An Excellent Point: Resisting Faith In That Which Is Most Certain While Placing Faith In That Which Is Less Certain

 


An excellent point is made by North West Creation Network's Chris Ashcraft about how we accept as fact historical accounts and events whose earliest records are centuries and in some cases, even a millennia from when the events allegedly took place but refuse to accept as fact and history the New Testament scriptures; the documented evidence for its authenticity consisting of 24,000 manuscripts in part and in whole with the earliest known copies of NT scriptures being traced back to less than a century of the establishment of the Church; possibly even within the lifetime of the Apostles and others who had seen Jesus face to face and walked with Him when He was in this world.  Ashcraft explains:
 
 
 
the authenticity of the New Testament…requires defense to examine the case for the New Testament
let's first look at some other ancient texts for comparison so these are just
other ancient texts for comparison we're going to be looking at their dates the dates that we have for the earliest copies the time spent involved from the
date of the events to the earliest copy and the number of surviving ancient manuscripts that we have:
 
Herodotus was a Greek historian who lived in the
5th Century BC and today is widely regarded as the father of History father of the practice of recording history and yet the earliest copy of any manuscript of Herodotus date to around 900 A.D that's a full 1300 years after the events in question and only eight manuscripts have survived to today Thucydides wrote the history of the
Peloponnesian War.
 
Literally everything we know of the Peloponnesian War comes from his writings
yet the earliest copy of any manuscript the Thucydides work of dates to around 980 again a full 1300 years later.
 
Caesar wrote the gallic wars we have 10 Greek manuscripts in the earliest is again about 950 years after the original Suetonius wrote The Twelve Caesars.
He was a Roman historian who lived between 70 A.D and 140 A.D yet the earnest copy of his book is dated to around 950 A.D a full 800 years later and then Tacitus wrote the annals; we have 20 a full 20 ancient manuscripts from Tacitus the earliest however about 950 years after the original…
 
The New Testament by comparison exists were 24,000 total ancient manuscripts; 5,300 in
Greek 10,000 in Latin the Vulgate and 9,300 others; a total of 230 manuscript
portions are currently in existence which predate 600 A.D but what really
stands out is the time span to the earliest copy…
the time span for these biblical manuscripts are all within 350 years of
The Originals and one of them…the Magdalene manuscript a portion of
Matthew 26 may even have coexisted during the life of the author.
 
The New Testament manuscript copies that we possess were compiled hundreds of years before the earliest copy of comparable secular manuscripts this not only shows the importance that early Christians gave to preserving their scriptures but illustrates the enormous wealth we have today for early biblical documentation let me give you a look at a couple of these this is the Codex Vaticanus, one of the oldest and most valuable extent manuscripts of the Greek bible named for its place of housing in the Vatican library and this is the Codex Sinaiticus which came to the attention of Scholars in 1844 where it was located in at the Greek monastery on Mount Sinai or what's believed to be Mount Sinai.
 
In addition, thousands of early Christian writings and lectionaries from the first and second centuries cite verses from the New Testament.  In fact, it is nearly possible to put together the entire New Testament just from other early Christian writings; in summary, the case
for the authenticity of the New Testament cannot be stronger:
 
the time gap between the original and the oldest existing manuscripts, the sheer number of ancient manuscripts, and the quotes from other early Christian writings with such a wealth of sources where there can be no doubt that the New Testament we have today is the same as the one that was written by the original writers. [1]
 
 
 
 
There are far less copies of the writings and manuscripts of historical antiquity of the figures whose authorship is attributed to them and yet we assume that their accounts have been perfectly preserved and then again, we assume that with any historical documents accounts and yet we offer not the same benefit of the doubt to the divinely inspired scriptures. 
 
