Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions – Evidence for Christianity

If we use “copying errors” in the manuscripts to explain supposed biblical contradictions, doesn’t that open the door for people to claim the Bible cannot be trusted?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, General Apologetics, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This question is a follow-up from the class Answering the Hard Questions which we have been teaching the past three weeks.] Question: Hi guys! Thanks for the great apologetics series! I left last session with two questions. One is regarding the use of the “copying error” as a tool for explaining discrepancies between texts. […]

Bible critics and atheists say that all nine of the non-Christian writers who wrote about Jesus of Nazareth are really just fabrications by Christians. Your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Bible critics and atheists say that none of the nine non-Christian writers like Thallus, Josephus, Tacitus and others actually wrote about Jesus of Nazareth of the Bible in their documents. They say those documents were all fabrications by a Christian. Your response? Response: This is quite simply a lie, and ought to be labeled […]

What is the name of God according to Exodus 6:2 according to the Hebrew and the Septuagint translation?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A .

Question: What is the name of God according to Exodus 6:2-3 based on the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint? [Editor’s note: this is the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible in the late third century BC] Answer: God has many names in the Bible, as I assume you know. He is called El, […]

Many of my Muslim friends tell me that Jesus did not die on the cross and that this came, not from Muhammad but from the second century. Your response?

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I want to know about the reliability of the Bible because many of my friends who are Muslims tell me that Jesus did not die on the cross nor was he risen. They tell me that this is not written 600 yrs later but from 2nd century or the end of 1st century itself […]

Muslims, including Shabir Ally, say that Jesus was not crucified, and that Muhammad was only saying what had been said before. Your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Questions: I’m not being able to protect my faith because of Muslims and they are telling that the Bible I hold in my hand is corrupted and the original manuscripts are lost. They showed me the video of a debate of Micheal licona a Christian apologist and Shabir Ally who is a Muslim apologist. They […]

Acts 8:37 is in none of the ancient manuscripts, but it is in the King James Version. How can we trust this or any other version of the Bible?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: As for Acts 8:37 none of the most ancient manuscripts include this material. The King James Version is the one which got it wrong. You are telling here here that the King James Version of the Bible is wrong. So how can we trust the other versions of the Bible because KJV is the […]

How many Greek manuscripts in total do we have from the second and third centuries? How does this compare to all other non-biblical manuscripts?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: 1. How many Greek manuscripts we have dated before the 3rd century? I will be so happy if you give total manuscript numbers by century up to the 3rd century 2. How many copies do we have for the New Testament compared to secular ancient texts within the 3 centuries from the writing of […]

How to you deal with the fact that so-called Saint Peter was a cruel murderer?

John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s note: The answers from this Hindu gentleman are interspersed with the questions] Questions and Answers: Acts 5: 1-11 show that the so-called Saint Peter was a cruel murderer who murdered in cold blood both, Annanias & his wife Sapphira. I am sure Peter would be horrified to be falsely accused of murder. This is terrible false […]

A Rabbi claims on youtube that Psalms 22:16 (they have pierced my hands and feet) actually is a lion surrounded by dogs with paws upraised. Your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

Question: Rabbi Dtovia Singer has a video on youtube saying the church is lying about christology. In this video he says when Isaiah talks about Jesus’ peirced hands it is actually spun by Origen and other church fathers. The Rabbi claims the verse says that King David is like a lion surrounded by dogs with […]

You say that the Council of Jamnia set the Hebrew canon, but scholars all agree that this supposed council did not even happen.

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: In some posts concerning Enoch, you have stated that determining the canon of the Old Testament belongs to the Jews. How is this possible if the Jews themselves had no Old Testament canon? The Sadducees, Pharisees, and Greek Jews all had different canons. I predict that you will appeal to the Council of Jamnia, […]

Scholars say Daniel 9 is a Jewish interpretation of Jeremiah and not a prophecy about Jesus. What is your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: This is a rather long question, but the answer is below!] Question: This is on Daniel 9 and what Wiki has been saying about it. First of all, they say this has nothing to do with Jesus and the temple but it is about Jeremiah. As stated here: “The seventy weeks prophecy is […]

Did Paul really write the 13 letters normally attributed to him? Is Ehrman right that most of the New Testament letters are forgeries?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Questions: Did Paul really write Ephesians, Colossians and the Pastoral Epistles? In other words, did Paul really write all the 13 epistles of the New Testament normally attributed to him? One scholar, Bart D.Ehrman says that only the seven books, the undisputed letters of St.Paul are authentic and the rest 20 books of the New […]

How can we know for sure that the Gnostic gospels such as Thomas, Philip, Mary and Judas were not actually written by disciples of Jesus?

