Jon Gary Williams
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Article 0136 - Integrity of the New Testament

a) when there are doubts about the writings from the beginning;
b) when the author's contemporaries generally deny the writings to be his;
c) when the writing fails to be quoted for long periods of time after the author's death;
d) when the style is different from that which is found in an author's other writings;
e) when historical events recorded in a writing occurred later than the time of the author;

f) when an author advances opinions in a writing which run contrary to those voiced in his other writings.

- Innumerable quotations from all New Testament books can be produced.

- No fewer than eleven catalogues of New Testament books have been produced, two by large councils (Carthage, 397 AD, and Laodicea, 350 AD), and the other nine by individuals (Augustine, Rufinius, Jerome, Philastrius, Gregory, Epiphanius, Athanasius, Cyril and Eusebius).

- The New Testament could be wholly reproduced from the writings of Augustine and Eusebius alone.

- Eusebius' testimony establishes three propositions: a) that when he wrote there were only four gospels; b) that these gospels bore the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; c) that these gospels and other books of the New Testament were accepted by all as authentic.

II. Evidence of the third century

Origen wrote: "As I have understood from traditions respecting the four gospels, which are the only undisputed ones in the whole church of God throughout the world, the first is written according to Matthew, the second according to Mark, the third is according to Luke, and, last of all, the gospel according to John."

Of Origen, Eusebius says, "If we had all his works remaining, we should have before us almost the whole text of the Bible."

Mark - 195
Luke - 649
John - 775
Acts - 147
Romans - 731
I Corinthians - 610
II Corinthians - 239
Galatians - 130
Ephesians - 135
Philippians - 68
Colossians - 94
I Thessalonians - 48
II Thessalonians - 36
I Timothy - 92
II Timothy - 55
Titus - 19
Philemon - 3
Hebrews - 154
James - 5
I Peter - 48
II Peter - 5
I, II & III John - 77
Jude - 5
Revelation - 60.

Clement turned away from a study of Plato to become a Christian. He calls the scriptures "divinely inspired" and "holy" books. He referred to the "blessed gospels." Eusebius says that Clement ascribed the gospels to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in that order. In his works are preserved no less than 389 quotations from all 27 books of the New Testament.
Tertullian was a Roman lawyer and a pagan, but later turned to Christianity. He recognized the gospels as written by evangelists. He made a knowing distinction between the apostles (Matthew and John) and Mark and Luke, who were not apostles yet known to the apostles. Tertullian gives evidence that the Latin version of the New Testament circulated in his own locale of North Africa. He quotes some 1,802 passages from 24 of the 27 New Testament books.
His five books, "Against Heresis," are all that remain of Irenaeus' works. In these he refers to 767 passages from all but one book of the New Testament.
This fragment was discovered in 1740. It was translated into Latin in about 160-170 AD. It contains a catalog of the New Testament books and bears special testimony to the 
gospels.
Papius lived in the early part of the second century and was a contemporary of disciples of the apostles. In his work "Interpretations of our Lord's Declarations," he quotes from both Matthew and Mark.
The writer (unknown) shows that he was familiar with the writings of the apostles John and Paul. He refers to the books of Romans, I Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, I Timothy, Titus and I Peter.
Basilides wrote a contemporary on the gospels. Our knowledge of his works comes through the writings of Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria and Origen. He said that during his time the New Testament writings were known as "inspired." He quotes from Romans 8:22 and II Corinthians 12:4 and was acquainted with the books of Ephesians, Colossians, I Timothy and I Peter.
Clement was familiar with the writings of Peter and Paul. He copied their style and used their words. He was familiar with John's gospel and alluded to the book of Hebrews many times. Clement quotes 31 passages from 17 New Testament books.
Barnabas' letter, "Epistle of Barnabas," discovered in 1859, was written sometime after the destruction of the Jerusalem in 70 AD. Barnabas was familiar with the Judaizing tendencies which existed in the first century and which are discussed in several of the New Testament books. He refers to the observance of the Lord's supper and the facts of the gospel, and attests to being knowledgeable of New Testament literature. He quotes 24 times from 12 of the 27 books of the New Testament.
Hermas' work, "Shepherd of Hermas," is dated about 100 AD. He quotes 23 times from 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament.
Born in 37 AD, Ignatius was martyred in 108 AD. He wrote several short letters in which he quoted 19 passages from the New Testament books.
Polycarp was a disciple of the apostle John. His letter to the church at Philippi quotes a total of 40 passages from the New Testament.
The summary of the evidence from the apostolic age is more than adequate. More than 200 quotations come from all the New Testament books. We have all that could be expected from these five men, since the apostles were then alive and were writing themselves. The way in which these men quoted scripture shows that the New Testament was not yet in a canonical form, and this is exactly what we would expect. The evidence - - in quantity and harmony - - is strong support for the existence, genuineness, and integrity of the New Testament books.
In view of the testimony of these many writers, it can be reasonably inferred that there were also others who quoted from the books of the New Testament - - men whose writings have not been preserved. Julian composed his work against Christianity in 361 AD. If anything could have been said against the genuineness of the New Testament books, Julian would have pointed this out. Though he spoke against Christianity, he did not speak against any of these books. He quoted from such passages which he felt necessary to refute Christianity (Romans, I & II Corinthians and Galatians), but his attacks actually presume the genuineness of the books themselves.
Hierocles was president of Bithynia in about 303 AD and was known as a cruel persecutor and sarcastic writer. Searching through the books of 6 of the 8 writers of the New Testament, he tried to find internal flaws but was unsuccessful.
Porphyry (234-305 AD) was probably the most formidable adversary of Christianity. He was well acquainted with the New Testament books and makes specific references to Matthew, Mark, John, Acts and Galatians. Throughout his writings there is no trace of suspicion as to the genuineness of the New Testament. We can be sure that Porphyry would have attacked the New Testament if he could have, because he did attack the Old Testament book of Daniel.
These were Judaizing teachers who believed that Christianity was an outgrowth of Judaism. Their writers used the gospel of Matthew and regarded it as genuine. Irenaeus says of them, "So well established are our gospels that even teachers of error (Ebionites) themselves bear testimony to them; even they rest their objections on the foundations of the gospels."
"Gnostics" refers to those who considered themselves the "enlightened" ones. They often used the gospels in support of their ideas.
            


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