Is the New Testament Reliable?

Some historians (usually those of the atheistic or agnostic persuasion) try to claim that the New Testament is not a reliable historical document. In today’s article I’d like to briefly cover the manuscript evidence for the New Testament compared to some other historical documents. While this is just one (of the many) pieces of evidence for the reliability of the Bible, I believe it to be an integral one.

The question we must answer is: is the New Testament reliable as a historical document based on manuscript evidence? Well, we need to consider that there are more copies of the New Testament documents (over 5,800 copies) than many of the other texts that historians have no problem accepting as authentic. Here are some examples:

Homer’s Iliad: Written about 700 B.C., the earliest manuscript of this work is unknown. There are 643 known copies of this manuscript.

Josephus’ Jewish Wars: Written about A.D. 70 and the earliest known manuscript is dated at 400 A.D. There are 9 known copies of this manuscript. *There are parts of Joshephus’ work that some believe to be embellished but that is another topic for another time.

Histories of Tacitus: Written about A.D. 100, the earliest known manuscript is from around 900 A.D. There are 2 known copies of this manuscript.

The New Testament: Written between 50-100 A.D. with the earliest manuscript (partial) dating back to 125 A.D. There are now over 5,800 known manuscripts of the New Testament.

It should be noted that historians seem to have no problem accepting all of the manuscripts above largely as historically reliable – except for the New Testament. It should also be noted that when it comes to overall historical reliability (based on manuscript evidence) the New Testament wins “hands down” against these “respected” historical documents.

The conclusion is that the New Testament is indeed a reliable document. We do have what was originally penned and whether or not you believe the content of the New Testament does not determine its reliability (based on manuscript evidence). This is just one more piece in the puzzle that should lead all reasonable men and women to a believe in the inspiration of the Bible.