"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows
me will never walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life."
John 8: 12
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE the line disting-
truth from falsehood? Aristotle gave the world
three tests for knowing whether or not an event
or a document is authentic.
Aristotle's first test was whether or not the
individual asserting something was an eye-
wittness to the event itself. Scores of people
today cite discredited documents and weave the
fabric of truth and fiction so closely that the
uninitiated is convinced that what he hears or
see's is "the truth."
Aristotle's second test was based on the
number of copies of the record we have, and
how closely they conform to the event that is
described. For a moment consider the manuscript
evidence for your New Testament portions of the
Gospel of John in existence today are dated as
early as 125 AD no more than a generation after
the event itself. Available to Scholars today are
more than 5,750 manuscripts of the New
Testament alone, and if we include Latin and
other language translations, the number climbs
to over 24,000 documents.
Aristotle's third test was if other document
corroborate what the document says.
Do all of these things matter? Yes. That's
why it is important for us to have confidence in
the Bible. Jesus was convinced He said, . . your
word is truth" (John 17::17). only when you are
confident that the Bible is the Word of God will
you embrace it and allow it to. guide your life.
"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows
me will never walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life."
John 8: 12
HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE the line disting-
truth from falsehood? Aristotle gave the world
three tests for knowing whether or not an event
or a document is authentic.
Aristotle's first test was whether or not the
individual asserting something was an eye-
wittness to the event itself. Scores of people
today cite discredited documents and weave the
fabric of truth and fiction so closely that the
uninitiated is convinced that what he hears or
see's is "the truth."
Aristotle's second test was based on the
number of copies of the record we have, and
how closely they conform to the event that is
described. For a moment consider the manuscript
evidence for your New Testament portions of the
Gospel of John in existence today are dated as
early as 125 AD no more than a generation after
the event itself. Available to Scholars today are
more than 5,750 manuscripts of the New
Testament alone, and if we include Latin and
other language translations, the number climbs
to over 24,000 documents.
Aristotle's third test was if other document
corroborate what the document says.
Do all of these things matter? Yes. That's
why it is important for us to have confidence in
the Bible. Jesus was convinced He said, . . your
word is truth" (John 17::17). only when you are
confident that the Bible is the Word of God will
you embrace it and allow it to. guide your life.
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