Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Non-Trivial Pursuit Interesting facts about the most non-trivial book ever written - the Bible. The Reliability Of The Bible The Bible is 98½ percent textually pure. Through all the copying of the Biblical manuscripts of the entire Bible, only 1½ percent has any question about it. Nothing in all of the ancient writings of the entire world approaches the accuracy of the biblical documents. The 1½ percent that is in question does not affect doctrine. The areas of interest are called variants and they consist mainly in variations of wording and spelling. The NT has over 5000 supporting Greek manuscripts existing today with another 20,000 manuscripts in other languages. Some of the manuscript evidence dates to within 100 years of the original writing. There is less than a 1 percent textual variation in the NT manuscripts. Some of the supporting manuscripts of the NT are: John Rylands MS written around 130 A.D., the oldest existing fragment of the gospel of John. Bodmer Papyrus II (150-200 A.D.) Chester Beatty Papyri (200 A.D.), contains major portions of the NT. Codex Vaticanus (325-350 A.D.), contains nearly all the Bible. Codex Sinaiticus (350 A.D.), contains almost all the NT and over half of the OT. Unusual Facts In The Bible Methuselah who lived to be 969 years old (Gen. 5:27). Baby had a scarlet thread tied around its hand before it was born (Gen. 38:28-29). Battle won because a man stretched out his hand (Exodus 17:11). Man was spoken to by a donkey (Num. 22:28-30). One who had a bed 13½ feet long and 6 feet wide (Deut. 3:11). The women who had to shave their heads before they could marry (Deut. 21:11-13). Sun stood still for a whole day (Josh. 10:13). An army with 700 left handed men (Judges 20:16). Man whose hair weighed about 6 pounds when it was cut annually (2 Sam. 14:26). Man who had 12 fingers and 12 toes (2 Sam. 21:20). Father who had eighty-eight children (2 Chron. 11:21). The sun traveled backward (Isaiah 38:8). To Learn More About The Bible, Visit The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry Website. 7:23:34 PM    comment []