biblical illiteracy detox clearing the way for spiritual wellness

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Biblical Illiteracy DETOX Clearing the Way for Spiritual Wellness

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Biblical Illiteracy

DETOXClearing the Way for

Spiritual Wellness

Colossians 1:66 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is

bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful

grace. 

The Good News goes out all over the world, because of missionaries! The Good News changes lives because of

missionaries!

How can they do this without being literate in the Word of God?

Zealot, The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, By Reza Aslan

From Amazon.com:#1 New York Times Bestseller

From the internationally bestselling author of No god but God comes a fascinating, provocative, and meticulously researched biography that challenges long-held assumptions about the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth.

He (Jesus) was no different from “any other criminal who hangs on a cross.” - Reza Aslan

By now you have probably already seen one of the most embarrassing interviews in Fox News history

: a Muslim scholar’s work is apparently disregarded purely because of his faith

The results of being unprepared!

Reza Aslan’s toe-curling Fox News interview may be the week’s hottest viral clip, but Lizzie Crocker says his book

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth is genuinely shocking.

The results of being unprepared!

The clip became an Internet sensation over the weekend, with BuzzFeed among the first to link to the segment Saturday with the headline: “Is This The Most Embarrassing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done?”

New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum tweeted that, indeed, the interview was “absolutely demented,” while

The American Conservative called it “cringe-worthy,” “ignorant,” and “breathtakingly incurious,” pointing out that Green showed “zero interest in the book’s argument or content.”

Are you a credible witness of the Good News?

• What are the chances you will end up on national TV interviewing a published author?

• What are the chances you will end up chatting with someone at the beauty parlor, grocery store or even church that saw the interview and wants to discuss it?

• What are the chances that person’s acceptance of the truths of the Good News depends on your credibility?

• The interviewer on Fox News was NOT credible and it essentially verified the credibility of Reza Aslan and his book about Jesus.

Lizzie Crocker, The Daily Beast web siteAuthor: The 6 Most Controversial Reza Aslan Claims About Jesus

“It is most unfortunate for Fox News that Green might as well have copped to not doing her homework before interviewing an author of

what was already a top-selling book (No. 8 on Amazon as of Friday). For all we saw, she didn’t so much as read the book jacket. Or, even more

embarrassingly, she did and opted to accost Aslan about his religion regardless of the claims in his book. Either way, she unwittingly gave

Aslan a huge publicity boost, leaving the rest of us to ask the questions she ignored.”

5 Minute Quiz

Quiz#1: What does evangelical mean?#2: Who wrote the 4 Gospels?#3: Did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all know Jesus personally?#4: Give 3 reasons (besides faith) you believe the Bible is true?#5: What does it mean that the Bible is inerrant?#6: Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls important?#7: The Bible cannot stand up to the same scrutiny as other ancient texts. True or False#8: The Bible argues for the existence of God. True or False#9: What is the difference between the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth?#10: Which translation is most accurate? Which one is least accurate?

Quiz#1: What does evangelical mean?

• It derives from a Greek term meaning “good news” or “gospel”• The essential core of the Christian message which proclaims salvation

through the person and work of Jesus Christ• The need to experience personal conversion through belief in Christ and

his work on the cross, • A commitment to the authority of Scripture as the *infallible guide for

Christian faith and practice

(*Incapable of failing to accomplish a predetermined purpose)

Quiz#2: Who wrote the 4 Gospels?

• Matthew was written by Matthew, a tax collector and one of the 12 disciples

• Mark was written by John Mark

• Luke was written by Luke, a physician

• John was written by John, a fisherman, brother of James and one of the 12 disciples

Quiz#3: Did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all know Jesus personally?• Matthew was written by Matthew, a tax collector and one of the 12

disciples – yes he knew Jesus personally.

• Mark was written by John Mark, a follower & disciple of Peter – he did not know Jesus personally. (Peter was in Jesus’ inner circle.)

• Luke was written by Luke, a physician & careful historian, a companion of the apostle Paul & participant in Paul’s 2nd missionary journey– he did not know Jesus personally.

• John was written by John, a fisherman, brother of James and one of the 12 disciples (James & John were in Jesus’ inner circle)

Quiz#4: Give 3 reasons (besides faith) you believe the Bible is true?

• Logic

• Reason

• Personal study

• Personal investigation

• Experience (life change)

Quiz#5: What does it mean that the Bible is inerrant?• That Scripture is completely free from error • That Scripture is authoritative and trustworthy• That Scripture is completely accurate in whatever it teaches about all

subjects• Everything the Bible asserts to be true, is true

2 Timothy 3:16: All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

2 Peter 1:20-21: Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.

Quiz#6: Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls important? Reliability of the Old Testament!• All modern English translations use the Masoretic Text as their source

text to translate the Hebrew Old Testament. (This includes the KJV)

• The oldest copies date from AD 895-1000 and are considered to be very accurate renditions of the Hebrew text.

