Memory verse: 2 Peter 1:21
Review: How do we know God has revealed Himself in the Bible? He gives us evidences.
1. General reliability - The Bible can be shown to be reliable in matters of history, archaeology, geography, and social customs of that time period.
2. Special reliability - Preknowledge of science and history without error.
If it can be shown that Jesus is God then we have an absolute authority.
1. The Gospel narratives can be shown to be a reliable historical account.
2. The Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah are fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. The historical account states that Jesus claimed to be God. He supports his claim by fulfilling prophecies, performing miracles and rising from the dead.
Conclusion : The Bible is inspired by God through Jesus' testimony. His testimony is authoritative because he is God.
INSPIRATION
What does the Bible specifically say about itself?
First: God controls history - Isaiah 10:5-7,12-15,46:9-10. Therefore He can preserve His Word and keep it from error.
Inspiration: God breathed out - 2 Timothy 3:14-17; God's breath creates - Psalm 33:6. Through the Holy Spirit - 2 Peter 1:21; (Carried - Acts 27:15.) 1 Corinthians 2:13; Zechariah 7:12. Christ to Apostles - John 14:26,16:12-13-15.
Inspiration: the supernatural guidance, by God the Holy Spirit, of selected individuals of to record in writing, without error, the words God intended to communicate.
Originals
Since the words are God's and since God does not make mistakes in anything, it follows the at the Bible is without error. This property is called inerrancy. ( A Similar term, infallibility, is used by some to mean something other than “ without error.”) True prophets are expected to be 100% accurate: Deuteronomy 18:20-22.
Jesus' view of Scripture: Matthew 5:17-18, John 10:34-35, Luke 24:25. Jesus was quoting from copies he had available not from the originals. His view of the copies are authoritative and binding, Keep this in mind when going through the section on transmission.
Factual history not allegory or myth and written by the intended author:
Moses, Prophets, Psalms - Luke 24:44, Jonah - Matthew 12:40, Adam & Eve - Matthew 19:5, Noah & Sodom - Luke 17:27,29, Daniel - Mattheew 24:15, Isaiah - Mark 7:6-7; Matthew 8:17.
Inspiration does not mean the writers were manipulated by God as simple dictating machines. Rather, the Holy Spirit used the vocabulary, style, and background of the writer without violating his will or personality. The Holy Spirit worked with the writers, preserving them from error, so that the product is both human and divine throughout. For example, in 1 Corinthians 7:10,11 Paul cites what Christ taught during His earthly ministry, while in 7:12 he begins to give further instructions without quoting words given him. In verse 25 he refers to his instructions as "his judgment" but tactfully adds that he is faithful and (v.40) that he has the Spirit of God in writing these things. Here also Paul is inspired (cf. also 1 Corinthians 14:37, 2 Corinthians 13:3, and 2 Peter 3:15, 16).
Subtle denials of God's Word
1. "The Bible contains the Word of God."
a. "Parts of the Bible are inspired (and which are is uncertain)." Yet, 2 Timothy 3:16 says all Scripture is inspired. (Also Matthew 5:17-19, Luke 24:25.)
b. "The Bible is inspired in matters of faith and practice (not history and science).
" No, our beliefs depend on whether certain historical events occurred, e.g. the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15). (Other examples: Galatians 3:15-18, Romans 4:9-11, Matthew 19:3-6.)
c. "The thoughts and ideas of the Bible are inspired (not the actual words)." Jesus expressly says all the words (even the letters) are inerrant (Matthew 5:17,18). Zechariah 7:12 says even the words were given by God.
2. "The Bible becomes the Word of God (to you)."
a. Parts of the Bible become inspired to you when you have a personal encounter with God while reading the imperfect writings." Here inspiration is subjective, but in Zechariah 7:12 God says the words of Scripture are His, despite the unbelief of the Jews. (See also Ezekiel 2:7.)
b. "The Bible becomes God's truth when we strip the mythological settings in which its truths are expressed." The fall of man and the crucifixion of Christ, for example, are now "myths".... Read 2 Peter 1:15-21.
3. "The Bible is inspired and the authoritative Word of God (but not inerrant)." This view has begun to spread among evangelicals, so it is important to realize that some evangelical groups may not believe the Bible is inerrant (though they call it "infallible" and "authoritative"). Jesus said,"Scripture cannot be broken" John 10:35.
