Transcript The Bible Exposed - Add To Your Learning

Welcome to
THE BIBLE
Sponsored by Metro Manila Christian Church
THE BIBLE
Bible Secrets,
Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, and
the Gospel of Judas…
How does the Bible hold up?
Attacks on the Bible
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Incoherent! Fraught with inconsistencies
Incomplete! Partisan and faulty compiling
…a determinist sociological phenomenon
…a product of mere coincidence, arbitrary
decisions, or political agendas
Attacks on Jesus as he is
presented in the Bible
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Jesus is a mythical figure.
Jesus is an overrated Bible character.
Other wild claims
Seeking to ‘expose’ the Bible
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Expert skeptics
Uninformed skeptics
Fiction enthusiasts
Wide readers
Ordinary readers
A question of evidence
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A study of the defense of the Bible
requires judgment
Before you make a judgment, you need to
look at all the facts
The Bible Exposed
Ill-meaning attempts to ‘expose’ the
truth about the Bible backfire on the
people who start them.
Instead of the Bible getting ‘exposed,’
it’s the other way around; people’s
motives, faults, and inconsistencies
get exposed.
Bible Exposé #1
The Gospel
of Judas
What is the Gospel of Judas?
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Historical background
3rd /4th century doc
Coptic language
What is the Gospel of Judas?
Judas, who is
portrayed as ‘greater’
than the other
apostles, was
commissioned by
Jesus to be the
instrumental hero
towards the ultimate
goal: for (the true)
Jesus to be ‘released’
from his mortal body
The Gospel of Judas & Gnosticism
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Gnosticism: from ‘gnosis’; hybrid
philosophical and religious system of
belief; emphases - ‘the all’, ‘flesh is evil’,
‘elite knowledge’
Vocabulary & theology  Gnostic leanings
Nag Hammadi documents (largely Gnostic)
Related text: Gospel of Thomas
Problems with Gospel of Judas
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Influence of Gnostic philosophy
Late time of writing; at least 3 generations
from the writing of the other gospels
Removed from Jesus’ lifetime
Cryptic, non-orthodox teaching
Does not pass the 1st century ‘bios’ test
Not accepted by the early church
Rejection of false gospels
What the earliest witnesses say
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2 Pe 1:16 “We did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we told you about
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his
majesty.”
What the earliest witnesses say
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Col 2:8-10 See to it that no one takes you
captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human
tradition and the basic principles of this
world rather than on Christ. For in Christ
all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily
form, and you have been given fullness in
Christ, who is the head over every power
and authority.
What the earliest witnesses say
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Col 2:20-23 ….why, as though you still
belonged to [the world], do you submit to
its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do
not touch!"? These are all destined to
perish with use… Such regulations indeed
have an appearance of wisdom, with their
self-imposed worship, their false humility
and their harsh treatment of the body, but
they lack any value in restraining sensual
indulgence.
The Gospel of Judas-Conclusions
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Represents a later reaction (like other
Gnostic writings) on the original and
earlier teaching of the apostles
Presents vocabulary and theology different
from OT, apostolic and early church
documents; explains rejection
Does not shed any light on our historical
understanding of Jesus and the NT
Bible Exposé #2
Dan Brown’s
“Da Vinci
Code”
Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code
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A novel
A suspenseful, thought-provoking plot
Includes an intro: “FACT:…All descriptions
of artwork, architecture, documents, and
secret rituals in this novel are accurate.”
A novel nonetheless
Category (per printer): Fiction
Cracking the code…
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Impossibility of the storyline
Misrepresentation of organizations
Cracking the code…
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Inaccuracy of geographical data
Regino Cortes: Brown located 24 Rue Haxo on
the ‘western outskirts of Paris’ in the novel’s
original English version. This error is so
glaring that in the French translation of the
novel, it was changed to 24 Rue de
Longchamp.
