How was the Bible formed?

Introduction

While most know some...Bible stories Most folks don’t know...The Story of the Bible

Understanding how we got the Bible is almost as important as knowing what’s in it. The backstory sheds light on the story.

The story begins on Easter when Jesus’ tomb was found empty. After he was seen alive, the church launched. The events surrounding Jesus’ life were then documented.

Documents documenting the life of Jesus Matthew / Mark / Luke / John

Before long, gentiles began embracing the message of Jesus. When gentiles became enamored with Jesus, they became enamored with the sacred texts that told of his coming. Look for Christ in the Law and The Prophets.

Important Side Note on Today’s Message:

Today’s message is more of a history lesson than a typical sermon that I would teach. I am commanded by God to prepare the body and to teach - sometimes this means taking time to grow our understanding on historical aspects of Christendom.

The material in today’s message, is critical in understanding how we got the Bible. While many will not remember dates, names, places (that is perfectly fine) - it is important to understand the amazing formation of the written Word that we possess today. It truly is a miracle.

A commitment that I ask of you is this - stay with me.

Don’t scroll your socials

Don’t look for something on Amazon

Don’t spend your mental energy on lunch

I ask that you stay engaged in this teaching and I will do my best to give you a glossary overview that will help you in your spiritual formation and understanding of the written Word.

Prayer

Recap of this series:

Week 1. Starting in the middle - The Bible really begins not at the beginning but at the middle. If the death and resurrection of Jesus never happened there wouldn’t be a story worth telling. We would have no need for Christianity or the Bible.

Week 2. In the Beginning - we talked about the power of Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God…there was only one God…not multiple gods. We also jumped to Genesis 1:26-27 we talked about the image of God and that we all humanity has dignity, value and purpose since we are made in His image.

Last week - we talked about how the Old Testament chronicles God’s redemptive story - preparing the world for a savior.

Today we are talking about - how the Bible was formed.

How was the Bible formed?

I have provided a very helpful timeline that comes from Dr. Comfort that gives you a brief descriptor of a critical event and the date. It is amazing to see the process unfold in the development of the Bible. This is found on your sermon notes - if you would like to check that out.

Early Development

c. 1400–400 B.C. Books of the Hebrew Old Testament written

c. 250–200 B.C. The Septuagint, a popular Greek translation of the Old Testament, produced

A.D. 45–85? Books of the Greek New Testament written

90 and 118 Councils of Jamnia give final affirmation to the Old Testament canon (39 books)

140-150 Marcion’s heretical “New Testament” incites orthodox Christians to establish a NT canon

303-306 Diocletian’s persecution includes confiscating and destroying New Testament Scriptures

c. 305-310 Lucian of Antioch’s Greek New Testament text; becomes a foundation for later Bibles

367 Athanasius’s Festal Letter lists complete New Testament canon (27 books) for the first time

397 Council of Carthage establishes orthodox New Testament canon (27 books)

c. 400 Jerome translates the Bible into Latin; this “Vulgate” becomes standard of medieval church

English Versions From Latin

c. 650 Caedmon, a monk, puts Bible books into verse

c. 735 >Historian Bede translates the Gospels

871-899 King Alfred the Great translates the Psalms and 10 Commandments

950 The 7th-century Lindisfarne Gospels receive English translation

955-1020 Aelfric translates various Bible books

c. 1300 Invention of eyeglasses aids copying

c. 1325 Both Richard Rolle and William Shoreham translate psalms into metrical verse

1380-1382 John Wycliffe and associates make first translation of the whole Bible into English

1388 John Purvey revises Wycliffe Bible

1455 Gutenberg’s Latin Bible—first from press

English Versions From Greek

1516 Erasmus’s Greek New Testament, forerunner to the Textus Receptus used by KJV translators

1525 William Tyndale makes the first translation of the New Testament from Greek into English

1536 Tyndale strangled and burned

1537 Miles Coverdale’s Bible completes Tyndale’s work on the Old Testament

1538 Great Bible, assembled by John Rogers, the first English Bible authorized for public use

1560 Geneva Bible—the work of William Whittingham, a Protestant English exile in Geneva

1568 Bishop’s Bible—a revision of the Great Bible

1582 Rheims New Testament published

1607-1611 King James Version, the “Authorized Version,” is made

Timeline provided by Dr. Philip W. Comfort is visiting professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and author of The Quest for the Original Text of the New Testament (Baker, 1992).

​We have the 66 books of the (Protestant) Bible that we consider to be the Canon of Scripture. The word canon means “rule” or “rule of measurement”. The word canon has to do with the idea that it is these books are the “rule of faith” it is by these books that form our faith, our doctrine, our practice, and from no other books.

