Transcript: Are Errors in the Bible?

Are Errors in the Bible?

A Study Guide

"How do we know that the manuscripts that we have the Greek text that we have really reflect what Matthew wrote?" - Dr. Ed Gravely

I.               THE ERRORS

This question has become increasing more important in the modern day, because there are skeptics out there raising doubts. One of the skeptics suggests there are as many as 400,000 errors in the New Testament, such as scribal errors or manuscript errors. 

Manuscripts differed from one another in about four key ways: 

1.  A scribe would make a mistake

- The errors were easy to find - a scribe would fix the error.

2.     Orthographic variance

-  "Colour" and "color" are an example of regional spelling - regional spellings are helpful because they show where the writing is from. 

3.     Minor Non-Translatable Variance

-       Differences in Bible manuscripts that are not visible in English - inform textual critics where the texts are from and how it was produced. 

4.     Major Translatable Variant

-       Footnotes mark these - only a couple dozen (Mark 16, John 8). These are not sufficient reasons to doubt the validity of the Bible.