October 16, 2006 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is an excerpt from the 775-page “Faith vs. the Modern Bible Versions,” available from Way of Life Literature. (This is also available in the Way of Life Advanced Bible Studies Course on The Bible Version Issue, which is a shortened version of “Faith vs. the Modern Bible Versions.”)

In the following material we cover the inspiration and canonization of the New Testament. The Roman Catholic Church claims that it gave us the Bible, but a careful study of the early history of the New Testament and a simple comparison of the churches described in the New Testament with that of Rome overthrows this ridiculous doctrine.

Most contemporary books on this subject, even those written from an “evangelical” point of view, treat the early history of the New Testament from almost a naturalistic perspective, because today’s evangelical scholars have frequently been educated at the feet of liberals and have borrowed heavily from liberal scholarship.

I would like to thank Dr. Thomas Strouse for his groundbreaking book The Lord God Hath Spoken: A Guide to Bibliology, (Emmanuel Baptist Seminary, 296 New Britain Ave., Newington, CT 06111, 860-666-1055), which presents the “Received Bible” position that is so plainly taught in Scripture but so commonly ignored by contemporary biblical scholars. In my estimation, his is the best current work on this subject.

Every believer should be informed of the following seven important things that occurred in the first century.

1. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS WRITTEN UNDER DIVINE INSPIRATION.

Jesus Christ received words from God the Father (Jn. 17:8) and He promised that those words would not pass away (Mat. 24:35). He further promised that the Holy Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth, would bring things to their remembrance, and would show them things to come (Jn. 14:25-26; 16:12-13). Thus, the apostles and prophets who wrote the New Testament did not have to depend upon their fallible human devices. Edward Hills wisely observes: “The New Testament contains the words that Christ brought down from heaven for the salvation of His people and now remain inscribed in holy Writ. ... For ever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in heaven (Ps. 119:89). Although the Scriptures were written during a definite historical period, they are not the product of that period but of the eternal plan of God. When God designed the holy Scriptures in eternity, He had the whole sweep of human history in view. Hence the Scriptures are forever relevant. Their message can never be outgrown. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever (Isa. 40:8).”

The N.T. was inspired in its words. Paul said this in 1 Cor. 2:9-13 (“the words” v. 13). When Timothy was instructed to keep the commandment “without spot” (1 Tim. 6:14) Paul was reminding him that every detail of the New Testament is inspired and authoritative.

The Gospels and the Apostolic Epistles were recognized as the Word of God from the beginning. Contemporary books on the history of the Bible commonly state that the authors of the New Testament did not know that they were writing scripture and refer to the reception of the New Testament as scripture as something that was haphazard and that took a long time. Consider the following example of this: “When the actual work of writing began no one who sent forth an epistle or framed a gospel had before him the definite purpose of contributing toward the formation of what we call ‘the Bible.’ ... They had no thought of creating a new sacred literature” (“Canon, New Testament,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). This is heresy. We must understand that most books on the history of the Bible in the past 100 and more years were written by men who have been infected deeply with the skepticism that has permeated biblical scholarship since the late 19th century. Consider the following statements from the Bible itself that prove that the writers of the New Testament understood that they were writing by inspiration and that the New Testament books were recognized as the Word of God by the apostolic churches.

(1) Paul considered his writings to be authoritative, the very words of God (1 Cor. 11:2; 14:37; Gal. 1:11-12; Col. 1:25-26, 28; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14).

(2) Paul expected his writings to be circulated from church to church (Gal. 1:2; Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27).

(3) Paul stated that Scripture was being written by the New Testament prophets by divine revelation under inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 16:25-26; 1 Cor. 2:6-16; Eph. 3:4-5).

(4) Peter said that the word being preached by the apostles was the word of God (1 Pet. 1:25).

(5) Peter put the commandments of the apostles on the same level as that of the Old Testament prophets (2 Pet. 3:2). A Jew would not have dared to make such a claim if he were not convinced that the apostolic writings were Holy Scripture, because he looked upon the Old Testament prophets as the very oracles of God.

