Transcript Slide 1

Christians for Origins and Religious Research
(CORR) presents:
CORR Bible Study every
Monday, 12:30-1:20, 207 RSC
CORR Bible Study every
Monday, 12:30-1:20, 207 RSC
How did God bring us the message of the Cross?
Origin of Bible
Thursday Oct. 19th at 7:00 pm
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(Hebrews 4:12)
Hubbard Hall
Room 218
How did God bring us the message of the Cross?
Origin of Bible
CORR Presentation
October 19, 2006
A Work of the Holy Spirit
And so we have the prophetic word
confirmed, which you do well to heed as a
light that shines in a dark place, until the day
dawns and the morning star rises in your
hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy
of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
for prophecy never came by the will of man,
but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:19-21
The Cross from Eternity Past
… knowing that you were not redeemed with
corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your
aimless conduct received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot. He
indeed was foreordained before the foundation of
the world, but was manifest in these last times for
you who through Him believe in God, who raised
Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that
your faith and hope are in God.
(1 Peter 1:18-21)
The Eternal Word
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through Him, and without Him
nothing was made that was made. In Him
was life, and the life was the light of men.
And the light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not comprehend it.
John 1:1-5
The Light of the World
He was in the world, and the world was made
through Him, and the world did not know Him. He
came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the
right to become children of God, to those who
believe in His name: who were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man,
but of God.
John 1:10-13
The Lamb of God
The next day John saw Jesus coming
toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world! …
And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the
Spirit descending from heaven like a dove,
and He remained upon Him. … this is He
who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I
have seen and testified that this is the Son
of God.”
John 1:29-34
Peter becomes a disciple
One of the two who heard John speak, and
followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
He first found his own brother Simon, and said to
him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is
translated, the Christ). And he brought him to
Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said,
“You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be
called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
John 1:40-42
The Word of God
• Jesus Christ
– He is God.
– He is man.
• The Bible
– Written by God
– Written by man
The Bible as a Human Book
The Bible as a Human Book
The term "Bible" was not used to designate
the Holy Scriptures until the time of the Early
Church Fathers about A.D. 400. These Latin
Scholars borrowed the word from the plural
Greek word, biblia, meaning "rolls" or
"scrolls." … Technically, the term "Bible"
means "Book of Books," or an especially
important (or authoritative) collection of
books.
Huber L. Drumwright (adapted)
The Bible as a Human Book
During the approximately 1,600 (Moses to Apostles) when
its materials were being written, the Bible did not circulate
as a single book. It was not until the 4th century A.D. that
all of its units were copied together in a single volume.
Although no term that appears in the Bible itself refers to
that volume as it is known today, several terms are used in
the Scriptures to designate various portions of the modern
Bible. "The Law" (Josh. 8:34; Neh. 3:2; Lk. 10:26); "the
Book of the Law" (Josh. 8:34); "the Law of the Lord" (Lk.
2:23); "the Law of Moses" (Josh. 8:31-32; Neh. 8:1; Lk.
24:44); "the Scriptures" (Mat. 21:42; Mk. 12:24; Jn. 5:39);
"the Holy Scriptures" (Rom. 1:2); "the Book of the
Covenant" (Ex. 24:7) are among the terms used for various
portions of the Bible.
Huber L. Drumwright (adapted)
The Bible as a Human Book
The most recent of Old Testament books,
Malachi, was written in about 400 B.C. The
full list of Old Testament books, as
recognized by Protestant Christians today,
was fixed and declared authoritative by the
Jewish Rabbinical Council of Jamnia (about
A.D. 90).
The Apocrypha
During the last two centuries before Christ and the
first Christian century, a number of other Jewish
writings appeared. These writings, now called
“Apocrypha,” failed to gain acceptance from the
Jewish Rabbinical Council of Jamnia. The term
“Apocrypha” comes from a Greek term meaning
“hidden” or “secret.” Originally its use suggested
that the books so designated contained esoteric
truth to be communicated only to the initiated,
being hidden from the outside world.
