Uncorrected Galley · 10 Judges and Ruth 103 11 1 and 2 Samuel 117 ... BCOT Baker Commentary on the Old Testament ... EBC The Expositor’s Bible Commentary FOTL Forms of the Old

Illustrated Bible SurveyAn Introduction

Ed Hindson and Elmer L. Towns

Uncorrected Galley

Nashvi l le, Tennessee

Illustrated Bible SurveyCopyright © 2013 by Ed Hindson and Knowing Jesus Ministries

All rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4336-8221-6

Published by B&H Publishing GroupNashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 200.07Subject Heading: BIBLE—STUDY AND TEACHING

Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition). Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

Scripture citations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible. ©The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NIV 1984 are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Image credits are on page 607. At time of publication, all efforts had been made to deter-mine proper credit. Please contact B&H if any are inaccurate.

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 • 18 17 16 15 14 13

RRD

Dedication

To the more than 100,000 students

we have been privileged to teach

at Liberty University

over the past 40 years.

May God use you to change the

world in your generation.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ContributorsList of Maps viiList of Abbreviations viiiContributors ixPreface xi

1 How We Got the Bible 12 How to Read the Bible 133 Old Testament Introduction 234 Genesis 355 Exodus 476 Leviticus 617 Numbers 718 Deuteronomy 819 Joshua 91

10 Judges and Ruth 10311 1 and 2 Samuel 11712 Kings and Chronicles 12713 Ezra and Nehemiah 14714 Esther 16315 Job 17316 Psalms 18317 Proverbs 19318 Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs 20319 Isaiah 21520 Jeremiah and Lamentations 23121 Ezekiel 24722 Daniel 25923 Minor Prophets, Part 1 27524 Minor Prophets, Part 2 30525 The History Between the Testaments 331

vi ILLUSTRATED BIBLE SURVEY

26 New Testament Introduction 33927 Matthew 34928 Mark 36129 Luke 37130 John 38331 The Book of Acts 39532 Romans 41133 1 and 2 Corinthians 42334 Galatians 43935 Ephesians 45136 Philippians 46337 Colossians and Philemon 46938 1 and 2 Thessalonians 48139 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus 49340 Hebrews 50941 James 52142 1 and 2 Peter and Jude 52943 1, 2, and 3 John 54344 Revelation 555

Name Index 571Subject Index 574Scripture Index 586Image Credits 607

vii

List of Maps

The Migration of Abraham 42The Route of the Exodus 51Egypt: Land of Bondage 53The Journey from Kadesh-barnea to the Plains of Moab 78The Tribal Allotments of Israel 97Location of the Judges throughout Israel 106Kingdom of David and Solomon 134The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah 136The Return of Jewish Exiles to Judah 148The Persian Empire 165The Rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire 232Jewish Exiles in Babylonia 243World Powers of the Sixth Century 252Prophets of the Eighth Century 301The Passion Week in Jerusalem 389Expansion of the Early Church in Palestine 401The First Missionary Journey of Paul 403The Second Missionary Journey of Paul 405The Third Missionary Journey of Paul 406Galatia 440Paul’s Conversion and Early Ministry 445Crete 504The Seven Churches of Asia 557

viii

List of Abbreviations

AB Anchor BibleANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies BAR Biblical Archaeology Review BCOT Baker Commentary on the Old Testament BECNT Baker Evangelical Commentary on the New TestamentBKC Bible Knowledge Commentary BKCNT Bible Knowledge Commentary: New TestamentCBC Cambridge Bible Commentary DSB The Daily Study Bible EBC The Expositor’s Bible Commentary FOTL Forms of the Old Testament Literature HNTC Holman New Testament CommentaryICC International Critical Commentary ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia ITC International Theological Commentary IVP InterVarsity Press JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series KJBC King James Bible Commentary NAC New American Commentary NCBC New Century Bible Commentary NT New Testament NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary NIVAC New International Application Commentary NT New TestamentNTC New Testament Commentary (Baker Academic)OT Old Testament OTL Old Testament Library OTSB Old Testament Study Bible PNTC Pelican New Testament CommentariesSJT Scottish Journal of Theology TNTC Tyndale New Testament CommentaryTOTC Tyndale Old Testament Commentary TWOT Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament VT Vetus Testamentum WBC Word Biblical Commentary WEC Wycliffe Exegetical CommentaryZECNT Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New TestamentZIBBC Zondervan Illustrated Background Commentary

ix

Contributors

Authors

Edward E. Hindson (Th D , Trinity Graduate School; D Min , Westminster Theological Seminary; D Litt et Phil , University of South Africa; F I B A , Cambridge University) is the distinguished professor of religion and biblical studies at Liberty University

