Monday, January 08, 2007

Brief Origin and Reliability of the Bible

Isaiah 40:8: The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.


Luke 1:1-4: Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.


Luke 24:44: Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.”


John 20:30-31: The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. - This is the very purpose of the Bible!


John 21:24: This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate.


1 Thessalonians 2:13: Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.


Hebrews 1:1-2a: Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son...


Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.


2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. The word "inspired" (theopneustos) in the original Greek language literally means "God-breathed". When the Bible claims to be inspired, we understand therefore, that it came from the mouth of God. It is God-breathed, inspired.


2 Peter 1:14-16: For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes.


2 Peter 1:20-21 Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.


2 Peter 3:15-16: And remember, the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction


1 John 1:1-3: We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.



Fully one third of the New Testament consists of quotations from or allusions to passages in the Old Testament. The New Testament mentions the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies including those concerning the birth, ministry, messiahship and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.



The Bible is the world's all-time best selling book. About 2.5 billion copies have been printed which are available in over 700 languages. Although the Bible has enjoyed such vast distribution and attention, it is read relatively little. Perhaps part of the reason the Bible is so neglected is the many doubts people have about this unique book. If the Bible came from the mouth of God, then the scriptures are believable when they speak of Jesus Christ and accurate when they touch the realm of science.


But a skeptic will say, "Everyone knows the Bible was written by men! The book of 1 Corinthians, for example, was written by a man named Paul. After all, the very first verse bears his name as the author." In reply to this we answer: Yes, 1 Corinthians was written by Paul. Notice however, what Paul said in chapter 14, verse 37: what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself. Paul knew the source of his writings and understood that he was like a pen in the hand of Almighty God. We must not view the Bible as the word of Paul, Peter, or Jeremiah, but rather, as the message God revealed through these men just as it is written in Jeremiah 1:9: Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth!.



The Bible writers were not like news reporters giving their personal interpretation of events they eye-witnessed, but were divinely guided as 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.



God and man worked together in writing the scriptures. However, in this work, God is the author who dictated the message, and man is the writing instrument. Men were guided or inspired to write the exact message God wanted recorded in the Bible


- The Bible:
God's inspired message to man! - www.bible.ca/b-inspired.htm




OLD TESTAMENT

It was almost 3,500 years ago when Moses wrote the first books of the Old Testament. While we still have his words with us today, those original documents have long since been destroyed. So how do we know what we have today is what Moses penned many years ago?


The answer lies in how those words arrived in our hands. In ancient times, there were diligent Jewish scribes who spent their entire careers copying material. These individuals were very meticulous in regard to providing an exact duplicate of the original document. One group of scribes, known as the Masoretes, set its standards much higher than all the other scribes. The Masoretes counted every single letter, word, and verse of the Old Testament in order to preserve its accuracy.*


An obvious question then becomes: If these men spent their entire lives doing little more than making thousands of copies of the Old Testament, then why don't we have innumerable copies still in existence? The fact is, only scarce copies from these ancient scribes are still in existence today. But the reason so few remain has to do with the people responsible for making the copies. They took great pride in their ability to copy without error, so that anytime a copy began to fade or show signs of wear, the scribes would either burn it or bury it in the ground. They did not want anyone obtaining a poor copy that could be misread or recopied incorrectly. After all, it was God’s Word that they were responsible for accurately passing on to posterity.


So how, then, can we be sure today, when we read accounts such as those of the Noahic Flood or Moses parting the Red Sea, that such events were recorded accurately? Consider the evidence. In 1948, an Arab boy was looking for a lost goat. As most children would, this young boy entertained himself by throwing rocks as he walked. He threw one of those rocks into a small cave, and heard the sound of pottery breaking. Scampering up the hill and into the cave, the boy found some leather scrolls with ancient writing on them. Amazingly, he had stumbled across what is known today as the Dead Sea scrolls. Inside the cave were hundreds of scrolls, most likely written by a group of people known as the Essenes.