(6) Peter calls the epistles of Paul Scripture and puts them on the same level as the Old Testament (2 Pet. 3:15-16). “Although some [of Paul’s epistles] had been out for perhaps fifteen years, the ink was scarcely dry on others, and perhaps 2 Timothy had not yet been penned when Peter wrote. Paul’s writings were recognized and declared by apostolic authority to be Scripture as soon as they appeared” (Wilbur Pickering).

(7) The book of Revelation was written as the prophetic Word of God (Rev. 1:3; 21:5; 22:18-19).

(8) Luke claimed perfect understanding of the things of the Gospel, which can only come by divine revelation (Luke 1:3). Luke is either making a vain boast or he is claiming inspiration.

(9) Paul quotes from the Gospel of Luke and calls it Scripture, putting it on the same level as Deuteronomy (compare 1 Tim. 5:18; Deut. 25:4; Lk. 10:7). Wilbur Pickering observes: “Taking the traditional and conservative point of view, 1 Timothy is generally thought to have been written within five years after Luke. Luke was recognized and declared by apostolic authority to be Scripture as soon as it came off the press, so to speak” (The Identity of the New Testament Text, chapter 5).

(10) In warning the believers of false teachers, Jude refers to the “words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 17). He holds these words up as the divine standard.

(11) John held up the teaching of the apostles as the absolute standard of Truth (1 John 4:6).

2. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS COMPLETED AND SEALED.

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19).

The New Testament was finished in the days of the Apostles and sealed in the final chapter, Revelation, with a solemn warning against adding to or taking away from it.

The Roman Catholic Church claims that it gave us the Bible, but we know that this is not true for the following two reasons, among others:

First, Roman Catholic doctrine and practice is not found in the Bible. The churches described in the New Testament are nothing like the Catholic Church. That “church” was formed over a period of many centuries following the death of the apostles, as false teachers corrupted the New Testament church and added their man-made traditions. In the New Testament we find no papacy, no priesthood after the fashion of Rome’s, no sacraments that are added to faith for salvation, no archbishops or cardinals, no baptismal regeneration, no mass, no infant baptism, no last unction, no Mary as queen of heaven, no Mary as Mother of God, no Immaculate Mary, no Mary assumed into heaven, no prayers to the saints, no treasury of grace, no purgatory, no holy relics or holy robes or holy water, no crucifixes or candles or cathedrals or monks, no “celibate” pastors, no enforced days of fasting, no prohibition against marriage or against eating meat, nothing about the church of Rome having preeminence other other churches.

Second, not only is Roman Catholic doctrine and practice not based on the Bible, it contradicts the Bible, so it cannot be its source. Catholic dogmas such as the papacy, Mariolatry, the Saints, the Priesthood, the Mass, and Purgatory are not only not found in the New Testament, they contradict plain New Testament teaching and practice. Consider a few examples:

The papacy contradicts 1 Pet. 5:1-4, among many other passages.

Mariolatry and the Saints contradict 1 Tim. 2:5.

The Mass contradicts 1 Cor. 11:23-26.

Purgatory contradicts 2 Cor. 5:1-8 and Phil. 1:23.

The Catholic Priesthood contradicts the New Testament in that Christ alone is a priest after the order of Melchisedec (Heb. 7:21-27) and Christ established no priesthood for the New Testament churches other than the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5, 9). There is not one example in the New Testament of a priest being ordained and set apart or performing the type of ministry that we see in the Roman Catholic Church. The N.T. gives qualifications for elders and deacons, but none for priests (1 Tim. 3).

3. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS RECEIVED.

We see this in John 16:13; 17:8; Acts 2:41; 8:14; 11:1; 17:11; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:13. Though the record of this history is not extant beyond the pages of Scripture, we know that the reception and canonization of the New Testament books was not the haphazard thing that is described in most books on Bible history. The same Holy Spirit that gave the New Testament Scriptures by inspiration guided the churches in receiving them.