In contradiction to these mistakes, the Biblical doctrine of the verbal plenary inspiration of the Scriptures holds that all (plenary) the Scriptures in everything they address to the very choice of words (verbal) are God-given and therefore inerrant.
TRANSMISSION
We don't have the originals but we have the best preserved copies of any ancient writing.
Old Testament - The scribes copied Scripture very, very carefully; if one mistake was found, it was discarded Nix pg. 252. In fact, there was strict rules the Masoretes (Jewish scribes) had to follow when coping Scripture, (Nix pg. 241).
Dead Sea scrolls 2nd Century BC-nearly identical to 900 AD Masoretic text.
Dating determined by type of material written on and lettering.
New Testament - There are about 5000 copies in the original Greek before the printing press. Variant readings of the New Testament consist of mostly typos, or differences like Jesus to Christ.
The doctrine of inspiration applies directly only to the original manuscripts (the "autographs"). We do not claim to have inerrant copies ("apographs"). However, comparison of copies in the science of textual criticism shows that only about 3% of the Bible is in question and that the variations do not affect any Biblical doctrine (Sheehan). Perhaps God provided us with enough writings so that we could interpolate in any questionable portion of text.
Platinum bar analogy- The platinum bar is the "standard" meter used to make copies of that length. The copies are good enough to make accurate measurements. In the same way the copies of Scripture we have are accurate enough for our use.
Verses not in early manuscripts: Mark 16:9-20; John 7:53-8:11; Matthew 6:13b; Acts 8:37; 1 John 5:7,13 end of verse.
The Bibles we have today are to be esteemed "inspired" in that they are accurate recordings of the originals and therefore share to a high degree the "inspiredness" of the originals. To the extent that a copy has errors or a translation misrepresents the text in the original languages, to that extent that version is not inspired. We reject as untrustworthy those translations that are unnecessarily inaccurate or reveal a dishonest effort. (The KJV, NASB, or the NIV are recommended.)
The following passages indicate this idea that the copies share essentially the same quality of "inspiredness" as the originals:
2 Timothy 3:14-17 Which does Paul expect Timothy to read, the originals they did not have, or copies available to him? What is it that is profitable to Timothy for teaching and instruction in righteousness, the originals unavailable to him, or the copies he had? Yet, Paul calls these available Scriptures God-breathed. See also 2 Peter 1:19-21.
John 10:35 Since it was the available copies that Jesus says cannot be broken, we have also "the uncorrupted preservation, in the apographs, of the truths of the autographs, inspite of errors of transmission" (Dunzweiler).
We can expect these facts when we understand from 1 Peter 1:10-12 and 1 Corinthians 10:11 that God's purpose has been to provide Scripture not merely for those contemporaneous with the prophets of ancient times, But for us "upon whom the ends of the ages are come."
This section is quoted from The Historicity Of The Biblical Narratives Of Easter Week by Robert C. Newman
How sure can we be that the texts we reconstruct from surviving manuscripts are close to what the author originally wrote? However, the procedure called "textual criticism" was especially developed to deal with this problem in works written before the advent of printing. What may be said, then, about this? Perhaps you have heard that there are 150 to 200 thousand variant readings in the New Testament, so how can anyone trust anything it says? This is true but misleading, as the phrase "variant reading" is a technical term. Each time a manuscript of an ancient work is discovered, its text is compared with some standard printed edition. At each place it differs from the standard, a "variant reading" is recorded. If ten manuscripts differ in the same way at the same place from the standard, ten variant readings are recorded. Thus, the more manuscripts which survive for a particular work, the more variant readings it will usually have. Our concern here, however, is what fraction of the text is debatable.
Prof. F. J. A. Hort of Cambridge, in his classic work on the New Testament text, notes that 7/8ths of the text is accepted by all as preserved just as penned by its original authors. The remaining 1/8th consists largely of matters of spelling and word order, both relatively trivial in ancient Greek. If scholars are correct in their consensus that the Alexandrian family of manuscripts preserves the best text, this area of doubt reduces to about 1/60th of the text, from which Hort estimates that substantial variants make up only about 1/1000th of the text. (B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort, eds., The New Testament in the Original Greek (2 vols.; New York: Harper and Brothers, 1882), 2:2). Other estimates have been made; for instance, Prof. Abbott of Harvard suggests that only 1/400th of the text is doubtful. (Ezra Abbot, The Authorship of the Fourth Gospel, With Other Critical Essays (Boston: Ellis, 1888).