Elmer L. Towns (Th M , Dallas Theological Seminary; D Min , Fuller Theological Seminary) is the distinguished professor of systematic theology and dean of the School of Religion at Liberty University and dean of the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Associate Editors

John Cartwright (M Div , Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary; Ed D student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is department chair, School of Religion, LU Online at Liberty University

Gabriel Etzel (D Min , Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, Ph D student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate dean, School of Religion at Liberty University

Ben Gutierrez (Ph D , Regent University) is professor of religion and administrative dean for undergraduate programs at Liberty University

Wayne Patton (M Div , Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary; D Min student at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate dean, College of General Studies at Liberty University

Editorial Advisors

James A. Borland (Th D , Grace Theological Seminary) Professor of New Testament and Theology

Wayne A. Brindle (Th D , Dallas Theological Seminary) Professor of Biblical Studies and Greek

David A. Croteau (Ph D , Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) Professor of New Testament and Greek

Alan Fuhr, Jr (Ph D , Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies

x ILLUSTRATED BIBLE SURVEY

Harvey Hartman (Th D , Grace Theological Seminary) Professor of Biblical Studies

Gaylen P. Leverett (Ph D , Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) Associate Professor of Theology

Donald R. Love (Th M , Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies

Randall Price (Ph D , University of Texas at Austin) Distinguished Research Professor and Executive Director, Center for Judaic Studies

Michael J. Smith (Ph D , Dallas Theological Seminary) Associate Professor of Biblical Studies

Gary Yates (Ph D , Dallas Theological Seminary) Associate Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew

xi

Preface

T he Bible is the most important book ever written. It contains sixty-six individual books from Genesis to Revelation. These were collected over

1,500 years into one grand volume that we call the Word of God. Christians accept the Bible as uniquely inspired of God and, therefore, authoritative for our beliefs and practices. The Bible itself proclaims that its authors were “moved by the Holy Spirit” so that “men spoke from God” (2 Pet 1:21).

We have taught Bible survey courses for a combined total of nearly one hundred years at various institutions but mostly at Liberty University where we have been privileged to serve together for over 30 years. We have taught thousands of students from every walk of life, majoring in everything from accounting to zoology—business, history, journalism, philosophy, psychol-ogy, nursing, premed, prelaw, religion, you name it. Our goal has always been to challenge them academically, inspire them spiritually, and motivate them effectively to discover and apply the great truths and practical wis-dom of the Bible in providing them with a biblical basis for the Christian worldview.

Introducing the basic content of the books of the Bible generally includes the examination of their authorship, background, message, and application. Our purpose is to provide a college-level textbook that is accessible to stu-dents and laymen alike. Therefore, we have left the more technical discus-sions of authorship and genre to seminary- and graduate-level introductions such as B&H’s The World and the Word by Merrill, Rooker, and Grisanti and also The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown by Köstenberger, Kellum, and Quarles, which we highly recommend.

For us the Bible is not merely a combination of ancient documents, his-torical details, and religious information. It is the living Word of God that still speaks to the minds, hearts, and souls of men and women today. It con-fronts our sin, exposes our selfishness, examines our motives, challenges our presuppositions, calls us to repentance, asks us to believe its incredible

xii ILLUSTRATED BIBLE SURVEY

claims, stretches our faith, heals our hurts, blesses our hearts, and soothes our souls.

Jesus spoke often of His confidence in the Bible with such phrases as “the Scripture must be fulfilled” (John 13:18); “the Scripture cannot be bro-ken” (John 10:35); “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32); “I did not come to destroy [the Law or the Prophets] but to ful-fill” (Matt 5:17); “man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4); “today . . . this Scripture has been fulfilled” (Luke 4:21). Jesus read and quoted the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures with assurance that they were the Word of God. He also promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit of truth will “guide you into all truth” and “declare to you what is to come” (John 16:13). This promise was realized when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles enabling them to remember all that Jesus said and taught (John 14:26).

Teaching the Bible is one of the great privileges and blessings of the Christian life. We believe it is our greatest calling to proclaim, clarify, and explain the biblical message. It is not our story; it is God’s story. It is the story of His love and grace that has pursued human beings down through the tunnel of time, through the halls of history and into the vast canyon of eter-nity. The Bible is a story of an infinite, yet personal Being who loves us with an inexhaustible love that is expressed in His amazing grace which reaches out to us time and time again.

