The Authority of the Bible

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The Authority of the Bible

• Sue Bohlin www.probe.org
• Song of a Wonderer
• Thompson Chain Reference Bible
• Evidence that Demands a Verdict
• www.afcinc.org

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What we will learn about the Bible?

• Overview (This week)
• Old Testament
• New Testament
• Archeology

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As we approach the Bible we must deal with . . .

• 1. The historical gap between Bible times and
  today.
• We do not live in 800 B.C.
• We dont even live in 33 A.D.

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As we approach the Bible we must realize deal
with . . .

• 1. The historical gap
• 2. Social and cultural gaps
• We are not Jews,
  nor do we live in
  agrarian
  Mediterranean society

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As we approach the Bible text, we must deal with
. . .

• 1. The historical gap
• 2. Social and cultural gaps
• 3. Language differences
• We arent reading the Bible in the original
  languages in which Moses or Paul or others wrote.

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As we approach the Bible text, we must deal with
. . .

• 1. A historical gap
• 2. Social and cultural gaps
• 3. Language differences
• 4. Hand copied manuscripts
• None of the original manuscripts written by Paul
  or Moses or Isaiah have been found.

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The teaching of the Bible

• Answers life's most difficult questions
• Where did I come from?
• Why is there evil in the world and in me?
• Where did nations and culture come from?
• Does God love me?
• Does God forgive me?
• Who is Jesus and what is his role in life?

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What is the Bible

• Christians believe Bible is God Inspired
• Collection of Books in 2 parts
• 39 Books in Old Testament
• 27 Books in New Testament
• A testament is a promise between God and Man.

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The Old Testament

• Written in Hebrew and Aramaic
• 1400 B.C. to 400 B.C.
• Law - Gods Standard of perfection
• Genealogy (family trees)
• Poetry prayers and worship songs
• History Jewish nation
• Prophecy Telling of the future. Mainly about
  Gods promise to man.
• The Old Testament claims to be God speaking over
  3800 times.

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New Testament

• Written in Greek
• 1st Century
• 8 different authors
• Teachings on wide variety of topics

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New Testament

• Gospel Good News of Gods Love
• Letters - Encourage people to follow God
• 1 Book about the early church
• 1 Book about the future

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The Authors Formation

• Over 40 authors from various backgrounds
• Written under many different circumstances on
  three different continents
• Asia
• Africa
• Europe
• Over a 1500-year period
• Consistency of theme one problemsin and how to
  be forgiven
• Many attempts to destroy and discredit the Bible

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THE UNIQUENESS AND DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE
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THE BIBLE IS UNIQUE IN MORE WAYS THAN ANY OTHER
BOOK IN HISTORY

• Websters Definition of Unique
• One and only single sole.
• Different from all others having no like or
  equal.

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UNIQUE IN ITS CIRCULATION

• The first book printed in Latin
• Printed more times, read by more than any best
  seller
• Billions have been published

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UNIQUE IN ITS TRANSLATION

• Translated in more than 2200 languages (90 of
  all people)
• By 2022 will be translated in every language

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Unique in affects Literature Music

• Countless books have been written about Jesus
  the Bible
• Dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons ??, atlases
• Devotional books, song books (hymnals)
• No other book has been more talked about or
  written about than the Bible.

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Unique in affects of society

• Hospitals
• Sun calendar is based upon Jesus birth
• Universities Education
• Foot Ball games show signs of Bible verses
• Cover of magazines

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Affects on idioms

• Good Samaritan
• Doubting Thomas
• Golden Rule do to others what you would have
  others do to you.
• Money isnt everything (you cant serve both God
  Money)
• The love of money is the root of all kinds of
  evil
• The meek shall inherit the earth
• Practice what you preach
• Pride goes before a fall
• Dust I come from and dust I will return

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Unique fulfillment of Prophecy

• Norman Geiser William Nix said
• Other books claim divine inspiration, such as
  the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and parts of the
  Hindu Veda. But none of these books contains
  predictive prophecy.

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Fulfilled Prophecy

• Prophecy is history written in advance.
• Only an omniscient (everywhere), omnipotent (all
  knowing) God could know the future so accurately
  He could have it written down.
• Fulfilled prophecy is another evidence that the
  Bible is Gods Word.
• Other religious books have claims to be inspired.
  The Bible has fulfilled prophecies.

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Prophecies - Tell of God beforehand

• Total Prophecies more than 1000
• 1 in every 4 verses talk about prophecy
• More than 300 prophecies in OT fulfilled in NT
  regarding Jesus.
• The probability that 16 predictions could be
  fulfilled in one man has been calculated at 1 on
  1045.
• We will discuss this in detail in a future
  discussion.

