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How the books of the New Testament were put together and made it around the world.

How did the first copies of the New Testament make it around the world and how were these books put together?   Obviously there were not any digital copies, there was no email or even copy machines during that time.  They only had pens, reeds, papyri, or animal skins.

Original Manuscripts

Around the year 200 A.D., a church leader named Tertullian told of how the churches in Rome, Corinth, Thessalonica, Philippi, and Ephesus still had the original letters that had been sent to them. These churches would keep their letter in the home of a church member in special book chests. However, no matter how well these churches took care of the letters, there was no way they would last forever.  That is why the early churches made copies of these letters. If a nearby church did not have their own copy, another church would loan it to them so that they could make a copy for themselves. Scribes had to do all the copying by hand.  When a writing was passed on, the sending church would also pass on an oral tradition.   This oral history would include where the writing came from and would trace it back to an eyewitness account of Jesus. This way they would know whose authority this text represented.

Today

Today, scholars have more than 5,600 ancient pieces of the New Testament (NT). That is more than any other text in the entire ancient world. That is more than exist of Homer, Aristotle, or Plato. The earliest of these manuscripts are from around 100 A.D. when eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus were still alive. Even though the scribes were careful in their work, they did make some mistakes. However, because there are so many copies of the NT, scholars can compare the texts and figure out what words the authors originally wrote. God preserved his word in such a way that the message that we have today is the same message he inspired so long ago.

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Key Points:

  • Original manuscripts. No matter how well these churches took care of the letters, there was no way they would last forever.  That is why the early churches made copies of these letters. If a nearby church did not have their own copy, another church would loan it to them so that they could make a copy for themselves.
  • Today. Even though the scribes were careful in their work, they did make some mistakes. However, because there are so many copies of the NT, scholars can compare the texts and figure out what words the authors originally wrote.

Quote This:

God preserved his word in such a way that the message that we have today is the same message he inspired so long ago.

See Also: Bible Study, New Testament

Talk About It
  1. What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. Consider the incredible amount of time and effort it would take to copy one of these ancient manuscripts. What does that tell you about the value the early church placed on these writings?
  3. What is significant about the early manuscripts dating back to a time when eyewitnesses of Jesus were still alive?
  4. How does the fact that there are so many fragments of scripture validate their accuracy?
  5. What comfort do you find in the statement, “ God preserved his word in such a way that the message that we have today is the same message he inspired so long ago”?
  6. Write a personal action step based on this conversation.

This topic is adapted from the Rose Publishing YouTube channel.

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