We have already seen evidence from Scripture that the New Testament books were accepted as the Word of God in the apostolic churches. We have further evidence from the writings of church leaders from the first 100 years after the apostles.

Clement of Rome. “Clement of Rome, whose first letter to the Corinthians is usually dated about A.D. 96, made liberal use of Scripture, appealing to its authority, and used New Testament material right alongside Old Testament material. Clement quoted Psalm 118:18 and Heb. 12:8 side by side as ‘the holy word’ (56:3-4). He ascribes 1 Corinthians to ‘the blessed Paul the apostle’ and says of it, ‘with true inspiration he wrote to you’ (47:1-3). He clearly quotes from Hebrews, 1 Corinthians and Romans and possibly from Matthew, Acts, Titus, James and 1 Peter. Here is the bishop [pastor] of Rome, before the close of the first century, writing an official letter to the church at Corinth wherein a selection of New Testament books are recognized and declared by episcopal authority to be Scripture, including Hebrews” (Wilbur Pickering, The Identity of the New Testament Text). Though we don’t know where Pickering gets the business of Clement being “the bishop of Rome” (since the perversion of the office of bishop had not yet taken hold) or speaking with “episcopal authority” (because the only authority a pastor or bishop has is the Bible itself) the fact remains that Clement, writing at the end of the first century, only a short time after the passing of the apostles, recognizes the New Testament books as Scripture alongside of the Old.

Polycarp, in his letter to the Philippian church in about 115 A.D., “weaves an almost continuous string of clear quotations and allusions to New Testament writings. ... There are perhaps fifty clear quotations taken from Matthew, Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1 and 2 Peter, and 1 John, and many allusions including to Mark, Hebrews, James, and 2 and 3 John. (The only NT writer not included is Jude!) His attitude toward the New Testament writings is clear from 12:1: ‘I am sure that you are well trained in the sacred Scriptures. ... Now, as it is said in these Scriptures: “Be angry and sin not,” and “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” Blessed is he who remembers this.’ ... In either case he is declaring Ephesians to be ‘sacred Scripture.’ A further insight into his attitude is found in 3:1-2. ‘Brethren, I write you this concerning righteousness, not on my own initiative, but because you first invited me. For neither I, nor anyone like me, is able to rival the wisdom of the blessed and glorious Paul, who, when living among you, carefully and steadfastly taught the word of truth face to face with his contemporaries and, when he was absent, wrote you letters. By the careful perusal of his letters you will be able to strengthen yourselves in the faith given to you, “ which is the mother of us all”...’ This from one who was perhaps the most respected bishop in Asia Minor, in his day. He was martyred in A.D. 156” (Pickering).

Justin Martyr (died 165 A.D.) testified that the churches of his day met on Sundays and “read the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets” (Apology, I, 67). He also said: “For the apostles in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, thus handed down what was commanded them...” (Apology). “[Just as Abraham believed the voice of God] in like manner we, having believed God’s voice spoken by the apostles of Christ...” (Trypho 119). “And further, there was a certain man with us whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believe in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem” (Trypho 81).

Athenagorus in 177 A.D. quotes Matthew 5:28 and calls it Scripture. “... we are not even allowed to indulge in a lustful glance. For, says the Scripture, ‘he who looks at a woman lustfully, has already committed adultery in his heart’” (Plea).

Theophilus, who was ordained pastor of the church at Antioch in about A.D. 170, quotes from 1 Tim. 2:1 and Rom. 13:7 as “the Divine Word” (Treatise to Autolycus, iii). In quoting from the Gospel of John he says that John was “inspired by the Spirit” (Ibid., ii). He says, “The statements of the Prophets and of the Gospels are found to be consistent, because all were inspired by the one Spirit of God” (Ibid., ii).