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Unique in its survival

• Over time (1st writings 1400 BC)
• Through persecution and criticism.
• Voltaire, who died in 1778 said that 100 years
  from his time Christianity would be swept from
  existence and passed into history.
• Only 50 years after his death, the Geneva Bible
  Society used his press and house to produce
  Bibles.

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Unique in the Authors

• Moses a political leader and judge trained in
  the universities of Egypt
• David a king, poet, musician, shepherd and
  warrior
• Amos a shepherd
• Joshua a military general (to Moses)
• Nehemiah a cupbearer to a pagan King
• Daniel a prime minister

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The Authors

• Solomon a king and philosopher
• Luke a physician and historian
• Peter a fisherman
• Matthew a tax collector
• Paul a rabbi
• Mark Peters secretary

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Written in different places

• Moses in the wilderness
• Jeremiah in a dungeon
• Daniel on a hillside and in a palace
• Paul inside prison walls
• Luke while traveling
• John while in exile on the isle of Patmos

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Written at different times

• David in times of war and sacrifice
• Solomon in times of peace and prosperity

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Written during different moods

• Some writings from the heights of joy
• Others writing from the depths of sorrow and
  despair
• Some times of certainty
• Others during days of confusion and doubt.

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Written in 3 languages

• Hebrew the picture based language of the Jews
  (most of Old Testament)
• Aramaic common language of the Near East during
  the time of Alexander the Great sixth century BC
  to fourth century BC
• Greek the International language of the 1st
  Century (most of the New Testament)

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Written in different literary styles

• Poetry, song, romance, history, autobiography,
  biography, law
• Personal correspondence a letter to one person
• Didactic treatise ???? the teaching of a moral
  truth
• Satire ?? - Use of sarcasm to expose folly
  (foolishness)
• Prophecy predictions of something to come
• Parable a short story that is told to show how
  one thing is like another, usually using a real
  world example to express a spiritual meaning
• Memoirs a narrative composed from personal
  experience, a report 
• Allegory use of symbolic fictional figures and
  actions to express truths or generalizations
  about human existence a symbolic representation

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Describes the mistakes sins of the leaders in
the Bible

• Noah got drunk
• Moses was a murderer
• King David committed adultery murder
• Paul killed Christians before he became one
• John believed Jesus and later had
  questions/doubts
• The Bible says we are morally bad and need
  forgiveness.

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Writing Materials of the Bible

• Papyrus is an early form of thick paper-like
  material produced from the of the papyrus plant.
  This is the Greek word for paper.

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Other writing materials

• Ostrava pottery in Egypt and Palestine for
  storage of scolls.
• Writings were on stone, clay wax tablets.
• Chisel iron instrument for engraving

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How did we get the Bible?

• Canon an officially accepted list of books

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Tests for Inclusion in the Canon

• Was the book written by a prophet of God?
• Was the writer confirmed by acts of God?
• Did the message tell the truth about God?
• Does it come with the power of God?
• Was it accepted by the people?

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Recognition of the NT Canon

• Justine Martyr, Ireneus, Ignatius, Polycarp 180
  AD
• Athanasius, Jerome, Augustine (350 AD)
• Church Counsel 393 AD

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Rejected Apocryphathose hidden away

• Epistle of Pseudo Barnabas
• Epistles to the Corinthians
• Apocalypse of Peter
• The acts of Paul and Thecla
• Epistle to the Laodicans
• The Gospel According to the Hebrews
• The Seven Epistles of Ignatius

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Why were they rejected?

• None had more than a temporary or local
  recognition.
• No major church council included them as inspired
  books of the New Testament.
• Some books had historical discrepancies.

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Recognition of the OT Canon

• Last books Malachi Chronicles written around
  450 BC
• Approximate recognition between 450 to 150 BC
• the voice of God had ceased to speak directly

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Confirmation of Jesus Christ

• Jesus was after the Canon (0 to 33 AD)
• Confirmed the law of Moses and the Prophets (Luke
  2444)
• Jesus disagreed with Pharisees traditions not
  the Canon (John 1031-36 Luke 2444)
• From the blood of Abel to the blood of
  Zachariah (Luke 1151) 1st and final martyr

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Codex - Early Bound Copies

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Ancient versions and Texts
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Early English Versions
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Early English Versions
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Early English Versions
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English Version Since 1901
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English Version Since 1901
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English Version Since 1901
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Conclusions

• Unique collection of books
• Books in Harmony
• Many authors
• Written over many years
• Many topics

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Bibliographical Evidence

• How do we know that the Bible of today is
  even close to the original?

