(Read Part 1: Can We Trust the Bible?)

The Da Vinci Code & the Bible

By now, you have probably heard that the book and movie, The Da Vinci Code, by author Dan Brown, is riddled with errors. There have been newspaper articles, TV shows, emails listing the errors.

It’s a work of fiction, of course, so we might not expect anything less than a re-writing of history, were it not for this note on a page before the novel begins, “all the descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” Add to that the TV interviews with author Dan Brown where he states that as he researched this idea that Mary Magdalene was meant to be the successor to Jesus’ leadership – that she was the mysterious “holy grail” – he became a believer himself.

So, I do not think Christians are over-reacting when we defend the deity of Jesus Christ and the veracity of the Bible against the misstatements of a novel. If a novel included similarly poorly researched history – let’s say on the holocaust, the author would be subjected to ridicule and would be blacklisted from getting a job in any major university. If someone wrote a novel describing the Prophet Muhammed in an unflattering way – whether true or not – there would be death threats and possible murder. Just ask Salmon Rushdie.

But, one of the hallmarks of Christianity is that we invite scrutiny. We invite seekers to ask questions and even express doubts. It began when Jesus invited Thomas to place his hands on his wounds so Thomas could know without doubt that this was truly Jesus, the Christ, resurrected from the dead. That way, Thomas could come to the conclusion of his own free will and say, “my Lord and my God!”

So, for the most part, Christians in America at least have responded to this best-selling novel and movie, not with retaliation, but we have welcomed it.
 
It is the character, Leigh Teabing, who makes expositions on church history that are most provocative to Christians:

• The doctrine of the Deity of Christ was injected into Christian theology by Constantine to bolster the power of the Roman Empire, a political necessity drove the process more than theological- – the Council of Nicaea, 325 AD.
• The canon of the Bible was forced by Constantine
• There are other Christian documents that deserve equal footing with the 66 books of the Bible. Some deserve even more attention.

So, the question arises, "can we really trust the Bible?"

Last Sunday, I said we can trust the Bible because…
1. The Bible is inspired by God. Inspiration. 2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is inspired by God..."

2. The Bible was collected by God’s people, with God’s guidance. Canon (rule)

3. The Bible was copied, translated and distributed with sufficient accuracy so we can be sure we are reading God’s Word. Transmission.

Scripture

Ephesians 3:15-17 (NIV)
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

2 Timothy 2:14-16 (TNIV)
14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

The Confession of 1967
2. THE BIBLE
The one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears unique and authoritative witness through the Holy Scriptures, which are received and obeyed as the word of God written. The Scriptures are not a witness among others, but the witness without parallel. The church has received the books of the Old and New Testaments as prophetic and apostolic testimony in which it hears the word of God and by which its faith and obedience are nourished and regulated.

God’s word is spoken to his church today where the Scriptures are faithfully preached and attentively read in dependence on the illumination of the Holy Spirit and with readiness to receive their truth and direction.

Problems with New Testament Manuscripts

That’s not to say there are not problems with New Testament manuscripts:

1) Lost documents

2) Additional problem – the documents were hand-copied – so there is some room for error to creep in.

So, scholars needed a way to reconstruct the original manuscripts – as best they can – from the manuscript copies available to them. The methods they developed became the science of Textual Criticism.

The job of textual critics is to collect various texts of a particular Scripture and compare them in the attempt to reconstruct the original documents. So the oldest texts are preferred.
When the church began taking seriously the need to discern between which pieces were authentic and which were not, a set of criteria was developed. By comparing manuscripts from various parts of the world, these scientists were actually able to get a clearer picture of the original documents written by the original authors. The more manuscripts they had from various regions, the more likely they could reconstruct the original text. The more manuscripts you can collect and use the better.

Today, textual critics have 5,700 manuscripts that have been discovered and cataloged.

Manuscript evidence:

Fortunately, there is plenty to work with. Manuscripts have been preserved, sometimes discovered or rescued and preserved. Some are mere fragments, others are complete books of the Bible. But, compared with any other book of antiquity, there are more manuscripts with portions of the New Testament than any other ancient book.

New Testament, 5700 manuscripts, 1st Cent. A.D., oldest: less than 100 years

Here is an example of a New Testament manuscript...:

Papyrus Bodmer XV (p75), dates 175-225 C.E. This papyrus codex has 51 surviving leaves and contains parts of Luke and John.

Here is another example of a New Testament manuscript.

Codex Sinaiticus was originally a complete Bible. The NT portion (148 leaves) is well preserved and includes the Letter of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas.

Codex Sinaiticus dates the 4th century AD, about 300 years after the original documents. The codex contain all four gospels, all of Paul’s letters, all the general letters and Revelation. (+ two apocryphal books). The Codex is the remains of a huge hand-written book that contained all the Christian scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, together with two late first-century Christian texts, the Shepherd of Hermas and the Epistle of Barnabas.

Rescued from the fire at St. Catherine’s monastery in Sinai, Lobegott Friederick Constantine Tischendorf was later able to buy it. After the Russian Revolution, Russia sold their portion to the British Library for 100,000 pounds, where the codex can be seen today.

The discovery and use of this codex is one of the most significant developments in the history of textual criticism of the Bible - far more significant than the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls at Qumran or the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library (contrary to The Da Vinci Code).

