FWC School of Apologetics
An in-depth program that aims to equip believers to
give answers for why they believe what they believe
Each class you take is worth one credit
Credits build up to certificates
Bronze Certificate in Biblical Apologetics - 5 Credits
Silver Certificate in Biblical Apologetics - 10 Credits
Gold Certificate in Biblical Apologetics - 15 Credits
Platinum Certificate in Biblical Apologetics - 20 Credits
Certificates will be distributed (and those who’ve
earned them will be recognized) at our annual
apologetic conference
Classes related to the one you are taking today
Apologetics and the Bible:
The reliability of the Bible
The historical resurrection of Jesus Christ
Early Church History
The Biblical Canon
We are also looking to train others to teach
Old Testament Manuscript evidence
A helpful way to look at the Old Testament’s textual history
is to compare it to other documents of antiquity.
For most ancient documents, we have about a thousand
year gap between the writing of the document and the
first available copy that archaeologists find.
For example, with a Roman historian called Tacitus, our
first manuscript copy of his work comes from around 1100
A.D. and we have 20 total manuscript copies today.
Interestingly, Tacitus actually wrote his works
around 100 A.D.
Most historians do not doubt that we have a really good
idea what Tacitus actually wrote, even though we only
have about 20 total partial or complete manuscripts and
the earliest manuscript comes about 1,000 years after the
original writing.
In comparison, our first manuscript copy of the Old
Testament (dates from 250 B.C.) comes about 150 years
after the original book was written (i.e. probably
Malachi about 400 B.C.). Also, we actually have over
10,000 Old Testament manuscripts!
First thing to note, our manuscripts are far
closer to the original
Ancient texts were not preserved by Xerox copy machines
unfortunately. Instead, as with the Old Testament, trained
Jewish scribes would copy portions of Scripture by hand
on animal skins.
Around 100 B.C., these scribes began to
use papyrus or paper to copy the Old
Testament. When these Jews copied
various portions of the Bible, they took
extreme care to ensure the precision of
their scribal copying. In fact, in some
cases, if there was one error between a
copy and the original, the copy
was to be burned.
Jesus on the Old Testament
Jesus affirmed the general authority of the OT
Matthew 4:4: ”But he answered and said, It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
He affirms the Doctrinal authority
Matthew 22:29
“Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not
knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
He affirms the imperishability
Matthew 5:18
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass
away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the
law till all is fulfilled.”
Historical reliability
Matthew 12:40
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly
of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Dates that Old Testament books were written
Job--Unknown
Proverbs--ca. 971-686 B.C.
Genesis--1445-1405 B.C. Ecclesiastes--940-931 B.C.
Exodus --1445-1405 B.C. 1 Samuel--931-722 B.C.
Leviticus --1445-1405 B.C. 2 Samuel--931-722 B.C.
Numbers--1445-1405 B.C. Obadiah--850-840 B.C.
Deut--1445-1405 B.C.
Joel--835-796 B.C.
Psalms--1410-450 B.C.
Jonah--ca. 775 B.C.
Joshua--1405-1385 B.C.
Amos--ca. 750 B.C.
Judges--ca. 1043 B.C.
Hosea--750-710 B.C.
Ruth--ca. 1030-1010 B.C. Micah--735-710 B.C.
Song of Sol--971-965 B.C. Isaiah--700-681 B.C.
Nahum--ca. 650 B.C.
Zephaniah--635-625 B.C.
Habakkuk--615-605 B.C.
Ezekiel--590-570 B.C.
Lamentations--586 B.C.
Jeremiah--586-570 B.C.
1 Kings--561-538 B.C.
2 Kings--561-538 B.C.
Daniel 536-530 B.C.
Haggai--ca. 520 B.C.
Zechariah--480-470 B.C.
Ezra--457-444 B.C.
1 Chronicles--450-430 B.C.
2 Chronicles--450-430 B.C.
Esther--450-331 B.C.
Malachi--433-424 B.C.
Nehemiah--424-400 B.C.
While we do not have the exact date down on every book,
we have a great idea of when books were written
The Protestant Christian Canon
Old Testament
New Testament
Pentateuch - 5 books
Historical Books - 5 books
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John,
Deuteronomy
Acts
Historical Books - 12 books
Pauline Epistles - 13 books
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First Samuel, Second
Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2
Samuel, First Kings, Second Kings, First
Corinthians, Galatians,
Chronicles, Second Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah,
Ephesians, Philippians,
Esther.
Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2
Poetical - 5 books
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Thessalonians. 1 Timothy, 2
Solomon
Timothy, Titus, Philemon
Prophetical - 17 books
Non-Pauline Epistles - 9
Major Prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah,
books
Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2
Minor Prophets - Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Jude, Revelation
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in eleven
caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea
between the years 1947 and 1956. The area is 13
miles east of Jerusalem and is 1300 feet
below sea level.
The Scrolls can be divided into two categories—
biblical and non-biblical. Fragments of every book
of the Hebrew canon (Old Testament) have been
discovered except for the book of Esther.
There are now identified among the scrolls, 19
copies of the Book of Isaiah, 25 copies of
Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms.
In the Scrolls are
found never before
seen psalms
attributed to
King David and
Joshua.
The Scrolls are for the most part, written in
Hebrew, but there are many written in Aramaic.
The Scrolls appear to be the library of a Jewish
sect. The library was hidden away in caves around
the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-70)
as the Roman army advanced against
the rebel Jews.
The scrolls are most commonly made of animal
skins, but also papyrus and one of copper. They are
written with a carbon-based ink, from right to left,
using no punctuation except for an occasional
paragraph indentation. In fact, in some cases, there
are not even spaces between the words.
There are 972 texts (scrolls) that were found
Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls actually appeared for
sale on June 1, 1954 in the Wall Street Journal. The
advertisement read — "The Four Dead Sea Scrolls:
Biblical manuscripts dating back to at least 200 BC
are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an
educational or religious institution by an individual
or group. Box F206."
Dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls
When the scrolls first were discovered in 1947, scholars
disputed their dates of composition. Scholars now
generally agree that although some materials are earlier,
the Qumran materials date primarily to the Hasmonean
(152-63 B.C.) and early Roman periods (63 B.C.-A.D. 68).
Several strands of evidence corroborate these conclusions.
First, archaeological evidence from the ruins of the
Qumran community supports these dates.
After six major seasons of excavations, archaeologists have
identified three specific phases of occupation at the
ancient center of Qumran.
Coinage discovered in the first stratum dates from the
reign of Antiochus VII Sidetes (138-129 B.C.). Such
artifacts also indicate that the architecture associated
with the second occupational phase dates no later
than the time of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 B.C.).
Also reflected in the material remains of the site is the
destruction of its buildings in the earthquake reported
by the first-century Jewish historian, Josephus
(Antiquities of the Jews, 15.5.2). Apparently, this
natural disaster occurred around 31 B.C. a position
that prompted the occupants to abandon the site for
an indeterminate time.
Upon reoccupation of the area—the third phase—the
buildings were repaired and rebuilt precisely on the
previous plan of the old communal complex.
The community flourished
until the Romans, under the
military direction of
Vespasian, occupied the site
by force (see Cross, 1992, pp.
21-22). Such evidence is
consistent with the second
century B.C. to first-century
A.D. dates for the scrolls.
The second strand of evidence is that the generally
accepted dates for the scrolls are corroborated by
palaeographical considerations. Palaeography is the study
of ancient writing and, more specifically, the shape and
style of letters.
Characteristic of ancient languages, the manner in which
Hebrew and Aramaic letters were written changed over a
period of time. The trained eye can determine, within
certain boundaries, the time frame of a document based
upon the shape of its letters.
This is the method by which scholars determine the date
of a text on palaeographical grounds.
According to this technique, the scripts at Qumran belong
to three periods of palaeographical development: (1) a
small group of biblical texts whose archaic style reflects
the period between about 250-150 B.C.; (2) a large cache
of manuscripts, both biblical and non-biblical, that is
consistent with a writing style common to the Hasmonean
period (c. 150-30 B.C.); and (3) a similarly large number of
texts that evinces a writing style characteristic of the
Herodian period (30 B.C.-A.D. 70).
Finally, as an aside, the carbon-14 tests done on both the
cloth in which certain scrolls were wrapped, and the scrolls
themselves, generally correspond to
the palaeographic dates.
Substantiation of the Book of Daniel
The Qumran scrolls similarly have substantiated
the textual integrity and authenticity of the Book of
Daniel. Critical scholarship, as in the case of most
all books of the Old Testament, has attempted to
dismantle the authenticity of the book of Daniel.
The message of the book of Daniel claims to have
originated during the Babylonian exile, from the
first deportation of the Jews into captivity
(606 B.C.; Daniel 1:1-2) to the ascension of the
Persian Empire (c. 536 B.C.; Daniel 10:1).
