Friday, January 27, 2012

Is the New Testament accurate

http://www.god-evidence-truth.com/

Gravity True For You But Not For Me


Yes, according to most Biblical scholars. In the Baker Encyclopedia of Apologetics, Bruce Metzger a highly recognized scholar, is quoted as estimating the New Testament we have today as 99.5 percent accurate. There are approximately 5,600 Greek handwritten manuscripts (MS), which is the original language of the New Testament. In total there are more than 25,000 full or partial manuscripts in several languages. Due to the enormous number of texts, scholars can compare one to another and determine what the originals said. The texts have what scholars call variants, small variations, due to word placement like Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus, spelling, proper nouns and the like. These are not errors they are just variations in the text. Because there are more than 25,000 manuscripts, there are an estimated 400,000 variants. Here are two simulated verses that vary in five places, thus five variants:

Jesus Christ died for our sin and rose again.

Christ Jesus died fr your sins and arose.


The actual texts have nowhere near this number per line. If 1,000 manuscripts had 100 spelling errors each, that would equal 100,000 variants. This demonstrates why the estimated 400,000 variants discovered in the manuscripts are not that significant. Notice how even in a short verse with several variants, we can still determine what the verse says. Just think if you had 1,000 MS with the same verse, do you think you could figure out what it says? According to Biblical scholars, inconsequential variants like these alter no meaning and account for 99 percent of the total. Only one percent are of any consequence and they do not affect Christian doctrine. Ironically, God’s plan for man to disperse thousands of hand-written manuscripts in the ancient world protected it from alteration better than if one person had the original and could change it.


‘While the New Testament documents do not survive or have not yet been found, we have abundant and accurate copies of the original New Testament documents – many more than for the ten best pieces of ancient literature combined. Moreover, nearly perfect reconstruction of the originals can be accomplished by comparing the thousands of manuscript copies that do survive. We have discovered manuscript fragments from the second century as early as the mid first century. There are no works from the ancient world that even come close to the New Testament in terms of manuscript support. Turek and Geisler, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, page 248.


“Non-believers are concerned that our New Testament Scriptures cannot be trusted, but they’ve come to this concern without examining the evidence. As Christians, we KNOW that we have the most reliable and attested ancient documents. You can trust that, if nothing else, we have today what the ancients had to begin with.” Detective Jim Wallace, former atheist. www. pleaseconvinceme.com


In addition to all of the Manuscripts, there are more than 36,000 quotes of New Testament scriptures by the early Church Fathers. All but 11 New Testament verses are quoted, allowing for virtually 100 percent reconstruction of the New Testament. Many critics claim the Bible cannot be accurate or true because it was written by men and men make mistakes. But men write accurate and truthful books all of the time. Look at a dictionary or encyclopedia. The Bible says all scripture is inspired by God, so just like you use a pen as an instrument to write a letter, God used man as an instrument to record His Word.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching,for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.2 Tim. 3:16

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.2 Peter 1:20-21

“The interval between the dates of original composition (of the N.T.) and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible and the 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 N.T. may be regarded as firmly established.” Sir Frederic Kenyon, Director, principal librarian of the British museum, foremost expert on ancient manuscripts.

“The science of textual criticism is used to test all documents ofantiquity–not just religious texts–including historical and literary writings. It’s not a theological enterprise based on haphazard hopes and guesses; it’s a linguistic exercise that follows a set of established rules. Textual criticism allows an alert critic to determine the extent of possible corruption of any work.” Greg Koukel, Host of, Stand to Reason Radio program since 1990, L.A. CA. www. str.orgRead the entire book for free online at http://www.godevidencetruth.com/



Read the entire book for free at http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-True-You-But-ebook/dp/B006XG0ID4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326574922&sr=1-1

0r www.god-evidence-truth.com

Is Truth important to you?

Is Truth Important to You?



If you were dying of a deadly but curable disease, would you want the right medication to survive.

Would you want to know the truth about the risks before investing your life savings?

