opening questions 1.why is the bible unique? authorship perspective (2 tim 3:16) literary...
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Opening QuestionsOpening Questions1.1. Why is the Bible Why is the Bible
unique?unique? Authorship perspective
(2 Tim 3:16) Literary perspective
Spiritual perspective(Rom 10:8-17)
Opening QuestionsOpening Questions2.2. How did we get the How did we get the
Bible?Bible? Who Spoke?
How did he speak?
How was ‘what he spoke’ recognized?
Opening QuestionsOpening Questions3.3. Can we trust the Bible?Can we trust the Bible?
Do we have the Bible God intended us to have?
Do our Englishtranslations faithfullyconvey God’s words?
How did we get the How did we get the Bible?Bible?
It Was Through the CreatorIt Was Through the Creator God spoke ‘to’ & ‘through’ the
writers of Scripture
God spoke ‘through’ the OT prophets, then ‘through’ Jesus Christ (Heb 1:1-3)
How did we get the How did we get the Bible?Bible?
It Was Through the CreatorIt Was Through the Creator2 Timothy 3:16 –
“given by inspiration”2 Peter 1:21 –
“holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”
How did we get the How did we get the Bible?Bible?
It Was Through the CreatorIt Was Through the CreatorJohn 14 & 16 –
The Spirit ensures accuracy1 Tim 5:18; 2 Pet 3:15-16 –
Scripture recognizing Scripture as already present
How did we get the How did we get the Bible?Bible?
It Was Recognized as from GodIt Was Recognized as from GodThe ‘Fourfold Gospel’ and the Pauline Letter collection was
almost instantly recognized as inspired Scripture
The church ‘merely recognized’ the writings that bore the mark of
divine inspiration
How did we get the How did we get the Bible?Bible?
It Was Recognized as from It Was Recognized as from GodGod
By the 2d century AD, the shape of the NT canon was clear; Muratorian list (AD 197)
Quotes of NT passages as Scripture in the writings of the
Church Fathers
SummarySummary God spoke through the OT
prophets, Jesus, & NT apostles – thus creating a unique ‘dual
authorship’ What God spoke was inspired, literally from his creative breath What God spoke was inerrant, the Holy Spirit ensured accuracy
Manuscript EvidencesManuscript Evidences to the Old and New Testaments Assurance & ConfidenceAssurance & Confidence of the Old and New TestamentsAccuracy & ReliabilityAccuracy & Reliability of the Old and New Testaments in today’s translations
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?YES: YES:
God gave us the Bible through inspiration
Potential problems:Potential problems:The original manuscripts are
no longer available & the existing manuscripts differ; and what about all those
different translations?
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Question:Question:
If the original autographs are lost, and the existing
manuscripts agree only 99% of the time, do we then have only
99% inspired Scriptures?
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Answer: Answer:
What was inspired was not the autographs, but the text in the
autographs; this text is still available to us today in many extant copies; therefore, even
though the original autographs are lost, the original text is not;
we have the 100% inspired text of Scripture.
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Yes we can, because: Yes we can, because: We have a large number of
early manuscripts
Where the manuscripts differ, NO major Christian
doctrine is affected
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?As a matter of fact: As a matter of fact: “[The] purity of text [is] of such
a substantial nature that nothing we believe to be doctrinally true, and nothing we are commanded to do, is in any way jeopardized by the variants. … never is a doctrine affected.”
D. A. Carson (Research Professor of NT, Trinity Evangelical Divinity)
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Manuscript Evidence (OT):Manuscript Evidence (OT):
The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS), were found in thousands of fragments of scrolls: the remnants of 800 manuscripts
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Manuscript Evidence (OT):Manuscript Evidence (OT):
The manuscripts date from 200 BC to AD 68 These are strikingly close to the time at which they were written
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible? Manuscript Manuscript
Evidence (OT):Evidence (OT):The DSS preserve every OT book except Esther These manuscripts were found in clay jars
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Manuscript Evidence (OT): Manuscript Evidence (OT):
Samaritan Pentateuch (based only on the books Moses wrote, Pentateuch)
Masoretic Text (based on the oldest complete
manuscript, Lenigrad B19a (L)
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Manuscript Evidence (NT): Manuscript Evidence (NT): We have a great abundance of manuscripts. With regard to the
NT, for example, we have approx. 5,800 Greek NT
manuscripts of parts or the entire NT (1,000 times as many manuscripts as for just about any other ancient document)
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Author Author DateDate EarliestEarliest Time Time # of # of Accuracy Accuracy Written Written SpanSpan Copies Copies of of CopiesCopies
CopyCopy
Plato 430 BC AD 900 1200 yrs 7 ---------
Herod- 480- AD 900 1300 yrs 8 ---------utos 425 BC
Caesar 100-44 BC AD 900 1000 yrs 10 ---------
Aristotle 384- AD 1100 1400 yrs 49 --------- 322 BC
Homer 900 BC 400 BC 500 yrs 643 95%(Iliad)
New AD 1st Cent AD 2d Cent less than 5800 99.5%Testament AD 130 100 yrs
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?
Manuscript Manuscript Evidence (NT):Evidence (NT): We have very early papyrus manuscripts, such as the John Rylands papyrus (p52) containing portions of John 18 (Jesus’ trial before Pilate) and dating to about AD 125
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?
Manuscript Manuscript Evidence Evidence (NT):(NT): Chester Beatty Papyrus (p46), dating to about AD 200 (Eph 4:2-14)
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?
Manuscript Manuscript Evidence (NT):Evidence (NT): We have magnificent codices such as Codex Sinaiticus ), written about AD 350, the earliest extant copy of the entire NT (Eph 4:1-12)
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Assurance & Confidence of Assurance & Confidence of the OT and NT: the OT and NT:
Character of these writings
Conformity of these writings
Continuous use of these writings
Can We Trust The Bible?Can We Trust The Bible?Accuracy & Reliability of the OT Accuracy & Reliability of the OT and NT in today’s translations:and NT in today’s translations:
Can we trust our English Bibles? English translations differ, but all
preserve the original message of the biblical writers to a high degree of fidelity.
Most of the differences are related to audience & purpose.
SummarySummary We have a large number of
manuscripts in which their internal consistency is about
99.5% textually pure
We have early dated manuscripts that are closely
related to the originals
SummarySummary We have God’s Word
providentially preserved ‘in’ and ‘through’ a vast number of
manuscripts attesting to the reliability and authority of the
Old and New Testaments
Closing Thoughts!Closing Thoughts! “We have not here a proof of
mathematical precision, but we have evidence of weight and authority,
more than sufficient to justify us in humbly taking up the books that God has put into our hands and receiving
their teaching as his truth.”John Wenham, Christ and the Bible.