Let’s begin with a story.
Sarah has been married to Jake for 55 years. As she observes her children and grandchildren, she wishes they could have the same type of loving marriage she has had. She decides to write a letter addressed to her loved ones in which she lists actions, concepts, and attitudes that she believes are needed for a successful, happy, and love-filled marriage. Sarah called it “Special Ingredients for a Special Marriage.” The computer age has not yet arrived, and so she writes out four copies of her letter, one for each of her children.
Now, it’s 50 years later. At the wedding reception of one of Sarah’s great-great-great-granddaughters, Jessica, one of her uncles gives a speech where he mentions this letter from Great Aunt Sarah and proceeds to list some of the contents. It’s a beautiful speech that brings fond tears to the eyes of several other guests. As the uncle sits down, several of his cousins and even two aunts come over to the table, congratulating him on his rendition of “Special Ingredients for a Special Marriage.” However, an intense discussion arises as each one remembers something different about the letter, and tensions rise.
Jessica hears the loud conversation and decides to include herself as an impartial referee. “What’s the problem?” Of course, they all speak at once, and Jessica has an idea.
“I know how to solve our problem! After you get home, I’ll give you one week to track down your copy of Great-Aunt Sarah’s letter. Take a picture and send it to my email or phone, and I’ll easily compile them into a single coherent letter that I promise will be as close as possible to the original from Aunt Sarah herself!” Her family members seem sceptical but agree to her terms. Thankfully, the conversation moves to a different topic, and temperatures drop to a healthier level.
True to their word, each family member from the wedding, and even some who hadn’t been there, sent her pictures of their copies of the letter. Astonishingly, she receives 32 copies in total! And so, Jessica begins her research. Immediately, she notices several differences and starts taking notes. [The note is added as an image for you to see her process.]
Jessica was then able to use the various copies and construct a final one that had the highest probability of being correct. Was she 100% sure that this was identical to the original? No. But everyone was sure that the message in the letter constructed by Jessica had absolutely zero difference from the intended meaning by Aunt Sarah. Feeling confident, she sent the revised version back to her family members.
The End.
Back to the present. A popular question is: “Can an original document be reconstructed by subsequent copies?”
The answer is yes! And it’s been done countless times throughout history. One of the greatest examples is that of the reconstruction of the New Testament manuscripts of the Bible.
New Testament scholars employ similar techniques as Jessica when studying ancient manuscripts. And they have found similar types of variations. It has been confirmed by multiple NT scholars, both secular and religious, that 99% of the variations found among the various ancient manuscripts are:
- alternative or incorrect spelling
- synonyms
- word order
- the use or omission of definite articles (the word “the”)
Next time someone says, “We have only error-ridden copies [of the New Testament], and the vast majority of these are centuries removed from the originals and different from them… in thousands of ways,” like Dr. Bart Ehrman did in his book Misquoting Jesus1, you can give them this fun fact about what 99% of those “thousands” of differences are.
To conclude, here’s what Timothy Paul Jones says in his book, Misquoting Truth, written specifically to refute Bart Ehrman’s claims: “Have the New Testament manuscripts changed over the centuries? Without a doubt! But are the changes in the manuscripts “highly significant”? And do any of them “affect the interpretation of an entire book of the New Testament”? Not that I can tell.”2
References:
- Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (New York: HarperCollins, 2005).
- Timothy Paul Jones, Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus, n.d. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007).