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: How can we really know for sure that the Gnostic gospels- The gospel of Thomas, the gospel of Philip, the gospel of Mary, the gospel of Judas, etc. were actually not written by the disciples of Jesus Christ? Answer: I suppose we cannot absolutely “prove” in the mathematical sense of proof that Thomas did […]

Is Bart Ehrman right that we have almost no evidence about Jesus?

John Oakes wrote in Archaeology and the Bible, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Scholar Bart D. Ehrman says that we have very scanty evidence and documentation of Jesus’ life. Bart D. Ehrman says that Jesus is never mentioned in any Greek or Roman, non-Christian sources until 80 years after his death. There is no record of Jesus having lived in these sources. In the entire first Christian […]

Is it true, as I saw in a recent YouTube video, that the name Jesus is never used in the New Testament and that his followers are never called Christians in the Bible?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: The video in question is a lecture claiming that the most important manuscript of the Greek New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus proves that Jesus was never called Jesus in the New Testament (using Mark 1:1) and that his followers were never called Christians (using 1 Peter 4:16). Feel free to look at the video […]

If it is true, as is claimed, that Luke 23:34, John 7:53-8:11 and other New Testament passages are interpolations, why did these people add to the Scriptures? Didn’t they fear God? What if much of what Jesus says about himself in the NT is also interpolated?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I have heard that some early church writers interpolated several scriptures/verses into the New Testament: (For eg: Luke 23:34 was included by Irenaeus and Alexandrinus and others) Also, I heard it claimed that Luke 22:43-44, 22:19-20, 1 John 5:7-8, John 7:53-8:11, Mark 16:9-20, and 1 Cor 14:34-35 are all interpolated. Apparently, New Testament scholars […]

In your book Daniel, Prophet to the Nations you make the inaccurate claim that much of Daniel is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Why do you make this inaccurate claim?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Editor’s note: this is part of an interaction with a questioner who feels my treatment of Peter Enns’ book How the Bible Actually Works is not fair. The article is found here: https://evidenceforchristianity.org/a-review-of-peter-enns-book-how-the-bible-actually-works/ ] Question: I have worked my way through some fairly lengthy portions of your sermon at the Boston Church of Christ on […]

I read an article that claims John 7:53-8:11 in the KJV was not in the original John. Is that correct?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I read an article that claims that John 7:53-8:11 was not part of the original book of John. https://www.gotquestions.org/John-7-53-8-11.html Please comment on this article. Is today’s KJV bible accurate as to the original manuscripts written by the original gospel writers? Are there any additional example of material that has been added to the Gospels over the […]

Hosea 11:1 cannot be a prophecy about the Messiah because it speaks of Israel, not Jesus.

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

[Editor’s note: I received a long and somewhat rambling set of comments and questions from someone. I asked for a more succinct set of comments and questions so that I could respond. You will see below that the shorter version is still a bit unfocused, but this person asks sufficiently important questions that I felt […]

I have heard people say most of the New Testament could be reproduced from early quotes, even if we did not have manuscripts. Is this true? Is there a list to prove it?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I have heard it said that if all the New Testament manuscripts were lost, the entire NT could still be replaced merely by the quotes from the church fathers…except for a scant few verses. My questions: 1. Who all has done a study to verify this? 2. How accurate were the quotations by the […]

Who is right? Those who say Luke was written about AD 62 or those who say AD 70-90? Also, what was Jesus’ Hebrew name?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible, Uncategorized .

Question: I have three questions: 1- I have searched and found that there is division between scholars about dating the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. Although some believe that they were written before 62 AD because there is no mention of Paul’s death or destruction of Jerusalem, most scholars believe that they […]

Do we know how many children Joseph and Mary had? How were the books of the Bible chosen?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A .

Question: How were the books of the Bible chosen? Do we know how many children Joseph and Mary had? Answer: I answer your first question in great detail in my book “Reasons for Belief” which is available at www.ipibooks.com. I am also attaching a shorter version of notes on canon to this e-mail. HOW WE […]

Jehovah Witnesses claim that Constantine made the Bible Pagan. What is your response?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Uncategorized, Versions of the Bible .

Question: Jehovah’s Witnesses state that Constantine made the Bible pagan, Hence their New World Translation. Do you have any evidence against this as nobody yet has been able to provide me something that backs up their claim. Thanks very much. Answer: This claim is so blatantly unfounded that for anyone to make the it they […]

Robert Price claims that 1 Cor 15:3-11 is an interpolation. Can you prove that this passage is genuine?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Robert Price claims that 1 Corinthians 15 : 3 – 11 is an interpolation https://depts.drew.edu/jhc/rp1cor15.html How can you prove the authenticity of this important text? [Editor’s note: this passage is a key one with regard to the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus] Answer: I did some research and found that, as far as I can […]

Please respond to some “evidence” used by an atheist to prove that Jesus never lived.

