THE
BIBLE
Lesson One
Usually, before one will diligently seek the message
of the Bible, some questions about the Bible must be answered. Just what is the Bible? What is its source? How was it initially recorded? Has it been accurately reproduced through the
millennia of its existence, or is our Bible filled with copyist errors? Has anything been lost in its translation? Is it complete, or should we expect
additional revelations? What is the
message of the Bible? Are we responsible
to understand, or even capable of understanding the message?
These are but a few of the many questions about our
Bibles that should stimulate our interest.
Our purpose in this first lesson is to provide both external and
internal information about the Bible that documents it as an authentic,
reliable and absolutely essential revelation of God’s will. In a manner of speaking, in Lesson One we
will be examine the Bible itself so that when we open it to examine its message
with Lesson Two we will be confident that God is speaking to us through His
written word.
The
Bible answers many questions about our existence, purpose and destiny. We learn about how we were placed on earth by
God and what He expects of us while we are here. In this written revelation, we also learn
about God’s promise of eternal existence beyond the grave - an existence that
is free of pain, sorrow and separation.
It
is important for us to understand that the Bible is the only infallible source
of truth revealing all of this, that it is complete and that there will never
be further revelation from God as long as mankind exists on earth. This should become clear as we proceed.
Perhaps
the best way to introduce the Bible is to point out that it is a compilation of
66 books, written over a period of about 1500 years by approximately 40
different men. The first writer was
Moses, who lived several hundred years before Christ. The last was the apostle John, who penned the
book of Revelation near the close of the century in which Christ was born.
Our
Bibles are divided into what has been named old and new testaments. The Old Testament (made up of 39 books)
provides a history of man from the creation until about 450 years before
Christ. The New Testament (27 books)
introduces the birth of Christ, reveals His mission and details the
requirements and history of discipleship in the first century.
Still,
our Bible is more than a book of history; it is the book that provides God’s
direction for all of humanity. We will
see this when we open our Bibles to examine its message. Before we examine that message, however, we
need to examine some background information about the origin and reliability
of
the Bible.
The
back page of this outline provides a chart that should help to connect the
points under consideration. Refer to it
often.
I. THREE PROPOSALS.
Our study will
be based upon three proposed truths.
They are printed at the top of the chart. Please notice.
We propose that the Bible is:
GOD’S
PRESERVED INSPIRED WORD;
THE
COMPLETE REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL;
THE
ONLY SOURCE OF DIVINE AUTHORITY TODAY.
If these propositions prove to be valid
conclusions, any question we may have about the genuineness of the Bible and the
essential need of understanding and living according to its message should be
forever satisfied.
A. GOD’S
PRESERVED, INSPIRED WORD.
Look
carefully at the first proposal. Notice
especially the word “inspired.” Before
we can really understand the first proposal we must define the word “inspired.”
1. INSPIRATION
DEFINED.
A good
definition of the word "inspiration," as is used in the Bible, is found in the International Standard Bible
Encyclopedia (Vol. III, p.
1473). We show this definition on the chart.
“Inspiration is defined as supernatural
influence exerted on the sacred writers by the Spirit of God by virtue of which
their writings are given divine trustworthiness.”
Another helpful definition is found in Peloubert’s Bible Dictionary, (p.
#275):
“Without deciding on any of the various
theories of inspiration, the general doctrine of Christians is that the Bible
is so inspired by God that it is the infallible guide of men and is perfectly
trustworthy in all its parts as given by God.”
Notice some of the conclusions drawn
about the “inspired” writings. “Divine trustworthiness” is a
conclusion of the first source, while “perfectly trustworthy in all its parts” is the conclusion of the second source.
Actually, the word “inspired” is found only once in the New Testament
(viz. 2
Timothy 3:16-17). Here we read, “All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.” The
word is found only once but it is in reference to the entire Bible.
For the most part, the original language
of the New Testament was Greek. The
Greek word translated “inspired” in this passage, is “theopneustos.” It has a literal meaning of
“God-breathed.” Our English word “inspiration” traces its history back to the Latin
word “inspirare” which
means, “to breathe into.”