Huber L. Drumwright (adapted)
The Apocrypha
The Apocryphal books are not recognized by
Protestant Christians or Orthodox Jews as
canonical (inspired by God). The New
Testament writers never quoted from the
Apocryphal books, and that the Apocrypha
was never considered part of the canonical
Jewish scripture. However, the Roman
Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches
include the Apocrypha in their Bible.
www.septuagint.net (adapted)
Holy Bible: A General Overview
The Holy Bible is comprised of 66 books, written
over approximately 1600 years, by at least 40
distinct authors. The Old Testament (Old
Covenant) contains 39 books written from
approximately 1500 to 400 BC, and the New
Testament (New Covenant) contains 27 books
written from approximately 40 to 90 AD. The
Jewish Bible (Tenach) is the same as the Christian
Old Testament, except for its book arrangement.
The original Old Testament was written mainly in
Hebrew, with some Aramaic, while the original
New Testament was written in Greek.
www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
Holy Bible: The Old Testament
The Holy Bible begins with the Jewish Scriptures.
The historical record of the Jews was written down
in scrolls and tablets over centuries, and the
authors included kings, shepherds, prophets and
other leaders inspired by God. In Exodus, God
tells Moses to write the Law (Torah) in a book.
About 450 BC, all of the Jewish scriptures were
collected and arranged by councils of rabbis, who
then recognized the complete set as the inspired
and sacred authority of God.
www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
Holy Bible: The Old Testament
Although the Jewish Scriptures were copied by
hand, they were extremely accurate copy to copy.
The Jews had a phenomenal system of scribes,
who developed intricate and ritualistic methods for
counting letters, words and paragraphs to insure
that no copying errors were made. In fact, scribal
tradition was maintained until the invention of the
printing press in 1455. As far as manuscript
accuracy, the recent discovery of the Dead Sea
Scrolls has confirmed the remarkable reliability of
the Old Testament texts over the years.
www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
Holy Bible: The New Testament
After approximately 400 years of scriptural
silence, Jesus arrived on the scene in about
4 BC. Throughout His teaching, Jesus often
quotes the Old Testament, declaring that He
did not come to destroy the Jewish
Scriptures, but to fulfill them. In Luke 24:4445, Jesus proclaims to his disciples, “All
things must be fulfilled, which were written in
the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and
in the psalms, concerning me.”
www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
Holy Bible: The New Testament
Starting in about 40 AD and continuing to about 90 AD, the
eye-witnesses to the life of Jesus Christ, including Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter and Jude write the
Gospels, letters and books that later become the New
Testament. These authors quote from 31 books of the Old
Testament, and widely circulate their material so that by
about 150 AD, early Christians were referring to the set of
writings as the New Covenant. During the 200s AD, the
writings were translated into Latin, Coptic (Egypt) and
Syriac (Syria) and widely disseminated. At this time, at
least 21 of the writings were considered canonical.
Thereafter, in 397 AD, the current 27 books of the New
Testament were formally confirmed and canonized in the
Synod of Carthage.
www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
Holy Bible: The New Testament
Like the Old Testament, we now have significant
evidence that the New Testament we read today is
remarkably accurate as compared to the original
manuscripts. Of the thousands of copies made by
hand before the printing press, we have
approximately 24,000 manuscripts, including more
than 5,300 Greek manuscripts from the New
Testament alone. The Bible is better preserved, by
far, than accepted writings of Homer, Plato and
Aristotle. www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
Holy Bible: The New Testament
The Bible was carried from country to
country, and translated into their languages.
Other than grammatical and cultural
differences, God’s Word has been
remarkably preserved and translated over
the years. The Bible now gives inspiration to
hundreds of millions throughout the world.
The Bible is truly the inspired Word of God
(2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:20-21).
www.allabouttruth.org/holy-bible.htm (adapted)
The Bible as a Divine Book
The Word of God
The Bible has been passed down to us
throughout the years intact and with extreme
authority.
Originally, God’s prophets wrote down His
message to us. The original documents
wore out and new copies were made. The
copying process was done with extreme
care.
http://www.ntm.org/books/ffless.html (adapted)
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary describes the
process.
“They used every imaginable safeguard, no
matter how cumbersome or laborious, to
ensure the accurate transmission of the text.
The number of letters in a book was counted
and its middle letter was given. Similarly with
the words and again the middle word of the
book was noted...”
http://www.ntm.org/books/ffless.html (adapted)
The Illustrated Bible Dictionary describes how
seriously the Jews were about the Scriptures.