 Irenaeus died in 202 A.D. and a large number of his works are extant. Their translation into English covers between 600-700 pages in the Ante-Nicene Library. “Irenaeus stated that the apostles taught that God is the Author of both Testaments (Against Heretics IV, 32.2) and evidently considered the New Testament writings to form a second Canon. He quoted from every chapter of Matthew, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philippians, from all but one or two chapters of Luke, John, Romans, 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus, from most chapters of Mark (including the last twelve verses), Acts, 2 Corinthians, and Revelation, and from every other book except Philemon and 3 John. These two books are so short that Irenaeus may not have had occasion to refer to them in his extant works--it does not necessarily follow that he was ignorant of them or rejected them. Evidently the dimensions of the New Testament Canon recognized by Irenaeus are very close to what we hold today. From the time of Irenaeus on there can be no doubt concerning the attitude of the Church toward the New Testament writings--they are Scripture” (Pickering).

Even some naturalistic modern textual critics have concluded that the New Testament in its current 27-book canon existed in Greek no later than the middle of the 2nd century, which is only about 60 years after the apostles. See David Trobisch, The First Edition of the New Testament, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

From the second century we have evidence that it was customary for each church to have its own copy of the writings of the apostles that they might read and preach from them. “And on the day called Sunday there is a meeting in one place of those who live in cities or the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. When the reader has finished, the president in a discourse urges and invites us to the imitation of these noble things” (Justin Martyr, Apology). Wilbur Pickering observes: “Both Justin Martyr and Irenaeus claimed that the Church was spread throughout the whole earth, in their day--remember that Irenaeus, in 177, became bishop of Lyons, in Gaul [ancient France], and he was not the first bishop in that area. Coupling this information with Justin’s statement that the memoirs of the apostles were read each Sunday in the assemblies, it becomes clear that there must have been thousands of copies of the New Testament writings in use by 200 A.D. Each assembly would need a copy to read from, and there must have been private copies among those who could afford them” (The Identity of the New Testament Text).

Surely many believers would be motivated to make their own copies of the Scripture, and doubtless this would have been the case with preachers. I have not seen this important point emphasized in other histories of the Bible, but it is only reasonable. I don’t believe it was a matter of having to purchase a copy from a professional scribe. Though time consuming, it is not that difficult to make a copy of the New Testament. In the first few years of my Christian life, which was B.C. or Before Computers (I was converted in 1973 at age 23), I copied down copious portions of Scripture in my zeal for memorization and in the process of my studies. Had I lived in an earlier time when the Scriptures were not available in printed form, I have no doubt that I would have made my own copy from Genesis to Revelation, no matter how long it took, and I would also have made copies of portions to give away to other brethren and even to unbelievers. During the early months after I was saved I tediously made copies of my testimony by typing it repeatedly and using carbon paper to multiply my efforts, because I was too poor to afford to have it printed. I handed these out in my evangelistic work. I am confident that multitudes of early believers shared this zeal to make copies both of God’s Word and of evangelistic pamphlets. It is only natural, for the believer is born of the Word (Jam. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23), lives by the Word (Mat. 4:4), knows the truth by the Word (John 8:31-32), is a doer of the Word (Jam. 1:22), grows by the Word (1 Pet. 2:2), operates by the faith that comes from the Word (Rom. 10:17), is cleansed by the Word (Eph. 5:26), and defends himself by the Word (Eph. 6:17).

In about the year 208, Tertullian pointed to churches founded by the apostles and indicated that the “authentic writings” were still extant and were the absolute standard by which the truth was measured in the believing churches. He urged heretics to “run to the apostolic churches, in which the very thrones of the apostles are still pre-eminent in their places, IN WHICH THEIR OWN AUTHENTIC WRITINGS ARE READ, UTTERING THE VOICE AND REPRESENTING THE FACE OF EACH OF THEM SEVERALLY. Achaia is very near you, (in which) you find CORINTH. Since you are not far from Macedonia, you have PHILIPPI; (and there too) you have the THESSALONIANS. Since you are able to cross to Asia, you get EPHESUS. Since, moreover, you are close upon Italy, you have ROME, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority (of the apostles themselves)” (Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics, 36, cited from Pickering). Pickering observes: “Some have thought that Tertullian was claiming that Paul’s Autographs were still being read in his day (208), but at the very least he must mean they were using faithful copies. Was anything else to be expected? For example, when the Ephesian Christians saw the Autograph of Paul’s letter to them getting tattered, would they not carefully execute an identical copy for their continued use? Would they let the Autograph perish without making such a copy? (There must have been a constant stream of people coming either to make copies of their letter or to verify the correct reading.) I believe we are obliged to conclude that in the year 200 the Ephesian Church was still in a position to attest the original wording of her letter (and so for the others)...”