Again we turn to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia to read, “The
Bible writers are called inspired as breathed into by the Holy Spirit so that
the products of their activities transcends human powers and become divinely
authoritative” (Vol. III, p. 1473).
Inspiration,
therefore, means that the writers of the Bible penned words that were breathed
into them by God, through the Holy Spirit.
This makes the Bible a completely trustworthy book, containing, in its
original state, the precise words of God.
2. EVIDENCE
OF INSPIRATION.
Now that we
understand the meaning of the Bible word “inspiration,” we need to examine some of the evidence that supports the claim
that the Bible is truly inspired.
As we examine
this evidence, we will include information that also testifies to the
preservation of the inspired writings.
a. THE CLAIMS OF THE WRITERS.
We would not
want to make a claim for the writers of the Bible that they do not make for
themselves. None of the writers of the
Bible credit themselves with what they wrote.
Throughout the entire Bible, the writers credit God with the origin of
their words. Consider the following:
“And God spoke all
these words, saying...”
(Exodus
20:1-17).
Upon making this point, Moses proceeded
to list the Ten Commandments.
“Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,”
(Jeremiah
1:4).
“The word of the Lord came to Zephaniah...”
(Zephaniah
1:1).
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely
given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human
wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts
with spiritual words” (1 Corinthians
2:12-13).
“For I would have you know, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I
taught it, but
I received it through a revelation of
Jesus Christ”
(Galatians 1:11-12).
“But know this first of all, that no prophecy
of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever
made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2
Peter 1:20-21).
These are just some of the verses of the Bible that reveal the internal
claims of inspiration.
b. JESUS’ TESTIMONY.
Our Savior
quoted freely from the writings of the Old Testament without once mentioning
that the disciples of His day should be concerned about any textual
errors. The Old Testament had been
completed more than 400 years before the birth of Christ—certainly long enough
to allow a serious corruption of the original manuscripts. In fact, the Old Testament (written mostly in
Hebrew) had already been translated into Greek (about 270 BC).
The fact that such corruption is not
mentioned by Jesus or any of His disciples is unimpeachable testimony of the
textual accuracy of the preserved inspired writings of their day. Surely the Lord would not have remained
silent if encroaching error had permeated the pages of the inspired documents.
Instead, there are approximately 275
direct quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament. In fact, shortly before our Savior ascended
to heaven, He said to His apostles, “These are My words which I spoke to you
while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the
Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” (Luke
24:44)
In this statement our Savior referred to
the entire Old Testament, putting His stamp of approval on all of the existing
scriptures of His day. If the Old
Testament scriptures existed for more than 400 years without sufficient
discrepancies to merit a warning from the Savior, then why do we feel that the
mere passing of time will corrupt a text?
It is the word by which we shall someday be judged (cf. John 12:47-48). How
could we imagine that
the Father would allow critical corruption?
c. PREDICTION ACCURACY.
The fulfillment
of the predictions contained in the prophecies of the Old Testament is
additional testimony of the inspiration of the Bible. Many of the Old Testament prophets did not
even understand what they were predicting (cf. 1
Peter 1:10-12). However, they all
wrote in harmony (even though they existed at different times) and their
predictions were accurately fulfilled.
This can only mean that the predictions were divinely supplied.
Of special interest are the predictions that
concern the advent of Christ. Remember,
the Old Testament had been completed about 400 years prior to the birth of
Christ. Thus, all of the predictions
about Christ in the Old Testament preceded Him by at least four centuries.
It
is inconceivable to regard the accurate fulfillment of each prediction without
attributing such accuracy to supernatural influence. There are many such predictions in the Old
Testament, but we will consider just three:
(1) Micah
5:2 Here, at least 700 years
BC, the birthplace of Christ was accurately foretold (cf. Matthew
2:6).
(2) Jeremiah
31:15 This prophecy (about 606
BC) predicts the weeping of the mothers whose infants were killed by King Herod
at the time of the Savior’s birth (cf. Matthew
2:8).
(3) Isaiah
53. Isaiah wrote a little more
than 700 years before Christ. In chapter
53 of his book we see a precise prediction about the suffering of Jesus.
