Objection · Case 03 · Reliability of Scripture
Comparing Scripture to Homer is apples and oranges. The New Testament was copied by a religious community that actively preserved it. More copies reflect motivation, not reliability.
One objection from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Response
The comparison is not meant to show the New Testament is more true than Homer. It shows that the common objection, that we cannot know what the text originally said, would apply with far greater force to every other ancient text people happily rely on. Motivated copying cuts both ways: it produces many copies, and it also produces the theological variants critics point to. Both effects are real, and textual criticism exists to sort them out. That the sorting can be done with unusual confidence for the New Testament is the whole point.
About this exhibit
This objection is to How other ancient books compare.
Most classical works survive in only a handful to a few hundred copies. Using updated scholarly counts, Homer’s Iliad, the best attested classical work, survives in roughly 1,760 to 1,900 copies,…
Under Claim 01: We can recover what the New Testament originally said better than any other ancient book.