We Believe: The Bible

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

But humans wrote it?

Human authors were chosen by God, filled with the Holy Spirit, and supernaturally lead to use their own personality, style, and language to write the exact words that God desired in order to perfectly convey His message to mankind.

2 Peter 1:19–21 ESV

19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

If you listen to christian scholars who hold the scriptures in high regard you will often hear inspiration described as Verbal, Plenary, Inspiration.

Verbal:

refers to every part of the physical writing is inspired, not just the ideas.

Listen to the words of Jesus.

Matthew 5:18 ESV

18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Not a iota, not a dot

Plenary:

refers to every part of the Bible. We don’t get to pick and choose what God decided to say to mankind. The authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit to write everything God knew we needed.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

So the christian view of scripture is that it is the very Word of God. As much as the original authors were carried along by God the Holy Spirit and used their greatest skill to produce it, the church and translators throughout history have relied on God the Holy Spirit to protect and guide their process.

Confusion over quality

Many skeptics have risen against the Bible. We cannot go into great detail here but I wanted to address a couple of points that might solidify your trust in the Bible you hold today.

How do we get English translations?

False Premise: The early church picked and chose from many viable options so they could control the message.

The Old Testament (39 Books)

Jesus used copies and not the original writings but affirmed their authority.

Our Old Testament matches that used by Jews today. Both groups affirm the clear delineation between other writings and the books we have today.

The New Testament

Ratified by use in the early church and by the early church father’s.

Through writings of the early church father’s and the record of councils they held we know that the 27 books we have today were adopted and widely used consistently by the church before a Canon of scripture was established.

They used three markers to evaluate which books would be affirmed.

Conformity to the rule of faith.

Connection to an Apostle.

Acceptance by the churches.

Other writings

Apocrypha is the label given to extra books that the catholic church and eastern orthodox church adopted later that the reformers did not accept as scripture.

Gnostic Gospels were written well after the deaths of the apostles and do not conform to the clear teaching of the church.

The book of Mormon was written by one man after the clear command of scripture to not add to it. It in now way conforms to the teaching of the Bible.

The New World translation of the Bible from the Jehovah’s witnesses specifically misinterprets passages in order to deny the deity of Christ.

False Premise: Our Bible has been translated so many times that the text is corrupted.

This reveals a great deal of confusion over how we get our Bible. It’s not like the telephone game. We didn’t go from Hebrew to Greek to Latin, to german, to english, to spanish . . . to you name the language.

Instead, scholars collected and compiled the oldest copies of manuscripts possible. The importance of the Bible can be seen in how it compares to other ancient texts that are trusted to accurately represent what they espouse.

Until 1946, the dead sea scrolls had not been discovered. When they were discovered, they not only confirmed the accuracy of our current translations, but added to the wealth of manuscripts.

By it, God reveals who He is, who we are, and what life is meant to be.

God is:

Creator

Genesis 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Loving

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Man is:

Created in God’s image

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Sinful

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The object of God’s grace

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Life is:

Worship

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

His word is complete and supremely authoritative in all matters.

Jesus in the Desert

Matthew 4:1–11 ESV

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

It is the Holy Spirit that enables a human mind to understand its truths.

1 Corinthians 2:11–12 ESV

11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

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