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Supposed Inconsistencies in the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This is a follow-up to a question just posted a couple of days ago. I asked the questioner to send specific examples from a rather long article by an atheist who claims that Jesus did not even live at all. The material in italics is the material he asked me to comment on […]

In Habakkuk 3:13 is the correct translation Anointed One or anointed ones?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A .

Question: Is habakkuk 3 13 anointed one or anointed ones please? Answer: I am not a Hebrew scholar, but I did sufficient research, by going to the original Hebrew and many translations and I am very confident that the Hebrew word is singular. Therefore, the correct translation is Anointed One. Therefore this is a messianic […]

Is the Codex Vaticanus of Daniel 9:26 right, so that our translations are wrong?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Q & A .

Question: I found a claim that in the Codex Vaticanus, “Messiah the Prince” is instead ” anointed place.” Also a Dead Sea Scroll states that Messiah is to come after the seven weeks instead of 62 sevens. Can these be proven wrong or is our translation incorrect? Answer: I did a bit of research and […]

The early Church accepted very strange things from the Apocrypha to be true and the Bible is not supported by other historical documents.

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

[Note: the second of a series of three sets of comments from a site user] Claims: 3. The versions of events that didn’t make it into the Bible [Apocrypha] are very strange – ie: Jesus slaying children & blinding their parents. The early Church [up to 400 years after the life of Jesus] accepted this […]

The gospels were written well after the purported events and there was much dispute in the early Church over the contents of the New Testament.

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Resurrection of Jesus .

[Editor’s notes. I received a six-part set of claims from a visitor to the site. I will answer them in a series of responses Claims: 1. The Bible [Gospels] were not written until well after the purported events. 2. There was much dispute over the contents of the Bible. The early Church had many conflicting […]

Can you respond to a video I saw recently in which a Muslim claims that the gospels were not written by disciples of Jesus?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Request: Please, can you refute this video, I’d really appreciate it (considering Islam). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R27Kb__1Ko&feature=youtu.be Response: I cannot refute a video. I can attempt to refute particular things said in a video. What you ask I cannot do. In fact, a number of the things said in this video are actually true. I certainly cannot refute […]

Is it true that the Old Testament is mostly oral history? If so, how do we know it is true?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, History, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I came across this forum on Reddit about the Old Testament. It says that it is mostly oral histories rather than detailed written histories. See the comment by BigBennP. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8k455b/there_are_two_places_that_i_know_of_in_the_bible/ He referenced Schinderman’s book that I’m quite familiar with. I’m not sure if this is correct. But if it is true, then I have to ask […]

What happened to Paul’s book to the Laodiceans, as mentioned in Colossians 4:16?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: In Colossians 4:16,Paul asks them to read a letter he wrote to the Laodiceans. Is this book available anywhere or is it permanently lost? Answer: That is one of the easier questions I have gotten. The answer is that this letter is lost. It is possible, but very unlikely, that this letter will surface. […]

Our Old Testament comes from the Septuagint Greek translation. Isn’t that a problem? Wouldn’t translating from Hebrew be better?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Comment: With regard to the concept of hell and Greek understanding, while we know that all Scripture is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, The “all Scripture” that is being referred to is the Hebrew Scripture. The King James Version was written by using the Septuagint (Hebrew to Greek translation), converting the Greek into […]

How can we know if Mark wrote Mark or John wrote John, given the criticisms I am hearing from Muslims?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: My questions are about authorship of the gospels. We know that the first man to say that the second gospel was written by Mark was Papias, However some skeptics say that it’s a long time between Mark (who may have died in 60s) and Papias (who may have been born at about the same […]

Are Christians under the “moral law” of the Old Testament?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Theology and Doctrinal Questions .

Question: I have 2 questions: 1) As you know, in the earlier Bible translations 1 John 5:7 ‘these three are one’ (referring to the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit) and this is not found in the later Bible versions. But when I read this verse in the Interlinear Bible, it corresponds to the […]

How do you respond to the claim of Bill Maher that “The Bible was written by men and edited by men as well”?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I recently heard an argument that Bill Maher uses to debunk the authority and authenticity of the Bible. It says, “the Bible was a book written by men and edited by men as well”. How would you respond to this? Answer: My response would be to say that this is true. Maher is right. […]

How do I find a list of the differences between the Septuagint, the Samaritan and the Masoretic texts?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question: I have a question concerning the three texts of Torah. I searched in the internet to know the 6000 differences between the three, and found that supposedly 1900 of them where the Septuagint agrees with the Samaritan [editor’s note: the questioner is referring here to the Samaritan Pentateuch], but I found nothing. Do you […]

On John 1:18, which is authentic, the textus receptus or modern translations?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Versions of the Bible .