Do you want your family and friends to tell you the truth once in a while, or all of the time?

If you were charged with a murder you did not commit, would you want the truth to come out?


If you want truth in these areas, it appears truth really is important to you. So what’s on the other side of death? If God exists and your destination after physical death is based on the choices you make in this life, would the truth about eternity be important?

What is Objective Truth? * Relates to the object referred to. * Corresponds with reality. * Telling it like it is. * Something that is true even if no one believes it. * Jesus and the Bible claim to be objective truths.


“Truth is true—even if no one knows it. Truth is true—even if no one admits it. Truth is true—even if no one agrees what it is. Truth is true—even if no one follows it. Truth is true—even if no one but God grasps it fully.” Paul Copan, Chair of Philosophy and Ethics at Palm Beach Atlantic University, author, True For You But Not For Me.


What is The Law of Non-Contradiction? It is our built in lie detector to help us find truth. The law of non-contradiction is a fundamental principle of thought that clearly tells us opposite ideas cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. For example - the Earth is flat vs. the Earth is round. This law is self-evident and undeniable. Knowledge of this law is crucial to understanding that truth does exist and its opposite is always false. It’s true that you are reading this book right now. You are the object in this statement. So it’s true for everybody, everywhere that you are reading this book right now. It’s a contradiction or false that you are not reading it. Since it’s true Washington D.C. is the capitol of the United States of America, any other belief, even the next closest city geographically, is contradictory and false. You have particular first and last names that are true, while any other names are false. We all took multiple choice tests in school; one answer was true while the rest were false, no matter how close to the truth they came. Truth is always narrow and exclusive, excluding its opposites.

Contradictions in a statement render the claim false. For example - “I have a gift for you and a list of work you need to do to get it.” You know right away that my statement does not make sense because a gift that requires work is not a gift. Some have said to me “truth does not exist” but in doing so, they claim it is true, that truth does not exist. Both of these statements are contradictory and thus false. Conclusion – Truth exists, it’s important and its contradictions are always false.

What is The Best Way to Find Truth? I am sure you will agree, a person can stumble into truth. We all guessed correctly on a few school tests. But guessing or hoping to find the truth by mere accident is obviously not the best way to make an important decision. The following are three popular ways people use to come to a conclusion that something is true. Which one would you pick to make a decision where truth is vital?

1. Feelings - it feels right, gives me purpose, hope and peace of mind, so I believe it’s the truth. 2. Family or someone I trust believes it, so I do. 3. Evidence, consistency, best fits the evidence.

Approximately 95 percent of the hundreds of people I have asked this specific question pick the third option right away. But a strange thing happens when I ask the same people if they believe in God. Now the same people who just told me truth was very important and evidence was the best way to find it, suddenly say their beliefs about God are not founded on the evidence, but on feelings or on what someone else believes. Therefore it’s quite probable that your current belief about God is not based on evidence either. The problem is that there are sincere followers in every belief, who claim to have found the truth. So is one belief correct and the only way to God or do all roads lead to heaven? Does God exist at all? If we base our search solely on subjective evidence like feelings and personal experience, it’s confusing because every belief has followers that will attest to both. If we decide to believe something because someone else does, how do we know for sure they have found the truth? Did they examine the evidence or are they just following their feelings or a crowd? The only legitimate way to be reasonably sure our faith is placed in the truth is to examine the objective evidence ourselves, like we would with any major decisions. Objective evidence can be examined by everyone and does not change due to emotions, fee-lings or personal experience. An example of objective evidence would be scientific and historical facts.

I am not suggesting that you completely ignore your feelings as they can be helpful when you have verifiable facts and more than one solid option. So keep your feelings handy, but I urge you to not place them above the facts. Finding the truth about God is very important since every belief includes views about salvation and eternity. Making a wise decision based on the objective evidence is only sensible.

Conclusion – The best way to discover truth is by examining the objective evidence.

