Can We Trust
The New
Testament?
www.SeanMcDowell.org
Scripture reveals the
God “who is
passionate about His
relationship with
you”
~ Exodus 34:14
Can We Trust
the New
Testament?
Three Key Tests:
1. Honesty Test
2. Telephone Test
3. Corroboration Test
1. The Honesty Test
Does the document claim
to be reporting truth?
1. The Honesty Test
“The benefit of the doubt is
to be given to the document
itself, and not arrogated by
the critic to himself”
~ Aristotle
“Many have undertaken to
draw up an account of the
things that have been
fulfilled among us…
~ Luke 1:1-4
…just as they were handed
down to us by those who
from the first were
eyewitnesses and servants
of the word..
…Therefore, since I myself
have carefully investigated
everything from the
beginning, it seemed good
also to me to write an
orderly account…
…so that you may know the
certainty of the things you
have been taught.”
~ Luke 1:1-4
“We did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we
told you about the power
and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we were
eyewitnesses of his
majesty.”
~ 2 Peter 1:16
“What was from the
beginning, what we have
heard, what we have seen
with our eyes, what we
have looked at and
touched with our hands...”
~ 1 John 1:1
“Now in the fifteenth year of
the reign of Tiberius Caesar,
when Pontius Pilate was
governor of Judea, and Herod
was tetrach of Galilee, and
his brother Philip was
tetrarch of the reign of
Ituraea…”
~ Luke 3:1
1. The Honesty Test
Does the document contain
embarrassing material?
1. Peter denies Jesus (Mark 14:70)
2. Jesus calls Peter Satan! (Matt. 16:23)
3. James and John want to reign with Jesus (Mk. 10:32-43)
4. Disciples don’t understand Jesus’ teaching (Mk. 4:1-12)
5. Women discover the empty tomb (John 20)
2. The Telephone Test
The Telephone Test
examines if the
documents have
reached us accurately.
Question 1:
What is the time gap
between the original
copies and the copies
we have today?
2. The Telephone Test
Time:
Original
2. The Telephone Test
Time:
Original
Disintegrated
2. The Telephone Test
Time:
Generation
#1
2. The Telephone Test
Time:
Generation
#1
Generation
#2
2. The Telephone Test
Time:
Generation
#1
Generation
#2
Generation
#3
2. The Telephone Test
• Pliny the Younger: 750 years
• Caesar: 1000 years
• Plato: 1200 years
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
Euripides
1500 yrs.
Caesar
1000 yrs.
Aristotle
1400 yrs.
0
400
Pliny the
Younger
750 yrs.
800
1200
Plato
1200 yrs.
Sophocles
1400 yrs.
1600
2000
Catallus
1600 yrs.
Euripides
1500 yrs.
Caesar
1000 yrs.
Aristotle
1400 yrs.
N.T. 50
yrs.
0
400
Pliny the
Younger
750 yrs.
800
1200
Plato
1200 yrs.
Sophocles
1400 yrs.
1600
2000
Catallus
1600 yrs.
2. The Telephone Test
John Ryland Papyrus
130 AD
• Portions of the Gospel of John
2. The Telephone Test
Chester Beatty
Papyri
200 A.D.
• Portions of Acts
and the four Gospels
Complete
New Testament
Codex Vaticanus
325 A.D.
"We have more and earlier
manuscript evidence about the
person of Jesus Christ than we
do anyone else in the ancient
world-including Julius Caesar
and Alexander the Great."
Daniel B. Wallace, Reinventing Jesus
2. The Telephone Test
200
Test #2:
How many
manuscripts
do we have?
10
2. The Telephone Test
• Caesar: 10 manuscripts
• Plato (Tetralogies): 7 manuscripts
• Tacitus (Annals): 20 manuscripts
2. The Telephone Test
• The New Testament:
24,633
manuscripts
2. The Telephone Test
What is the #2
manuscript authority
after the New
Testament?
2. The Telephone Test
“The Iliad”
by Homer
643 manuscripts
New Testament – 24,633
Iliad:
643
24, 633
The Number of New Testament
Manuscripts Compared to Other
Ancient Works
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
643
193
49
20
10
7
0
New Testament
Iliad
Sophocles
Aristotle
Livy
Caesar
Plato
"The short answer to the
question of what
theological truths are at
stake is none."
Daniel B. Wallace, Reinventing Jesus
nd
2
rd
3
&
century
early Church Fathers
Justin Martyr
Ireneaus
Clement of Alexandria
nd
2
rd
3
&
century
early Church fathers
quote the New
Testament 36,289 times
Because these early church
fathers quoted the New
Testament so much, all but
eleven verses of the New
Testament can be
reconstructed just from their
quotations.
3. Corroboration Test
Do other historical materials confirm
or deny the testimony provided by the
document themselves?
Early Non-Christian
Writers
Nine non-Christian sources mention Jesus
within 150 years of his death—42 total
Tiberius Caesar, Roman emperor at the
time of Jesus’ ministry and execution, has
ten sources mention him within 150 years.
Archaeological Evidence
An inscription of Pilate
Archaeological Evidence
The pool of Bethesda, as recorded in
John 5:2
Dr. Hewitt, Harvard Theological
Review: “There is astonishingly little
evidence that the feet of a crucified
person were ever pierced by nails.”
A Dead Man Speaks
• “Yohanan” found in
1968 crucified with 7”
nails
• His legs were broken,
confirming John 19:32
“It may be stated categorically that
no archaeological discovery has
ever contraverted a biblical
reference. Scores of archaeological
findings have been made which
confirm in clear outline or exact
detail historical statements in the
Bible.”
~ Nelson Glueck