The Word of God
Big idea: The Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God. If we would call ourself a Christian or want to follow Jesus, it needs to be our standard and something we are devoted to with our time.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
- The bible is inspired by God and is to be used in our lives. Do you believe that?
Hebrews 4:12-13
- The word is relevant and needs to expose and convict us in our lives. Will you let it?
2 Peter 1:20-21
- The Holy Spirit inspired all the men who wrote the books of the bible.
John 8:31-32
- Intellectual faith is not enough.
- We must hold to the teachings to be disciples, to know the truth and to be set free.
Matthew 15:1-9
- Worshiping by traditions that supersede the word of God is to worship in vain.
1 Timothy 4:15-16
- Life and doctrine are equally important to be saved.
Acts 17:10-12
- Eagerness and diligent study is noble in the eyes of God and is the only way to know that what you believe is the truth.
John 12:47-50
- The word will judge. Will you study it and follow it?
Additional Scriptures: Jn 20:30-31; Acts 8:26-40; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:32; 2Pet 2:16-18; 1Jn 1:1-4; Jn 14: 15-17; Jn
14:25-26; Jn 15:26-27; Jn 16:12-15; Col 4:16; 2Pet 3:15-16; 1Tim 5:18; Lk 10:7; Rom 10:17
Facts about the Bible:
Written 1400 BC – 69 AD -over 1500 years, 40 generations, on 3 continents
-in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek)
-by 50 writers (including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, statesmen, scholars)
All 50 writers, across all those centuries, stand united with one message. In regard to topics such as truth, purpose, mission, God, man, reality, sin, righteousness, origin, and destiny, the Bible is totally unified. Try getting 50 religious leaders in your city to agree on any of these topics!
Most printed book in history: United Bible Society alone sells & distributes 110,000+ copies every day (2009) It contains hundreds of prophecies fulfilled through the centuries
It is reliable both historically & culturally
Old Testament
Written 1400 BC – 400 BC
In Judaism: the Tanakh (Ta=Torah, or Law, Na=Nevi’im, or Prophets, Kh=Ketuvim, or Writings) Carefully preserved & copied by the Massoretes (Jewish scribes, scholars & copyists)
“How did the [ancient copyists] manage to so accurately copy the text through the ages? The answer lies in the strict traditions of the Massoretes. Throughout history, during the copying process of a manuscript, if even one letter was missed or added improperly in a new manuscript, the master scribe would destroy the imperfect copy. They were fanatical about accuracy. The Jews had preserved the Old Testament as no other document had ever been preserved. In each manuscript, they actually counted the letters, syllables, words, and paragraphs. Before any manuscript would be accepted, all the letters, syllables, words, and paragraphs would have to be counted and confirmed. Scribes, lawyers, and Massoretes devoted themselves full-time to the accurate transmission of the text. And they were successful.” –Mike Taliaferro, ‘How We Got the Bible and Why You Can Trust It’
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 along Israel-Jordan border
In 11 caves: 200 scrolls & 40,000 inscribed fragments, dating back to 200 BC
Many scrolls from the Bible: every OT book represented in the discovery except Esther Of the 500,000 individual letters in the OT, only 169 were questioned after the discovery
New Testament
Events occurred 6 BC – 62 AD, written 45 – 69 AD (7 year gap between occurrence & writing)
As of 2011, approx. 5,686 ancient Greek NT manuscripts exist (plus other language translations: 24,970 total)
In 1895, archaeologists B.P. Grenfell & A. S. Hunt discovered portions of 27 New Testament manuscripts dating back to 2nd century AD near Oxyrhynchus, Egypt
“Not only did the [Oxyrhynchus] papyri confirm the text of later parchment manuscripts, but they also shed some light on the Greek language of the time. There are about 500 words in the New Testament that do not appear in classical Greek, a peculiar vocabulary found only in the Bible. It was a vocabulary that could not have been invented two or three centuries later and inserted into manuscripts spread throughout the ancient world. When these papyri were pulled from the ancient sands, the fragments of the New Testament matched the style and vocabulary of the existing Scriptures, just as one would have expected.”
–Mike Taliaferro, ‘How We Got the Bible and Why You Can Trust It’
Title | Origin | Earliest Copy | Interval | Copies in Existence |
History of Thucydides | 450 BC | 900 AD | 1350 years | 8 |
Poetics of Aristotle | 343 BC | 1100 AD | 1450 years | 5 |
Caesar’s Gallic Wars | 50 BC | 1000 AD | 1050 years | 9 |
Plato | 400 BC | 900 AD | 1300 years | 7 |
Homer’s The Iliad | 900 BC | 400 AD | 500 years | 643 |
New Testament | 45-80 AD | 110 AD | 30 years | 5686 |
“The interval then between the dates of original composition and earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.”
-Sir Frederic Kenyon, Director & Principal Librarian, British Museum
If every Bible & ancient manuscript were destroyed, we would still have virtually the entire New Testament because of the more than 80,000 times it was quoted in the commentaries, sermons, and letters of that period. Only 11 verses would be missing. These early writers who quoted the New Testament include Clement (96 AD), the Didache (100 AD), the Epistle of Barnabas (100 AD), Ignatius (115 AD), Polycarp (120 AD), even Gnostic heretics like Valentinius (130 AD).