Among the important discoveries from the caves were copies of several books of the Old Testament. These copies were produced from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 100, making them almost 900 years older than the oldest available copies of Old Testament books. Keep in mind, the Dead Sea scrolls were found in 1948. One scroll found in the Dead Sea caves was of particular importance. It was a scroll of the book of Isaiah—from which only a few words were missing! What was amazing about this scroll was that, when it was compared to the text of Isaiah produced 900 years after it, the two matched almost word for word! Thus, we can be confident that the Old Testament we hold in our hands today is worded exactly as the original writers wrote it.


NEW TESTAMENT

But what about the New Testament? How can we feel confident that Bibles being printed in 2007 still contain the words that God inspired approximately 2,000 years ago?



The New Testament was written between approximately A.D. 35 and A.D. 100. Among the books in the New Testament are letters that were sent to congregations of the Lord’s church from the apostle Paul. Those letters were priceless to those who received them. Because of that, copies sometimes were made.




Unlike the scribes who copied the Old Testament, people who copied the New Testament books did not see the need to bury or burn old, worn-out copies of the Scriptures. As a result, we still possess literally thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament. Since the New Testament originally was produced in Greek, the manuscripts also are written in Greek. Over 5,300 old manuscripts exist of various portions of the New Testament.


Also, consider that many of the New Testament manuscripts were produced just decades after the apostles died. One manuscript, the John Ryland’s Papyrus, has portions of the gospel of John written on it. It was discovered in Egypt, and dates back to A.D. 130—just a few years after the New Testament was completed.


You may rest assured: the Bible you hold in your hand today is the inspired Word of God.



-
Apologetics Press: How did We Get the Bible? by Brad Harrub, Ph.D: www.apologeticspress.org/articles/66


*All the letters of the Hebrew text were counted, not as a piece of mere curiosity, but that the number of each letter in each book being thus known to the scribe he might easily check his work, and ascertain whether one letter had escaped or got over "the fence". He was informed how many Alephs (a = A) there should be, how many Beths (b = B), &c., in each book respectively.


- The Companion Bible - Appendix 93: The Alleged "Corruptions" of the Hebrew Text: goodnewsministry.com/appendixes/app93.htm



Not One "Jot Or Tittle"


Matthew 5:18 (King James version) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.


The "Jot" is the Hebrew word "Yodh" which is the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is also the smallest letter. Its European or English equivalent is the letter "Y" as in the English term Yahweh or in Hebrew YHVH since there were no vowels used in the ancient script. The word "jot" itself is an English transliteration of "iota" which is the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet. "Iota," in turn, is the nearest Greek equivalent for the Hebrew yodh.


The "tittle" is the small decorative spur or point on the upper edge of the yodh. If you can imagine a tiny letter with a slightly visible decorative mark. Tittle is used by Greek grammarians of the accents and diacritical points. It means the little lines or projections by which the Hebrew letters differ from each other. One example would be the difference between the letter L and I. The difference is only one small mark. We use phrases like "the dotting of the i, and the crossing of the t," and "every iota." Tittle" is from the Latin _titulus_ which came to mean the stroke above.


It is interesting that the Jewish scribes who copied the Massoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible scrolls paid the greatest attention to the minutiae of detail and such marks attached to each consonant throughout the entire text. They even numbered every letter, word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, section, and scroll to ensure that the total equaled that of the text being copied before allowing it to enter the holy synagogue.


- Scripture Backdrops: www.bible-history.com/backd2/jot_tittle.html




How Did We Get the Bible?
By John H. Ogwyn


The Bible asserts that it is God’s infallible, authoritative revelation to mankind. It claims to reveal truth that can be known in no other way. Of course, the Koran and the "Book of Mormon" make the same claims. How did we actually get the Bible? And how should we study it today?
The Bible is unique. Few people have read it, but most have an opinion about it. The Bible asserts that it is God’s infallible, authoritative revelation to mankind. It claims to reveal truth that can be known in no other way.




The portion of the Bible that we commonly call the Old Testament was completed in the days of Ezra the Priest and Governor Nehemiah, about 420 BC. Ezra was sent by King Artaxerxes of Persia to Jerusalem in 457 BC with the temple scrolls and other treasures which had been kept in Babylon since the days of Nebuchadnezzar (Ezra 7:14). Ezra came back to teach Scripture to the people and to institute religious reform for people who were on the verge of losing their very identity and absorbing the syncretistic paganism of their neighbors. About thirteen years after Ezra’s return, Nehemiah returned as governor and had the authority to insist that Ezra’s reforms be carried out.