But other ancient books exists.

These other books are called apocryphal (hidden) or deutero-canonical (a second canon)

These books were influential throughout the first 1500 years of church history.

These books were 1/2 Esdra, Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, the Prayer of Azariah, and the Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 Maccabees.

Why aren’t they “canonical”? Some have argued that books titled, the shepherd of Hermas should be part of the canon. Others have argued that the books of Hebrews, James, or even Revelation, should NOT be considered part of the canon.

If you had a first edition copy of the KJV, or a modern copy of the NRSV, or the CEB, you would find books labeled “apocrypha”

Are these apocrypha books inspired? Do they belong in the canon?

Inspired books were written by a prophet, apostle, or someone who had a close connection with a prophet or apostle. Several books were rejected on this criteria, including many of the apocryphal books. Some of the books that we now consider canon were doubted by some on this criteria. We don’t know who wrote the book of Hebrews, so some wanted to reject it on that basis. The book, however, contains many marks of close association with the apostles, and thus it was eventually universally recognized.

Inspired books contain only true information, spiritually and historically. It could not contradict an older book that was already recognized as Scripture. Some of the apocryphal books fail this test. They have teachings that contradict books that had previously been received as Scripture. Others contain historically inaccurate information. Some books are called “Pseudepigrapha” which means they were written by someone who put an apostles name on it. Many of the so-call gnostic Gospels fit this category. There is a book called the Gospel of Thomas, and it claims to have been written by Thomas, the doubting disciple. There is ample evidence, however, to demonstrate that he didn’t actually write it. Books whose author’s lied about their identity are not inspired works.

Inspired books are life-giving and spiritually profitable. How many of you have read the apocrypha? Feel free to read them. I haven’t read all of the apocrypha, but I have read a lot of it. It lacks the life-giving and spiritually profitable qualities that our Bible has. They’re interesting, but not life-giving.

When these criteria are applied, we end up with the 66 books of the bible we know and love as our Scripture.

A walk through history reveals that the church almost universally accepted these exact books. Lists of books from different people in different places during the first 200 years of church history reveals remarkable consistency.

How was the Canon developed or determined?

Inspiration of the bible: defined as that direct influence of God on the writers of the Bible by which, while they did not cease to be themselves, they were so moved, guarded, and guided by the Holy Spirit that their resulting productions constitute the written Word of God (BEB)

The Bible was written by roughly forty different people from a whole range of backgrounds. Authors include kings (Solomon), fishermen (Peter), doctors (Luke), military leaders (Joshua), tax collectors (Matthew), and even some who are unknown. Biblical writers include almost every type of person: wise and foolish, faithful and treacherous, rich and poor, innocent and guilty, and young and old.

So, how did we get the bible? Its a big question with a lot of history.

Transmission - how the text was handed down to us.

Canonization - which texts are authoritative for faith and doctrine?

Canonicity of the bible - refers to the normative or authoritative books inspired by God for inclusion in Holy Scripture. Canonicity is determined by God (see Bible, Evidence for) God gives the divine authority to a book and men receive of God. God reveals and then His people recognize what he reveals.. It is not the antiquity, authenticity, or religious community that makes a book canonical or authoritative. A book is valuable because it is canonical, and not canonical because it is or was considered valuable.

Its authority is established by God and merely discovered by God’s people.

Our responsibility then is to discover and recognize what God has inspired, not make our own determinations of what is or isn’t canon.

God’s Determination and Human Discovery -

The Authority Relationship Between Church and Canon

Incorrect View

the church is the determiner of the canon.

the church is mother of the canon.

the church is magistrate of the canon.

the church is regulator of the. canon.

the church is judge of the canon.

the church is master canon.

Biblical View

the church is discoverer of the canon.

the church is child of the canon.

the church is minister of the canon.

the church is recognizer of the canon.

the church is witness of the canon.

the church is servant of the canon.

The canon was not determined by the catholic church. The canon was not determined at Nicaea. The canon was not determined by any human. God spoke, and the church responded. Inspired books were nearly universally recognized as inspired from the very beginning, and documentation from church history gives us confidence that is that case.

So how has God’s people recognized the canon of God’s revelation? Old Testament Canon

Jesus and the disciples regarded a body of scripture as authoritative although there was no “official council.”

John 5:39 NIV “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,”

Matthew 5:17 NIV “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Luke 24:44–46 NIV “He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,”

so what are the Law and the Prophets?

The Law was the first five books of the OT. also referred to as the books of Moses.

The Prophets are everything not in the Law

Agreement of what was inspired by the 2nd-5th Century AD.

