Bible 101 – Part 1

The Validity and Divine Inspiration of the Bible

“And along the width of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. The hangings on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets. And on the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three sockets.”

(Exodus 27:12-15)

“Abishua begot Bukki, and Bukki begot Uzzi; Uzzi begot Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begot Meraioth; Meraioth begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub; Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Ahimaaz; Ahimaaz begot Azariah, and Azariah begot Johanan;”

(1 Chronicles 6:5-9)

The most unique book in the world!

Bible claims to be the inspired word of God.

How can we prove this?

The most unique book in the world!

Bible claims to be the inspired word of God.

How can we prove this?

Internal Evidence and External Evidence

Internal = from the bible itselfExternal = outside the bible

Internal Evidence

Bible claims to be the inspired word of God:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16)

“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 1:21)

Internal Evidence

Unique in its Continuity:

One theme/unity – NO contradictions.

Internal Evidence

Unique in its Continuity: One theme/unity – NO contradictions.

Theme: Redemption or Salvation of Mankind; main character is our Lord Jesus Christ

Took 1,500 years to write (Moses, ~1400BC - John the Beloved, ~95 AD)

Written on 3 continents (Africa, Asia and Europe)

Internal Evidence

• Written in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek)

• 66 books, by 40 authors (writers) of all different walks of life (some even uneducated)

• All inspired by ONE author – Holy Spirit– Moses (trained in wisdom of Egyptians)– Joshua (military general)– David (shepherd and king) – Peter (fisherman)– Matthew (tax collector)– Luke (physician) – Paul (tent maker and Pharisee)

Internal Evidence

• Different moods and places by authors – (Jeremiah – Sad, Psalms – Joyous, etc) – Moses in the wilderness– David on the run or in the palace or during war– Jeremiah in a dungeon– Paul in prison– Luke while traveling– John in exile

• Written in times of war, times of peace, etc. • You can see the personality and styles (poetry, history,

law, letters, prophecies, parables) of different authors in their writings but still maintains continuity

Internal Evidence

• 2,930 Characters

• 1,189 chapters within the entire Bible

• 1,551 sites around the world

• Addresses hundreds of different issues (origin of man and nature, history, science, marriage, parenting, guidance and wisdom, rules for life)

Internal EvidenceEyewitness Accounts:

• “After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 15:6)

• “Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.” (Luke 1:1-4)

• “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16)

Internal Evidence

Prophecies:

• Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

• But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

Internal Evidence

• Which book has authors that write more about their sins than their righteousness? – the sin of David or the – sin of Solomon– disciples arguing about who will be first in the

kingdom of heaven– Christ told Peter “Get behind me Satan.”

• Quality of the writers led by the Holy Spirit– Virtue: Lived Saintly Lives, Performed Miracles,

Suffered Persecution

• Effect of Bible on people’s lives for the better

External Evidence

Unique in its Translation and Circulation – one of first books to be printed by

Guttenberg’s printing machine– Most books, even the most popular, are

counted by millions, the bible records BILLIONS of copies.

– Translations – 2,200 languages/dialects (Shakespeare’s works are only translated into 40 languages)

External Evidence

Unique in its Survival

• Through Time: before printing where people used to copy by handwritings; written on material that would perish through time.

• Through severe Persecution: no other book faced that kind of persecution in history. Being banned and burned by emperors and governments.

• Through Criticism: "No other book has been so chopped, knifed, sifted, scrutinized, and vilified. What book on philosophy or religion or psychology...has been subject to such a mass attack as the Bible? With such venom and skepticism? With such thoroughness and erudition? Upon every chapter, line and tenet? And yet, the Bible is still loved by millions, read by millions, and studied by millions.“ – Bernard Ramm

External Evidence

Unique in its influence on literature

• If we lost the bible, we could recollect by putting together quotations from other books and writers

• Shakespeare included 60 quotes from the Bible

• Artists of the Renaissance were inspired by Bible

External Evidence

Unique in its influence on society and culture• Who taught the world about freedom and how to live

morally? Just look at America – founded upon Christian principles, look at the constitution, money “in God we trust”

• President George Washington: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.”

• President Abraham Lincoln: “I am busily engaged in the study of the Bible. I believe it is God’s word because it finds me where I am.”

External Evidence

Bible Not Only Validated by Science, but Preceded Science

• Isaiah 40:22 proves the world is round (750 BC) “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,”

• Job 26:7 talks about gravity before Newton discovered it “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.”

