It's Biblical: Can I trust the Bible?

Devotional and Review

I was going to do a devotional but I think we will have some devotional as we talk about the Gospel.

Pray as we begin.

Review:

the Bible is a form of divine communication meant to lead us more fully into the life of God. Put in theological terms, we might say that through the Bible we receive divine revelation, the purpose of which is soteriological. In other words, the purpose of God’s Word is salvation for the world.

The Bible is authoritative and Inspired

The Bible is a narrative of God’s redemption for the world

Introduction: Reliability of the Bible

Two questions that are used:

1. What are the # of ancient documents that we have

2. What is the time difference between the surviving documents and the original writings

Plato:

less than 10 manuscripts

Earliest copy is between 1200 and 1400 years later

Sophocles:

193 copies

Earliest is 1400 years later

New Testament:

30,000 surviving documents

Time difference only a few decades

Take Plato for example: there are less than 10 ancient manuscripts that attest to Plato’s writing. The earliest copy is between 1200 and 1400 years after it was written

Sophocles: we have 193 copies, which is a decent amount. The time difference between the earliest and the original is still 1400 years. Still a huge gap.

These writings are respected and read in the university widely, even today.

The New Testament around 30,000 surviving documents that attest to the NT. These are not separated by 1400 years but the first ones are only a few decades from the originals. This is unparalleled.

We are going to be talking about the Gospels, I know that many of us probably are more familiar with them and spend most of our time with these texts. Specifically, I want to talk about the historicity of them. Can I trust them? This lecture is important for many reasons:

Why is this important?

Strengthening your study of Jesus

Standing up for your faith

Navigating confusing parts of the books

We could essentially do this for any part of the Bible or specific book but it is probably best for us to zoom in on the Gospels as a microcosm.

Anyone know what Gospels mean?

Gospels = Messages of Good News

This deliberately employs the term from the LXX Isaiah for good news.

Mark 1:

Mark 1:1–3 NIV

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”

The gospel writers are employing story or narrative when they bring on OT references. The Good news, is not just a piece of news that is good. It is much more than that he is evoking a story from their past, he is bringing to mind a narrative that was promised and not finished. This is how we understand what evvangelion, gospel means, and thus what the Gospels are trying to communicate.

is the answer from Babylon:

Isaiah 43:1–11 NIV

But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.

And the next 11 chapters speak to this very theme. It is bracketed again with evvangelion from the septuagint in ....

Isaiah 52:

Isaiah 52:7 NIV

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

The message of evvangelion from Isaiah:

Yahweh has overthrown Babylon

He has won the great victory

Released people from captivity

He is coming back to Zion to be King

And how does he do that? , the suffering servant. By laying down his life.

The evvangelion is that Jesus is King, Jesus is Lord. Every message of the Gospel coincides with this. And the Gospels are this good news telling the story of how God became King.

From the time Isaiah is written to when Jesus shows up we have all this second temple writing: Ezra, Baruch, Enoch, all of them are waiting for the fulfilment of this story, of this proclamation of this good news. The New Testament begins with “Now let me tell you the story of this” , that is why Mark starts the way he does. Really all of them begin in some sense with that nuance truth.

Last thing I will say about Good news. When we reduce it to just what we think good news is, something that is positive, etc. The Jesus seminary of the 80s and 90s was a movement that did this. Tried to reduce Jesus to just what we could prove him saying historically and what we had were a bunch of hyper-critical scholars that were reducing the Gospels to something they were not supposed to be. They were reducing it to moral platitudes. etc. The gospels are not just good advice…News in this sense, biblically, and in greek/Roman context, is news that happened that changes everything. Like the proclamation of a new king, or a victory of war.

Bible Project podcast picture.

Questions?

The historicity of the gospels:

So if we can confidently trust the originality and accuracy of the bible to what was originally written then we should ask if we believe or trust the content of what these authors wrote.

First we must decide what the gospels are. Remember when I asked you to consider different genres?