Cracking the code…
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Wrong information on art history
Art historian Denise Budd, Columbia University:
There is no real evidence at all that Leonardo da
Vinci was a member of the Priory of Sion or any
other secret organization. The documents that
Dan Brown relied upon…appear to be 20th
century forgeries…
Cracking the code…
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Wrong information on art history
Art historian Diane Cappadona of Georgetown
University:
[On Brown’s supposition that the ‘John’ character
in the Last Supper is really Mary] It nicely fits
with feminist theology...However, that doesn’t
make it true…No, I do not believe that there is a
woman in the Last Supper and I do not believe
in any way that it is Mary Magdalene.
Cracking the code…
Cracking the code…
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Dan Brown guilty of
‘stealing ideas?’
Cracking the code…
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Impossibility of the storyline
Misrepresentation of organizations
Inaccurate geography
Inaccurate art history
Plagiarism angle
Dan Brown’s intro
“FACT:…All descriptions of
artwork, architecture,
documents
documents, and secret
rituals in this novel are
accurate.”
Claim #1 regarding documents
Ch 55, p.254: “As of the fourth
century, thousands of
documents already existed
chronicling His life as a mortal
man.”
What are the documents out there?
1 Nag Hammadi library
2 NT Apocrypha (not same as OT
apocrypha)
3 Apostolic ‘Fathers’
4 Ante-Nicene documents
5 Others - inscriptions, coins, etc.
Claim #2 regarding documents
Ch 55, p.251: “More than eighty
gospels were considered for the
New Testament, and yet only a
relative few were chosen for
inclusion—Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John among them”
More than eighty gospels?
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Brown is saying here that
aside from Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, many dozens of other
‘gospels’ were considered in the
selection process for the
formation of the NT canon.
Let’s do the math
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Number of gospels
other than
Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John
actually brought
forward by the
author or an
apostle to be
included in the
‘canon’ = 0
Let’s do the math
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Number of ‘gospel’
documents
mentioned in
history but not
commended as
canonical (accepted
by agreed standard)
gospels = 3
Gospel of the Hebrews
Gospel of Thomas
Gospel of Judas
Let’s do the math
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Number of
documents called
gospels and remotely
resembling the
canonical gospels but
largely rejected by
Christians= 3
Gospel of Peter
Gospel of Philip
Gospel of Mary
Let’s do the math
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Number of
documents called
‘gospels’ even if
they have nothing
to do with the
good news and
were largely
ignored = 7
Gospel of the Egyptians
Gospel of Truth
Gospel of the Ebionites
Gospel of Naassenes
Gospel of Nazoreans
Gospel of Bartholomew
Infancy gospel of Thomas
Let’s do the math
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13 total; all are
later writings
Can’t even be
called ‘gospels’
Not seriously
considered by
early church
Where are the socalled ‘eighty
gospels’?
Gospels of Thomas (2)
Gospel of Judas
Gospel of Philip
Gospel of Peter
Gospel of Mary
Gospel of the Egyptians
Gospel of Truth
Gospel of the Ebionites
Gospel of the Hebrews
Gospel of Naassenes
Gospel of Nazoreans
Gospel of Bartholomew
Claim #3 regarding documents
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Ch 55, p.251: “The Bible as we know
it today, was collated by the pagan
Roman Emperor Constantine the
great…” p.254 “…Constantine
commissioned and financed a new
Bible…”
Did Constantine collate the Bible?
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New Testament books were written by 100 AD,
and were in circulation already by that time
Constantine (and the Council of Nicaea, 325 AD)
came 200 years later, and had nothing to do
with ‘choosing’ which books of the Bible would
be included in the Canon
Constantine commissioned the ‘copying’ of
Bibles, meaning there was already a Bible to be
copied!
Dan, get your facts straight!
NT & Bible
Compiled
OT
Compiled
380AD
325AD
OT
Completed
30AD
90AD
NT 85%
Compiled
400BC
2200BC
Nicaea,
Constantine
180AD
NT
Completed
Claim #4 regarding documents
Ch 55, p.254: “Some of the gospels that
Constantine attempted to eradicate
managed to survive. The Dead Sea
Scrolls were found in the 1950’s hidden in
a cave…And of course, the Coptic scrolls in
1945 at Nag Hammadi…these documents
speak of Christ’s ministry in very human
terms.”
Do the Dead Sea Scrolls teach that
Jesus was merely human?
