One person suspects that someone deliberately edited the text. Another suspects that a council chose which books counted and buried the rest. A third doubts that the Gospel writers knew what they were talking about. A fourth grants that the writers were honest but assumes that centuries of hand copying must have worn their words down beyond recognition. Each doubt names a different suspect: an editor, a committee, an author, or time itself.
Taken one at a time, the evidence points the same way on all four:
- The text was not secretly rewritten, and the few places where later material entered are known and marked.
- The New Testament books were recognized over time by tests the church can name.
- The Gospels carry the local knowledge and loose, independent agreement that real witnesses leave behind.
- The copying record is strong enough that the remaining uncertainty is small and visible.