1+1=3
Confused? You should be. Math may not be easy but we all know 1+1=2 right? It is one of the first things we learn in math. When someone claims that 1+1=3 you would call them out of their mind. But the fact of the matter is that there are many thing equally obvious that people tend to miss all the time.
As promised in the previous post I will flesh out how well the Bible passes the first test applied to ancient documents. This test as was mentioned is called the Bibliographic test. Its purpose is to determine if the document we are looking at is accurate to the original, or in other words its goal is to see if the document is just a fake or if it was an actual ancient document. The fact of the matter is that this test does not solidly prove the accuracy of a document, but failure to pass this test will disprove the accuracy of a document.
This test involves two steps. The first, is to determine how many copies of the text where made and how close those copies were to the original. The second step, is to compare all the copies that we have for variations in the text (more then about an average variance of 25% and the document is rejected.
So first lets look at how some other ancient documents pass this test. The second best document in all history to pass the bibliographic test is Homer’s the Iliad. The Iliad has 643 known copies made of it the first of which was written around 500 years after the original, and the copies agree with one another in about 90% of the material. Caesar’s Gallic Wars are another example, this document is considered very reliable, and yet there are only 10 known copies the first of which was written more then 1000 years after the original, it is accurate in only about 80% of its material, and this is not the exception, but the rule. Most ancient documents have about 5 to 10 copies written 1000 to 2000 years after the original, and yet they pass the test.
Now lets look at the Bible. The New Testament was written from about 40 AD to a little before 70 AD. We find the first copies made a little before 100 AD. Thus, there is a gap of less then 50 years between the original and the first copy! Furthermore, there are nearly 25,000 copies of the New Testament alone. The Old Testament isn’t far behind. It was written over a span of about 1000 years ending around 450 BC, and the first complete Old Testament copy that we have was completed around 125 BC (they are called the Dead Sea Scrolls), the copies are 98% accurate to the original. However, there are only about 15 complete collections of the Old Testament which is still far better then most ancient documents especially considering that the Old Testament is one of the oldest ancient documents ever to pass this test, and it is about 95% accurate to the original.
Obviously the Bible passes this test far better then any other ancient document. If you don’t believe me look it up for yourself you will find everything I have said is true. It is as obvious as the fact that 1+1=2.
