The Uniqueness of the Bible

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The Uniqueness of the Bible

• Unique
• One and Only
• Different From All Others
• Having No Like or Equal
• One of a Kind
• Our purpose To show how the Bible is unique
  and different from all other
  written documents

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Unique In Its Continuity

• The Bible Was Written
• Over a long period of time
• Over 1600 years
• Over 40 generations

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Unique In Its Continuity

• The Bible Was Written
• By about 40 authors from many different walks of
  life
• Moses, political leader educated in Egypt
• Peter, a fisherman
• Amos, herdsman
• Joshua, military leader
• Nehemiah, cup bearer to King of Persia
• Daniel, prime minister in the courts of Babylon
• Luke, physician
• Solomon, King
• Matthew, tax collector
• Paul, tent maker

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Unique In Its Continuity

• The Bible Was Written In Many Different Places
• In the wilderness
• In a dungeon
• On a hillside
• In a palace
• In prison
• While traveling
• In exile
• In a military campaign

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Unique In Its Continuity

• The Bible Was Written
• On Three Continents
• Asia
• Africa
• Europe
• In Three Languages
• Hebrew
• Aramaic
• Greek

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Unique In Its Continuity

• The Bible Was Written With Many Controversial
  Subjects
• The origin of mankind
• The origin of the universe
• The purpose of mankind
• What happens after death
• The nature of God
• The nature of mankind, sin and redemption
• Good verses Evil

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Unique In Its Continuity

• Yet There Is Harmony and Continuity
• Paradise lost in the book of Genesis becomes the
  paradise regained in the book of Revelation
• Access to the Tree of Life is forbidden in
  Genesis and allowed again in Revelation
• In Genesis man is separated from God because of
  sin, in the book of Revelation sin is
  destroyed and man is reconciled to God
• Compare the Bible with any other writings of men
• Imagine what you would have if you took ten
  men, from one walk of life, in one generation,
  in one place, at one time, on one continent
  and one language and have them write on one
  controversial subject

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Unique In Its Translation

• One of the first major books translated
• Septuagint version of the Old Testament
  translated into Greek in 250 B.C.
• By the end of 1993, the whole Bible had been
  translated into 337 languages 2,062 languages
  have translations of at least one book of the
  Bible.
• Guinness Book of World Records, 1998

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Unique In Its Circulation

• Circulation
• In 1804 409 million copies
• In 1932 one and a third billion copies
• The worlds best selling and most widely
  distributed book is the Bible, with an
  estimated 2.5 billion copies sold.
• Guinness Book of World Records, 1975
• No other book has known anything approaching
  this constant circulation.
  Cambridge History of the Bible

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Unique In Its Survival

• The Bible Was
• Written on material that was perishable
• Copied and recopied over hundreds of years by
  hand
• Banned, burned and outlawed
• Criticized, ridiculed and mocked
• Yet, its style, correctness and existence has
  not diminished.

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Unique In Its Teaching

• A Book of Prophecy
• No other book has predicted so many future
  events and then have them all come to pass
• There are 44 prophecies concerning Jesus
• Micah 52 Born in Bethlehem
  Luke 24,5
• Isaiah 714 Born of a Virgin
  Luke 126,27
• Zech. 1112 Betrayed 30 pieces Silver
  Matt. 2614,15
• Zech. 1210 Hands and Feet Pierced John
  2027
• Psalms 2217 Clothing Gambled For Matt.
  2735,36
• Psalms 3420 No Broken Bones
  John 1932-36
• Psalms 6818 Ascension back to God Mark
  1619

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Unique In Its Influence

• KJV Its Influence on Life and
  Literature by
  Cleland Boyd McAfee, D.D.
• The first and most notable fact regarding the
  influence of the Bible on English literature is
  the remarkable extent of that influence. It is
  literally everywhere. If every Bible in any
  considerable city were destroyed, the Book could
  be restored in all its essential parts from the
  quotations on the shelves of the city library.
  There are works, covering almost all the great
  literary writers, devoted especially to showing
  how much the Bible has influenced them.
• When, therefore, it is urged that the English
  Bible has influenced history, it is not making an
  undue claim for it. When it is further urged that
  of all books in English literature it has been
  most influential, it has most made history, it
  has most determined great movements, the argument
  only claims for it the highest place among books.

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Unique In Its Influence

• Carol Thiessen Faith Today
  July/August 1998
• The Bible has shaped not only religious
  thought, but politics, law, education,
  literature, culture, flavored our language with
  words and phrases, such as by the skin of their
  teeth (Job 1920) and the Good Samaritan ( Luke
  1025-37). Its stories are rendered creatively
  through painting and sculpture. Its themes have
  been portrayed lyrically by composers through the
  ages. We swear on Bibles in court we discover
  them in our hotel and hospital rooms. We can read
  them on CD-ROM and we can find thousands of sites
  dedicated to the Holy Book on the Internet.
  Touted by many as the best-selling book of all
  time, 80 percent of Americans in a 1996 national
  survey commissioned by Tyndale House Publishers
  named the Bible as the most influential book in
  human history.

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The Uniqueness of the Bible

• It has not been our purpose to absolutely prove
  that the Bible is the Word of God
• But I believe anyone with a logical mind and
  sincere heart could see that such a book, as
  the Bible, could not have been written by man
  alone
• Of course, we believe the Bible is unique
  because it did come from God.
• For prophecy never came by the will of man,
  but holy men of God spoke as they were moved
  by the Holy Spirit.
• 
  II Peter 121

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The Uniqueness of the Bible

• The Bible is unique because it is Gods revealed
  will to all of mankind
• In Him we have redemption through His blood,
  the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
  of His grace which He made to abound toward
  us in all wisdom and prudence, having made
  known to us the mystery of His will. Eph. 17-9
• Through His Word God has given us
• Everything that pertains to life and godliness
• The Words of Life
• The Words that will judge us

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The Uniqueness of the Bible

• The Bible is unique because it came from God.
• Since it is the Word of God, will you not listen
  to Him and Obey Him?

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• By Bob Gard Hollister Missouri church of
  Christ www.hollisterchurchofchr
  ist.org Adapted lesson from
  Mark A. Copeland
  www.executableoutlines.com
  December 4, 2005