Manuscript evidence for the Bible

6. Since the book claims to be ancient there should be some sort of manuscript evidence verifying its transmission
of the text to be accurate.
It is natural to want to know, how we know, what we have in our Bible today is the same as what was originally written. Many
people make the mistake thinking errors have crept in during the transmission of the text. For example the Mormons 8th Article
of Faith states " We believe the Bible to be the word of God in so far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of
Mormon to be the word of God". They teach that the Catholic Church has perverted much of the Bible. This is however ignoring
the abundance of manuscript evidence, much of which pre-dates the Catholic Church.

We need to remember the Bible was originally written in Greek and Hebrew not English. Many have wondered why there are
so many versions of the Bible. This is why, when translating a book from one language to another scholars will differ slightly on
word use and the structure of the sentence. Also our English Language itself has evolved since the King James Version of the
Bible was produced. We simply do not talk in King James style any longer. When comparing the many different versions
however we find the message and doctrines are still the same in all of the legitimate translations.

Since our English Bibles are being translated from the original languages that it was written Greek and Hebrew, that is the area
we need to focus. How do we know that the Greek and Hebrew did not change as it was passed down through time before we
translated it into English? This is where manuscript evidence becomes important. There is far more manuscript evidence to
support the writings of the Bible than any other ancient history that is known in the world today. There are more than 5,300
known Greek manuscripts for the New Testament. This is more than enough to compare to our Greek text today. There is also
further conformation from the 10,000 manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate. If this was not enough, there is 9,300 earlier
manuscripts. Even without all of this the vast majority of the New Testament could be reconstructed from the writings of the early
church fathers. These are the men that studied directly under the Apostles and the people that studied under them. They did a
lot of writing quoting the Apostles. It is true that out of all of these manuscripts there can be found textual variance. The vast
majority of these discrepancies found comparing the manuscripts are minor things. They are things, such as, spelling or
something we would compare to like the crossing of a T. None of the discrepancies change anything in the teaching of the
Bible.

We do not have a large number of manuscripts for the Old Testament like we do the New Testament. There is two reasons for
this. One, the further back you go the more things are destroyed by natural elements because of age. The second, is because
the people themselves destroyed any copy that was not perfect. To them the coping of the text was extremely sacred. They had
a whole ritual that had to be followed in every detail. Even if the columns were not equal throughout the whole manuscript, the
entire copy was destroyed. One of the greatest proofs of the reliability of the Old Testament is the Dead Sea Scrolls which
were discovered in 1947. These scrolls contained a portion of every book in the Old Testament with the exception of Ester. The
whole book of Isaiah was found here also. These scrolls when examined confirmed that the Hebrew Text we have today have
not changed in any way from those of antiquity. It is also important to realize that these scrolls date back before the time when
Jesus Christ was here. Jesus seemed to view the text they had as accurate. Consider the following passages spoken by Jesus.

Matt 5:18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the
Law, until all is accomplished.

Luke 24:25 And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

In both cases Jesus was referring to the written Old Testament. His statements certainly showed he believed their text to be
reliable. The Dead Sea Scrolls date back before Jesus' time which has proven our Hebrew text today is the same. Certainly
since we have the same Hebrew text that they had in Jesus day, we also should consider it reliable.

There is no known ancient manuscript that shows evidence for the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith claimed to have
translated it from some gold plates which, conveniently disappeared and there is no other proof. The earliest copy of the Book
of Mormon known is from the 1800's. Comparing the Book of Mormon today to the Book of Mormon of the 1800's it can be
shown there has been almost 4,000 changes. Some of them minor textual changes while others change meaning and doctrine.
A photo copy reprint of the original Book of Mormon can be obtained for by writing to Utah Missions Inc. Box 348 Marlow Okla.
73055 or call 1-800-654-3992.

7. Its message should have the ability to change peoples lives.
There are some who claim the name of Christianity and then do awful things even in the name of God. Still one cannot deny that
millions of people have changed their lives after accepting the gospel message of the Bible. We cannot discount the many that
are genuine just because there are also some counterfeits.

There are also, many Mormons who have changed their lives for the better. I was raised in an active Mormon family and I can
testify to their sincerity. Those that follow their religion are good people that deserve respect and admiration. The statement,
"There is truth in all religions", is true to some extent. If a non- believer practices some moral teachings from the Bible they will
certainly live a better life, than if they did not. However, although the Mormon Church teaches and practices some good
principles this will not get them into heaven. We are not saved on the basis of good deeds but by Gods grace because of what
Jesus did on the cross. (Jn.3:16, Eph.2:8-10) A person can be very sincere and still be wrong (Prov.14:12). Although the
Mormon church does teach some good biblical principles they do not teach the same God, Jesus or salvation that we find in
the Bible. Still we need to remember the people that are deceived and mislead are not the enemy.

Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of
this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We need to speak out against false doctrines remembering that the people deceived by them are also people that Jesus died
for.