The first century Jewish historian and priest, Flavius Josephus, recorded the history of the Hebrew Scriptures. "For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greeks have], but only 22 books… which are justly believed to be divine…" Josephus went on to state that the Jewish scriptures had been compiled in their final form in the days of King Artaxerxes, who reigned in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. He emphasized that, while many books had been composed among the Jews since that time, they were not considered to have divine authority, because there had not been a succession of prophets since the time of Malachi, a late contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah. In addition to Josephus, the book of 1 Maccabees (second century BC), writings by the first century AD philosopher Philo, and traditions preserved in Seder Olam and the Talmud (ancient commentaries) all testify to a fixed canon since the time of Ezra.


The 22 books mentioned by Josephus correspond to the books of our Old Testament—normally counted as 39 books in modern translations. The difference in number is because of a difference in the way the books were counted. The 12 Minor Prophets, for instance, were kept on one scroll in Hebrew, and were counted as simply one book, not as 12 separate ones. There are several other combinations as well.


While the Hebrew Scriptures were complete from the days of Ezra, God’s revelation to mankind was not finished. In the aftermath of Jesus’ resurrection, accounts of His life and ministry were written. Letters to fledgling congregations were written. As the decades passed, those who were firsthand witnesses of what Jesus Christ said and did began to pass from the scene. False teachers arose who were teaching "a different gospel" (2 Corinthians 11:4). They also wrote letters, often signing the name of one of the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:2). In such confusion, how was an accurate account of Christ’s teachings and the teachings of His Apostles to be preserved for future generations of disciples?



Peter addresses this issue in 2 Peter, the last letter that he wrote. Written shortly before his execution, not long after Paul’s death, Peter puts things in perspective. Referring to his soon-approaching death in verse 14, Peter states: "Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease" (2 Peter 1:15 - King James Version). The only way that he could ensure a permanent record of what he had taught was to leave behind writings officially designated as Holy Scripture.



Beginning in verse 16, Peter abruptly switched from using the first person singular to using "we," the first person plural. Who was the "we" to whom Peter referred in verses 16–19? He defined the "we" in verse 18, when he referred to them having witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus in the Mount. This event is detailed in Matthew 17:1–13 where we learn that only Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus to the mount and were first-hand witnesses of this event. James the brother of John was the first of the Apostles to be martyred (Acts 12:1–2) and had been dead for decades at the time Peter was writing 2 Peter. Therefore, the "we" being referred to by Peter could only refer to him and John.



He goes on to explain in 2 Peter 1:19 that "we"—he and John—were the only ones remaining who possessed the "sure word of prophecy" (KJV). In other words, Peter was pointing out to his readers that he and John were the ones designated by Christ to leave behind an authoritative record that would guide the Christian community in generations to come, long after the death of the original disciples.



In 2 Peter 3:15–16, he referred to Paul’s writings in a way that indicated that they were complete, mentioning "all" his letters. He also referred to people distorting them as they did "the rest of the Scriptures." Peter defined Paul’s letters as Scripture, on a par with the Old Testament, and intimated that Paul was no longer alive to respond to those who sought to twist his meaning.



There are 27 books in the New Testament, five of which are attributed to the Apostle John and believed to have been written approximately three decades after the death of Peter. This would indicate that Peter, prior to his death, put together a canon of 22 books, exactly corresponding in number to the Jewish way of reckoning the books of the Old Testament. The Apostle John then completed our New Testament canon, adding his five books—a gospel, three epistles and Revelation—for a total of 27 books in all. The 22 books of the Hebrew scriptures, added to the 27 books of the Greek scriptures, make 49 in all—seven times seven, God’s number of completion and perfection.



Since we do not have a bound copy of the New Testament consisting of all of the original manuscripts dating from 100 AD, what proof do we have that the books we know as the New Testament were acknowledged as Scripture prior to the Council of Carthage? Among other evidence, we have the testimony of early writers dating from within a few years of the death of the Apostle John. These men—including Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Ignatius and Justin Martyr—all wrote within 50 years of John’s death. They quote from various New Testament books, showing that they were known and acknowledged as inspired writings.