The vast number of copies of NT manuscripts and even the diligent preservation of the OT scriptures by the Hebrew scribes and priests should be a testimony of the ability of God to preserve His general revelation for all time and keeping its instruction and doctrine free from egregious human errors in the process and evidence of the fulfilling of His promise to preserve His general written revelation to all of mankind, for as it is written and as He has said:
 
 
 
“one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Mt. 5:18)
 
 
 
It would seem to me that those entrusted with the preservation of God’s written Word have done far better in preserving its integrity than has been done with other manuscripts and records which is why from a stand point of reason, it makes no sense as to how we can accept for a certainty the various account and records of world history which have less evidence for their authenticity than the scriptures do and yet remain so doubtful of the authenticity of the compiled canons of scripture for whose authenticity is supported by far more evidence than that of the accounts and histories of which we so blindly trust and now begs the question:
 
Which does it take more faith to trust in?  An account of events whose earliest known copies and records are centuries from when the events allegedly took place and the persons involved had allegedly lived and died, and of the copies are but few in number?
 
Or in scriptures claiming divine inspiration (2 Tim. 3:16) of which there are thousands of ancient copies with the earliest being traced back possibly to within the lifetime of those by whose hands they were first written under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit?
 
It seems we so easily place our trust in things for which there is less evidence and without taking into consideration that they may have been fabricated or altered in some form or fashion and yet are so resistant surrendering ourselves over to that for which there is an undeniable and overwhelming amount of evidence and what it comes down to is why we place our faith and trust in, or persist in placing our faith and trust in the things that we do and once the intellectual, philosophical, and theological challenges are broken down, we begin to find that the reason for why we might stubbornly believe in what we believe or refuse to believe in a certain thing has nothing to do with facts, proof, evidence, or lack thereof, but with a something much deeper; a reasoning that has nothing to do with evidence presented for or against.
 
After all, the people of Israel, when they were liberated from bondage in Egypt, had experienced wonder after wonder and had witnessed miracle after miracle and should have been left without excuse for their unbelief and should have had no reason to deliberately disobey the commands and decrees given to them by God Almighty and yet many of them did and hardened their hearts against the very God who was and still is their benefactor and when we read in scripture of all the grace and favor shown upon them, it seems unfathomable as to how they could persist in such repeated seasons of rebellion against their Creator.
 
And when our Lord and Savior came into the world, undeniable signs and wonders followed Him and His disciples and yet most of the Jewish people and their leadership rejected Him and handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified and there continues to this day those who are not so different from the rebellious Israelites who witness and even experience in their own lives what can only be an act of God and who are unable to argue against the many indisputable evidences and infallible proofs in favor of the Gospel message of salvation and the authority of the scriptures by which the Gospel is delivered and yet persist in rejecting the authority of their Creator and refuse His offer of redemption and reconciliation for reasons unfathomable except, as scripture repeatedly points out, they enjoy their sin too much and persist in living in that sin to their own destruction and eternal damnation and to such who refuse to repent of their sins, receive the offer of redemption in Christ Jesus and reconciliation unto God their Creator, and submit to His authority, He will give them what it is that they desire; an eternity forever apart from God Almighty and separated from His love, mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, and compassion and an eternity apart from God will mean an eternity apart from all that is good and pleasant and an eternity away from all love because it is God who is the source of goodness and who is also the source of all love, mercy, goodness, kindness, compassion, and empathy which is why an eternity separated from God is an eternity filled with unrelenting torment and damnation.
If men will not submit themselves to the will of God here on earth, how will they ever do so in Heaven?  And it is because they were unwilling to submit themselves to His authority on the earth, that they will never be admitted into Heaven as they will be unable to assimilate into the Heavenly Kingdom or else Heaven would be ruined just as the earth itself has been ruined by man’s sin and rebellion beginning with a fateful act of disobedience in the garden of Eden, but before that fateful act of disobedience, the world that God had made was a much different place than it is today for in that world there was no death, no suffering, no evil, no darkness, nor anything to cause pain, grief, sorrow, suffering, hardship, or misery, but it was a world in which there was only light, life, happiness, and peace but that all changed when the first man Adam and the first woman Eve did something that they were warned of God not to do and that was the eating of a certain fruit from a tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having been warned that in the day that they ate of that fruit, they would surely die (Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3) and when they did eat of that fruit, the sentence of death came upon them just as they had been warned (Gen. 3:19) but the sentence of death and the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience did not stop with them but extended to the rest of creation and to the rest of us since we are descended from them and because we are descended from them because the sin that entered into them was then passed down to all of mankind since we all descend from them (Rom. 5:12) and because of the inherited corruption of our nature, we all sin and as a consequence, we all die (Rom. 6:23) and because of sin, we are born estranged from and separated from our Maker for that which is sinful cannot dwell in the direct presence of that which is sinless and holy for though God had initially made mankind to be pure and holy, the sin that entered into humanity through Adam had made us unholy and inherently evil and by nature rebellious against the authority of our Creator for it is due to sin that we tend towards those things, actions, and behaviors that God never intended for us nor created us for as it is sin within us that has transformed our nature into that which stands in opposition to the design of God but sin is not merely defined by our actions or even the speech that comes out of our mouths, but it also influences our very thoughts, motives, attitudes which is why even our best efforts at goodness will fall short in some form or fashion of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)
 