Read the entire book for free online. Go to

http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-True-You-But-ebook/dp/B006XG0ID4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326574922&sr=1-1


or to my website at www.god-evidence-truth.com

Gravity True For You But Not For Me: Evidence for Gods existence and identity

Monday, January 2, 2012

Christianity is true for you but fill in the blank is true for me

I have spoken to thousands of people face to face about Jesus and
once in awhile I will hear the "true for you but not for me" excuse. The problem
is that many people do not understand how truth works. Here is a short piece
from my free e-book designed for evangelisim. The title is Gravity True For You
But Not For Me - Evidence for Gods Existence and Identity. You can get your free
copy at www.god-evidence-truth.com to read and forward to
frinds and family. Most e-reader formats are supported like Kindle. Donations
are also being accepted for print copies that you can hand out yourself. I am
thankful to be saved and I want to bring as many people with me as I possibly
can.
True for You But Not for Me

The statement, true for you but not for me has a long list of problems that
tell us it is false. I bring it up because people sometimes claim, “Christianity
is true for you but not for me.” People that make this statement have confused
belief with truth. But belief alone does not guarantee the matter at hand is
true. Truth on the other hand is not a respecter of any belief that contradicts
it. Truth conforms to reality and the object being referred to. The title of
this book is a contradiction on purpose to get your attention, Gravity -
True For You But Not For Me. It suggests that an objective truth
like gravity does not apply to a person who does not believe in it. But since
this is simply not how truth works, the title of this book is self-defeating as
is the claim, “The Bible is true for you but something else is true for me.” The
following quote reveals an easy way to prove this to yourself:
“True for you but not for me is a self-defeating and therefore false
statement. You can prove this one conclusively to yourself today, just drive 90
in a 55 and when the cop stops you for speeding, just say, “That’s true for you
but not for me.” and speed off. Since it’s not true for you he can’t give you a
ticket, right?”Dr. Frank Turek, author and speaker. www.Crossexamined.org

True for you but not for me is also claiming every-thing is true as
long as someone believes it. If that’s the case we should have all gotten
perfect grades in school. Every answer I gave was true for me.

It can be argued that true for you but not for me is even false when it comes
to flavors of ice cream or the temperature in a room, because truth applies to
its object. For example - you like vanilla, I like chocolate and we are in the
same room and you feel cold and I feel warm. Referring to you as the object of
the statement, it’s true for everyone everywhere that you like vanilla and feel
cold. Referring to me as the object of the statement, it’s true for everyone
everywhere that I like chocolate and feel warm. Here is a verse from a rap song
that adds more clarity to the contradictory nature of our topic.
“If what's true for you is true for you and what's true for
me is true for me, what if my truth says yours is a lie? Is it still true?”
Lecrae, Rebel Album.
In opposition to how things really work, the true for you but not for me
argument comes from a flawed understanding of how truth works and leads to
the faulty conclusion, “What I believe about God is true just because I believe
it.” Ironically it’s a way people play god, by imagining God doesn’t exist or
creating a god who works for them.
In my opinion, true for you but not for me is really an attempt to escape the
truth by denying or ignoring it. While it may work for a while, in the end the
truth we have been avoiding must still be dealt with and usually the longer we
wait the higher the cost. Just ask any alcoholic, drug addict or over spender
how well denial worked for them after reality hits. Truth always surfaces and
the truth about God is no exception. It’s always better to face truth early,
accept it and deal with it.
“It is utterly wrongheaded to say that something is true for you but not for
me. For example, what if I think fascism is true and you think liberal democracy
is equally true? Should the fascist’s repression be tolerated by the believer in
liberal democracy? If not, on what grounds? Why not permit Stalinism or Satanism
or Nazism? Without criteria to determine truth, this relativism fails
miserably.” Allister McGrath Professor of Theology Kings College, taken from
Paul Copan’s book, “True For You, But Not For Me”.

Conclusion – True for you but not for me is self –defeating and
false. If the Bible is really true, it is true for everyone, if
they believe it or not.