Copying Precision
1. The Old Testament: Method of copying was
via scribes whose technique was with unprecedented precision, using a method of
counting syllables and letters, and immediately destroying any copy with even a
minor error. The Hebrew Old Testament was completed by 400 BC, and previous to
the dead sea scrolls the oldest complete Hebrew Manuscript dates to 900 AD.
However Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947 dated 1000 years earlier. Comparison of
the 1000 year older version of passages demonstrates that word for word
correlation is identical in >95% of text. The <5% variation consisted of
obvious slips of pen and variations in spelling. No affect on the message
occurred therefore over this 1000 year period. McDowell J: A Ready Defense.
Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1993 48-51
2. New Testament: It was written in 40-100
A.D. with Christ’s death about 33 AD. The earliest copy dates to 125 A.D. The
use of the same procedures followed by the scribes is obvious here as well. For
example, compare the new testament to the best preserved ancient literature
other than the Bible, which would be the Iliad, by Homer.
The Iliad has 643 copies dating to 400 B.C.
with 764 lines questioned for accuracy or 5% inaccuracy. The New Testament has
24,000 copies dating back to 125 A.D., and 400 words are questioned for only a
.5% inaccuracy. Comparison of more recent versions still show no change in the
material content of passages despite the intervening 2000 years.
McDowell J: A Ready Defense. Thomas Nelson,
Nashville, 1993 Pgs 43-47