an confirms the Bible and hence Muslims should believe in the Bible. Muslims should remember that the Qur'an attests Torah, Zabur and Injil as revelations from God given to the Prophet. It does not attest whatever writers of the Old Testament or St. Paul in the New Testament wrote or said.
But what is the textual reliability of the so-called Torah, Zabur and Injil present in the modern Bibles? The aim of this page is to venture into this issue. If one can't establish the 'revealed' books' textual reliability, is there any point calling it as the Word of God?
Lastly, we have made sure that we use the references of Judeo-Christian scholars of repute not the apologetical literature for very obvious reasons.
The Canon Of The BibleThe New Testament ManuscriptsA detailed discussion about the various canons of the Bible drawn at various times by different Churches can be seen here.
Was The Bible Same As We have In Our Hands Today?
Church Tradition and The Textual Integrity Of The Bible
- Church Tradition and The Bible
- Church Tradition and Apostolic Fathers
- Church Tradition and The Early Lists Of The Books Of The New Testament
- Church Tradition and 'Inspiration' Of New Testament Books
- Church Tradition and Manuscripts
- Church Tradition and The Six 'Disputed' Books
Extracts From The Book How We Got Our Bible
The Bible and Its 'Inspiration'
Textual Reliability Of The Bible - Who Is Afraid Of Textual Criticism?
Criteria Used In Choosing Among Conflicting Readings In New Testament Witnesses
Textual Reliability / Accuracy Of The New Testament
Based on a narrative whose source is alleged to have been the renowned Scottish Judge Sir David Dalrymple (Lord Hailes), it is frequently asserted that the entire New Testament can be reconstructed from the citations of the Church Fathers of the first three centuries, with the exception of only eleven verses. Going back to the original documents, something which none of the authors have attempted to study, it is shown that the data in them clearly disproves this claim – repeated in numerous missionary and apologetical publications for a period of more than 165 years.
- Introduction
- Historical And Theological Antecedents
- An Anecdote
- Dalrymple's Invitation: Some Preliminary Observations
- Conclusions
Modern Approaches To New Testament Textual Criticism
- Radical Eclecticism (G. D. Kilpatrick, J. K. Elliott)
- Reasoned Eclecticism (B. M. Metzger, K. Aland)
- Reasoned Conservatism (H. A. Sturz)
- Radical Conservatism (Z. Hodges, A. Farstad)
Critical Text Of The New Testament: Methodology and Implications
- Introduction
- Formation Of A Critical Text: Methodology and Implications
- Conclusion
- Appendix: Other Articles Of Interest
The Multivalence Of The Term "Original Text" In New Testament Textual Criticism, E. Jay Epp, Harvard Theological Review, 1999, Volume 92, No. 3. pp. 245-281.
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