To summarize this section about the New Testament:
- The New Testament books were written shortly after the events they describe
- Many accurate copies were made soon after the originals
- Far more manuscripts are available today than for any other book from antiquity
- The writers have been shown to be trustworthy by including:
- historically accurate details
- corroborating but not identical stories
- stories that would be embarrassing and therefore not invented
- The New Testament writers had no motivation to lie because
- their stories made them outcasts from their families & communities
- most were executed because they did not recant what they wrote
- The early church grew incredibly fast despite being persecuted
The only reason anyone would have joined the early church is because they believed the New Testament was true. And, they were much closer to the time and place of the events than us!