This date has been rejected by secular scholars who
date the book of Daniel to the second
century B.C. Specifically, they argue that the tales in
chapters 1-6 as they appear in their present form can
be no earlier than c. 332 B.C..
the four-kingdom outline, explicitly stated in chapter 2,
allegedly requires a date after the rise of the Grecian
Empire (due to it’s prophetic nature). Further, secular
scholars argue that since there is no explicit reference to
Antiochus Epiphanes IV (175-164 B.C.), a Seleucid king
clearly under prophetic consideration in chapter 11, a date
in the late third or early second century B.C. is most likely
The reason for this conclusion on the part of secular
scholars is the predictive nature of the book of Daniel,
they reject that God can reveal the future to his prophetic
(or that he exists in the first place) and therefore cannot
accept the Biblical date
The Dead Sea Scrolls have lifted their voice in this
controversy. Due to the amount of Daniel fragments found
in various caves near Qumran, it appears that this
prophetic book was one of the most treasured
by that community. Perhaps the popularity of Daniel was
due to the fact that the people of Qumran lived during the
anxious period in which many of these prophecies actually
were being fulfilled.
Daniel was peculiarly safeguarded to the extent that we
have at our disposal parts of all chapters of Daniel, except
chapters 9 and 12. One manuscript, published in
November 1989, has been dated to the late second
century B.C… Two other major documents have been
published since 1987, and contribute to scholarly analysis
of Daniel. These recently released fragments have direct
bearing on the integrity and authenticity of
the book of Daniel.
Once again, however, the findings at Qumran have
confirmed the integrity of Daniel’s text.
You can view many dead sea scrolls in great detail online
with translation at: dss.collections.imj.org
Isaiah Scroll
This is what
you are able
to do on this
website!
Looking at
each verse
individually.
You can
check if a
certain verse
is in the dead
sea scrolls
etc.
Temple Scroll
War scroll
Habakkuk
commentary
Masoretic Text (MT)
Masoretic Text (MT)
Prior to the discovery of the Qumran manuscripts, the
earliest extant Old Testament texts were those known as
the Masoretic Text (MT), which dated from about A.D. 980.
The MT is the result of editorial work performed by Jewish
scribes known as the Masoretes.
Critical scholars questioned the accuracy of the MT, which
formed the basis of our English versions of the Old
Testament, since there was such a large chronological gap
between it and the autographs.
Because of this uncertainty, scholars often “corrected” the
text with considerable freedom. Qumran, however, has
provided remains of an early Masoretic edition predating
the Christian era on which the traditional MT is based. A
comparison of the MT to this earlier text revealed the
remarkable accuracy with which scribes
copied the sacred texts.
Interestingly, when scholars compared the MT of Isaiah to
the Isaiah scroll of Qumran, the correspondence was
astounding. The texts from Qumran proved to be wordfor-word identical to our standard Hebrew Bible in more
than 95 percent of the text.
Septuagint Translation (LXX)
Compiled 285-270 BC. By 70 (72?)
scholars at Alexandria
This is important prophetically
The Septuagint Translation is what
was used by the writers of the
New Testament (they quoted it) so
we can be confident that it is a
decent translation
A few other evidences for the Old Testament
The Cylinder of Cyrus the Great. Second Chronicles
36:23 and Ezra 1 report that Cyrus the Great of Persia,
after conquering Babylon, permitted Jews in the
Babylonian Captivity to return to their homeland.
Isaiah had even prophesied this (Isa. 44:28). This
tolerant policy of the founder of the Persian Empire is
borne out by the discovery of a nine-inch clay cylinder
found at Babylon from the time of its conquest, 539
BC, which reports Cyrus’s victory and his subsequent
policy of permitting Babylonian captives to return to
their homes and even rebuild their temples.
The cuneiform on a hexagonal, 15-inch baked clay
prism found at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh
describes Sennacherib’s invasion of Judah in 701
BC in which it claims that the Assyrian king shut
Hezekiah inside Jerusalem “like a caged bird.” Like
the biblical record, however, it does not state that
he conquered Jerusalem, which the prism certainly
would have done had this been the case.
We will touch on more things like this when we
look at archeology
There is great manuscript evidence that supports
the accuracy and reliability of the Old Testament
we have today!
Memory Verse
Matthew 5:18
“For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth
pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means
pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”