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  Evidence for the Truth



The New Testament Compared to Other Ancient Texts
The New Testament Compared to Other Ancient Texts


There is overwhelming manuscript evidence to support the reliability of the New Testament in print today. In comparison to Homer's Iliad,the oldest known ancient work of literature, which survives in 643 manuscript copies, there are over 24,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament in Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, Latin and other languages. Plus, the time gap between the original date of the writing of the New Testament to the earliest copy of the manuscript is only 50 years. That is by far the smallest gap of any ancient work. Here are some comparisons between ancient secular works and the New Testament.


Author Book Date Written Earliest Copies Time Gap No. of Copies
Homer Iliad 800 B.C c. 400 B.C c. 400 yrs. 643
Herodotus History 480-425 B.C c. A.D.900 c. 1,350 yrs. 8
Thucydides History 460-400 B.C c. A.D.900 c. 1,300 yrs. 8
Plato 400 B.C c. A.D.900 c. 1,300 yrs. 7
Demosthenes 300 B.C c. A.D.1100 c. 1,400 yrs. 200
Caesar Gallic Wars 100-44 B.C c. A.D.900 c. 1,000 yrs. 10
Livy History of Rome 59 B.C-A.D. 17 c. 4th cent. (partial)
mostly 10th cent.		 c. 400 yrs.
c. 1,000 yrs.		 1 partial
19 copies
Tacitus Annals A.D. 100 c. A.D.1100 c. 1,000 yrs. 20
Pliny Secundus Natural History A.D.61-113 c. A.D.850 c. 750 yrs. 7
Various New Testament A.D.50-100 c. 114 (fragment)
c. 200 (books)
c. 250 (most N.T.)
c. 325 (complete N.T.)		 +50 yrs.
100 yrs.
150 yrs.
225 yrs.		 24,970


Source: Josh McDowell, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 38.

Comparisons | lamp-light.com