We don't have any of the original writings of any of the books of the New Testament (the original writings are called autographs).  What do do have is many, many copies.  Textual criticism is the science of determining the original words by looking at the numerous manuscripts.  Here are few of the important facts:
1. We have about 5,600 Greek manuscripts.
2. There are over 400,000 textual variants in these Greek manuscripts.
3. 99% of these variants are either not meaningful or not viable… and therefore inconsequential.
4. The fewer than 1% of the variants that are meaningful and viable do not affect or call into question a single Biblical doctrine.

If you want to learn more about textual criticism, here are some short videos below. 

Today, someone many would refer to as a “spiritual giant” (rightly so), went home to Jesus. According to Wikipedia, Timothy James Keller (September 23, 1950 – May 19, 2023) was an American pastor, theologian, and Christian apologist. He was so much more. He authored many books and publications. His wisdom and continuously relevant insights will be sorely missed wherever people seek to learn about loving God and others. 

I think about Keller’s family taking time to grieve and thousands who mourn him. Yet we envision a heavenly homecoming celebration taking place too. His powerful and poignant final words have made the rounds on social media. Reading those caused me to reflect upon death, eternity and storylines…

Just because you write the end to one story, doesn’t mean you don’t get to start another. Although, it’s often best to pause a bit… no need to jump ahead of the introduction to your next story. 

That’s really a majority of life’s journey isn’t it? Stories written. It could be as visceral as the death of a loved one. Yet it could be the ending of a relationship, job, career, home or family situation. Death, literal or figurative, is the loss we grieve in life as we go on living. Because on a soul-deep level, we are made to desire life… life everlasting. 

And in the adventure of following Jesus, we do so with spiritual intentionality. Yes, we are made for life. And in Christ, we are offered it in eternity, which starts… now. 

“Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.’”(John 6:68-69 NLT)

5/19/23 
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3G Faith: intentional, meaningful, spiritual conversations

Are there contradictions in the Gospels? J. Warner Wallace writes, "Reliable eye witnesses never agree on every detail."  In fact, he asserts that if they did agree in every detail they would not be considered reliable but instead guilty of collusion. 
The Gospels complement each other, and their differences authenticate them as legitimate eye witness testimony.
Check out the short video below with J. Warner Wallace.  
There's also a short video with RC Sproul on Bible contradictions in general - see below. 

Want to dig deeper?
Check out J. Warner Wallace's website: coldcasechristianity.com/
And if you'd like to read an article about errors in the whole Bible, Norm Geisler has a great article online here. 
Another great resource is a book by Gleason Archer called Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties.  You can find it on Amazon here.