The Case for Christ

00:37:15,023 --> 00:37:18,192 claimed to have seen Jesus after his crucifixion 777 00:37:18,318 --> 00:37:19,861 and some of them even wrote it down, 778 00:37:19,987 --> 00:37:23,907 but I guess my question is: How-how can we be sure 779 00:37:24,032 --> 00:37:26,200 of the reliability of those manuscripts? 780 00:37:26,326 --> 00:37:27,785 Well, the same way we authenticate 781 00:37:27,911 --> 00:37:30,830 any historical document: by comparing and contrasting 782 00:37:30,956 --> 00:37:32,457 the copies that have been recovered. 783 00:37:32,583 --> 00:37:34,626 It's called textual criticism. 784 00:37:34,752 --> 00:37:36,962 The more copies we have, 785 00:37:37,087 --> 00:37:39,380 the better that we can cross-reference 786 00:37:39,506 --> 00:37:41,966 and figure out if what the original was saying 787 00:37:42,092 --> 00:37:44,385 is historically accurate. 788 00:37:44,511 --> 00:37:47,555 And the earlier they come from in history, the better. 789 00:37:47,681 --> 00:37:51,351 Take Homer's "lliad," for example. 790 00:37:53,479 --> 00:37:55,314 MARQUEZ: Hmm? 791 00:37:55,439 --> 00:37:56,982 Is this real? 792 00:37:57,107 --> 00:37:59,275 It's as real as the Macedonian dirt 793 00:37:59,401 --> 00:38:00,902 that I dug it up from. 794 00:38:01,028 --> 00:38:03,488 LEE: Well, the Greeks considered this their Bible 795 00:38:03,614 --> 00:38:05,782 -for many centuries. -Yes, they did. 796 00:38:05,908 --> 00:38:10,287 That is one of 1,565 copies in existence today. 797 00:38:10,412 --> 00:38:13,456 Now, the "lliad" was originally composed 798 00:38:13,582 --> 00:38:16,001 -800 years before Christ. -Okay. 799 00:38:16,126 --> 00:38:20,626 <i>This Greek copy is dated at the third century AD.</i> 800 00:38:20,923 --> 00:38:22,132 (Lee inhales deeply) 801 00:38:22,257 --> 00:38:23,466 So... (exhales) 802 00:38:23,592 --> 00:38:25,677 800-- that's-that's... 803 00:38:25,803 --> 00:38:29,515 1,100 years between this copy and the original, yes? 804 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:33,935 Correct. There is only one ancient collection of writings 805 00:38:34,061 --> 00:38:36,438 that has more authenticated copies than the "lliad." 806 00:38:36,563 --> 00:38:37,939 Can you guess what that is? 807 00:38:38,065 --> 00:38:39,524 You're gonna tell me the Bible. 808 00:38:39,650 --> 00:38:41,068 The New Testament. 809 00:38:41,193 --> 00:38:42,736 And how many copies is that? 810 00:38:42,861 --> 00:38:46,114 To date, archaeologists have recovered 5,843 811 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,575 Greek New Testament manuscripts. 812 00:38:48,700 --> 00:38:51,994 That's four times as many as the "lliad." 813 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:54,956 -Really? -The earliest fragment 814 00:38:55,082 --> 00:38:59,086 of the Gospel of John was found in ancient Egypt, 815 00:38:59,211 --> 00:39:01,963 and it dates to the second century A.D. 816 00:39:02,089 --> 00:39:03,965 How close is that to the original? 817 00:39:04,091 --> 00:39:06,301 Less than 30 years. 818 00:39:06,426 --> 00:39:10,805 I have one of the fragments in my collection. 819 00:39:10,931 --> 00:39:12,724 -It's quite a treasure, isn't it? -Hmm. 820 00:39:12,850 --> 00:39:16,061 After the New Testament and the "lliad," 821 00:39:16,186 --> 00:39:17,645 runners-up don't even come close. 822 00:39:17,771 --> 00:39:19,939 We only have a hundred copies of Sophocles, 823 00:39:20,065 --> 00:39:22,525 seven copies of Plato's tetralogies 824 00:39:22,651 --> 00:39:26,029 and only five copies of anything by Aristotle. 825 00:39:26,154 --> 00:39:30,575 In fact, if you laid the surviving copies of Aristotle 826 00:39:30,701 --> 00:39:34,413 one on top of the other, it would make barely four feet. 827 00:39:34,538 --> 00:39:37,999 You do the same with surviving copies of the New Testament, 828 00:39:38,125 --> 00:39:40,335 the stack would be a mile high. 829 00:39:40,460 --> 00:39:44,213 Nothing else in history even comes close. 830 00:39:44,339 --> 00:39:46,924 How is that for "reliable"? 831 00:39:50,304 --> 00:39:51,722 LEE: Well, Father, I certainly appreciate it. 832 00:39:51,847 --> 00:39:53,723 You've given me a lot of food for thought. 833 00:39:53,849 --> 00:39:55,100 MARQUEZ (chuckling): Entirely my pleasure. 834 00:39:55,225 --> 00:39:56,559 LEE: Oh, wow. 835 00:39:56,685 --> 00:39:57,894 The Shroud of Turin. 836 00:39:58,020 --> 00:39:59,938 That is a fantastic reproduction. 837 00:40:00,063 --> 00:40:02,231 Uh, the actual shroud is in the Cathedral 838 00:40:02,357 --> 00:40:03,983 of Saint John the Baptist in Italy. 839 00:40:04,109 --> 00:40:05,151 Under lock and key. 840 00:40:05,277 --> 00:40:06,611 Of course. 841 00:40:06,737 --> 00:40:08,822 No one's ever proven if the shroud 842 00:40:08,947 --> 00:40:12,075 is the actual burial cloth