In A.D. 367 Athanasius, who boldly resisted the Arian heresy denying the deity of Jesus Christ (though he had his own heresies!), published a list of Old and New Testament books that he said were “handed down and believed to be divine.” This list contained all of the 27 books that are in our New Testament today.

All of the Reformation confessions of faith upheld the 66 books of the Bible as divine Scripture. Examples are the Reformed Confession of 1534, the Helvetic Confession of 1536, the Belgic confession of 1561, and the Westminster Confession of 1643, and the Baptist Philadelphia Confession of Faith, 1742, to mention a few. The Westminster says the 66 books of the Bible were “immediately inspired by God, and, by his singular care and providence, kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of religion the church is finally to appeal unto them.”

What is the significance of these historical facts?

First, these facts show that the same Spirit that inspired the Scripture enlightened the believers to recognize and receive it (Jn. 16:13; 1 Jn. 2:20). Thus, the process of canonization was not haphazard as it is commonly depicted in contemporary books on the history of the Bible. God did not leave this crucial matter to chance. He guided ever so particularly so that the churches would receive the inspired writings and reject those that were spurious.

Second, the true text of Scripture was not lost among Bible believers in the early centuries; the authentic apostolic writings were still available in the early 3rd century; and there was no need to practice textual criticism in the early centuries of the churches.

Third, the early believers were literate. “...the world into which Christianity was born was, if not literary, literate to a remarkable degree; in the Near East in the first century of our era writing was an essential accompaniment of life at almost all levels to an extent without parallel in living memory” (Cambridge History of the Bible, Vol. I, p. 48).

Fourth, we can expect that the majority of extant manuscripts and versions will in all likelihood represent the pure text of Scripture, because the authentic copies were multiplied greatly throughout all of the Bible-believing churches by the zeal of faithful saints. Corrupt manuscripts and versions were used for a time and in certain localities, such as Egypt, but did not win out because of the providential activity of the Holy Spirit and the vigilance of believers.

Fifth, we can expect to find the purest text of the New Testament Scriptures not in Egypt but in Asia Minor and Europe. “I believe we may reasonably conclude that in general the quality of copies would be highest in the area surrounding the Autograph and would gradually deteriorate as the distance increased. ... Taking Asia Minor and Greece together, the Aegean area held the Autographs of at least eighteen (two-thirds of the total) and possibly as many as twenty-four of the twenty-seven New Testament books; Rome held at least two and possibly up to seven; Palestine may have held up to three (but in A.D. 70 [when Rome destroyed Jerusalem] they would have been sent away for safe keeping, quite possibly to Antioch); Alexandria (Egypt) held none. The Aegean region clearly had the best start, and Alexandria the worst--the text in Egypt could only be second hand, at best. On the face of it, we may reasonably assume that in the earliest period of the transmission of the N.T. Text the most reliable copies would be circulating in the region that held the Autographs” (Wilbur Pickering, The Identity of the New Testament Text, chapter 5).

4. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS CAREFULLY PRESERVED AND TRANSMITTED TO THE NEXT GENERATIONS

“I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”
(1 Tim. 6:13-14)

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen”
(Matt. 28:19-20)

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

The believers in the early churches were taught to keep the Scripture “without spot” (1 Tim. 6:13) and to pass along exactly THE SAME things they had been taught by the apostles to faithful men who would be able to teach others (2 Tim. 2:2).

They were taught to carefully transmit the faith to succeeding generations of disciplines and churches. Christ commanded this in Matt. 28:19-20, instructing the churches to teach the disciples to “keep all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” This would require that the believers possess “all things” in writing, which they did in the Gospels, Acts, and the epistles.

