2. Basic Facts on Producing New Testament Manuscripts 3. Discovering and Classifying New Testament Manuscripts 4. The Manuscripts Tell the Story: the New Testament Is Reliable

This article is the first in a four-part series on New Testament textual criticism. It provides the basics on this science and art, answering such questions as these: Did scribes make errors as they copied down holy Writ? If so, what kind of errors are they? Why wouldn’t God protect his Word from such errors? What’s the goal of the science and art of textual criticism? Should we even engage in criticism of the Bible? Isn’t that blasphemous? Should I trust the New Testament? These questions and more are explored in a basic Question and Answer format, for ease of understanding. This article is written by a nonspecialist and is intended for the laity. This article has three companion pieces. This present one should be read first, and then the other three should be read in this order