How We Got Our Bible

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A few preliminary thoughts
1. Bible remains the worlds best seller.
2. Bible remains most neglected book.
3. Bible remains the piece of literature to be
most trusted.
4. Bible is constantly under attack.
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Biblia-
the books
Papyrus
Codex
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Marzeah Papyrus
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Biblical Languages
1. Hebrew
2. Aramaic
3. Greek
Uncials
Miniscules
thussaithglenitishightimewetookourbiblesliterallya
ndseriously
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Kanwn-
A measuring stick

• Where does the authority originate?
• Authority for the Canon comes from man.

2. Authority for the Canon comes from the
Church.
3. Authority for the Canon comes from God.
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OT Canon
Begins with the written words of God (Ex
3118) Grew in size throughout the time of
Israels history, written by those who fulfilled
the office of prophet (Deut 3124-26 1 Sam
1025 Jer 302) Continued until about 435
BC Accepted by Jesus and his contemporaries Conf
irmed by the church as early as AD 170
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OT Canon

• Gods 1st communication was oral.
• Moses
• Exodus 1714
• Exodus 244
• Exodus 3427-28
• Numbers 332
• Deut. 319, 24
• Deut. 3122
• Moses wrote the Torah

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The History of Ancient Writings
Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions
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The History of Ancient Writings
1. Stone
Moabite Stone
Gezer Calendar
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The History of Ancient Writings
2. Clay
A Babylonian tablet from 87 B.C. reports the
arrival of the comet now known as Halley.
Fragment of a clay tablet from the library of
Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, with an Assyrian account
of the Flood
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The History of Ancient Writings
3. Wood Wax
Wooden tablets often had an inlay of wax to write
upon. The Assyrians used these tablets and bind
them together like a modern day book and call it
a Codex.
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The History of Ancient Writings
4. Metal
The Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make
his face shine upon you and be gracious to you
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you
peace. Numbers 624-25
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The History of Ancient Writings
5. Ostraca
Broken pottery was often used as scratch paper
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Why did Moses write Scripture?
1. Gods method of preservation of canon

• 2. Delivery to other places
• Jeremiah 291
• Jeremiah 361-8

• 3. Future memorial to Israel
• Exodus 1714

• 4. A witness
• Deuteronomy 3124-26

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OT Canon
TaNaKh T Torah (The Law) N Neviim (The
Prophets) K Kethubim (The Writings)
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OT Canon

• Closing of the Torah (Law)
• Canonical by times of Ezra Nehemiah
• 5th Century BC

Closing the Neviim Kethubim

• 3rd Cent. BC Translated into Greek (LXX)

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OT Canon
(Apocrypha)," And also that he Judas Maccabaeus
founded a library and collected the books about
the kings and prophets, and the writings of
David, and letters of kings about votive
offerings. In the same way Judas Maccabaeus
also collected all the books that had been lost
on account of the war which had come upon us, and
they are in our possession. So if you have need
of them, send people to get them for you.
2 Maccabees 213b-15 (RSV)
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OT Canon
Difference between Jewish OT and Canonical OT
Jewish (22 Books)
Law
Prophets
Former Prophets Joshua, Judges, Samuel Kings
Latter Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
The Twelve
Writings
Note Ends with 2 Chronicles
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OT Canon
And so upon you will come all the righteous
blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood
of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son
of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple
and the altar. Matthew 2335
From the blood of Abel
to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between
the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you,
this generation will be held responsible for it
all. Luke 1151
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• What About Jamnia?
• AD 90 Council of Jamnia
• Not a major council
• Limited discussion on Ecclesiastes and Song of
  Songs
• Canon fixed prior to birth of Christ
• Matthew 41-4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit
  into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After
  fasting forty days and forty nights, he was
  hungry. The tempter came to him and said, If you
  are the Son of God, tell these stones to become
  bread. Jesus answered, It is written 'Man does
  not live on bread alone, but on every word that
  comes from the mouth of God. '

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Principles Factors Determining the OT Canon
1. Prophetic Authorship (Hag 13 Zech. 11)
2. Testimony of the Holy Spirit
3. Providential Care
4. Validation By Christ (Matt 2142 2654)
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4 Categories of Religious Writings
1. Homolegomera
2. Antilegomera
3. Apocryphal
4. Pseudepigrapha
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The Apocrypha
The Intertestament Period

• Alexander the Great died in 323 BC

• Palestine under severe pressure

• Constant revolts

• Hellenization of culture

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The Apocrypha Why not canonized?

1. Never included in Old Testament canon

2. Never accepted by Jesus/Apostles
3. Never accepted by early Jewish writers
4. No evidence of inspiration
5. Errors
6. Uncertainty
7. Objections not overcome
8. Unorthodox Doctrine
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Problem Doesnt Jude quote non-canonical
literature?
(v. 9) But even the archangel Michael, when he
was disputing with the devil about the body of
Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous
accusation against him, but said, The Lord
rebuke you!

