An exhaustive investigation into a standard Protestant
Greek text of the New Testament (Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (Stuttgart:
Deutsche Bibelstiftung, 1979) reveals that of the 7,948 total verses from
Matthew to Revelation, 6,176 verses contain textual variants. In other words,
78% of the New Testament verses are to some extent corrupted. The variations
range from simple letters which change a word or its tense, to whole sentences
which are either missing or significantly different. (Robert A. Sungenis, "Pont/Counterpoint:
Protestant Objections and Catholic Answers," in Not By Scripture Alone:
A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura, ed.
Robert A. Sungenis [2d ed.; State Line, Pa.: Catholic Apologetics International
Publishing, Inc., 2013], 228 n. 54)
Thus, the arguments that Protestants levy against the survival
of oral tradition beyond the first century, we can use the same type of
arguments against the survival of Scripture beyond the first century, since,
obviously, neither of them are pristine. (Robert A. Sungenis, “A Critique of
Keith Mathison’s book: ‘The Shape of Sola Scriptura,’” p. 47)
To Support this Blog:
