Understanding the
value of God’s Word
What is the Bible?
The
Bible is comprised of 66 separate writings or books. It was written over a
period of approx 1400 years by more than 40 authors from various walks of life.
While many of the authors are
identified, some remain unknown.
The
Bible is divided in the OT, comprised of 39 books, and the NT comprised of 27
books. The OT, the Bible of the nation of Israel, was divided into 3 segments:
The Law or Torah, the Prophets of Nebi’im, and the writings of Kethubim. While
the Old Testament was original written in two Semitic languages, Hebrew and
Aramaic, the vast majority of it is in Hebrew.
With the
growth of the Greek Empire came the spread of the Greek language, and the Old
Testament was translated into Koine (common) Greek around 250-150 BC. This
translation is referred to as the Septuagint or the LXX. It contains the same
books as the Hebrew Old Testament, but the order and breakdown of the books was
changed to the from now used in the Old Testament.
By the
time of the Lord Jesus Christ, koine Greek had become the popular language used
throughout most of the Mediterranean world. Therefore, the New Testament was
written in Koine Greek. However, a few Aramaic phrases are found in the New Testament
because Aramaic was the vernacular of the people of Israel. Jesus and His disciples
spoke Aramaic as well as Koine Greek. Much of the Old Testament was translated into
Aramaic, and these works are referred to as the Targums.
How was the Bible written and translated?
The Bible itself tells us how it was written:
“All Scripture is inspired by God”
(2 Timothy 3:16)
Men “moved by the Holy Spirit spoke
from God” (1 Peter 1:21)
The
Greek world for inspired, theopneustos,
means “God-breathed.” The Holy Spirit carried men along, moving and guiding
them as they wrote in their own words what God wanted them to say. Thus we have
verbal inspiration, because the words of the original text were inspired by
God. And because all Scripture was given by inspiration we have plenary inspiration,
which means total or complete inspiration. Every part of the Bible is inspired.
The Bible does not merely contain the words of God, but it actually is the Word
of Gd. Thus the original writings, often called autographs, are infallible-without
error. This concept is called the verbal, plenary inspiration of the autographs
Autographs
In early history, writing was done
on stone, clay tablets, leather (animal skins), and papyrus scrolls. The New
Testament autographs were probably written on papyrus. Papyrus, made from the
inner bark of a reed plant, was formed into a paper-like material which was
glued together and rolled into a scroll. Normally the writing was done on only
one side of the scroll, so that as it was read it was unrolled with one hand
and rolled up with the other. The scrolls were kept in a cylindrical box called
capsa.
According to the Jewish Talmud, the
Scriptures were to be copied only on the skins of what God deemed as clean
animals, such as sheep, claves, and goats. Parchment (dried animal skin) was
costly but more durable and permanent then papyrus.
The Accuracy of the Copies
Eventually
the scrolls were replaced by the codex. The codex (plural codices) was made
from folded sheets, quires, which were stitched together like a book. Copies of
the Old Testament were transcribed by hand under the strictest measures. The
men who copied the manuscripts were called scribes. If one error was found the
entire copy was destroyed. Thus the accuracy of the Old Testament is
phenomenal. This accuracy has been confirmed by the large number of copies, by
the Septuagint, and by the Dead Sea Scrolls.
More
than 5000 ancient Greek copies of all or portions of the New Testament have
been found. Although there are minor variances in the copied manuscripts, none affect
doctrinal issues.
The Canon
The
same omnipotent Sovereign who inspired men to write the Word of God led other
men to recognize that these were the books which would comprise the canon of
Scripture. The canon is the group of books which are recognized to be inspired by
God. This group comprises the Old and New Testament. The Old Testament canon 39
books were fairly widely accepted in the days of Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself,
who is one with the Father, always affirmed and never contradicted the Old
Testament. Revelation, the last of the New Testament books to be written, was
completed before the end of the first century A.D. By A.D. 367 Bishop Athanasius
compiled the first know list of the current 27 books of the New Testament.
Translations
The
Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek copies of the 66 books of the Bible are the basis of
the translations made in the various languages of the world. A translator will
study the original words of these copies, determine what those words mean, and
then select the best way to faithfully transmit the meaning of the original words
in their context into the language of their translation. This is called a primary
translation.
A
secondary translation occurs when a translation is made from a primary translation
of another language, say English, into a third language. Thus a secondary
translation is not made from a copy of the original language but from a second
language translated from the original language (the primary translation).
How do we know
the Bible is what it claims to be – The Word of God?
Believing
the Bible is ultimately a matter of informed faith. You either believe what the
Word of God says about itself or you don’t. You either believe the testimony of
Jesus Christ regarding the World of God or you don’t.
There
are several areas of objective evidence that test and support the veracity of
the verbal, plenary inspiration of the autographs.
First,
there is bibliographic evidence for the Bible’s authenticity. No other ancient
writings have as much manuscript evidence as does the Bible. Aside from 643
copies of Homer’s work, which were written about 850 B.C., the other classical
words written between 450 B.C. and 10 B.C. have anywhere from 3 to 20 copies each,
but the New Testament has over 5000. And not only is there more than an ample
quantity of copies of the Bible, but the quality of the biblical manuscripts
surpasses that of other manuscripts as well.
The
passage of time is also a factor. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which date from 200
B.C. to A.D 68, greatly reduce the time span between the writing of the Old
Testament books to our earliest existing copies of the Old Testament. The time
span between the autographs of the New Testament and its existing copies is
between 100 and 200 years, vary low figure.
Second,
there is internal evidence for the authenticity of the Bible. The Bible not
only claims to be the Word of God, but it also states that not the smallest
letter or stroke will pass away from the law (the Old Testament) until all is
accomplished (Matthew 5:17, 18). Many of the writers claimed to be eyewitnesses
who wrote what they saw, heard, or experienced. Although there were so many
different authors who wrote over such a long time span, there are no
contradictions in what they wrote. Also, what was written in the Old Testament,
sealed and canonized, is often seen fulfilled in the New Testament. Thus there
is the internal evidence of fulfilled prophecy.
Overview of the Bible
PRE-EXILIC (Before the Babylonian Exile of Judah) | EXILIC (During the Babylonian Exile of Judah) | POST-EXILIC (After the Babylonian Exile of Judah) | NEW TESTAMENT
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TORAH (the Law, Moses, the Pentateuch)
Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy
HISTORICAL BOOKS (in parenthesis is the kingdom to which prophesied) Obadiah (Southern) Joel (Southern) Jonah (northern) Amos (Northern) Hosea (Northern) Isaiah (Southern) Jeremiah (Southern) Micah (Southern) Nahum (Southern) Zephaniah (Southern) Habakkuk (southern)
POETRY AND WISDOM Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon | PROPHETIC BOOKS
Daniel Ezekiel Lamentations | HISTORICAL BOOKS
1 and 2 Chronicles (written) Ezra Nehemiah Esther | GOSPELS
Matthew Mark Luke John
PAUL'S EPISTLES Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 Timothy Titus Philemon
GENERAL EPISTLES Hebrews James 1 and 2 Peter 1, 2, and 3 John Jude
PROPHECY Revelation
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Finally, there is an abundance of external evidence that supports the Bible's infallibility. When the Bible speaks on matters of history or science, it speaks accurately. There were times when it was supposed that science or history contradicted the Bible; however, later it was discovered that all the facts had not yet been uncovered.
More recent archaeological evidence has affirmed the historicity of the Bible in a multitude of ways as it speaks regarding rulers, nations, languages, battles, customs, geographic locations, tragedies, and other events. Extra biblical writings also affirm what the New testament teaches about the historicity of Jesus Christ and other New Testament characters.
Have you accepted the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that you may be adequate, equipped for every good work? (2 Timothy 3:16). As you study the Bible, you will discover that it is a supernatural book... the very words of life.