Textual Criticism, The History of our Biblical Text - Part 1 of 2

In this lecture, Bible teacher Dave Bigler (founder of Iron Sheep Ministries) does a basic overview of the history of our New Testament text. From the spreading of the early Gospel by word of mouth, the writing down of our New Testament text on papyrus to the formation of the New Testament Canon of scripture. All this and more is covered in this one hour lecture.

WATCH PART 2: https://youtu.be/TS-uTyevvjs

Outline:
01:38 - What are the top arguments against the validity of the Bible?
03:06 - We live in a culture of doubt.
03:49 - Overview of part 1 and part 2 of this lecture series.
04:44 - Knowledge is our greatest strength amidst a culture of doubt.
Jude 10; Rom 12.2; Prov 15.14; Prov 23.12; Prov 1:7
Own your knowledge, if you don’t know, find out. Pray for a hunger for knowledge.

06:59 - The goal: Provide a basic, foundational knowledge of how our New Testament text passed from the pen of its original human author to your hands today.

07:14 - Outline for the lecture
08:50 - what does inerrant mean?
Define inerrant - without error. God, through the Holy Spirit, inspired the original human author who put pen to paper (quill to papyrus). THAT original also known as the “autograph,” THAT was without error. We do not have any of the original “autographs.” We have copies, that is where Textual criticism comes in. But let me be clear from the start; in all my research, all my schooling, all my studies; as much as I can be sure of anything, I am sure that this is God’s perfect word for us today.

Mat 24:35 - Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never pass away.
10:45 - The spreading of the early gospel - an oral tradition
The gospel spread, and the narratives about Jesus’ life and teachings were repeated hundreds of thousands of times by reliable eyewitnesses simply by word of mouth.
Mat 28.18-20
Acts 1.8

14:34 - When, why, and how was the text written down? When was the New Testament written?
17:18 - Why was there a gap between when Jesus lived and when the New Testament was written?
18:10 - Why was the New Testament even written down?
19:17 - What is the principle of immanence in Christianity?
Heb 1.2, Matt 24.36, Mark 13,32
20:44 - How was the New Testament written? Parchment, Papyrus, Manuscripts, etc.
22:28 - what is a scribe?
23:44 - The Canon of Scripture. Who decided what books would be in the Bible? What does the word Canon mean in relation to the Bible?
23:44 - What is Canonization?
25:36 - What is Pseudepigrapha?
What is the Testament of Hezekiah, the Vision of Isaiah, the Books of Enoch, the Book of Noah, the Testament of Abraham, The Acts of Paul, The Gospel of Thomas, The Epistles of Barnabas?

28:26 - Three key criteria for determining what books were in the New Testament Canon:
Apostolicity - was it written by an apostle or an associate of an apostle?
Orthodoxy - did it conform to the teachings of other books known to be by the apostles?
Catholicity - was it accepted early and by a majority of churches?

30:48 - What books were questioned?
33:14 - Why was the book of James questioned as being part of the New Testament?
35:56 - Textual Criticism - the transmission of our text (copies of copies)
38:06 - What is a textual variant in the Bible?
47:39 - Is the ending of Mark a textual variant? Who wrote the ending to Mark? Mark 16.9-20
52:07 - Was the story of the woman caught in adultery in the original New Testament text? John 7.53-8.11
56:17 - how much confidence can we really have in our text today?
A look at Greek and Roman Historians 484-140AD
Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy, Tacitus, Suetonius

01:01:53 - Can we be confident in our New Testament text?
The NT manuscripts stand closer to the original and are more plentiful than virtually any other ancient literature. The NT is far and away the best-attested work of Greek or Latin literature in the ancient world.
We have more and earlier manuscript evidence about the person of Jesus Christ than we do anyone else in the ancient world. More than Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great!
Be confident in your text!

01:04:04 - Where to learn more about Textual Criticism?
Peter Gurry - interview on ApostleTalk.org
Co-Director - Text and Canon Institute TextandCanon.org
Dig super deep w/ those that know - EvangelicalTextualCriticism.blogspot.com
Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts csntm.org
Books:
Reinventing Jesus (Daniel Wallace)
How We Got the Bible (Neil Lightfoot)
Scribes & Scripture (Peter Gurry)
Pastor’s Guide to the NT (David Bigler)

01:06:25 - What will be in Part 2?
01:07:05 - In Conclusion: God is sovereign!
The creator of the universe has undeniably spoken to us in this text.
We can have confidence in his word
That is why we as believers ought to study it and learn as much as we can about it.