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Section 3/7: Is the Bible Reliable?

Best Preserved Work from antiquity

Bible Bible: Manuscripts Bible: New Testament

With upwards of 20,000 surviving copies, some within 20 years of the originals, the books of the New Testament have the greatest manuscript support of any document from ancient history. The next closest is Homer’s Iliad with 643 copies – the earliest being over 500 years after the original! Most others from antiquity have less than 10 surviving copies (if they have any at all) for over 1,000 years after the originals.

Even non-Christian scholars attest to the fact that the Bible is the best-preserved literary work surviving from antiquity. Regardless of your convictions, it is undeniable that the text is virtually identical to what the first Christians read.