Justin W. Bass, Ph.D.

First Biography

Earliest MSS

Time Elapse

Zoroaster (1000 BC) Third Century AD

1,300 Years

Buddha (563-483 BC) First Century AD

600 Years

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)

First Century AD

400 Years

Jesus of Nazareth (4 BC-33 AD)

AD 55-90/70-90

AD 125 25-60 Years!

Time Elapsed

Earliest MSS

Copies of MSS

Xenophon (430-355 BC) 1,600 years AD 1350

Polybius (200-120 BC) 1,110 years AD 950

Seutonius (AD 69-130) 800 years AD 850

Pliny (AD 60-115) 800 years AD 850

Plutarch (AD 50-120) 900 years AD 950

Tacitus (AD 56-117) 900 years AD 900-1000

2

Herodotus (485-425 BC) 1,300 years AD 900 8

Thucydides (460-395 BC) 1,300 years AD 900 8

Josephus (AD 37-100) 1,000 years AD 950-1050

9

Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) 1,000 years AD 900 10

Livy (59 BC- AD 17) 300 years AD 300 20

Aristotle (384-322 BC) 1400 years AD 1100 49

Demosthenes (384-322 BC) 200

Illiad (Homer) (900 BC) 500 years 400 BC 643

New Testament (AD 50-96)

70-170 years!

AD 125 5000+

“The Interval between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established” Sir Frederic Kenyon, The Bible and Archeology, 288-89

Masoretic Text

Isaiah Scroll discovered in 1947

Sir William Ramsay A. N. Sherwin-White Colin Hemer

“I may fairly claim to have entered on this investigation without any prejudice in favor of the conclusion which I shall now attempt to justify to the reader. On the contrary, I began with a mind unfavorable to it, for the ingenuity and apparent completeness of the Tubingen theory had at one time quite convinced me. It did not lie then in my line of life to investigate the subject minutely; but more recently I found myself often brought in contact with the book of .Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities, and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvelous truth.” Sir William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, 7

“The Historical framework is exact. In terms of time and place the details are precise and correct. One walks the streets and marketplaces, the theatres and assemblies of first-century Ephesus or Thessalonica, Corinth or Philippi, with the author of Acts. The great men of the cities, the magistrates, the mob and the mobleader are all there…” A.N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament, 186.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread…” (1 Cor 11:23)

“1 Cor. 11:23 says nothing other than that the chain of tradition goes back unbroken to Jesus himself” Joachim Jeremias Eucharistic Words, 101

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 fragment

Repeated “that”

Unpauline words

Aramaic origin

“But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie” (Galatians 1:15-20)

“Here is His Book. Read it! It is the looking glass! Jesus is on the other side and He looks into this Book and if you look into it with well-washed eyes, you may see His reflected image in this glass darkly, however, at the best.” C.H. Spurgeon, Pressing Questions of an Awakened Mind #1520

“What a wonderful complexity there is in Your utterances! The surface meaning lies open before us and charms beginners. Yet the depth is amazing, my God, the depth is amazing! To concentrate on Your Scriptures is to experience awe—the awe of adoration before its transcendence and the trembling of love.” St. Augustine, Confessions 12.14.17

1042 Lead Pastor214-460-5872justin@1042church.com