Question: My question is about John 1:18. If we use a modern translation, we can clearly notice that the verse says that Jesus is God. But the textus receptus translations just say that Jesus is Son. Which do you think is authentic? Answer: This is a question of translation, not of an error, either in the […]

What are your thoughts on the theory of Robert Eisenman that James is the teacher of righteousness of the Essenes and that Paul was the man of lies?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: What is your response to Robert Eisenman’s theories on the Dead Sea scrolls and New Testament? He states that James is the teacher of righteous and the true leader of the church instead of Peter while Paul is the man of lies and tried to corrupt the Church from within. He also states that […]

Are Unitarians right that Matthew 28:18 “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” was not in the original Matthew?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Practical Christianity, Q & A .

Question: Lord Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 28:18, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” I have 2 questions: 1- Some critics like some Unitarians say that it’s impossible that Jesus said this because the […]

What is the best translation of the Bible into English?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

Question: Please check out 1 Corinthians 7:36 and 1 John 5:7 in various Bible versions, They seem to have different meanings. Also, only the KJV includes the term “God manifested in the flesh”, while other versions just say “He appeared in the flesh”. Which of these variations could be right? How do we deal with […]

Is the Muslim Hadith historically reliable? Can a pacifist Muslim reject Hadith and be faithful to Islam?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A .

Question: 1. Do you think the Hadiths that Muslims commonly use today like Sahi al Bukhari, Al tabari etc… contain true records? Are they completely reliable? There is a sect of Muslims called the quran-only Muslims and they disagree with the Hadiths. If they are true, then we can easily prove how pathetic and cruel […]

In John 20:28, is Thomas calling Jesus “God”, or are Muslims right that there is a manuscript corruption in this verse?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Other Religions, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I would like to ask about John 20 : 28. While I was searching in Islamic websites, I found one that claimed that there are some manuscripts that don’t contain the word “the”, so the verse will mean that Thomas thought that Jesus was a god not God, like Moses. What is your […]

What is the evidence from the Aramaic for the date of writing of Daniel?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Daniel, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: I have seen so many contradictory claims about the philological and linguistic analysis of the Book of Daniel. Does the Book of Daniel resemble Aramaic and Hebrew dialects from an earlier or later period? Does this depend on what part of the book one is looking at? Typically the sources I have found on […]

Should I trust the biblical canon because of the evidence or out of faith?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, General Apologetics, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: Should I have faith in the canonical Bible being reliable and inspired because of those who established it back then, or should I mix this with trying to see the biblical evidence for myself? It is tempting to want to find all the evidence myself, as if I am the one who determines what […]

Is it true that 1 John 5:7 was added at a later date? Has the Bible been changed?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible, Uncategorized, Versions of the Bible .

Question: Is it true that 1 john 5 :7 was added later and was not in Greek manuscripts until the 1500s? Please explain this to me. If so why is it in King James Version? If this is the case, has the Bible been subject to changes by human hands? Answer: Yes, this is true. […]

What is the oldest manuscript we had before the Dead Sea Scrolls?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Q & A, Reliability of the Bible .

Question: What was the oldest manuscript we had before the Dead Sea Scrolls? Was it the Aleppo Codex or Leningrad codex? If it is the Leningrad Codex, why do we compare the Aleppo codex with the Dead sea scrolls? Can you please give me the dates of these manuscripts? On the internet every site has a different […]

In Zechariah 12:10, is the translation “look to Me” justified as a reference to God?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Interpretation, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, General, Historical and Messianic Prophecy, Other Religions, Q & A, Versions of the Bible .

[Editor’s note: This question is coming from a person responding to Muslim claims that Jesus never claimed to be God] Question: I’d like to ask you 2 questions. 1 What’s your comment on the New World Translation of Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem […]

How can we be sure that something supposedly written by Justin Martyr was really written by him?

John Oakes wrote in Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, General, Q & A, Uncategorized .

Question: How can I decide if a particular writing by one of the church fathers is authentic? I’m asking this question because critics [editor’s note: he is talking about Muslim critics of Christianity] criticize any writing, not only Irenaeus. They say, for example, that we don’t know who wrote the writings of Justin Martyr, Origen… […]

Irenaeus (AD 180) is the first to say there were four gospels, but his writings may be a fabrication. How do we know there are exactly four gospels?

John Oakes wrote in Apocrypha, Bible Manuscripts and Textual Questions, Church History, Other Religions, Q & A .

[Editor’s note: This question is coming from a believer who lives in the Middle East and is clearly receiving a lot of attacking questions from his Muslim friends. They are using rhetoric, false dilemmas and other logical fallacies to try to prove that the Bible is corrupt. This will explain why I get a bit […]