Claim #4 regarding documents
Ch 55, p.254: “Some of the gospels that
Constantine attempted to eradicate
managed to survive. The Dead Sea
Scrolls were found in the 1950’s hidden in
a cave…And of course, the Coptic scrolls in
1945 at Nag Hammadi…these documents
speak of Christ’s ministry in very human
terms.”
Comments on DVC
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Bart Ehrman, University of North Carolina
(Chapel Hill):
There is no evidence that Jesus was ever
married, let alone married to Mary
Magdalene.
Comments on DVC
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Harold Attridge, dean of Yale Divinity
School:
[Brown] has “wildly misinterpreted” early
Christianity…if people are intrigued by the
historical questions, there are plenty of
materials out there.
Comments on DVC
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James Robinson, Claremont Graduate
School, on the Da Vinci hubbub:
We are a Jesus-haunted culture that’s
biblically illiterate.
Comments on DVC
Skeptic Magazine (atheist magazine), on
Dan Brown’s research:
“In matters of historical analysis, it is not
possible to be more wrong than this.”
Truths, Half-truths, Lies
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Mk 3:22 By the prince of demons he is
driving out demons.
he is driving out demons
by the prince of demons
Problems with Da Vinci Code in the
area of ‘documents’ only
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Erroneous statements on the gospels
Confusion regarding early writings and
later reflections
Misunderstanding of the role of church
councils
Inaccurate assessment of Constantine’s
role in 4th cen Christianity
More thoughts on the DVC
G.K. Chesterson once wrote:
…we have made fiction to suit ourselves.
More thoughts on the DVC
Curtis White, author of The Middle Mind: Why
Americans Don’t Think for Themselves—The Da
Vinci Code:
…it is the popular expression of a desire for a kind
of meaningfulness to life that is missing for most
of us…it is [this] assumption that we’re willing to
think heretically in order to escape that fraud
that makes Brown’s deepest appeal to his
readers.
Da Binchee hu?
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Leonardo Da Vinci
(1452-1519)
Da Binchee hu?
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Renaissance painter, architect, engineer,
mathematician, scientist and philosopher
He lived in the 15th century, 1400 years
after Christ!
When did Da Vinci become an authority in
religious truth?
Will you base your faith on this man?
Conclusion on the DVC
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Dan Brown’s assertions on the roots
of Christianity are not just disturbing,
but erroneous, his fallacy-laden
arguments stemming from extremely
poor research, personal bias, or both.
Recommended Reading
On evidences/apologetics
“Evidence that Demands a Verdict”
by Josh MacDowell
On Bible text history
“The Canon Debate” by Lee MacDonald
On Church history
“Church History in Plain Language”
by Bruce Shelley
More to be posted at www.addtoyourlearning.com
The Bible Exposed
Attempts to ‘expose’ the truth about
the Bible backfire on the people who
started them.
Instead of the Bible getting ‘exposed,’
it’s the other way around; people’s
motives, faults, and inconsistencies
get exposed.
If you really expose the Bible…
You will find out…
That it’s a
GREAT BOOK!
What’s so great about the Bible?
1. Unbelievable Unity
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Around 40 authors, 3 languages, 3
continents
Written in a span of about 1500 years in
very different contexts
Coherent, singleness of thought
What’s so great about the Bible?
2. Amazing Accuracy
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Contains factual information which
corresponds with reality
Contains incidental information which
corresponds with truthful account
What’s so great about the Bible?
3. Terrific Toughness
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Withstood the tests of time and
trouble
Bernard Ramm: .. No other book has
been chopped, knived, sifted,
scrutinized, and vilified
What’s so great about the Bible?
4.
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Incredible Impact
The number one best seller of all time
Translated into more than 2,200 languages
and dialects
UBS sells around 50,000 /day
Changed lives the world over
Conclusion – The Bible Exposed
Ps 119:18 Open my eyes
that I may see wonderful
things in your law
What do we do with the Bible?
Conclusion – The Bible Exposed
• Learn it!
• Love it!
• Live it!
THE BIBLE
Sponsored by Metro Manila Christian Church