External EvidenceBible Not Only Validated by Science, but Preceded Science

• Sir Isaac Newton: “We account the scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever.”

• Albert Einstein: As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene [Jesus]... No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.

External Evidence

How was the bible written?

External Evidence

How was the bible written?

• Manuscripts: Any hand-written document

• Written on papyrus (papyrus plant) and parchments (animal skins)

“Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13)

External Evidence

New Testament Manuscripts:

• Plato’s writings are dated about 400 years before Christ (only about 8 copies of manuscripts)

• Earliest manuscript dated at 900AD

• Span of 1,300 years!

External Evidence

New Testament Manuscripts:

• The ‘Iliad’ by Homer is second with only 643 manuscripts that still survive

External Evidence

New Testament Manuscripts:

• The ‘Iliad’ by Homer is second with only 643 manuscripts that still survive

• The bible has over 24,000 manuscripts!• Time span is 100-125 years for most of the New

Testament• Compared with spans of 1000-1600 years for

the classical works of Caesar, Plato, Aristotle, Tacitus, Aristophanes, Euripides, Herodotus, and many more

External Evidence

New Testament Manuscripts:

• Suppose that the New Testament had been destroyed, and every copy of it lost by the end of the third century, how much of it could be collected from the writings of the church fathers who wrote from about 95AD to 400AD?

External Evidence

New Testament Manuscripts:

• Suppose that the New Testament had been destroyed, and every copy of it lost by the end of the third century, how much of it could be collected from the writings of the church fathers who wrote from about 95AD to 400AD?

• All of it except for 11 verses!

External Evidence

Eyewitness Testimonies:

• First gospel written about 60AD (St. Mark)

• If the gospel writers had written something false, then the eyewitnesses would have refuted it!

External Evidence

Old Testament Manuscripts:

• Until recently (with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls), the oldest complete Old Testament manuscript was dated about 900 AD

• This made a time gap of 1,300 years between when the Old Testament was completed (around 400 BC) and the earliest manuscript (around 900 AD)

External Evidence

Old Testament Manuscripts:

• Scrolls have revealed that a commune of monastic farmers lived in the valley from about 150 BC to 70 AD.

• One of the complete books found in Qumran cave 1 were two copies of Isaiah

• Older than the oldest dated manuscripts previously known

• Proved to be word for word identical to the standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95% of the text

• 5% variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of pen and variations in spelling. Do not affect the message of revelation in the slightest

External Evidence

Old Testament Manuscripts:

• Concerned about lack of very old copies of the Old Testament text?

External Evidence

Old Testament Manuscripts:

• Concerned about lack of very old copies of the Old Testament text?

• Consider the nature of the copying technique that was used by the Hebrew scribes:

External Evidence1. A synagogue roll must be written on the skins of clean animals prepared by a

Jew.2. These must be fastened together with strings taken from clean animals.3. Every skin (page) must contain a certain number of columns, equal

throughout the entire codex.4. The length of each column must not extend less than 48 or more than

60 lines; and the breadth must consist of thirty letters.5. The whole copy must be first lined; and if three words were written without a

line, it is worthless.6. The ink should be black and prepared according to a definite recipe.7. An authentic copy must be the exemplar, from which the transcriber

ought not in the least deviate.8. No word or letter, not even a yod, must be written from memory, the

scribe not having looked at the codex before him.9. The copyist must wash his whole body and sit in full Jewish dress.10. He must not begin to write the name of God (YHWH) with a pen newly

dipped in ink and should a king address him while writing that name he must take no notice of him.

External Evidence

Archeological evidence• Ebla tablets discovered in the 1970’s (described places

named in the bible; dated back to 2300 BC)• 1930’s: Walls of Jericho discovered

The Greatest Testimony of the Old Testament Ever:

External Evidence

Archeological evidence• Ebla tablets discovered in the 1970’s (described places

named in the bible; dated back to 2300 BC)• 1930’s: Walls of Jericho discovered

The Greatest Testimony of the Old Testament Ever:

• Testimony of Jesus Christ!• Other New Testament writers to the Old Testament

Evidence that demands a verdict!

• The holy bible is not just human words but it is the inspired word of God!

• For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

Evidence that demands a verdict!

“You Christians look after a document [Bible] containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Conclusion:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)