05-21-06-The DaVinci Deception-Part 5
“The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. . . . The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions.” says Sir Leigh Teabing in The DaVinci Code. In this statement, we see some truth, but also some falsehood. It is true that the Bible did not “fall magically from the clouds” and that men wrote it often during very tumultuous times. It is also true that the Bible has been revised and translated numerous times over the centuries. But the falsehood is that it is not a product of man. The Bible is a divinely inspired book that only God could have produced. As we continue our search for the truth, today we want to look at how we got our Bible and how we can know that it is true. With all the different translations available to us today, how do we know what version is the right one?
At the heart of The DaVinci Code is this bold attack upon the scriptures. Why this is so blatant an attack, I believe, is because if we can destroy the authenticity of the Holy Bible, then we lose all foundation upon which we base our faith. However, I want to show you today, that we do not need to fear our faith being destroyed because our Bible is as authentic as they come, no matter what version or translation we read.
How many have ever heard Hezekiah 1:1 quoted? “God helps them that help themselves.” Or how about Hezekiah 1:2 “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” How many of you realized instantly that there is no such book? Hezekiah was a king of Judah, and he wrote some Psalms, but there is no book by that name. The sad fact is that many people today, including Christians, do not even know the books of the Bible; therefore, they can be easily lead astray. Not only do we not know the books, but we don’t value the Holy Scriptures and are scripturally illiterate. Let’s take a little quiz to examine this more. Please don’t be offended or feel any guilt or shame if you don’t know the answers to these questions:
1. How many books are in the Old Testament? (39)
2. How many books are in the New Testament? (27) 3 x 9 =27
3. How books are there in the Bible? (66)
4. What are the first 5 books of the Old Testament called? (The Pentateuch, Books of Moses, or the Books of the Law)
5. How many Major Prophets are there in the Old Testament? (4-Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel)
6. How many years were the Israelites in captivity in Babylon? (70)
7. What is the last book of the Old Testament? (Malachi)
8. Who wrote more than 2/3 of the New Testament? (Paul)
9. Where is the Fall of Man described? (Genesis 3)
10. How many Gospels are there in the New Testament? (4)
These are basic Bible facts that everyone should know. How many got all of them correct? Well, if you didn’t don’t feel bad, because there is much ignorance about basic Bible facts and truths today. In a country where the Bible is the best selling book of all time many do not know what it says or have not read it.
So how did we get our Bible? We call this the canonizing or canonicity of the Bible. The word canon means "rule" or "measure." A canon, therefore, indicates a standard of measurement. Before a book could be included in the New Testament canon, it had to measure up to this standard: (1) it had to be authored by an apostle, an associate of an apostle, or a relative of Jesus (i.e., James and Jude); and (2) it had to contain divinely inspired truths that could be taught as Christian doctrine and were consistent with the rest of the Scriptures. This is the standard which must be used to distinguish truth from error.
The Old Testament was written over many hundreds of years by many different men. It was collected and agreed upon as closed around 400 BC. The Old Testament was accepted by Jesus and others as the Scriptures in essentially the same form as we have it today. There were basically 3 divisions to the Old Testament. Jesus said in
Luke 24:44 (NIV) “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.”
Although the Old Testament took hundreds of years to be written, the New Testament was completed within the period of about fifty years, from about 50 -100 AD.
“In the first century, Christians treated the Old Testament as their "Scriptures." They read the Old Testament and spoke from it in their meetings.2 They also had the living word of the apostles who were present among them. The apostles taught them the gospel and passed on to them the teachings of Jesus. But after the apostles died, Christians depended more and more on what the apostles had written. At the same time, they began to recognize that their writings were on the same par as the Old Testament writings. In short, several of the books of the New Testament were considered as early as the second century to be divinely inspired Scripture: the four Gospels, Acts, Paul’s epistles, 1 Peter, and 1 John. Other books took longer to gain full recognition: Hebrews (because the author was unknown), James (because it was thought to have doctrinal differences with Paul’s theology on salvation), 2 Peter and Jude (over the question of authorship), 2 and 3 John (because they were not well known), and Revelation (because its message and authorship were debated). Once the issues were resolved, in the middle of the fourth century, these books were also accepted by the church as being divinely inspired and worthy of inclusion in the New Testament canon.” [i]
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
This verse clearly tells us that all scripture—Old and New Testaments—is inspired or literally God-breathed. “Out of all the millions of books there are in the world, there is only one that was authored by God. And there is only one book that reveals God’s plan for man. It is an amazing book because it has a divine author and because it tells the wonderful story of God’s love for us.” [ii]
You may read a novel or book that can affect the way you think or even change your destiny, but when you die all of that will have no more effect on your life. The Bible on the other hand is the Word of God that we will carry with us through out eternity. What other book has the power to change lives for all eternity?
