One time I stopped and was talking to a girl taking some philosophy and religion courses at the University of Calgary. She's studying the first century church and doubts the accuracy of the books written by Jesus' very own disciples because of the time lapse. Although I had pointed out the scripture from the word study that scripture is "God-breathed" what more could be said? She had also said that there were other books that were not included in the NT and why were they left out? I have not heard of this before and I was not prepared to speak on it. Although I have not read True & Reasonable I think I need to! -- Brenda Buck
Yes I would encourage you to read True and Reasonable, available in the Book and Audio section of this website, as I think it will answer your questions. [Note: this book has now been incorporated into Compelling Evidence, also available under Books >.] Using 2 Timothy 3:16 with an unbeliever is likely to fail if you are trying to convince her of the truth of the Bible. Many books claim inspiration such as the Qur'an (Koran) and the Book of Mormon. 2 Timothy 3:16 states the conclusion Bible believers have come to but it does nothing to convince an outsider or skeptic.
By the way the "time lapse" between the time the New Testament books were written (by about 70 AD) and the earliest surviving manuscripts is quite small -- only two generations, not 500 or 1000 years as is the case with most works from antiquity.
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