There is nothing haphazard or careless about this process. The only ones who would be haphazard or careless in this regard would be the false teachers and nominal Christians.

5. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS MULTIPLIED AND WENT INTO ALL THE WORLD

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

“But the word of God grew and multiplied” (Acts 12:24).

“So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed” (Acts 19:20).

“But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world”
(Rom. 10:18).

“But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26).

“Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth” (Col. 1:6).

“If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister” (Col. 1:23).

This divine multiplication worked to safeguard the text of Scripture from the efforts of heretics to corrupt it. This is why we should generally look to the majority of witnesses in Greek and the versions, though there are other factors that come into play in the first centuries due to the dearth of manuscripts that have survived outside of Egypt.

The fact that the Gospel was preached to all nations and tongues reminds us that the New Testament was translated into other languages at a very early period (the Syriac and old Latin date to the 2nd century), and ancient translations are important witnesses to the text. “This translation of the Written Word into various tongues is but a carrying out of that which the miracle of Pentecost indicated as a distinctive characteristic of this age, namely, that everyone should hear the saving truth of God in the tongue wherein he was born. Thus, the agreement of two or more of the earliest Versions would go a long way toward the establishment of the true reading of any disputed passage. It is appropriate at this point to direct attention to the very great value of a Version as a witness to the purity of the original Text from which it was translated. Those who undertake a work of such importance as the translation of the New Testament into a foreign language would, of course, make sure, as the very first step, that they had the best obtainable Greek Text. Therefore a Version (as the Syriac or Old Latin) of the second century is a clear witness as to the Text recognized at that early day as the true Text” (Philip Mauro, Which Version: Authorized or Revised?, 1924).

Through this process the New Testament books in Greek and other languages were distributed throughout the world in the first two centuries, throughout the Middle East, to Africa, Asia Minor, Europe, as far as England in the west and India in the east.

The church at Antioch was central to the missionary process (Acts 13:1-4). This was the church that sent out Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, who personally carried the Gospel throughout Asia Minor and Europe and who wrote many of the New Testament epistles. It is therefore very significant that the Received Text is also called the “Antiochian” or “Syrian” text, from the fact that it can be traced to that part of the world. “Why should the great apostolic and mission-minded church at Antioch send to Alexandria or any other center for Scripture copies by which to correct her own? The Church at Antioch, conscious of her heritage and the excellence of her own first copies of the Scriptures, would have little reason to consider the resources of others superior. Antioch was the third city of the empire, a city with an independent and proud spirit; and something of this same independent spirit was part of its heritage as the ‘mother of all Gentile churches.’ ... Antioch may well have been the prime source of the earliest copies of most of the New Testament Scriptures for newly established churches. It will be recalled that Antioch was the place where the first Gentile missions originated; it was the home base for the apostle Paul; Luke may have been there; Mark, Barnabas and Silas, Paul’s companions, were there; Peter visited Antioch; Matthew may have written his Gospel there” (Harry Sturz, The Byzantine Text-type, pp. 104, 105).

6. THE NEW TESTAMENT FAITH AND SCRIPTURES WERE ATTACKED EVEN IN THE FIRST CENTURY.

This attack took the form of heretical assaults against the New Testament faith.

Paul testified of this in many places, giving us a glimpse into the vicious assault that was already plaguing the work of God.

Consider his last message to the pastors at Ephesus (Acts 20:29-30). Paul warned them that false teachers would come from without and would also arise from within their own ranks.

Consider Paul’s second epistle to Corinth (2 Cor. 11:1-4, 12-15). The false teachers at Corinth were corrupting three of the cardinal doctrines of the New Testament faith, the doctrine of Christ, Salvation, and the Holy Spirit; and the churches were in danger of being overthrown by these errors.

