There 5,800 Manuscripts and fragments of the New Testament that date to within 325 years of the original writing, more than any other ancient writing.
Appendix 1 - Bible Reliability
[A helpful aspect of prayer is being able to trust what the Word says about prayer. This appendix was added to provide some additional evidence why you can trust that that Word really is God’s Word and not just something made up by man.
The Reliability of Old Testament Prophecies
[15 Old Testament (O.T.) Prophecies that Reveal the Identity of the Promised Messiah Fulfilled by Jesus and Found in the Dead Sea Scrolls that date 200 Years B.C. – Adapted From a Pamphlet by Dr. David Hocking – The following facts reference a handful of the more than 300 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus found in the O.T. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain copies of these prophecies that date on average to 200 years Before Christ (B.C.), proving that these prophecies were miraculously fulfilled by Jesus, and not written after the fact to make it look like He fulfilled them.
1) The Messiah would be a man (Gen 3:15) The seed of woman shall bruise the serpent’s head, which will bruise His heel. That eliminates about half of the human race.
2) Of Noah’s three sons, He will come through the line of Shem, not Ham or Japheth (Gen 3:26) – He is not a Gentile, but a Semite.
3) He will come from the line of Abraham (Gen 12:3)
4) He will come from the line of Isaac, not Ishmael (Gen 21:12) – He is not an Arab.
5) He will come from the line of Jacob, not Esau (Num 24:17) – The Messiah must be Jewish.
6) He will come from the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10).
7) He will come from the family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1-2ff).
8) He will come from the family of David (2Sa 7:8ff) – He will come from the fruit of David’s Body. “Born of a virgin” means he will be born of a daughter of David (Psa 132:11) see item 11 below.
9) Of the sons of David, He will come from the family of Solomon (1Ch 28:4ff)
10) He will be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah (Mic 5:2).
11) He will be born of a virgin (Isa 7:14).
12) He must be born before 70 A.D. when the tribe of Judah loses their genealogical records with the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. They had them when they came back from Babylonian captivity (Ezr 5:1) – The records were lost with the destruction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
13) He must be alive during a time when the Messiah can go to the temple (Mal 3:1) – This was written after the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Zechariah also prophecies that 30 pieces of silver will be thrown into the House of the Lord (Zec 11:12)
14) He will come 483 (days, weeks, months, or years) after the command to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem by Persian King Artaxerxes in 455 B.C. (Dan 9:25); The order was given in 20th year of Artaxerxes reign (Neh 2:1) – Copies of Daniel and Nehemiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls carbon dated to approximately 200 years before Jesus Christ, the Messiah, demonstrating that these documents were not written afterwards or tampered with to fit the historical record. In addition, all the boys born in Bethlehem during a 2-year period were ordered by King Herod to be killed, making Jesus likely the only male survivor from Bethlehem who was alive 483 years after the order to rebuild the wall by the King of Persia.
15) Inhabitants of Jerusalem from the house of David will see the Messiah pierced and will morn for Him (Zec 12:10) – This could only take place before 70 A.D. or after 1967 when Israel re-took Jerusalem.
Is the New Testament Reliable or Was it Written by Someone Long After Jesus’ Time?
Oldest New Testament Fragment – John 18:31-33, 37-39 is on a 2-sided papyrus fragment called the Rylands Papyrus and is on display in the John Ryland Library, Manchester, UK. Found in an ancient landfill near Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1920, the first scholar to date it, placed it in the first half of the second century or around 125 A.D., only 29 years after the traditional date of the writing of the book of John, however, others scholars dispute this finding, placing it as late as 200 A.D. the following is an image of both sides of the fragment
There 5,800 Manuscripts and fragments of the New Testament that date to within 325 years of the original writing, more than any other ancient writing.
New Testament has Nine Times as many Copies that Average 99.5% Accuracy Compared to Other, Ancient Writings at 95% Accuracy[1]5
ff – and following; ~ – circa or approximately; yrs – years; AD – Anno Domini meaning “in the year of the Lord” since his approximate birth; BC – Before Christ.
