Daily Dose Of Wisdom #34 Renown Scholar Exposes DOZENS of Myths About The BIBLE
Dec 17, 2025
Join Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, a renowned New Testament scholar and founder of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, as he dismantles myths about the Bible's reliability. He critiques the 'telephone game' analogy, revealing why abundant manuscripts enhance textual certainty. Wallace explores the dating of New Testament texts, debates on authorship, and the implications of early papyri. He also clarifies misconceptions about the canon's formation and the significance of textual variants, all while emphasizing the early affirmations of Christ's deity.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Telephone Game Misleads About Manuscripts
- The “telephone game” analogy for New Testament transmission is misleading because ancient scribes copied by sight and aimed for accuracy.
- Multiple independent manuscript lines increase certainty rather than degrade it.
Junior-High Fear Sparked A Career
- Wallace recounts reading the RSV preface as a junior-high student and fearing translations were only modernized English.
- That early worry motivated his deeper study of manuscripts and textual evidence.
More Variants = More Certainty
- Large counts of textual variants reflect an enormous manuscript tradition, not chaos.
- More manuscripts give greater data to reconstruct the original text with confidence.