Not only did sin bring death to mankind, but it also brought decay, corruption, grief, misery, pain, and hardship to all of creation which is why it is written that the entire creation travails in pain to this day (Rom. 8:19-22) but the Lord God in His mercy and in His love for us is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9) and escape what would otherwise be an eternity of unrelenting torment beyond imagination and He has provided that escape in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, (Jn. 3:16) whom He sent into the world to take away our sins and by the shedding of His blood was redemption bought thereby satisfying both the demand for the penalty, which He, being without any sin (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15) took upon Himself, to be paid for all sin and granting mercy in His death upon the cross and by His resurrection are we made justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) so that anyone placing full trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of sin and salvation will not have to face eternal damnation, but be made a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and granted eternal life and it is in calling upon Him for the forgiveness of sins and believing that God raised Him from the dead that we are saved from an otherwise terrible everlasting judgment (Rom. 10:9, 13) and it is by Him are we reconciled to the Father from whom we had once been estranged (2 Cor. 5:18) and inwardly transformed and made anew (2 Cor. 5:17) and it is this inward cleansing of the soul and this regeneration which cause all who are willing to call upon Christ for it, submit to it, and embrace it to no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven, (Mt. 6:33)
to no longer take pleasure in those things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ Almighty, (Jn. 14:6) no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, (Mt. 6:25-33) recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God,
to no longer fear what men can do to us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, (Jas. 1:5) nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
 
But the work of redemption does not stop with just the cleansing of the soul, for there is also the promise of being freed from bodily death (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) and finally, the creation itself will be liberated from the curse that came upon it because of sin when it is made anew and into a world in which there is no sin, no death, and nothing to cause pain, suffering, grief, or misery of any sort because all of those things will have been done away with when this present world is done away with.  It will be a world in which there will be light, life, happiness, harmony, peace, and joy before the Lord God Almighty. (Rev. 21-22)
 
 
 
End notes:
 
 
 
1.  NW Creation Network, “Biblical Apologetics: Defending Belief in the Bible,” 16:16-20:07,
Youtube, October 13, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmm4O3MEBqM
 
 
 
Scripture references:
 
 
 
1.  Matthew 5:18
 
2.  2 Timothy 3:16
 
3.  Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
 
4.  Genesis 3:19
 
5.  Romans 5:12
 
6.  Romans 6:23
 
7.  Romans 8:19-22
 
8.  2 Peter 3:9
 
9.  John 3:16
 
10. Corinthians 5:21
 
11.  Hebrews 4:15
 
12.  Romans 4:25
 
13.  Romans 10:9, 13
 
14.  2 Corinthians 5:17
 
15.  2 Corinthians 5:18
 
16.  Matthew 6:33
 
17.  John 14:6
 
18.  Revelation 21-22
 
19.  Matthew 6:25-33
 
20.  Matthew 10:28
 
21.  James 1:5
 
22.  1 Corinthians 15:51-55
 
23.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18