Peter testified of this in 2 Peter 2. He warned in verse one that there would be false teachers who hold “damnable heresies,” referring to heresies that damn the soul to eternal hell. If someone denies, for example, the Virgin Birth, Deity, Humanity, Sinlessness, Eternality, Atonement, or Resurrection of Jesus Christ he cannot be saved. Heresies pertaining to such matters are damnable heresies. The corruption of the “doctrine of Christ” results in a “false christ.”

John gave similar warnings in his epistles (1 Jn. 2:18, 19, 22; 4:1-3; 2 Jn. 8).

The Lord Jesus Christ warned that many of the apostolic churches were already weak and were under severe stress from heretical attacks (Rev. 2:6, 14-15, 20-24; 3:2, 15-17).

Thus the New Testament faith was being attacked on every hand in the days of the apostles by Gnosticism, Judaism, Nicolaitanism, and other heresies.

Some of those who held heretical doctrine corrupted New Testament manuscripts and created spurious ones.

The Lord Jesus alluded to this when He warned that the devil would sow tares among the wheat (Mat. 13:25, 39). This applies both to the devil’s attack upon the churches and his attack upon the Scriptures, the church’s foundation.

Paul testified of this.

2 Cor. 2:17 -- “For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God.” He warned that there were many false teachers who were corrupting the Word of God.

2 Thess. 2:2 -- “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” Paul warned the churches that false teachers were forging epistles purporting to be authored by the apostles.

Peter testified of this in 2 Peter 3:16 -- “… in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do the other scriptures.” Peter warned that false teachers were wresting the Scriptures, particularly Paul’s writings.

This attack became more severe after the death of the apostles. We will see more about the importance of this as we progress in these studies.

7. THE NEW TESTAMENT WAS DEFENDED BY GOD’S PEOPLE

“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:27-32).

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Rom. 16:17).

“Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Phil. 3:17).

“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14-15).

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim. 4:2-4).

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (1 John 2:18-19).

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).

“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds” (2 John 10-11).

“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 3-4).

The believers in the early churches were taught not only to receive the Word of God but also to use it as the standard of Truth and to defend it against all enemies. The believers were taught to contend for the faith. Thus, they were not passive in the face of false teachers and their wicked attempts to corrupt the Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ commended churches that carried out this obligation (Rev. 2:6). And when churches were careless in this regard, they were rebuked (2 Cor. 11:1-4; Gal. 1:6-9; Rev. 2:14-16, 20).

Churches that are zealous for the truth tend to be equally zealous for the Scriptures that teach the truth. The following quotes exemplify the attitude of the early churches toward those who were trying to pervert the truth:

Irenaeus. “...there shall be no light punishment upon him who either adds or subtracts anything from the scripture.” Irenaeus stated this in the context of the words of Revelation 13:18, which were being assaulted in his day by the change of one letter. Some were saying that John wrote 616 instead of 666, and Irenaeus went to the defense of this one letter of Scripture with alacrity. He “asserts that 666 is found ‘in all the most approved and ancient copies’ and that ‘those men who saw John face to face’ bear witness of it” (Wilbur Pickering). At that point he warns those who made the change of a single letter that they would be judged of God. My prayer is that more brethren today would have the zeal of Irenaeus toward the defense of God’s wordS.

Polycarp. “Whoever perverts the sayings of the Lord ... that one is the firstborn of Satan.”  This preacher minced no words when describing false teachers. In this he follows the example of Christ (Mat. 23:13-33) and the apostles (Acts 13:9-10; 2 Pet. 2:1-22; Jude 4-20)

All of this must be received by faith (Heb. 11:1, 6). Faith believes what God says in His Word, period. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Faith is not sight and does not depend upon “the manuscript record” or any other record in addition to Scripture. We believe that the world was created as Genesis says even though no man was there to observe it. Likewise, we believe that the Scriptures were divinely inspired, canonized, and preserved because God’s Word says so! We have other evidence on both counts, but we don’t need other “evidence,” and if the extra-biblical evidence appears to contradict faith based on the teaching of God’s Word it is only because we don’t yet have enough facts or we don’t yet have the understanding sufficient to interpret the facts.