[1]Jones, Clay., Christian Research Journal, volume 35, number 03 (2012), https://www.equip.org/article/the-bibliographical-test-updated/
[1]Slick, Matt. Christian Apologetic Research Ministry, (2008), https://carm.org/manuscript-evidence
Early Non-Christian Writers Testify to the Existence of the Christian Movement –
Tacitus – 1st Century A.D., Emperor Nero blames Christians for Rome’s fire.
Suetonius – 117-138 A.D., Emperor Hadrian’s Secretary, references Claudius command to expel Christians in Rome.
Josephus – 37-100 A.D. Jewish Pharisee historian for Rome describes the martyrdom of James, Jesus’ brother.
Thallus – 52 A.D., quoted by Julius Africanus in 221 A.D. about an eclipse during Jesus’ crucifixion.
Pliny the Younger – 112 A.D. and Emperor Trajan correspond on persecution of Christians.
Lucian of Samosata – 2nd Century A.D. Greek describes Christian beliefs.]
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Appendix 2 - Abbreviations
[The following books of the Bible abbreviations are listed in the order they are bound in the Christian Bible. If you are a first-time reader of the Bible, some of the books are numbered to provide a suggested order for reading the Bible for the first time. Once you have read these books select a systematic reading plan for the Bible, and start studying all the books as suggested in tip 52), starting with reading the N.T.]
Books of the Bible Abbreviations
Suggested
Abbrev Book Name First Time
-iation Reading Order
O.T. Old Testament (39 books)
The Books of the Law or Torah (5 books)
Gen Genesis 15
Exo Exodus 16
Lev Leviticus 52
Num Numbers 53
Deu Deuteronomy 17
The Historical Books – (12 books)
Jos Joshua 18
Jdg Judges 19
Rut Ruth 20
1Sa 1 Samuel 21
2Sa 2 Samuel 22
1Ki 1 Kings 23
2Ki 2 Kings 24
1Ch 1 Chronicles 25
2Ch 2 Chronicles 26
Ezr Ezra 28
Neh Nehemiah 29
Est Esther 30
The Poetical Books – (5 books)
Job Job 54
Psa Psalms 31
Pro Proverbs 32
Ecc Ecclesiastes 55
Sos Song of Solomon 56
The Major Prophets – (5 books)
Isa Isaiah 33
Jer Jeremiah 50
Lam Lamentations 57
Eze Ezekiel 49
Dan Daniel 27
The Minor Prophets – (12 books)
Hos Hosea 34
Joe Joel 58
Amo Amos 59
Oba Obadiah 60
Jon Jonah 35
Mic Micah 61
Nah Nahum 62
Hab Habakkuk 63
Zep Zephaniah 64
Hag Haggai 65
Zec Zechariah 51
Mal Malachi 66
Suggested
Abbrev Book Name First Time
-iation Reading Order
N.T. New Testament (27 books)
The Gospels or Good News (4 books)
Mat Matthew 36
Mar Mark 1
Luk Luke 3
Joh John 2
The History of the Apostles (1 book)
Act Acts 4
The Epistles or Letters of Paul (14 books)
Rom Romans 5
1Co 1 Corinthians 39
2Co 2 Corinthians 40
Gal Galatians 37
Eph Ephesians 6
Php Philippians 7
Col Colossians 8
1Th 1 Thessalonians 41
2Th 2 Thessalonians 42
1Ti 1 Timothy 43
2Ti 2 Timothy 44
Tit Titus 45
Phm Philemon 46
Heb Hebrews 38
The Epistles or General Letters (7 books)
Jam James 9
1Pe 1 Peter 10
2Pe 2 Peter 11
1Jo 1 John 12
2Jo 2 John 13
3Jo 3 John 14
Jde Jude 47
The Apocalypse—to reveal (1 book)
Rev Revelation 48
Bible Translation Version Abbreviations Used
NKJV New King James Version
KJV King James Version
RSV Revised Standard Version
NASB New American Standard Bible
NLT New Living Translation
CSB Christian Standard Bible
ESV English Standard Version
NIV New International Version
HNV Hebrew Names Version
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