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Historical Accuracy of the Bible

• Memory fades
• Written records do not fade
• Obvious fact
• The earlier the historical record is written, the
  more accurate it is !
• So How does the New Testament compare with
  historical writings (about famous people) around
  the same time ?

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Accuracy Bible vs Julius Caesar
Jesus died
Earliest Surviving Copy Mark
Tacitus
Caesar died
Mark
30 AD
70 AD
60 AD
350 AD
44 BC
Earliest Surviving Copy Tacitus
100 yrs
40 yrs
950 AD
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When did Christianity begin ?

• Jesus Christ did not start Christianity
• Christianity started by
• Jesus disciples (Peter, John, Matthew,..)
• Jesus brother James (in Jerusalem)
• Paul (apostle to the gentiles)
• So anyone who would know whether Jesus really
  came back alive, it would be these people

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Foundation of Christianity

• What is the one thing that the whole Christian
  faith is based on ?
• Jesus resurrection from the death
• Supporting material
• 1Co 1514 And if Christ has not been raised,
  then our proclamation is worthless, and your
  faith is also worthless.

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The Old Testament

• The Scribes were professional writers.
• They believed they were transcribing the Word of
  God and were therefore very careful.
• The earliest complete copy of the Old Testament
  was written in Hebrew, from around 900 A.D.

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The Old Testament

• When the book was copied, auditors would add up
  the letters and find the middle letter. If it
  didnt match the original, they tore it up and
  made a new one.

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Conclusion

• We can now be sure that copyists worked with
  great care and accuracy on the Old Testament,
  even back to 225 B.C. . . . indeed, it would be
  rash skepticism that would now deny that we have
  our Old Testament in a form very close to that
  used by Ezra when he taught the word of the Lord
  to those who had returned from the Babylonian
  captivity.
• R. Laird Harris
• Can I Trust My Bible

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The New Testament

• There are more than 5,000 different ancient Greek
  manuscripts containing all or portions of the New
  Testament that have survived to our time. These
  are written on different materials.

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Bibliographic Evidence

• Q Is the text that we have now what was
  originally written? ( of early copies)
• Compare Bible with other ancient books
• Author Book Written Early copy Time gap Copies
• Aristotle Poetics 343 BC 1100 AD 1400 yrs 5
• Caesar Gallic Wars 50 BC 900 AD 950 yrs 10
• Homer Iliad 900 BC 400 BC 500 yrs 643
• Bible-NT 40-100 AD 125 AD 25 yrs 24,000
• ? Of antiquity, Bible is most reliably validated

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Consistency among copies

• Do all copies say the same thing?
• Homers Iliad Variance of 5.0 of the text
  (764 lines)
• New Testament Variance of 0.5 of the text
  (40 lines)
• Scribes were extremely careful to preserve these
  sacred truths
• ? Good reason to trust the reliability of the
  Bible

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Internal Evidence

• Q Are the things written in it credible?
  (geographical chronological proximity)
• Most authors were direct eyewitnesses
• Books were circulated within the lifetimes of
  those who were present
• Could be refuted if incorrectbut wasnt

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Conclusion

• In no other case is the interval of time
  between the composition of the book and the date
  of the earliest manuscripts so short as in that
  of the New Testament. Sir Frederic Kenyon

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External Evidence

• Q Are there other confirmations outside of the
  Bible?
• Archaeological confirmations
• e.g. names, governors, magistrates, and customs
  traditions
• travel to hometown for the census

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Archeological Proof

• Tablets have confirmed ancient structures and
  people.
• Cities have been discovered
• A coin of a famous Biblical King was found
• Bible Fragments/Books (i.e. Dead Sea Scrolls)
• Countless other artifacts
• Many famous archaeologists have great respect for
  the Bible.

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Other historians mention Jesus

• At this time there was a wise man who was called
  Jesus. And his conduct was good, and he was
  known to be virtuous. And many people from among
  the Jews and the other nations became his
  disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified
  and to die. And those who had become his
  disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They
  reported that he appeared to them three days
  after his crucifixion and that He was alive
  accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah
  concerning whom the prophets have recounted
  wonders." Flavius Josephus (AD 37),
  Antiquities XVIII, 33

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Why should you study the Bible

• Bible is most published, translated, an purchased
  book in the world.
• The Bible is a reliable document
• You will hear Testimonies of how others came to
  know God
• God loves you and has a plan for your life
• Great way to make friends learn new words

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Conclusion

• Certainly the Bible is the most accurate and
  attested document of the ancient world. To reject
  it as Gods Word is more likely due to personal
  bias than the evidence.

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How is the Bible Divided

• Old Testament and New Testament
• Books
• Chapters
• Verses