Aren’t Reliable!
By J. Warner Wallace Published June 17, 2022

Imagine yourself being questioned by a friend or family member in the following way:

“Jim even though Church Fathers like Ignatius and Polycarp repeat the claims of John, for Peter, and even Paul, skeptics still deny the reliability of the scriptures. They argue, for instance, Ignatius and Polycarp failed to “precisely” quote the gospels in their letters, concluding that the gospels really can’t be authenticated. How would you respond to that?”

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There are a few other points I would like to make. One: there are several ways of quoting scripture. To bring across a certain point you can for example give a condensed explanation sifting out relevant points. A usage of Scripture like this will not be a word for word recounting.

Two: neither Ignatius or Polycarp are Apostles. Their writing does not hold the same authority as Paul or John does. Why? Because they are not elected by Jesus directly in the same way as Paul or John, nor are their writings part of cannon.

Three: Failing to precisely quote Scripture could be a failure on the point of the person doing to quoting, or it could be that he or she is making use of thought for thought method of conveying Scriptural truth. It could also be that the person believe it is the message that is important, not how the message is conveyed. It is better to look at manuscripts of scripture if you want to see constancy of scripture than it is to look to church fathers letters and writings. One might have a different approach to the text than the other as the focus on the text is different.