There
are many additional specific predictions about the advent of Jesus and other
New Testament events recorded in the Old Testament. Each one is an irrefutable testimony to
inspiration.
d. REJECTION
OF UNINSPIRED BOOKS.
We sometimes
hear the challenge, “Your Bible is not complete! Other books have been written that belong in
your Bible.”
It is true that other ancient books were
written and do exist. However, even the shallowest
examination of the facts will reveal that these books do not belong in our
Bibles, of all of the uninspired books that have been written, those that have
come closest to being included in our Bibles are the Old Testament era
apocryphal books. There are 14 or 15 of
these, determined by the manner in which they are numbered.
The Old Testament period apocrypha was
written between 200 BC and AD 100.
Twelve of these apocryphal books are found in Catholic Bibles
today. For this reason, it is asserted
that other Bibles are not complete. But
this is a claim that must be carefully examined.
Consider the
following:
(1) The Jews, who were entrusted with the
responsibility of recording and preserving the inspired writings of the Old
Testament, have always rejected the apocryphal books. These books were never allowed in the Hebrew
canon.
(2) The
claims of inspiration that are so commonly found in the inspired books of the
Bible are not found in the books of the apocrypha.
(3) Christ and the writers of the New Testament
quoted from practically all of the Old Testament books but did not quote from
these apocryphal books.
(4) It
was not until AD 1546, during the fourth session of the Council of Trent, that
the Roman Catholic Church officially included the apocrypha (with the exception
of 1 and 2 Esdras and the prayer of Manasseh) in their Bibles. Prior to this, many of the church officials,
including popes, spoke against the apocryphal books, labeling them uninspired
and spurious.
(5) The famous scholar, Jerome, translated the
Bible into Latin at the close of the fourth century. This translation was the official Bible of
the Roman Catholic Church for a thousand years.
Yet, Jerome completely rejected the apocryphal books, stating that they
were not to be included as inspired writings.
Later, Jerome was canonized by the Roman
Catholic church with the claim that his translation was divinely inspired.
We must ask how can the church that canonized
a scholar who rejected the apocryphal books include those books in their Bibles
more than a thousand years later?
Our Bibles are complete! They have been complete since shortly after
the lifetime of the apostles. It is true
that it took some time for all of the books of the Bible to be recognized as
inspired. The careful manner in which
this was conducted is an additional assurance of authenticity.
It is also true that other books have sought a place in both the Old
Testament and New Testament canons. But
their rejection was settled long ago and continuing investigation only supports
the conclusion that these books, quite obviously, do not belong in our Bibles.
e. AVAILABLE EXTANT
MANUSCRIPTS.
There are more
than 5,000 manuscripts or fragments of manuscripts of the Bible in existence
today. The word “manuscript” refers to copies recorded in the
original language in which they were written.
This means that we have an abundance of
original language documents with which we can compare our Bibles today. Many of these date back to a very early
period. The existence of so many Bible
manuscripts is especially impressive when we compare this to the number of
extant uninspired writings.
According to Haley’s Bible Handbook, “There
is not a complete known copy of homer earlier than AD 1300, nor of herodotus
earlier that AD 1000” (p.858).
Homer was the earliest known Greek poet (sometime between 1200 and 700B.C.). To
him were ascribed the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Herodotus was a Greek historian (about 484-424 BC). The number of Bible
manuscripts that date back much earlier than this is vast. We can truly see that the Father wanted this
inspired word to be preserved accurately.
With so many ancient Bible manuscripts
available for examination, copyist errors are not difficult to spot. While it is true that there are still some
questions about the correct rendering of a few passages of scripture in our
Bibles today, the vital message of the Bible is very much intact. None of the questionable renderings come to
bear on any important concepts.
In addition to the testimony of early
Bible manuscripts, we have the testimony of the early Bible scholars and
writers. These (referred to as apostolic
or subapostolic fathers) lived within or almost within the lifetime of some of
the apostles. Their writings are very
valuable in that they quoted freely from the Bible manuscripts of their day.