Biographical: (persons, Ruth)

Historical: (events, numbers, Acts)

Geographical: (Places, Joshua, Acts)

Ideological: (ideas Ecclesiastes; Job, epistles)

Question: What do you think we have with the Gospels?

Yes, they are Biographical in nature. In particular they are Ancient Biographies. This distinction is important as we will see.

1. Ancient Biographies:

When discussing the historical reliability of the gospels many approaches are needed and possible but starting with the baseline of determination of Genre really flows into most other considerations.

For most of history the scholarly study of the gospels led to the grouping of these 4 books as biographies of Jesus and his followers. Then starting in 1915 scholars began to link discrepancies with the gospels. They began to question their credibility based on arrangement of material. You have this story here in Mark then you have it at the end of Luke, so on and so forth. Some stories missing, etc.

However, when studying literary ancient biographies the gospels can be placed in a proper framework. Biographies that are contemporary to the writing!

Modern biographies versus ancient biographies

Modern biographies are predominantly chronological order, and focuses on the protagonist. So modern biographies (I just read a biography on Billy Graham and this is the format), begins with the birth, and then crams all the available information into the narrative. That is not what we get with the gospels. They do not always seem to move chronologically, and they leave out different pieces of the story. Three main things about structure that makes ancient biographies different:

Arranged with different purpose

Ancient Biographers freedom of structure

Biographers all are about the same length

Ancient biographies are different, they are typically arranged topically rather than chronologically, definitely with a purpose in mind:

A. Ancient biographies are different, they are typically arranged topically rather than chronologically, definitely with a purpose in mind:

Matthew having a more jewish audience and from a jewish perspective.

Luke seems to be more focused on historical or at least chronological, and

John is very theological.

B. Ancient biographers use a great deal of freedom in order structure, choosing of topics, expansion of details of presenting more concise presentation of events. Think of the synoptic gospels…Matthew, Mark, Luke.

C. Finally, ancient biographies all seem to fit within a length…which matches all 4 gospels.

2. Sources: Usually depend on one main source

Biographers tend to rely heavily on one main source and then would weave other sources around them Matthew and Luke rely heavily on Mark. The source would be someone that interacted directly with Jesus ministry, a disciple, or someone that passed in the information by those close to Jesus. The author himself may be an eye witness. Ancient biographers held strictly to the presentation of facts being authentic and real.

Luke 1:1–2 NIV

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word.

3. Oral Tradition:

a. A conversation is usually needed on the reliability of oral transmission of the sources as this was the mode of communication in antiquity. First, memorization was a predominant part of education. Disciples of rabbi’s or teachers were expected to memorize teachings precisely and accurately in order to pass them down to others. The capacity and ability to memorize is very unlike our academic culture today. People could memorize hours of speech immediately upon hearing it and recite it back

i. Group called the Bards reciting all of Homer back…hours of speech.

ii. This was part of culture and particularly the Jewish lifestyle. Students memorizing the entirety of the torah.

Questions?

Miracles:

Finally the topic of miracles has been a source of most of the skepticism of the bible.

David Hume made the dissenting argument against miracles famous. Assuming a framework where miracles or anything supernatural are an impossibility. He famously argue that all objects of human inquiry must either be mathematically or analytically verifiable or need to be matters of fact, empirically testable, like in a lab.

Miracles are not true because miracles cannot exist. It’s a circular argument, it makes no sense. And yet many of us believe in this very fact.

The overwhelming witnesses to miracles in the gospels and in modern times begs to differ with this argument but presuppositions make it impossible for some. Craig Keener and his work on Miracles

Saying that there is no God because miracles cannot exist is maddening.

Homework: Segment Survey

Show structure on the board. I would end the section at verse 52…I think the next verses belong in the next section.

A couple of things…what kind of writing do we have here? Parable writing. That should tell us some things about this.