The Council of Carthage, far from establishing the New Testament canon, simply represented an acknowledgment by the Roman church that the canon known and established since the end of the first century could not be altered.


The Creator God not only inspired the writing of the Bible, He also guided the process of both canonization and preservation of the text. In spite of numerous attempts by carnal men through the centuries to suppress or distort the word of God, God has been faithful to ensure that His "instruction book" for life is still available for us today.


- How Did We Get the Bible? By John H. Ogwyn: www.tomorrowsworld.org/cgi-bin/tw/tw-mag.cgi?category=Magazine16&item=1104097310





Consider the circumstances in Paul's second and final letter to Timothy just prior to martyrdom. As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.
(2 Timothy 4:6). Among his final instructions to the young evangelist were: Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments (verse 13, King James Version).


The late British scholar F.F. Bruce commented on this passage: "What the parchments were which Paul so anxiously desired Timothy to bring we cannot be sure, but it is a reasonable guess that they contained portions of Holy Scripture". Surely copies of Paul's own letters would have been included as well. He was a literary man who wrote many letters. Since he wrote this final letter to Timothy under the pressure of imminent execution, it is inconceivable to think that Paul would not have taken steps to see that his letters would be preserved for future generations of the Church.


Some have even pointed out that the "cloak" Paul mentions is likely not a reference to an item of clothing to keep him warm, but rather a cover or folder in which the parchments were held. The Greek word could denote either. In English, we have the similar term "jacket," which can apply to either a coat or a book cover.


Paul's letters, it should be noted, provide an early witness to Christ's teachings. Much has been made of the supposed time gap of 40 and more years between Christ's preaching and the time the Gospel accounts were written. N.T. Wright, bishop of Durham in the Anglican Church, comments: "Scholars used to be quite dogmatic on the dating of the gospels, but the more scholarship has gone on the less we can be as sure as we thought. What is more, the gospels are dependent in turn on traditions that are very early indeed . . .


The witness of Paul to some of the major events has been overlooked in contemplating the usual time scenario. Some scholars estimate that Paul began writing letters less than 20 years after Christ's crucifixion. Some date Galatians, thought to be his first letter, as early as A.D. 48—only 17 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. Since Paul's letters rarely quote from the four Gospel accounts or other New Testament books (1 Timothy 5:18 quotes Luke 10:7), most of his letters apparently predate these other New Testament writings. Yet Paul's letters clearly corroborate the message of the four Gospels.


For example, his letters reveal that before Christ was betrayed, He instituted the New Testament Passover ceremony with the new symbols of bread and wine (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) and witnessed a good testimony before Pontius Pilate (1 Timothy 6:13). Paul also confirmed that Christ died by crucifixion, was buried and rose again by a resurrection from the dead (Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 15:3-5; Philippians 2:8)—after which He ascended into heaven (Ephesians 4:9-10).


Clearly both Peter and Paul, who died around A.D. 67-68, were martyred before the final books of the New Testament were composed. However, the resurrected, living Jesus Christ made sure one key apostle would remain alive to complete the New Testament. Apparently primarily for this reason, John would outlive Peter (John 21:18-23). The full understanding of the gospel and "things to come" had not yet been revealed (John 16:13). The Gospel of John, the book of Revelation and perhaps the letters of 1, 2 and 3 John were yet to be written.


Notice F.F. Bruce's assessment: "Towards the end of the century, John, perhaps the last surviving companion of Jesus in the days of His flesh, records his reminiscences of his Master's life and teaching, together with his meditations on them, in such a way as to supplement the earlier gospels". This explains why his Gospel is so different from the other three. Writing much later, John was in many respects filling in the gaps, so to speak.


John himself comments as an early eyewitness near the conclusion of his Gospel: The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. (John 20:30-31).


Then at the very end of the book he repeats his personal testimony as an eyewitness. This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here. And we know that his account of these things is accurate (John 21:24; compare 1 John 1:1-3).