Enoch, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied about these men See, the Lord is
coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy
ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the
ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in
the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words
ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jude 19, 14-15
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Qumran
Dead Sea Scrolls
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NT Canon
Begins with the writings of the apostles (Jn
1426 1613-14) Claims authority (2 Pet 32 1
Cor 26-10) Apostles treat the writings of other
apostles as part of Scripture (2 Pet 315-16 1
Tim 517-18 with Luke 107)
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NT Canon
Includes some writings of those very close to the
apostles (Mark, Luke, Acts, Jude) The author of
Hebrews is not known, but the church accepted
this book early on as self-attesting Completed
with the death of the apostles no further
revelation awaits (Heb 11-2 Rev
2218-19) Confirmed by the church as early as AD
367
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NT Canon
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in my name, will teach you all
things and will remind you of everything I have
said to youBut when He, the Spirit of truth,
comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will
not speak on his own he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to
come. John 1426 1613
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5 Periods of NT Canonization
1. First Century

• Scriptures were written.

• Scriptures were to be publicly read.
• 1 Thessalonians 527

AD 95 Clement of Rome

• Paul commends their acceptance
• 1 Thessalonians 213

• Paul insists his writings are from God.
• Colossians 416

• Pauls letters included with other Scriptures
• 2 Peter 315-16

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5 Periods of NT Canonization
2. First half of second century
Ryland Fragment
Polycarp
Ignatius
Marcion
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5 Periods of NT Canonization
3. Second half of second century
The Word gave us the Gospel in fourfold shape,
but held together by one Spirit. Irenaeus

• Muratorian Fragment AD 170

4. Third century
Clement
Irenaeus
Origen
Tertullian
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5. Fourth century
Constantine
Eusebius
Athanasius
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The Big 3 Codices
Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Sinaiticus
British Library
British Library
Codex Vaticanus
Vatican Library
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• Summary
• 100 AD
• All 27 books of the New Testament were in
  circulation and all but Hebrews, 2 Peter, James,
  2 John, 3 John and Revelation were universally
  accepted
• 100-400 AD
• 6 disputed books accepted.
• A number of other books were read in a few
  churches at various times Shepherd of Hermes, 1
  Clement, Didache, Epistle of Barnabas, Wisdom of
  Solomon, Apocalypse of Peter

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Principles Factors Determining the NT Canon
1. Divine Inspiration
Inspiration is not

1. Human achievement

2. Human thoughts and ideas
3. Human responses to Gods leading
4. Divine dictation
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• Principles Factors Determining the Canon
  continued
• Divine Inspiration

2. Authorship
3. Orthodoxy
4. Obedience
5. Cohesiveness
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Principles Factors Determining the Canon
continued
6. Acceptance
7. Relevance
8. Universality
9. Sacred Objects
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Bottom Line The believers (the church) DID NOT
establish the canon, but simply bore witness of
Gods leading by recognizing their authority!
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The Nag Hammadi Collection
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The Nag Hammadi Collection
Gospel of Thomas

• Supposedly written by the Apostle Thomas
• Unanimously rejected
• Confusion

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The Nag Hammadi Collection
Gospel of Philip
All descriptions of artwork, architecture,
documents, and secret rituals in this novel are
accurate. Dan Brown
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What People Say About the Bible
1. The Bible is just a bunch of stories.
2. The Bible is filled with contradictions.
3. The Bible is outdated.
4. The Bible is not scientific.
5. The Bible is a man-made book.
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Evidence for Reliability of the Bible
1. External Evidence

• Preeminence Among Literature

1) Preeminent in circulation
2) Preeminent in influence
3) Preeminent among religious writings
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• Preservation Under Attack

1) Attack of man
2) Attack of time
A. Number of Manuscripts
B. Number of Variants
C. Time gap between originals and earliest
copies

• Proof From Archeology

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2. Internal Evidence

• Amazing Agreement

• Total Consistency

1) Supposed contradictions of message
2) Supposed contradictions of numbers
3) Supposed parallel story contradictions
4) Supposed historical contradictions
5) Supposed scientific contradictions

• Fulfilled Prophecy

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3. Experiential Evidence

• The Bible is gripping.

• The Bible is comforting.

• The Bible is convicting.

• The Bible is freeing.

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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will never pass away. Mark 1331
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I came that you might have life, and have it to
the full." John 1010b
Sin separates man from God
Man
God
(Sinful)
(Holy)
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"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God." Romans 323 
Good Works
Man
God
Religion
(Sinful)
(Holy)
Philosophy
Morality
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But God demonstrates his own love for us in
this While we were still sinners, Christ died
for us." Romans 58
Jesus Christ
Man
God
(Sinful)
(Holy)
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"To all who received Him, to those who believed
in His name, He gave the right to become children
of God." John 112
Jesus Christ
Man
God
(Sinful)
(Holy)
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Special Terms

• Apocrypha
• apostle
• canon
• canonical
• covenant
• God-breathed
• history of redemption
• self-attesting

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