Their quotations show that the inspired writings have truly been
carefully preserved through the centuries.
f. HARMONY OF BIBLE AND HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY,
ANTHROPOLOGY, ETC.
The Bible was not designed to be a
scientific textbook. The purpose of the
Bible is to reveal God’s will; however, the Bible has always been in complete
harmony with true science and established history.
There have been many scientific
discoveries through the years of the Bible’s existence. Yet, none of the discoveries contradict the
Bible.
This is an amazing support of
inspiration. There were many erroneous
theories prevalent while the Bible was being written. The fact that none of the writers of the Bible
recorded a mistaken view about the universe, man’s history, etc., can only be
explained by inspiration.
B. THE COMPLETE
REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL.
Is
the Bible complete? This question is
answered by the evidence supporting our second propose. Consider the following:
1.
“For
I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts
20:27). The whole counsel of God was
preached by Paul 2,000 years ago, what is there to add?
2. “All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work” (2
Timothy 3:16-17).
If the revelation of Paul’s day was
capable of making the man of God complete and equipped for every good work,
what is there to add?
3. “.
. seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).
The apostle Peter used the present
perfect tense here, indicating an action completed at the present time. If all things pertaining to “life
and godliness” were “granted” and present in Peter’s day, what is
there to add?
C. THE ONLY SOURCE OF
DIVINE AUTHORITY.
We have just
considered scriptural evidence that the Bible provides the complete revelation
of God’s will. This means that there are
no additional revelations and that we need no other source of spiritual
guidance.
But it is more than just not needing
additional revelation. We are warned
that it is dangerous to look for any other source. The Bible contains several warnings in this
regard:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is
in heaven” (Matthew
7:21).
Do you see how important it is to obey
the will of the Father? We know that our
Bibles provide an accurate revelation of that will but we do not know that
about any other source.
“But even though we, or an angel from
heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached
to you, let him be accursed. As we have
said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel
contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians
1:8-9).
The apostle Paul addressed this to
Christians who were being incorrectly taught to cling to the Law of Moses, but
the warning stands against any kind of teaching contrary to the will of God.
“Anyone who goes too far and does not abide
in the teaching of Christ, does not have God,- the one who abides in the
teaching, he has both the Father and the Son “ (2
John 9).
To go beyond the boundaries of the
doctrine of Christ is to be without God.
We know the Bible reveals the doctrine of Christ. We do not know that about any other book.
“I testify to everyone who hears the words
of the prophecy of this book: if anyone
adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book;
and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are
written in this book” (Revelation
22:18-19).
It is a serious offense to be guilty of
tampering with any of God’s word. What
is said here in and about the book of Revelation must be regarded as being
applicable to all inspired writings.
II. GO
BACK AND REVIEW.
All of the
information we have examined allows us to draw some very definite conclusions
about our Bibles. Let us briefly review
the conclusions and the supporting information.
A. THE
BIBLE IS THE TRUSTWORTHY REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL:
1. Because it was inspired by God;
2. Because it has been accurately preserved
through the many years of existence.
B.
THE EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THIS
IS:
1. The claims of the writers;
2
. The testimony of Jesus and the
disciples;
3
. The accuracy of predictions;
4
. The abundance of available extant
manuscripts;
5
. The harmony of the Bible and true
science.
C. THE
BIBLE IS THE COMPLETE REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL, THUS IT IS ALL WE NEED:
1. Because it provides “the whole purpose of God”.
2. Because it equips us “for every good work”,
3. Because it contains everything that pertains “to life
and godliness”.
D. THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF DIVINE AUTHORITY, THUS IT IS
ALL WE CAN ACCEPT:
1. Because we must
obey the will of God in order to go to heaven and we know that the Bible
accurately reveals that will. We do not
know that about another source;
2. Because teaching
incorrectly brings rejection by God;
3. Because we must
abide within the doctrine of Christ if we are to have a relationship with God;
4. Because if we add to or take from divine
revelation, we will be punished severely.
Having examined information about the Bible we shall
move on in lesson two to examine the message of the Bible. We can do this now with confidence because we
know that the Bible is truly the word of God and that it accurately reveals His
will.