Hort's estimate of "substantial variation" for the NT is 1/10th of 1%; Abbot's estimate is 1/4th of 1%; and even Hort's figure including trivial variation is less than 2%. Sir Frederic Kenyon well summarizes the situation:
The number of manuscripts of the New Testament . . . is so large that it is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or other of these ancient authorities. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world. (Frederic G. Kenyon, Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941), p. 23).
We give here a sketch of the historical evidence external to the Gospels for the traditional authors. Papias, bishop of the church at Hierapolis in Asia Minor and an old man by A.D. 130, names Matthew and Mark as Gospel writers, indicating that Matthew wrote in Hebrew or Aramaic and describing Mark as one who recorded Peter's reminiscences. Papias was himself a student of the apostle John. (Recorded in Eusebius, Church History 3.39.15-16).
Justin Martyr, after studying many of the contemporary Greek philosophies, converted to Christianity sometime before 130. He speaks of the Gospels as "memoirs of the apostles." (Justin, Apology 1.33, 66, 67; Dialogue with Trypho 100-104, 105, 106, 107.) He says they were written "by apostles and those who followed them," (Dialogue 103.7), which matches the traditional ascription to two apostles (Matthew and John) and two followers (Mark of Peter, Luke of Paul). He quotes from or mentions matters found in each of the four Gospels, and apparently alludes to Mark's Gospel as Peter's memoirs. (Dialogue 106.3). Justin wrote in the 50s of the second century, but apparently his Dialogue with Trypho, in which much of his testimony occurs, actually took place in the 30s.
The anonymous Muratorian Canon, written in Italy late in the second century, is damaged at its beginning but lists Luke as author of the third Gospel and John as author of the fourth. (Text in Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian Church (2nd ed.; London: Oxford, 1963), pp. 40-41; J. Stevenson, ed., A New Eusebius (London: SPCK, 1963), pp. 144-147).
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in southern France about 180, was raised in Asia Minor and studied under Polycarp, a student of the apostle John. He names each of the four Gospel authors and gives relative dates for the writing of three of these. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.2).
Clement and Origen, Christian teachers in Alexandria around 200, mention all four Gospels and give the traditional authors. (Clement, Outlines, cited in Eusebius, Church History 6.14.5; Origen, Commentary on Matthew 1, cited in Eusebius 6.25.3ff).
None of these men give any indication that they are guessing, innovating or borrowing from one another. All this suggests that the information was common knowledge from the previous generation. That the apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians is as certain as that he existed. Not only does the letter claim to have been written by Paul, but the earliest extrabiblical Christian writing still in existence affirms it. Clement's letter to the Corinthians, written about A.D. 95, quotes from it, names it, describes it, and assigns it to the apostle Paul. (Clement 47, 34). All this within thirty years of Paul's death in a writing by the leader of the church at Rome where Paul had labored and given his life for the faith.
CANONICITY
Canonicity - Measuring rod or standard. The process of men discovering the books which God inspired.
1. Canoncity is determined by authority, the authority of Scripture not the authority of men.
2. Authority is determined by Christ's testimony in regard to O.T. and N.T..
3. Christ's testimony is known by the authenticity of the record (historical record) their accuracy compared to reliable historical writings.
Criteria for determining Canonicity
1. Is it authoritative? Does it claim to be God's word ? - 1 Corinthians 14:37.
2. Is it authentic does it tell the truth about God and man ? - Deuteronomy 13.
Does it contain historical and prophetic inaccuracies, and moral inconsistencies? - Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Isaiah 8:20.
3. Is it written by a prophet, apostle, or his secretary (amanuensis)?
The word of God will be transmitted though men of God.
4. Is it dynamic? Does it come with the life transforming power that we expect the word of God to have? Hebrews 4:12; Isaiah 55:11.
5. Was it received, read and collected by the people of God?
The church fathers recognized what books were Scripture. For example, In the writings of two church fathers: Polycarp and Papias (disciples of the apostle John) knew what N.T. books were Scripture.
This next section is taken from Dr. R. C. Newmans Intro to NT course notes
Indications of recognition as Scripture in Apostolic Fathers (95 to 130 AD).