Not only can it affect our eternity, but the Bible also can affect our lives today. It is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” It is a book that we can literally live our lives by and be successful in doing so. By reading a Psalm a day, you will be feeding your spirit with enough truth about God that you will come to know Him as David did in a much greater way so that you are able to trust Him as your Shepherd. A Proverb a day can give you wisdom to guide your life through every situation. The Gospels show us who our Lord Jesus was while He was on the earth and the greatness of God’s love for sinful men. The Acts declare the truth of the history of the church after the Day of Pentecost as men allowed the Holy Spirit to flow through them to spread the gospel around the world. The letters of Paul are full of practical truths and ideas that can make our lives full of joy and peace. James, Hebrews, and Peter’s letters can inspire us when we go through tough times and persecution. John’s letters and Revelation can inspire us to worship God because of His great love and give us a greater understanding of the awesomeness of God. The Bible from Genesis to Revelation gives us everything we need to know about God and His great love for us. The amazing truth of the Bible is that throughout all 66 books there is one theme—redemption.
But what about all the translations we have today? Which is the right one to use? Do we have to use the King James Version (“If it was good enough for Paul it is good enough for me”)? A brief understanding of how we got our Bible may help with this question.
Originally the books of the Bible were written on parchment. There were no printing presses so they had to be copied by hand. The scribes who copied them took great pains to insure the accuracy. Many of these copies were lost, but we do have some copies that have survived. These were continually copied and translated down through the ages into different languages as the common language changed. The Hebrew Old Testament was translated into the Greek Septuagint version when Greek became the common language. Later the Bible was translated into Latin and German as these languages became the common language. Finally, we have English translations as English has become the common language.
Today, you will find the most common versions are the KJV, NASB, AMP, NIV, and NLT (survey the room and see what people have). The KJV written in 1611 was the standard for many years, and developed into the Revised Version, and from it came the American Standard Version and finally the New KJV was developed in 1979. The NASB translated in 1960 and updated in 1995 is the most literal translation we have today, which can sometimes make it seem stiff when reading it. The Amplified Bible was translated in 1965 and takes the literal meanings of words in the Greek and Hebrew and puts them into words we can understand today (e.g. believe—trust in, rely on, cling to). It is a great study tool, but very hard to read. The NIV, which is highly popular today, was developed in 1965 and was finished in 1985. The NLT is a very readable version that was developed in 1996.
The newest translation that I know of is the Today’s New International Version published in 2005 (20 years after the NIV was completed). There have been more translations in the past 50 years than in all years combined. All of these have been an attempt to keep the Bible fresh and relevant as the language has changed. One caution on translations vs. paraphrases. The Living Bible (1972) is not a translation, but a paraphrase. The Message (2002) is also a paraphrase. A paraphrase is an interpretation of the meaning of the verses. A translation goes back to the original Greek or Hebrew text and is based on the meaning derived from the words. The Hebrew language is a very picturesque language, so that its words are meant to develop a picture in your mind. This is why a study of the original languages brings great revelation to us.
The truth is that there will be other translations in the future, which may replace those we use today. The amazing fact is that through all the centuries and all the language changes the meaning of the Scriptures has remained the same. What translation is best is purely a matter of preference. Whether you prefer the Elizabethan English of the KJV (thee, thou), or the easy readable of the NLT (you, me), the message is the same. God loves us and has a plan for our lives. He sent His only Son to die on a cross to pay the price for our sin and to give us eternal life. All we have to do is accept that free gift and we become one of God’s children.
That message will never change and regardless of what attacks are brought against the Bible it has always survived and will continue to do so. Why? Because it is God’s Word and He will protect it from being destroyed so men can learn how good He is and how much He loves them.
No my friends, the Bible is not a “product of man”, but a product of God. No council of man determined what books would be in the Bible—God did! Do we need to fear that The DaVinci Code will destroy our faith in God’s Word? If it could do so, then that would mean that God’s Word has no power. But what the Word of God says is still true today:
Heb 4:12 (NIV) For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Let His mighty Word search your hearts today.
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2 See 1 Corinthians 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
[i]Comfort, P. W. (1991). The complete guide to Bible versions. Wheaton, Ill.: Living Books.
[ii]Comfort, P. W. (1991). The complete guide to Bible versions. Wheaton, Ill.: Living Books.