Just over half of the original book has survived, now dispersed between four institutions: St Catherine’s Monastery, the British Library, Leipzig University Library (Germany), and the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg. At the British Library the largest surviving portion – 694 pages – includes the whole of the New Testament.

portion of a leaf from Papyrus Bodmer XV (p75)

a portion of Codex Sinaiticus - Gospel of John
from the British Library.

Go here to see one leaf from the Codex Sinaiticus.

Soon, you will be able to view the Codex Sinaiticus online. The remains of the codex is divided between four locations. The British Library announced in 2005 an ambitious project to virtually reunite the codex online. Read the BL Press Release or the same story in Christianity Today.

The Results of Textual Criticism

Textual criticism results in a more accurate Bible. Because of the many manuscript discoveries since the King James Version was translated (1611), newer translations are better able to reflect the most ancient reading for each verse.

But, textual criticism may yield some surprising results too.

For example, John 7:53—8:11 contains one of the most recognizable stories in the Bible. A woman is caught in adultery. The religious leaders of the town bring the woman to Jesus and ask for his judgement. Jesus bends down to write in the sand - we don't know what he was writing. He got up and said these famous words,“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

This is one of the most loved stories of the Bible. The problem?
Almost all textual scholars agree that these verses were not part of the original manuscript of the Gospel of John. The New International Version states in brackets that “The earliest and most reliable manuscripts do not have John 7:53-8:11.”

The problem is not theological – we can certainly picture Jesus saying and doing these things – it is not out of character for Jesus to forgive a sinful woman. It is not out of character for Jesus to catch the self-righteous religious leaders so that the trap they have carefully laid to ensnare a woman is the very trap that ensnares them.

The problem is one of textual criticism. When the earliest and best manuscripts are examined, this passage is just not there. Codex Sinaiticus, for example. There’s also a problem with the style and vocabulary of this passage. It differs from the rest of John’s Gospel, and the passage interrupts the sequence from 7:52-8:12.

This event may have actually happened, become part of the oral tradition, and then was probably added by a copyist many years after John.

Footnote in the TNIV for John 7:53--8:11

Another example:
Matthew 6:9-13 –The Lord’s Prayer – the prayer ends with (v. 13) “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. 

The phrase, “for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” is left out; it is not in the best and oldest manuscripts.

We may not like all the conclusions of textual criticism, but it is because of the science of textual criticism that we can trust that what we are reading today is virtually the same as what God inspired the original authors to write.

I have used the two examples because they are the most significant examples of changes that scribes made to the original texts. There are many other variant readings, where textual critics have had to reconstruct the original by comparing various readings in various manuscripts – but none are as significant or alarming. Certainly, there are no text "corrections" that change the teachings of Christianity.

You can trust the Bible but…
But the question is: can we trust people like us to correctly use the Bible?

The Bible is used to say all kinds of things. People use the Bible to justify a war; others use the Bible to prohibit a war. Before the Civil War in the United States, Christians used the Bible to defend slavery. Christian abolitionists also used the Bible to speak out against slavery. There may be many interpretations of the Bible - but not all interpretations are valid.

People use the constitution to justify both sides of an issue. Gun control advocates use the constitution to defend their position. Others use the constitution to say every American has the right to own an AK-47. You can have many interpretations – but not all positions are valid. Our courts decide which interpretations are valid.

And you have to decide which interpretations of the Bible are valid.

Yes…
You can trust your use of the Bible when…

…You read the Bible carefully.

Consider context. Read the verses that come before and after.

Consider the literary context – what type of literature is it? Are you reading prose? Poetry? Apocalyptic? Parable? Metaphor? When Jesus told the parable of the sower and four soils, he wasn't trying to teach gardening techniques. Jesus was talking about your receptivity to God's Word.

Read the Bible with your MIND.

I.e., You cannot read the Bible lazily and expect to come away with the truth. Our example is the Bereans, in Acts 17:11, who checked the Scriptures to be sure Paul was speaking the truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 says "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

Question the Bible: Is there an example to follow, a mistake to avoid? A clear instruction to obey? Information to praise God for?

You can trust your use of the Bible when…

2. …You read the Bible comparatively. [SLIDE]

...correlating each biblical principle with other parts of the Bible. Look for the meaning of the whole Bible.

...correlating your interpretation with that of others in the Christian community. This is a check against uninformed or erroneous interpretations. This is why small group Bible studies are so helpful.

You can trust your use of the Bible when…

3. …You read the Bible prayerfully.

Asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
Psalm 119:144
Your statutes are always righteous; give me understanding that I may live.

Read the Bible with your HEART.

You can trust your use of the Bible when…

4. …You read the Bible with expectancy.

- expecting to hear from God AND expecting to obey.

It’s the difference between reading a cookbook for information and reading a cookbook to eat!

2 Timothy 3:14-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful (not just interesting) for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people a may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God gave us his revelation so that we would be equipped to do God’s work.

Read the Bible with your HANDS and FEET..

Read the Bible to get your marching orders.

You can trust the Bible when…

…You Read It!

For lots more information on textual criticism, read the authoritative book: Bruce Metzger, The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration, (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968).

(It's out of print as of 5/06, but available used; I have it if you'd like to borrow it and promise to return it - DW)

or buy The Text of the New Testament : Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration
by Bruce M. Metzger, Bart D. Ehrman

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