Further, John is specifically told by Jesus to write the book of Revelation, what to include in it and to whom it was to be sent (Revelation 1:9-11). It is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ," which God the Father imparted to Him (verse 1). Christ personally revealed it to the apostle John. Its conclusion includes a severe warning to those who would either add to or take away from this final book of the New Testament (Revelation 22:18). The book thus has a ring of finality to it, and in principle its warning certainly applies to the entire Bible. God's Word must be respected (Isaiah 66:2; Proverbs 30:5-6).



- Is the New Testament a Fraud?: www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn65/ntfraud.htm



Old Testament


How do we know the Bible has been kept in tact for over 2,000 years of copying? Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, our earliest Hebrew copy of the Old Testament was the Masoretic text, dating around 800 A.D. The Dead Sea Scrolls date to the time of Jesus and were copied by the Qumran community, a Jewish sect living around the Dead Sea. We also have the Septuagint which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament dating in the second century B.C. When we compare these texts which have an 800-1000 years gap between them we are amazed that 95% of the texts are identical with only minor variations and a few discrepancies.


New Testament


In considering the New Testament we have tens of thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament in part or in whole, dating from the second century A.D. to the late fifteenth century, when the printing press was invented. These manuscripts have been found in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, making collusion unlikely. The oldest manuscript, the John Rylands manuscript, has been dated to 125 A.D. and was found in Egypt, some distance from where the New Testament was originally composed in Asia Minor). Many early Christian papyri, discovered in 1935, have been dated to 150 A.D., and include the four gospels. The Papyrus Bodmer II, discovered in 1956, has been dated to 200 A.D., and contains 14 chapters and portions of the last seven chapters of the gospel of John. The Chester Beatty biblical papyri, discovered in 1931, has been dated to 200-250 A.D. and contains the Gospels, Acts, Paul's Epistles, and Revelation.


Thousands of early Christian writings and lexionaries (first and second century) cite verses from the New Testament. In fact, it is nearly possible to put together the entire New Testament just from early Christian writings. For example, the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians (dated 95 A.D.) cites verses from the Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Titus, Hebrews, and 1 Peter. The letters of Ignatius (dated 115 A.D.) were written to several churches in Asia Minor and cites verses from Matthew, John, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. These letters indicate that the entire New Testament was written in the first century A.D. In addition, there is internal evidence for a first century date for the writing of the New Testament. The book of Acts ends abruptly with Paul in prison, awaiting trial (Acts 28:30-31). It is likely that Luke wrote Acts during this time, before Paul finally appeared before Nero. This would be about 62-63 A.D., meaning that Acts and Luke were written within thirty years of ministry and death of Jesus. Another internal evidence is that there is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Although Matthew, Mark and Luke record Jesus' prophecy that the temple and city would be destroyed within that generation (Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2 , Luke 21:5-9, 20-24, 32), no New Testament book refers to this event as having happened. If they had been written after 70 A.D., it is likely that letters written after 70 A.D. would have mentioned the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy. As stated by Nelson Glueck, former president of the Jewish Theological Seminary in the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and renowned Jewish archaeologist, "In my opinion, every book of the New Testament was written between the forties and eighties of the first century A.D."


With all of the massive manuscript evidence you would think there would be massive discrepancies - just the opposite is true. New Testament manuscripts agree in 99.5% of the text. Most of the discrepancies are in spelling and word order. A few words have been changed or added. There are two passages that are disputed but no discrepancy is of any doctrinal significance (i.e., none would alter basic Christian doctrine). Most Bibles include the options as footnotes when there are discrepancies. How could there be such accuracy over a period of 1,400 years of copying? Two reasons: (1) The scribes that did the copying had meticulous methods for checking their copies for errors. (2) The Holy Spirit made sure we would have an accurate copy of God's word so we would not be deceived. The Mormons, theological liberals as well as other cults and false religions such as Islam that claim the Bible has been tampered with are completely proven false by the extensive, historical manuscript evidence.


- Is Our Copy of the Bible a Reliable Copy of the Original? by Rich Deem: www.godandscience.org/apologetics/bibleorg.html





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posted by Oakview Bible Fellowship at 5:59 PM