20251018
Still rooted but digressed from law
Asked chatGPT to verify the fact of recreatability of new testament
Excellent question — and it gets to the heart of why the Bible (especially the New Testament) is considered uniquely well-preserved among ancient works.
Here’s how the comparison breaks down:
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📜 Manuscript Evidence for the Bible
New Testament manuscripts:
Over 5,800 Greek manuscripts survive today.
Plus 10,000+ Latin and 9,000+ other early versions (Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, etc.).
The earliest fragments date to around 125 A.D. (e.g., the John Rylands Papyrus P52), within about 30–40 years of the original writings.
Old Testament manuscripts:
The Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 250 B.C.–70 A.D.) confirmed the remarkable accuracy of Hebrew Scriptures compared to the later Masoretic Text (9th–10th century A.D.).
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📚 Comparison with Other Ancient Literature
Work Earliest Copy Time Gap # of Manuscripts Comments
New Testament ~125 A.D. <100 yrs 5,800+ (Greek) Most attested ancient work
Homer’s Iliad ~400 B.C. ~500 yrs ~1,800 Second-best attested ancient text
Plato ~900 A.D. ~1,200 yrs 7 Widely studied, yet sparse
Aristotle ~1,100 A.D. ~1,400 yrs 49 Very limited
Caesar’s Gallic Wars ~900 A.D. ~950 yrs ~10 Standard classical history
Tacitus’ Annals ~1,100 A.D. ~1,000 yrs ~20 Key Roman history
Herodotus ~900 A.D. ~1,300 yrs ~8 Father of history
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🔍 So, is any other literature preserved better?
No — nothing from antiquity is preserved better than the Bible, especially the New Testament.
It stands out for:
The sheer number of manuscripts.
The closeness in time to the originals.
The geographical spread of copies (Europe, Africa, Middle East).
The ability to cross-check thousands of versions for accuracy.
Because of this, even skeptical scholars acknowledge that we can reconstruct the New Testament text with more than 99% certainty — a level unmatched by any other ancient work.
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Even if the oldest religion? What is the oldest religion?
That’s a deep and fascinating question — and it depends on how you define “religion” and what counts as “oldest.”
Let’s unpack it clearly:
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🕰️ 1. The Oldest Religions (by historical roots)
Religion Approximate Origin Key Features Textual Preservation
Hinduism ~2300–1500 B.C. (Indus Valley) Polytheistic / monistic; Vedas, karma, reincarnation Rig Veda is among the oldest surviving religious texts (~1500 B.C.)
Ancient Egyptian Religion ~3000 B.C. Worship of Ra, Osiris, Isis; afterlife focus Texts like Pyramid Texts (~2400 B.C.), but fragmentary
Sumerian / Mesopotamian Religion ~3500 B.C. Pantheon (Anu, Enlil, Inanna); creation and flood myths Epic of Gilgamesh (~2100 B.C.), mostly preserved on clay tablets
Zoroastrianism ~1500–1000 B.C. Dualism: Ahura Mazda vs. Angra Mainyu Avesta texts partly lost; earliest complete versions ~9th century A.D.
Judaism ~2000 B.C. (Abraham) Monotheism; covenant with God Hebrew Bible remarkably preserved; verified by Dead Sea Scrolls
Chinese Traditional Religion ~2000–1500 B.C. Ancestor worship, Heaven (Tian), early Taoism roots Oracle bones (Shang dynasty) show early spiritual writing
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📚 2. Which Has the Best-Preserved Ancient Texts?
Even among these ancient religions:
The Vedas (Hinduism) are extremely old and well preserved orally.
For centuries, Brahmin priests memorized them syllable-for-syllable, using precise chanting systems that kept them almost unchanged.
→ However, most written copies we have are much later (c. 1000 A.D. or later).
The Bible (Judaism + Christianity), in contrast, has far more manuscripts and closer in time to the originals, as you noted — over 5,000 Greek New Testament manuscripts and thousands of Hebrew and translation copies.
→ So while not the oldest religion, the Bible is by far the best-preserved ancient text in written form.
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🧭 3. Summary
Oldest religion (still practiced): Hinduism
Oldest known religious texts: Pyramid Texts (Egypt, ~2400 B.C.) and Rig Veda (~1500 B.C.)
Best preserved ancient writings overall: The Bible, especially the New Testament, by sheer manuscript evidence and textual fidelity
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