Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week we asked and answered “Why should we trust the Word of God?”

Answer: We are disciples of Jesus and...

Jesus taught His disciples to trust the WORD of GOD…which are KNOWN through the Scriptures.

We considered how Jesus & His followers viewed the Scriptures and we noted that they believed that God gave the Scriptures to people through people.

But that should lead us to our next QUESTION: Is what we have now, what they wrote then?

Many people think that’s an impossibility.

A few years ago I was on a video chat with one of my former students from when I was a student pastor.

I wanted to meet her husband who had dismissed the claims of Christianity.

When I did, here’s how it went…

“So Jackie, you’re so smart, how can you trust the Bible since it has been changed so many times?”

I asked a simple question, “What do you mean by ‘changed’?”

“You know, there are so many translations and the Bible has been changed so many times we can’t possibly know what it originally said.”

I responded, “Maybe you know something I don’t know.

Can you give me some examples of how and where the Bible has been changed?”

He was dead in the water.

Not because I’m some sort of genius.

All I did was ask questions that helped expose the reality that he was just repeating what others say without examining the evidence.

I hope that you and I will take time to examine the evidence and go where it leads.

Here’s the truth.

BIG TRUTH: We have GOOD EVIDENCE that the WORD of GOD has been PRESERVED

In fact, the further out we get from the original writings, the more confidence we have that what we have contains what was in the original writings.

Many of the oldest copies of Scriptures we have were unearthed within the last 200 years in archaeological finds (Codex Sinaiticus between 1844-1859 [F1], Dead Sea Scrolls (981 manuscripts between 1947-1956) [F2]

I want to give you some of that GOOD EVIDENCE to demonstrate that the Word of God has been preserved.

But first I need to give you 3 definitions & answer 3 questions.

3 Definitions

Autographs: Hand written originals, of which none are known to exist today.

Comparing apples to apples, we don’t have ANY ORIGINALS (autographs) of other documents from the time of the Old & New Testament writings either.

Manuscripts: Hand written copies of the Scriptures before the invention of the printing press (in 1454).

Variants: Differences between manuscripts including spelling, word order, or other changes (e.g.

additions, subtractions, ink smears or words that are not legible)

3 Questions

Question #1: WHY were the Scriptures written?

Eye witnesses of events eventually die.

Memories fade & myths multiply.

Written history has been the long term option for preserving history with precision.

Further, written documents make the message portable, carried to other people in other places and times.

So, the Scriptures were written down for Preservation, Precision, & Portability.

Question #2: HOW were the Scriptures written?

The Scriptures were written on Papyrus and Parchment.

While some ancient authors used clay, stone, animal skin, and even metal, the most available writing material became papyrus (the forerunner of paper) - made from a Nile river plant and was used by scribes from 2500 B.C. to A.D. 700.

The plant is cut in strips and laid down parallel to one another.

The next set up papyrus strips are laid perpendicular to the other strips.

Finally, the strips are pressed & stretched together with a rolling stone, as the sticky pulp glues it together.

After drying, the papyrus is ready to use.

While papyrus was fairly cheap & reliable, it was also fragile and susceptible to both moisture and excessively dry conditions.

As such, it was crucial that copies be made before it was destroyed from use or the elements.

Eventually, papyrus was replaced by the more expensive and yet more durable...

“parchment” (specially prepared animal skins - scraped and soaked in lime).

Yet, these skins still break down over time.

This is why fresh copies were so important for future preservation.(Leather

& vellum are 2 other kinds of animal hide usages)

* As this is the case, we have NO ORIGINAL autographs of any of the Old nor New Testament documents.

Of course, what is true of the Bible is true of ALL ancient manuscripts written on these materials during this time.

(apples to apples comparison)

Question #3: - and where we will spend the rest of our time -

Question #3 - How do we know the Scriptures weren’t corrupted?

How do we know that writings we have today haven’t been changed after being copied over the centuries?

Asked another way: Is what we have now what they wrote then?

I’m glad you asked.

Let’s…Examine the evidence & go where it leads

Old Testament Preservation

By the time of Jesus, the Old Testament writings spanning about 1400 years in multiple writings, were clearly recognized.

All of the Hebrew Scriptures, or what we call the Old Testament, had been translated and complied into Greek well before the time of Jesus (around A.D. 200) - this is known as the Septuagint (LXX).

Jewish scribes had a long tradition of copying the Hebrew Scriptures with PRECISION.

This continued until long after the earthly ministry of Jesus.

Scribes followed detailed disciplines for copying a manuscript.

Dr. Kenneth Barker, a professor of the Old Testament, notes that Jewish scribes had such a high view of the Scriptures being the words of God that “they regarded the copying of any error as a sin.

No imperfection, no matter how small, was tolerated.”

So, if the mistake could not be fixed, the entire project was trashed & restarted.

Everything was prescribed - the numbers of words allowed per column (no more than 30 letters), the type of writing material used, the kind of ink, and even the spacing of words.

The scribe was NOT ALLOWED to copy anything from memory—not even the shortest word.

Instead, it had to be copied letter by letter while verbalizing the letter.

Later scribes known as the Masoretes (AD 6-10th centuries) counted the number of times each letter of the Hebrew alphabet occurred in each copy and compare it to the original.

Further, they were familiar with the middle letter of the middle word of the writing as a reference point by which to make certain that no letters were missing.

When the scribe came to the Hebrew name of God (YHWH), he would not stop or allow himself to be distracted.

Even if a king was to enter the room, the scribe was obligated to continue without interruption until he finished penning the holy name of the one true God.

When copies of the Scripture started to wear, they were quickly removed from the collection and placed in a receptacle to separate them from the other, newer scrolls.

The new copy was considered to have the equal authority to that text it was copied from - an exact duplicate of the information.

If you were to ask, “Is what we have now what they wrote then?”

They would have answered, “Absolutely.”

Limited & Late Copies

The original autographs & early copies of the Hebrew Scriptures disappeared over time, due to wear and tear and persecution by oppressors who destroyed the Hebrew writings.

For example:

The Babylonian destruction of the 1st temple in 586-587 B.C. enslaved took many Jews to Babylon.

Since that time the Jewish people were scattered and persecuted many times.

I’ll mention 2 even though there were others:

In 167 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanies took over the 2nd Temple and outlawed the Hebrew Scriptures, destroying many of them.

A.D. 70 the 2nd temple was destroyed & the Romans scattered and enslaved many Jews, once again meaning the Hebrew Scriptures were in danger.

Until 1947, the oldest Hebrew texts available dated from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1000, although they had all been written between 1500 B.C. and 400 B.C.

Before 1947, the Isaiah manuscript used to translate to English Bibles came from a copy that dates to around A.D. 1000, that’s about 1700 years removed from the original that Isaiah wrote around 700 B.C.

But then came the....

Dead Sea Scrolls

In 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 were discovered when a shepherd boy found jars of scrolls in Qumran caves while searching for a lost goat.

Some of the scrolls found dated as far back as 250 B.C.

The Hebrew scrolls contained all OT writings except for Esther.

Some are dated over 800-1000 years older than any previously discovered scroll.

And I know what you’re thinking.

Why don't they compare the oldest we have to THOSE?

That’s exactly what researchers did.

One of the leather scrolls wrapped in linen cloth was a complete Hebrew text of Isaiah, believed to be from 100-250 B.C.