Q&A: Veritas 2020 #14 Early Church History (2 of 3)

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Questions only

  1. How can I trust the manuscripts if there are more variations in them than there are words in the New Testament? (almost all variations are insignificant. 1000s of MSS would naturally have many variations. No Bible doctrine is at risk because of any of these variations)
  2. What is the date of the Chester Beatty papyri? (200-250 AD)
  3. What is the significance of the Chester Beatty papyri? (contains fragments from all 4 Gospels… so they were all written before 200-250 AD)
  4. What is the date of the Gospel of John papyri? (200 AD)
  5. What is the significance of the Gospel of John papyri? (Demonstrates that John was written before 200 AD)
  6. What is a “harmony of the gospels?” (An attempt to put all 4 Gospels into one narrative)
  7. What did Tatian do? (Put together a harmony of the gospels)
  8. When did he do it? (180 AD)
  9. Who was Tatian’s teacher? (Justin Martyr)
  10. When did Justin Martyr write? (150 AD)
  11. What did Justin Martyr write? (“First Apology”)
  12. What does he quote in that writing? (Gospel of John)
  13. What is the John Rylands Papyrus? (A fragment of the Gospel of John)
  14. What is its date? (130 AD)
  15. Why is the John Rylands Papyrus so significant? (It is part of a copy of the Gospel of John that was written only a few decades earlier)
  16. What is the significance of the climate of the Holy Land regarding manuscripts? (The caves were cool and very dry which preserved them from decay)
  17. Who was Polycarp? (pastor of church at Smyrna. Died in 155 AD)
  18. Who discipled Polycarp? (The Apostle John)
  19. When did Polycarp write his letter to the Philippians? (120 AD)
  20. What is the significance of Polycarp’s letter to the Philippians? (He quotes the same NT we have today)
  21. Who was Ignatius? (Pastor of the church at Antioch 
  22. Who discipled Ignatius? (Simon Peter and the apostle John)
  23. When did Ignatius write? (EDV 168) (Before 108 AD)
  24. What is the significance of Ignatius’ letters? (They are full of NT quotes–same as our NT)
  25. Who was Clement of Rome? (Pastor of Church in Rome in 1st Century)
  26. Is he mentioned in the New Testament? Where? (possibly.. Phil. 4:3)
  27. When did Clement of Rome write to the church in Corinth? (95 AD)
  28. What’s the significance of Clement’s letter? (He quoted many NT passages in 95 AD… they are the same as we have today)
    1. [Manuscripts 03]
  29. What’s the significance of the date 70 AD? (Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Temple. Sacrifices stopped)
  30. How do we know that much of the New Testament was written before 70 AD? (It isn’t mentioned)
  31. How do we know that Acts was written in the mid-60s? (Peter and Paul still alive. No mention of war with Rome)
  32. When did the war between Rome and Judea begin? (66 AD)
  33. What is the significance of Paul’s quotes of Scriptures in 1 Timothy 5:17-18? (Luke was written and considered Scripture in early 60s)
  34. What two books of the Bible did Paul quote from in 1 Tim 5:17-18? (Deuteronomy & Luke)
  35. What does 1 Timothy 5:17-18 tell us about the Gospel of Luke? (Luke was written and considered Scripture in early 60s)
  36. When did Paul write 1 Timothy? (Early 60s)
  37. When did Paul write Galatians? (49-55 AD… probably late 40s)
  38. When did Paul meet James and Peter? (14 years earlier = ~35-40 AD)
  39. What were the “oral creeds?” When and why were they used? (Brief, easily memorized unwritten words from God for the early church to recite in the 30s and 40s before Scripture was given)(EDV 165)
  40. What is the gist of the oral creed quoted in 1 Corinthians 15? What does it tell us? (death, burial, resurrection of Jesus and eyewitness appearances very early)
  41. When would Paul probably have heard that particular oral creed? (early to mid 30s in Damascus or Jerusalem)
  42. How do we know that some copyists didn’t change the things that are in our New Testaments? (Many copies were going out. All of them would have to be changed)
  43. How do we know that Jesus wasn’t a simple Jewish Rabbi that later generations embellished and exaggerated into a fictional miracle-working Son of God? (the earliest records we have of Him, from the 1st century on, give the same report as later records)