“...it is important to recall the attitude of the Jews
toward their Scriptures. It can best be summed up
in the statement by Josephus (a Jewish writer of
the 1st century A.D.). ‘We have given practical
proof of our reverence for our own Scriptures. For,
although such long ages have now passed, no one
had ventured either to add, or to remove, or to
alter a syllable; and it is an instinct with every
Jew...to regard them as the decrees of God....’”
http://www.ntm.org/books/ffless.html (adapted)
The Bible
There are more copies of the manuscripts of
the Bible than any other ancient manuscript,
and not just a few, more, hundreds more.
All of the manuscript copies that have been
found over the years are extremely close in
content and they differ only in minute details,
which do not alter the message of the Bible
at all.
http://www.ntm.org/books/ffless.html (adapted)
The Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1947, about 15 miles from Jerusalem, a
shepherd boy threw a rock into a cave, hoping to
scare out one of his animals that had strayed into
the cave. He heard the sound of pottery breaking
and went inside the cave to investigate. To his
amazement, he saw that some pottery urns had
some ancient scrolls in them. These “Dead Sea
Scrolls” had been hidden in caves in the area by
the Dead Sea by a religious sect over 2000 years
ago, during the 100 years before Jesus Christ was
born.
http://www.ntm.org/books/ffless.html (adapted)
The Dead Sea Scrolls
At the time of this discovery, translators were using
manuscripts, which had been copied about 900
years after Christ was born. When scholars
compared the Dead Sea Scrolls with the
manuscripts, which they had been using, there
were no significant differences in text! Even
though these manuscripts were separated by
almost 1000 years, the older manuscripts were
virtually identical with the newer ones. God
preserves His Word.
http://www.ntm.org/books/ffless.html (adapted)
The Bible is God’s personal message to
each one of us. There are four foundational
themes that run through the Bible’s story.
These are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
God’s nature and character
Man’s sinfulness and rebellion
God’s hatred and judgment of sin
God’s only provision through a promised
Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and His
sacrifice on the Cross.
The key to fully understanding the Bible is to view
it through the “lens” of Christ’s work on the Cross.
The Cross is the key for:
•
•
•
What God has done to save us from the
penalty of sin and its consequences
What God has done to deliver us from
the power of sin in our daily lives
What God will do in the future to save us
from the presence of sin
Parts of the Bible: Typical things
found in the Bible are:
•
•
•
•
•
Table of Contents.
Old Testament.
New Testament.
Chapters and verses.
Footnotes and
various helps.
When we are talking
about the Bible, we are
only talking about the
text of the Bible. Not the
chapter numbers, verse
numbers, table of
contents or any notes.
The Bible proclaims itself as the
“Word of God.”
The existence of the Bible reflects God’s
desire to communicate with man. Here is
what the Bible says of itself.
All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
(Timothy 3:16)
The Bible proclaims itself as the
“Word of God.”
God inspired men to write down true history and
what He wanted to communicate.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation. For
the prophecy came not in old time by the will of
man: but holy men of God spoke as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit.
(2 Peter 1:20,21)
God gave His message to the world in the Bible
and He used the Jewish people to do it.
In Isaiah 43:10 God says of Israel (Jewish people):
"You are My witnesses," saith the LORD.
God’s message of Christ and the Cross are for all
people. In Isaiah 45:22 God says,
Look to me, and be saved, all you ends of the
earth: for I am God, and there is no other else.
God’s Word does not change.
The Bible is God’s Word, and does not need
to be changed or revised. His original
thoughts and desires are still with us today
and they are expressed to us in His Word.
For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in
heaven.
(Psalm 119:89)
Conclusion
• The Bible is the most quoted, published,
translated, and influential book in the
history of mankind.
• The Bible is God’s personal message to
you.
• He wrote it to communicate important
information.
Suggested Closing Prayer
Dear God,
I pray that you would forgive my sins, save
my soul, and empower my life through your
Holy Spirit in accord with the provisions and
promises secured by the great sacrifice and
victory on the Cross of Calvary two
thousand years ago by your Son, Jesus
Christ. In His name I pray, Amen.