External Evidence Test

The third and final test to determine the reliability of the New Testament is to compare its copies with those of other ancient historical documents.

 Comparison with other Ancient Historical Documents

• Number of copies: Most ancient historical works have fewer than 10 copies. The second best documented ancient historical manuscript, Homer’s Iliad (8^th century BC), has just 643 copies, compared with 25,000 for the New Testament.¹⁶ New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger remarked, “In contrast with these figures [of other ancient manuscripts], the textual critic of the New Testament is embarrassed by the wealth of his material.”¹⁷
• Time Gap: Most ancient documents have time gaps of from 400 to 1,400 years from the originals. For example, Aristotle’s Poetics was written about 343 BC, yet the earliest copy is dated AD 1100, a time gap of over 1,400 years. In stark contrast, the earliest New Testament manuscript (P52) has a time gap of only 25-50 years. 

Even critical scholar Robinson has admitted, 

The wealth of manuscripts, and above all the narrow interval of time between the writing and the earliest extant copies, make it by far the best attested text of any ancient writing in the world.¹⁸

Clark Pinnock, professor of interpretations at McMaster Divinity College, summed it up well when he said, 

There exists no document from the ancient world witnessed by so excellent a set of textual and historical testimonies. … An honest [person] cannot dismiss a source of this kind. Skepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational basis.¹⁹

As copies of the New Testament spread throughout the Roman world, the message of Jesus Christ written by the apostles transformed lives.

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