• The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the late 1940s/early 50s• The oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls dates back to 100 BC

• The Dead Sea Scrolls predate the Masoretic Text by 1000-1100 years• There is a very high correlation between the Masoretic Text and the

much more ancient manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Quiz#7: The Bible cannot stand up to the same scrutiny as other ancient texts.

False!!!!!

Author DateWritten

Earliest Copy Approximate Time Span between original & copy

Number of Copies

Accuracy of Copies

Lucretiusdied 55 or 53 B.C.

1100 yrs 2 ----

Pliny 61-113 A.D. 850 A.D. 750 yrs 7 ----Plato 427-347 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 yrs 7 ----Demosthenes 4th Cent. B.C. 1100 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----Herodotus 480-425 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----Suetonius 75-160 A.D. 950 A.D. 800 yrs 8 ----Thucydides 460-400 B.C. 900 A.D. 1300 yrs 8 ----Euripides 480-406 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1300 yrs 9 ----Aristophanes 450-385 B.C. 900 A.D. 1200 10 ----Caesar 100-44 B.C. 900 A.D. 1000 10 ----Livy 59 BC-AD 17 ---- ??? 20 ----Tacitus circa 100 A.D. 1100 A.D. 1000 yrs 20 ----Aristotle 384-322 B.C. 1100 A.D. 1400 49 ----Sophocles 496-406 B.C. 1000 A.D. 1400 yrs 193 ----Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 95%NewTestament

1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.

2nd Cent. A.D.(c. 130 A.D. f.)

less than 100 years

5600 99.5%

Quiz#8: The Bible argues for the existence of God. True or False

False – the Bible assumes the existence of God!Hebrew 11:6: And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Psalm 14:1: Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

Quiz#9: What is the difference between the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth?

• Immaculate Conception: The Virgin Mary's sinlessness - in the Roman Catholic Church, the doctrine that the Virgin Mary's soul was free from the stain of original sin from the moment of her soul's conception.

• Virgin Birth: The virgin birth of Jesus is the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother Mary by the Holy Spirit and born while Mary was yet a virgin.

Quiz#10: Which translation is most accurate? Which one is least accurate?

HEBREW – Word for word translation into English. What verse is this? (Hebrew doesn’t include punctuation marks.)

Indeed this he says YHWH to the man of Judah and to Jerusalem break up of you unplowed ground and not you plant among thorns be circumcised yourselves to YHWH and remove foreskin of heart of you man of Judah and ones being people of Jerusalem or she will break out like fire wrath of me and she will burn and there is no one quenching because of evil of deeds of you

Quiz#10: Which translation is most accurate? Which one is least accurate?

HEBREW – Word for word translation into English. What verse is this? (Hebrew doesn’t include punctuation marks.)

Jeremiah 4:3-4 3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. 4 O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord,* or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.”

You Can Believe The Bible!

• Because of the age that we live in – you can no longer support the reliability of Scripture by quoting Scripture as in the old days, when everyone took for granted that the Bible was true, but you must use extra-biblical evidence to support what we believe.

• So be prepared to give a defense for what you believe!

• “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

What are we to do?

• If science is a fascination for you then seek 2-3 facts that support intelligent design

• If the arts are a fascination for you then seek 2-3 facts about how the church promoted creative arts

• Decide to memorize the books of the Bible and the categories they cover: poetry, letters, history etc. and 2-3 facts about the reliability of Scripture

• Pray for God to give you wisdom to communicate why you believe what you believe based on faith but also be prepared by doing you own:

• . . . Research

• . . . Investigation

• . . . Study

What are we to do?

• The next time someone:

• . . . makes a comment about those “right wing evangelical Christians”. Ask, “I’m curious, do you know what evangelical means?”

• . . . says they don’t believe the Bible, you should ask, “Did you come to that conclusion based on your own research and investigation?”

• . . . says that Christians need a crutch because they are weak, you should ask, “How many Christians do you know personally?”

• . . . says there is no such thing as absolute truth, again ask, “Did you come to that conclusion based on your own research and investigation?”

• I suspect you will find that most people are parroting what someone (they think they can trust) has actually said!

What are we to do? 

• “The poor teacher stands where he is and beckons the pupil to come to him. The good teacher goes to where the pupil is, takes him, and leads him to where he ought to go.”

From On The Anvil by Max Lucado

• Colossians 1:66 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

• “Don’t be a cul-de-sac on the Great Commission Highway! You get the Gospel – and you go – so it (the Gospel) keeps going!” Ed Stetzer, Missionfest WBC