Chapter 1. Het belang van Gods Woord
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## Chapter 1. Het belang van Gods Woord

Understanding God's word is of great importance to all who call on God's name. Study of the Bible is one of the primary ways that we learn to communicate with God.

## Een uniek boek

The Bible stands alone in many ways. It is unique in:

- popularity. Bible sales in North America: more than $500 million per year. The Bible is both the the all-time and year-to-year best seller!

- authorship. It was written over a period of 1600 years by 40 different authors from different backgrounds, yet reads as if written by one.

- preservation. F. F. Bruce in Are New Testament Documents Reliable? compares New Testament manuscripts with other ancient texts:

Table 1.1. Vergelijking van handschriften van het Nieuwe Testament met andere oude teksten.

Werk | Wanneer geschreven | Oudste kopie | Tijdsduur | Aantal exemplaren
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Herodotus | 448-428 v. Chr. | 900 na Chr. | 1300 jaar | 8
Tacitus | 100 na Chr. | 1100 na Chr. | 1000 jaar | 20
Caesar's Gallic War | 50-58 v. Chr. | 900 na Chr. | 950 jaar | 10
Roman History van Livy | 59 v. Chr. - 17 na Chr. | 900 na Chr. | 900 jaar | 20
Nieuwe Testament | 40 - 100 n. Chr. | 130 na Chr. Gedeeltelijke handschiften 350 na Chr. Complete handschriften | 30 - 310 jaar | 5000 Grieks & 10.000 Latijn

Ten copies of Caesar's Gallic War exist, the earliest of which was copied 900 years after Caesar wrote the original, etc. For the New Testament we have full manuscripts dating to 350 A. D., papyri containing most of the New Testament from the 200s, and a fragment of John's gospel from 130 A. D. How many manuscripts do we have to compare to each other? 5,000 in Greek and 10,000 in Latin!

| "In de waarheid an compleetheid van het bewijs waarop het rust, staat de tekst van het Nieuwe Testament absoluut en onbenaderbaar alleen tussen alle andere antieke proza." |
| --Textual critic F. J. A. Hort, "The New Testament in the Original Greek", vol. 1 p561, Macmillan Co., quoted in Questions of Life p. 25-26

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