Position on the 39 books of the Old Testament:

Protestants have defended the shorter OT canon, asserting that these 39 books were the only books that the Jews of the time of Christ and the apostles accepted as their canon of Scripture. The other books - intertestamental / apocryphal were not considered Scriptural. The Jews never believed they were inspired in the same way as the earlier biblical books. Rabbinic literature (2-5th centuries after Christ), as well as in Josephus (1st century historian), outlines the Jewish belief that prophesy ceased (divinely inspired writings) after Malachi.

New Testament Canon

As with the OT, canonicity of the NT texts is recognized.

How did they recognize inspiration?

There is no book from antiquity tell us how, instead scholars have observed and inferred what the early church fathers did.

Here is the recognized criteria:

1. Did an Apostle or a colleague write it?

NT writings were believed to have apostolic connections. Though not necessarily written by one of the 12 apostles - they came from the apostolic age and could be closely associated with an apostle or Jesus (James and Jude).

Or, was it someone they knew like the case of the Gospel of Mark.

2. Is the book orthodox?

Is it theologically consistent with scripture(OT and perhaps already known texts)?

Christians believed that the theology and ethics promoted by the NT books as a whole cohered (united / formed a whole) in shared orthodoxy / beliefs.

Gnostic (a religion that focused on gaining knowledge from inner secrets / deeper truths) in order to reach an enlightenment. The Gnostic concept of salvation is being made aware of the existence of his inner God-spark and from that knowledge being able to escape from the material world to the spiritual. Gnostics and Christianity are directly opposed to each other.

3. Is the book relevant to church life?

Does the book edify the saints?

Does it have value in christian living?

Does the book lead you to transformation?

4. Is the book widespread and longstanding usage?

regarded as authoritative for a long time and in usage in worship?

Books and documents were preserved that had proved useful for a large number of churches from the earliest generations of Christianity.

A crucial distinction: “the process of canonization did not grant biblical books their authority. Rather, books that were recognized as authoritative were admitted to the canon.”

Klein, Blomberg, Hubbard - Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

When was the Canon official recognized?

These documents were written during the same time, and they were collected, and they were protected, and they were considered valuable not because any of those people who were writing the Bible, they were considered valuable because of who they were writing about.

They were collected and they were protected, and then something fabulous happened. In the 4th century, Constantine lifted the ban, lifted the ban on all, just about all religions, including Christianity. And for the first time in history, in the 4th century, scholars could come out of the shadows and begin to work openly on these incredible documents.

And the empire, this is amazing, the empire responsible for crucifying Jesus funded the collection of these documents and the copying of these documents and somewhere toward the late 4th century…

Following Eusebius, Athanasius gives us our precise twenty-seven book New Testament in his Festal Letter (AD 367). Additionally, regional church Synods at Hippo (AD 393) and Carthage (AD 397) both affirm the twenty-seven book New Testament canon.

A copy of the Jewish Scripture and a copy of Christian text were combined together and was eventually called te Biblia or the Bible.

Conclusion:

Again, belief in the resurrection was alive and well in Jerusalem immediately, not eventually.

The theme of resurrection with the Corinthian church was causing some confusion.

Paul wants to set the record straight on this most important of beliefs.

And one of the ways he does so is by offering, right at the start of 1 Corinthians 15, what may be the very earliest concise statement of Christian belief.

It may, in fact, be the earliest creed of the church, it might have been recited by members of the early church as a declaration of what they believed.

So this morning, I am going to have you stand to your feet and read the first seven verses of 1 Corinthians 15, I’m going to ask you to join your voices with the saints of old and read these words aloud as they might have.

1 Corinthians 15:1–7 (NIV)

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

Breaking down the text:

1 Corinthians 15:1-2, 3–7 1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you...

[...when I was with you three years ago.]

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.

[If asked, “How do you know Peter?” He would reply, “The eye witnesses told me.”]

6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James...

[How did he know? James told him. Scholars are convinced Paul is reciting a preexisting creed.]

[It is a carefully crafted statement used to ensure accurate transmission of belief.]

Christ died for our sin and was buried; He rose from the dead and was seen.

[The resurrection was so widely accepted it had already been summarized in a creed.]

The Bible did not create Christianity.

Christianity is the result of an event that created a movement that produced texts that were collected, protected, and bound into a book.

If there had been no resurrection, there would be no Bible, because the story of Jesus would not have been worth telling.

His story was worth telling, because it was a story for every generation. It’s a story with personal implications for all of us. Christ died for our sin and was buried. He rose from the dead and was seen.

Central take away of from this series:

The story of the Bible reminds us that the most important question is not, “Are we at peace with everything in the Bible?” but rather, “Have we found peace with God who so loved the world that he gave his Son for us?”

Prayer

Growth Track - Step 1 Next Week

Water Baptism tonight at Pine River Park