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Facts about the Bible

1. The Old Testament is the Bible of the Jews.
2. The Old Testament and the New Testament is the Bible of the Christians.
3. The Bible’s historical time period is preceding Muhammad.
4. “Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”  -Proverbs 30:5-6
5. There are 192 Greek New Testament manuscripts, predating Muhammad, in existence today and available for study.
6. There are 230 manuscripts that all agree with the thousands of manusctips that exist dating from and after Muhammad’s time up until our current Bibles.
7. The papyrus fragment is the earliest manuscript known. It is dated with certainty to at least AD 125. It is housed at the John Rylands Library in Manchester. There are two Greek fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls that may bery well be from the Gospel of Mark and I Timothy. Both fragments date AD 70. The earliest copy of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus, which dates to the AD 300’s. It is on public display in the British Museum in London.

Principles of Bible Translation

Since there are so many translations, does it mean there are many Bibles
instead of just one?  

No!  These translations are all translations from the Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew languages used for the original text of the Bible.

They are all considered the Word of God.  However, Islam’s view of the Qur’an is a contrast.  The Arabics believe that the Qur’an is the only authentic version.  They view other translations as merely conveying the meaning or interpretation of the Qur’an and do not believe that other translations are deserving to be called “the Qur’an.

 There is a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint which was in use alongside the Hebrew Old Testament at the time of Jesus.  Jesus never referred to this translation but is believed to have quoted from it.  Since he grew up in Northern Palestine he had a strong Greek speaking influence and spoke Aramaic.  He also knew Hebrew and could read it fluently.  The Septuagint Version which was completed in 180 BC was a translation of the entire Old Testament into Greek.