The historicity of the resurrection is firmly rooted in the reliability of the New Testament
documents. If it can be shown that the NT documents are unreliable, then the case for the
resurrection goes out the window. If, however, it can be demonstrated that the NT
documents are historically accurate and were written down during the lifetime of the
eyewitnesses to the life and resurrection of Jesus, then the truth claim of Christianity is
affirmed.

External evidence would include the number and dating of the available NT manuscripts as well as archaeological evidence that serves to affirm or debunk the early composition of the New Testament. The first will be the evidence furnished by the MSS themselves.

We have today in our possession 5,300 known Greek manuscripts of the New Testament,
another 10,000 Latin Vulgates, and 9,300 other early versions (MSS), giving us more
than 24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the New Testament in existence today!
(taken from McDowell's Evidence That demands a Verdict, vol.1, 1972 pp. 40-48; Time,
January 23, 1995, p. 57). Though we do not have any originals, with such a wealth of
documentation at our disposal with which to compare, we can delineate quite closely
what those originals contained. No other ancient writing of antiquity has as many MSS as
the New Testament.

In fact, when we compare the works of antiquity with that of the NT documents, we will
then see how superior the New Testament really is in terms of dating and number of
MSS.

Total New Testament manuscripts = 5,300 Greek MSS, 10,000 Latin Vulgates, 9,300 others = 24,000 copies. Total MSS compiled prior to 600 AD = 230. Some of the most important MSS include:

Manuscript portions of the Gospel of John, located in the John Ryland Library of
Manchester, England and believed to be the oldest known fragment of the New
Testament, dated AD 130, within 40 years of the original.

research which has now been uncovered by Dr. Carsten Thiede, and is published in his newly released book on the subject, the Jesus Papyrus mentions a fragment from the book of Mark found among the Qumran scrolls (fragment 7Q5) showing that it was written sometime before 68 AD It is important to remember that Christ died in 33

AD, so this manuscript could have been written, at the latest, within 35 years of His
death; possibly earlier, and thus during the time that the eyewitnesses to that event were
still alive!"

"The most significant find, however, is a manuscript fragment from the book of Matthew
(chapt.26) called the Magdalene Manuscript which has been analyzed by Dr. Carsten
Thiede, and also written up in his book The Jesus Papyrus. Using a sophisticated analysis
of the handwriting of the fragment by employing a special state-of-the-art microscope, he
differentiated between 20 separate micrometer layers of the papyrus, measuring the
height and depth of the ink as well as the angle of the stylus used by the scribe. After this
analysis Thiede was able to compare it with other papyri from that period; notably
manuscripts found at Qumran (dated to 58 AD), another at Herculaneum (dated prior to
79 AD), a further one from the fortress of Masada (dated to between 73/74 AD), and
finally a papyrus from the Egyptian town of Oxyrynchus. The Magdalene Manuscript

fragments matches all four, and in fact is almost a twin to the papyrus found in
Oxyrynchus, which bears the date of 65/66 AD Thiede concludes that these papyrus
fragments of St. Matthew's Gospel were written no later than this date and
probably earlier. That suggests that we either have a portion of the original gospel of

disciples, and eyewitnesses to the events were still alive. This would be the oldest manuscript portion of our Bible in existence today, one which co-exists with the original writers!