Four of these works come from known church leaders:
1 Clement - c95 AD - Bishop of Rome;
Ignatius - c105-115 - Bishop of Antioch;
Polycarp - c105-115 - Bishop of Smyrna;
Papias - c130 - Bishop of Hierapolis.
Example: Hebrews is attested as early as any other NT work.
-Clement of Rome (1 Clement, ~94 AD) makes extensive allusions to it.
-1 Clem. 36 refers to Heb. 1:3,4,5,7,13; 12:2, then uses the same OT passages as Hebrews to show that Jesus is their high priest.
-1 Clem. 17 refers to Heb. 3:2; 11:37 [not as clear].
-1 Clem. 43 refers to Heb. 3:5.
Other literature in this group:
Shepherd of Hermas (c110-130 AD) -- Written by a Roman Christian whose brother Pius was bishop of Rome.
Pseudo-Barnabas (c130) -- author unknown, not likely to have been Barnabas.
Didache (c110) -- Church manual written and revised over a long period of time.
In this literature we find many allusions to the NT, and 3 explicit references to the NT as Scripture:
a. 1 Clement 47: "Take up the epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle. What wrote he first unto you in the beginning of the Gospel? Of a truth he charged in the Spirit concerning himself and Cephas and Apollos, because that even then you made factions."
Letter to the Corinthians during Domitian persecution. Church having similar problems as when Paul wrote. Had a schism and booted out their elders without charges. Clement obviously cites 1 Cor, saying, "as Paul charged you in the spirit." implying it is inspired Scripture. Clement also assumes Paul's letter is widely known.
b. Polycarp to Philippians 12: "For I am persuaded that you are well-trained in the sacred writings, and nothing is hidden from you. But to myself this is not granted, only, as it is said in these scriptures, 'Be ye angry and sin not,' and 'Let not the sun set on your wrath'."
Cites Ephesians 4:26 as "sacred writing" and "these Scriptures".
c. Pseudo-Barnabas 4:
Very allegorical. In an exhortation, quotes Matthew 22:14 under the heading, "As it is written."
d. Allusions to the NT.
Find many allusions citing the NT as authoritative. These form a spectrum of citations, ranging from direct quotes to similar ideas; the cutoff between allusion and similar views is hard to locate. There is some dispute over how many NT books are alluded to in the Apostolic Fathers:
Various Views on number of NT books alluded to in Apostolic Fathers: NT: OT:
1) Ante-Nicene Fathers 25/27 28/39
[Roberts and Donaldson ed] Not 2,3 John
2) Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers 23/27 22/39
Not 2,3 John; 1 Thess, Phm
3) Oxford Committee [study on NT 20-22/27 -----
citations by Apostolic Fathers]
Not 2,3 John; Philm; Jude; 2 Peter;
Col?; 1 Thess?
We can use their citation of OT books as a control, since we know all of them were in existence by the time the Apostolic Fathers were writing. OT books not cited are irrelevant historical books [Judges, Nehemiah, Ezra], and several small books [Eccles., Amos, Micah, Obadiah] of little application to the early church.
Thus the lack of citation does not mean that the book did not exist or was not yet recognized as Scripture, but only that it was short and contained no "relevant" material for the apostolic fathers.
Summary regarding Canon.
By 130 AD, all but the few shortest books are definitely mentioned as authoritative.
The final details of the NT canon decision seem to have been providential rather than revelatory. This is the same situation we have for the OT canon, except that we have Jesus' (implicit) stamp of approval on the OT results.
The councils and scholars who considered the matter after Xy became legal about 325 AD appear to have made good use of the historical information available to them (mainly continuity of use in the oldest churches). Given a view of Scripture as revelatory and inspired, no one has suggested any other good candidates for admission.
Questions were raised about some of the shortest NT books and about Hebrews and Revelation. Though we would not want to do without any of these, no major doctrines of Xy depend on them alone.
What is clear is that the category of Scripture was applied to NT writings already in the apostolic age, and that nearly all of the NT canon was recognized as authoritative in the writings of church leaders from the early second century.
With this we must be satisfied. We have neither time machines nor all the information we would like on how these books came to be recognized as Scripture, but it is clear that they did. God has retained in his hands the direction of history, however much we want to be able to control it or pass judgment on whatever happens. God has promised that he will carry out his word whether we believe it or not. So we might as well trust him and do our best to be on his side rather than the other.
