We have no original documents of the New Testament (N.T.) written by the apostles. We only have copies. But the fact is, we have no originals of any old, trusted book. And besides, if we had only a single original of the Bible, how would we know it hadn't been stolen and replaced by a fraud?
We know that modern Bibles say what the apostles wrote because we have three types of writings:
1) Manuscripts (MSS) Copies in the original language
76 papyri which survive only in Egypt due to climate.
250 uncials (printing) on vellum (calf skin), dating A.D. 350 - 800
2,646 cursives, or miniscules, on paper which was invented in the 9th century
1,997 lectionaries (passages from a church's calendar of readings, not in Biblical order)
about 25 ostraca (Bible verses on pottery)
9 talismans (Bible verses on "lucky charms")
These 5,000 MSS vary in length from a few verses to several N.T. books, but seldom contain the entire N.T. Some MSS are on torn pieces of paper or broken pottery, others are in the form of a scroll, and others are in a codex (a book with pages). With thousands of MSS, we have many copies of some verses and only a few copies of others.
A "text" is the entire N.T. in the original language (Greek) which has been compiled by adding together all the MSS. Different texts were compiled from different MSS, resulting in small differences between some Bibles. No variations change a single doctrine or belief. For more detail, see "The Story of the English Bible."
2) Early Versions The entire N.T. can be compiled from over 19,000 copies of translations into:
Aramaic ("Curetonian" and "Sinaitic" MSS (A.D. 300's); a revision, the "Peshitta"; 350 MSS from the 400's)
Old Latin (for missionaries to N. Africa and Italy, later revised by Jerome), A.D. 300's to 1,200's
Egyptian (Coptic, Sahidic and Bohairic dialects; copies from A.D. 200's)
3) Quotations by Christians, often from memory or paraphrased. The whole N.T. (except for less than a dozen verses) can be found in very early quotations from
Clement of Rome (A.D. 96),
Barnabas - not the one in the N.T. - (A.D. 100),
The Didache (or, "Teachings of the 12," A.D. 100),
Ignatius (A.D. 115), and
Polycarp (A.D. 120), just for starters.
Now compare the N.T. to classical books (accepted by scholars as authentic and trustworthy).
Look at the age of what has survived:
*Note: We do not have every book ever written by an apostle, but we trust God to have preserved all that He intended for us to have.
For exhausting detail and many more examples, see Evidence that Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell, Here's Life Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 1576 San Bernardino, CA 92402, ©1979. See also, Pillars of Faith: Biblical Certainty in an Uncertain World, Herman O. Wilson and Morris M. Womack, Eds., Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1973.
In the meantime, know for sure that the Bible is AUTHENTIC and RELIABLE.
