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Replying to brunumb in post #0]
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Replying to brunumb in post #251]
Who cares about early creeds. As far as miraculous events go, the Bible is merely a book of claims. It is not evidence that those claims are true.
The Bible was written as a narrative describing events that occurred. If you would like to claim that the Bible does not accurately claim what it says it is then we cannot know anything about what happened in antiquity.
How does the Bible compare to other ancient literature?
Number of manuscript copies:
Note: These numbers increase with ongoing discoveries in archeology. The most commonly used numbers in Christian Apologetics are based on data from about twenty years ago below in black. Thanks to Karl Udy and Dr. Clay Jones from Biola University, the updated numbers as of 2013, are in red:
In the discipline of philosophy:
Aristotle’s work has 5 manuscripts dated 1400 years from the events. Updated: 1000 manuscripts dated 1200 years from the events, written 384-322 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 850
Plato’s work (Tetralogies) has 210 (previously 7) manuscripts dated 1200 years from the events, written 427-347 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 900.
In the discipline of history:
Pliny the younger’s work (Letters) has 7 (unconfirmed) manuscripts dated 750 years from the events, written A.D. 61-113, with the earliest copy dated A.D. 850.
Pliny the Elder (Natural History) has 200 (previously 7) manuscripts, dated 900 years from the events, written A.D. 23-79, with the earliest copy dated A.D. 1000.
Herodotus’ work has 8 manuscripts dated 1300 years from the events. Updated: 109 manuscripts dated 1350 years from the events, written 480-425 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 900.
Caesar’s firsthand account of the Gallic Wars has 10 manuscripts, dated 1000 years from the events. Updated: 251 manuscripts, dated 900 years from the events, written 10-44 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 1000.
Tacitus’ Greek history (Annals) has 20 manuscripts, dated 1000 years from the events. Updated: 33 manuscripts, dated 750 years from the events, written in A.D. 100, with the earliest copy dated A.D. 850.
Thucydides’ work has 50 manuscripts, dated 1300 years from the events, written 460-400 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 900.
Sophocles’ work (Tragedies) has 193 manuscripts (previously 100), dated 1200 years from the events, written 496-406 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 900.
Livy’s work (History of Rome) has 150 manuscripts (previously 19), dated 400 years from the events, written 59 B.C.- A.D. 17, with the earliest copy dated A.D. 400.
Demosthenes’ Speeches has 340 manuscripts (previously 200), dated 1400 years from the events, written 300 B.C., with the earliest copy dated A.D. 1100.
In second place is Homer’s Iliad, the history of the Trojan War, has 900 manuscripts, dated 950 years from the events. Updated: 1757 manuscripts, dated 400 years from the events, written 800 B.C., with the earliest copy dated 400 B.C.
***In first place is the Bible’s New Testament! The total count for early New Testament Manuscripts available today is over 25,000! (previously 24,000) and Josh McDowell has recently claimed that we have closer to 66,000 with the advent of many discoveries in artifacts, like mummy wrappings, that contain Biblical manuscript fragments. Numbers include:
5795 (up from 5366) Greek Manuscripts dated 30 to 150 years from the events, written A.D. 49-95 with the eariest copy dated A.D. 117 (and a few that are possibly dated first century still under review).
Over 7974 manuscripts in other languages (Armenian, coptic, Gothic, Ethiopian, Syriac, Georgian and Slavic) dated early second century and on (100-150 years)
Over 10,000 manuscripts in the Latin Vulgate dated from the third century and on (300-350 years)
The Bible, and the New Testament in particular, has only primary source authors who were eyewitnesses or who were alive at the time of the events.
The New Testament autographs were complete and in use by the end of the first century A.D. and has surviving manuscripts and fragments dated within 25 to 150 years of the events.
https://truthfaithandreason.com/case-ma ... documents/
