Can we know our Bible accurately records what the writers wrote?
We have over 5600 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, more than any other ancient work. Add to that the early translations into other languages of the New Testament and the early commentaries of the “church fathers,” quoting the Bible. The entire New Testament could be reconstructed just from these commentaries.
The average classical Greek authors have fewer than 20 copies of their work still in existence, (usually less than 6).
We have manuscripts that date back to within a 100 years or so of the original writing. Other ancient manuscripts have no copies closer than 800 years, more or less, from original authorship. No other book is more widely attested to than the Bible.
There is no doubt that we can know what the originals said with great certainty. The influence of the Bible is also clearly demonstrated by the vast number of manuscripts.
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