N.T. recognizes N.T. Scripture: 2 Peter 3:15,16; 1 Timothy 5:18 quotes Luke 10:7. Jude 17-18 quotes 2 Peter 3:2-3.
Intertestament books: Are they inspired?
Apocrypha - Scattered throughout the Jerusalem Bible (Roman Catholic edition)
Purgatory - 2 Maccabees 12: 40-46. Praying to the dead is forbidden - Isaiah 8:19-20, Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:11.
The writer is not authoritative - 2 Maccabees 15:37-39 - "if it is trashy or mediocre that iis all I can manage."
"To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn." (Isaiah 8:20).
Conclusion
The Bible is inspired whether or not we read it, but it becomes profitable to us only when we read it! God's promise in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 assures us that the Bible is sufficient to equip us for every good deed. If you are young in Christ, "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow by it..." (1 Peter 2:2). If you are not so young, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15). We can become experts with the sword of the Spirit only as we train with it by consistent, daily Bible reading. Then we can say with David, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." (Psalms 119:11).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carlson, Howard J., "Inerrancy and Authority, " 11th World Congress, International Council of Christian Churches, June, 1983.
Dunzweiler, Robert J., "Are the Bibles in Our Possession Inspired?" IBRI Report No. 5.
Geisler, Norman L. and William C. Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible, Zondervan, 1979.
Harris, R. Laird, Inspiration and Canonicity of the Bible, Zondervan, 1978.
Sheehan, Bob, Which Version Now? Carey Publications.
Warfield, B. B., "Inspiration, " in Selected Shorter Writings (Vol. 2), John E. Meeter (ed.), Presbyterian and Reformed, 1973.
Taken from Dr R. C. Newmans paper “THE HISTORICITY OF THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVES OF EASTER WEEK
APPENDIX I
A COMPARISON OF SOME ANCIENT HISTORICAL WRITINGS
AUTHOR & WORK
AUTHOR'S
DATE OF
DATE OF
DATE 1st LAPSE EVENT
LAPSE EVENT
LIFESPAN
EVENTS
WRITING*
MANUSCRIPT# TO WRITING TO
MANUSCRIPT
Matthew, GOSPEL c0-70 AD? 4 BC-30 AD 50-65/75 c200 < 50 < 200
Mark, GOSPEL c15-90 AD? 27-30 AD 65/70 c225 < 50 < 200
Luke, GOSPEL c10-80 AD? 5 BC-30 AD 60/75 c200 < 50 < 200
John, GOSPEL c10-100 AD 27-30 AD 90/110 c130 < 80 < 100
Paul, LETTERS c0-65 AD 30 AD 50-65 c200 20-35 < 200
Josephus, WAR c37-100
AD 200 BC-70 AD c80
c950
10-300
900-1200
ANTIQUITIES
200
BC-65 AD c95 c1050
30-300
1000-1300
Tacitus, ANNALS c56-120 AD 14-68 AD 100-120 c850 30-100 800-850
Suetonius, LIVES c69-130 AD 50 BC-95 AD c120 c850 25-170 750-900
Pliny, LETTERS c60-115 AD 97-112 AD 100-112 c850 0-3 725-750
Plutarch, LIVES c50-120 AD 500 BC-70 AD c100 c950 30-600 850-1500
Herodotus, HISTORY c485-425 BC 546-478 BC 430-425 BC c900 50-125 1400-1450
Thucydides, HISTORY c460-400 BC 431-411 BC 410-400 BC c900 0-30 1300-1350
Xenophon, ANABASIS c430-355 BC 401-399 BC 385-375 BC c1350 15-25 1750
Polybius, HISTORY c200-120 BC 220-168 BC c150 BC c950 20-70 1100-1150
*where slash occurs, first date is conservative, second liberal.
#for New Testament, these are fragmentary manuscripts; earliest complete manuscript c 350; lapse to manuscript would be about 325
SOURCES: For Biblical data, see the standard New Testament introductions, e.g., Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1971); W. G. Kuemmel, Introduction to the New Testament (London: SCM, 1966). For the classical data, see N.G.L. Hammond and H.H. Sculland, eds., The Oxford Classical Dictionary (2nd ed.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970); Henry Thurston Peck, ed., Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities (2nd ed.; New York: Cooper-Square, 1965); and the relevant editions of each author in the Loeb Classical Library.