The Strand Study Bible

LUKE LUKE *There are over 25,000 ancient manuscripts of the New Testament. Nothing in ancient literature even comes close. A.T. Robertson (1863-1934), whose greatest contribution to biblical scholarship was in the field of NT Greek, said of the Bible: The vast array of manuscripts has enabled textual scholars to accurately reconstruct the original text with more than 99.9 % accuracy. 3 *Of the 25,000 ancient manuscripts, 5,600 manuscripts come from the second and third century (just 100-200 years removed from the original autographs) *There is one manuscript in particular (called P52) that dates from c. 100-150 AD. Which means, somebody probably copied an original autograph (or very near an original) since John the Beloved wrote Revelation c. AD 96. *There are 350 Syriac manuscripts dated around 200 AD *There are 32,000 quotes from the ante-Nicean church fathers (from c. 100-325 AD). *There are over 8,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate (a Latin version of the Hebrew and Greek texts), which was mainly the work of St. Jerome (c. 382 AD). Next to the New Testament the second most common ancient document in the manuscript world is Homer’s lliad , written in the eighth century BC. There are only 643 copies known to exist and the oldest copy is from AD 1200, which is almost 2,000 years away from the “supposed” original. NOTE – Dr. John Warwick Montgomery, one of the founding members of the World Association of Law Professors and an extremely qualified Bible scholar, who holds two doctorates and seven undergraduate degrees, notes: I myself have never encountered an alleged contradiction in the Bible which could not be cleared up by the use of the original language of the Scriptures and/or by the use of accepted principles of literary and historical interpretation. 4 Dr. Gleason L. Archer, another extremely qualified Bible scholar, who holds a doctorate from Harvard Graduate School, has a law degree, speaks fifteen languages, and has done extensive studies in archeology, notes: My confidence in the trustworthiness of the Scripture has been repeatedly verified and strengthened by the discovery that almost every problem in Scripture that has been discovered by man, from ancient times until now, has been dealt with in a completely satisfactory manner by the biblical text itself. 4 Frederic G. Kenyon, director and principal librarian of the British Museum and second to none in authority for evaluating manuscripts, in Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts , notes: The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries. 5 W.H. Griffith Thomas in How We Got Our Bible notes: 10:28 Sadly, some religious movements have tried to use this Scripture to prove that “good works” are essential to gaining salvation ( this do, and thou shalt live ). Notice, however, Jesus’ words, “ this do .” Jesus reminded the lawyer who wanted to get to Heaven by being good, “If your desire is to get to Heaven by keeping the law and being good (vs 27), then you must keep the whole law ( this do ) in order to go to Heaven ( and thou shalt live - vs 28).” Although this man (much like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19) was convinced that “law keeping” was the way a person got to Heaven (vs 29), Jesus showed him differently (vs 30- 37). While it is true that God does offer people one of two ways to get to Heaven (their way via “good works” or God’s way via Christ’s “ WORK ” on the cross) only one of the two ways will eventually get us there (Jn 14:6). NOTE – There are two ways people attempt to enter Heaven: 1. Good works ( Mt 19:17 c , Rom 7:10 & 10: 1- 5 , Gal 3 : 10- 12 ,19- 21 -22, Jn 5:29 , Heb 12:14 b and Jms 2:14 a,b ) 2. Jesus’ “ WORK ” on the cross ( Jn 14:6 and Exo 14:13,30-31 ) 10:29 a Realizing that he had been caught by his own words (he did not love the Lord or his neighbor with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind), the lawyer ( he ) began to quibble over the definition of what a neighbor was. 10:29 b Like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 who was found to be covetous, this scribe tried to justify himself ( And who is my neighbour ) before God, but was found to be a respector of persons (Lev 19:15 and Jms 2:1). Think again, if you’re depending on your own self-righteousness to get you to Heaven. It will not. Jesus can find your sin and thus spoil your “view” of gaining Heaven. 1645 Then let us remember that none of these difficulties affect any fundamental Christian doctrine. Dean Farrar, who was no slave of conservatism, once said that no demonstrable error has ever been discovered in the Bible. 6 10:25 Sound familiar? The rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16 asked the very same question ( what shall I do to inherit eternal life ). Jesus responded to the lawyer’s question by asking him a question, “What do you think it takes to get to Heaven?” The lawyer answered, “By being good, i.e., keeping the law” (vs 27).

1 Fjordbak, Everitt M. Why Christians Cannot Be Demon Possessed , Joplin, MO, Messenger Pub, 1986. Print. 2 Berry, George. Interlinear Greek-English New Testament . Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. 1998. Print. 3 John MacArthur. The Fitting End to Mark’s Gospel, “Grace to You:” June 5, 2011 (Audio) 4 John Ankerberg and John Weldon. Knowing the Truth About the Reliability of the Bible , Eugene, OR, Harvest House. 1998. Print. 5 Kenyon, Frederic G. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts , London, ENG, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1939. Print 6 Thomas, W.H. Griffith. How We Got Our Bible , Dallas, TX, Dallas Seminary Press, 1984. Print.