Parable definition from Dean of Chapel at Perkins School of Theology at SMU, Wes Allen:

A Parable is a narrative metaphor, drawn from nature or common life, which arrests the hearer by its vividness or strangeness and leaves the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise interpretation or application to tease it into active thought even to the point of altering one’s world view. - Wes Allen (SMU)

Prologue:

Matthew 13:1–2 NIV

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.

Then Jesus teaching in front of Crowds: 13:3-35

Then Teaching specifically to Disciples: 13:36-52

Draw out rest on board....

What did you find?

I found a few really important for the whole segment: questions of definition, of rational, and then of implications.

A. Particularization

Jesus begins with teaching to the collective crowd and moves to specifically teaching His disciples.

Key verse: Mat 13:16

What is the meaning of this movement of teaching to the general population to the particular group of disciples? How does Matthew show this and how does this illumine the meaning of the passage?

Why does Jesus teach in this way and why does Matthew develop the passage in this fashion?

What are the implications?

B. Recurrence of Contrast

There is a contrast of the disciples and the rest of the crowd, those that “hear” and those that “don’t hear”. I would probably add a Substantiation of this from the Is. passage and moving on from there.

Key verses: 13:10-17 and specifically 10-11

What is the difference between the disciples and everyone else? How does Jesus show this difference? How is this difference the importance of understanding the parables?

Why does Jesus develop this contrast? Why do the disciples have a better understanding of Jesus teaching? Or do they?

What are the implications?

C. Recurrence of Comparison

Jesus uses parables to compare people of different walks of faith to seeds that are scattered; the kingdom of heaven to a field of wheat/weeds; again the kingdom to mustard seed; and again the kingdom to leaven; kingdom to a treasure in a field; merchant searching for pearls; a fishing net; and a householder

What is the meaning that can be concluded from the comparisons of the kingdom of heaven? What characteristics of the kingdom can be drawn from each comparison?

Why does Jesus teach with these parables? Why does He use these specific comparisons to the kingdom of heaven?

What are the implications?

Other major impressions: Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of heaven seems to be frequently accompanied of supplemented with eschatology. In other words it seems that Jesus would define the kingdom of heaven in association with what happens at the end of times as well. Already and not yet implications here.

Kingdom of heaven implications:

Ok some things I want to offer us. It is clear that the kingdom of heaven cannot be captured in a single definition. As we began our lecture today the good news that Jesus is the King is the message of the Gospels and if Jesus is the King then the kingdom is by which He is king over. The kingdom of heaven has many implications over our life. It is that which is worth anything else we might ever have or find in this life. It is something that start small and grows bigger than anything else....Jesus coming to one place and time and now the movement bigger than ever....or the smallest amount of faith growing bigger and bigger in an individual or a community. It is yeast that infects the whole. The kingdom is currently mixed with those that are in and those that are not but will one day be pure and holy…

Also we know that the kingdom is already, but it is not yet. Like headlights on the highway. We see right in front of us but at the same time we flip the brights on and we see further.

On some level the disciples are no different than the crowds, they are no smarter, or do not have more answers, the difference seems largely to be their relationship to Jesus. Their availability and choice to follow gains them access and further detailed answers. Jesus is harsh and blunt with them, but caring at the same time not leaving out the hard parts but loving them with all of it. He is hoping and helping them to have good soil so that the message of the kingdom will take root in their hearts and grow and flourish.

Homework for next time:

Is interpretation of

Matthew 16:24 NIV

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

I want you to start by asking questions of this text. Definition questions, then rationale questions, then implications. Look at Matthew. The passage it is in and think about the whole book…considering other places that might help you understand what this text really means. Does it mean literal death? What might be wrapped into this work?

Only then, do I want you to use internet, study bible notes, commentaries. There are commentaries in my library, the church, etc. I have included a couple here for you.

Then I want you to use your own words to write about what this verse means in the Bible and what it means for your life.

Resources:

blueletterbible.org

me

study Bible notes