We want to thank the editorial team of biblical scholars from Liberty University and the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary for their advice, assistance, and encouragement in this endeavor. We also want to thank Dr. Gary Smith who served as the external editor for B&H and Michael Herbert, B.S. of Liberty University, who served as the managing editor of the electronic file. It is our prayer that this survey of the Bible will enlighten your mind and open your soul to the One who dared to say, “Everything written about Me . . . must be fulfilled. Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44–45).

Ed Hindson and Elmer TownsLiberty University in Virginia

1

Chapter 1

How We Got the Bible

T he Bible is a collection of sixty-six books that are recognized as divinely inspired by the Christian church. They are divided into the Old

Testament (39 books) and the New Testament (27 books). Collectively these books included law, history, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, narratives, biogra-phies, personal letters, and apocalyptic visions. They introduce us to some of the most amazing people who have ever lived: shepherds, farmers, patri-archs, kings, queens, prophets, priests, evangelists, disciples, teachers, and most of all—the most unique person who ever lived—Jesus of Nazareth.

How We Got the Old Testament

God revealed His Word to ancient Israel over a thousand-year period (ca. 1400–400 BC), and then scribes copied the biblical scrolls and manu-scripts for more than a millennium after that. The process by which the Old Testament books came to be recognized as the Word of God, and the his-tory of how these books were preserved and handed down through the gen-erations enhances our confidence in the credibility of the Old Testament as inspired Scripture (2 Tim 3:16).

What Books Belong in the Old Testament?

The canon of Scripture refers to the list of books recognized as divinely inspired and authoritative for faith and practice. Our word canon is derived from the Hebrew qaneh and the Greek kanon, meaning a “reed” or a “mea-suring stick.” The term came to mean the standard by which a written work was measured for inclusion in a certain body of literature. The books of the Bible are not inspired because humans gave them canonical status. Rather, the books were recognized as canonical by humans because they were inspired by God. As Wegner explains, the books of the Old Testament “did

2 IlluSTRATed BIBle SuRvey

not receive their authority because they were placed in the canon; rather they were recognized by the nation of Israel as having divine authority and were therefore included in the canon.”1

The order and arrangement of the Hebrew canon is different from that of our english Bibles. The Hebrew canon consists of three major sections, the law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (Kethuvim). Collectively they are referred to as the Tanak (an acrostic built on the first letters of these three divisions—TNK).

The Hebrew Canon

LawProphets

WritingsFormer Prophets Latter Prophets

GenesisexodusleviticusNumbersdeuteronomy

JoshuaJudges1 and 2 Samuel1 and 2 Kings

IsaiahJeremiahezekielMinor Prophets (Book of the 12)

PsalmsJobProverbsRuthSong of Songsecclesiastes lamentationsestherdanielezraNehemiahChronicles

The Septuagint (lXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament, first employed the fourfold division of the Old Testament into Pentateuch, Historical Books, Poetical Books, and Prophetic Books that is used in the english Bible. The inclusion of historical books within the prophetic section of the Hebrew canon reflects their authorship by the prophets. daniel appears in the Writings rather than the Prophets because daniel was not called to the office of prophet even though he functioned as a prophet from time to time. Chronicles at the end of the canon provides a summary

Jewish rabbi copying Hebrew Scripture.

HOW We GOT THe BIBle 3

of the entire Old Testament story from Adam to Israel’s return from exile though it was written from a priestly perspective.2

How Were the Old Testament Books Selected?

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Commandments God gave him, the people of Israel immediately recognized their divine authority and promised to obey them as the words of the lord (exod 24:3–8). The writings of Moses were stored at the central sanctuary because of their special status as inspired Scripture (exod 25:16, 21; deut 10:1–2; 31:24–26). In deut 18:15–22, the lord promised to raise up a succession of prophets “like Moses” to speak His word for subsequent generations, and the pro-nouncements of these messengers of God would also be recognized as pos-sessing divine authority.

When Was the Process Completed?

Jewish tradition affirmed that prophecy ceased in Israel ca. 400 BC after the minis-try of Malachi. First Maccabees 9:27 states, “So there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that the proph-ets ceased to appear among them.” Baruch 85:3 makes a similar claim, and the Jewish Talmud states that the Holy Spirit departed from Israel after the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi in the early postex-ilic period. While some questions remained regarding some of the “writings” that were already included in Scripture (e.g., esther) even until the Council of Jamnia in Ad 90, the evidence suggests that the Hebrew canon was essentially completed and fixed by 300 BC. All of the canonical books of the Old Testament, except for esther, appear among the copies of the dead Sea Scrolls (250 BC–Ad 70).3

How Does the New Testament View the Old Testament?

Jesus and the apostles accepted the inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures and often referred to or quoted them as authoritative. According to Jesus, the words written by the human authors of Scripture were the

A Torah scroll being held in its wooden case at a celebration in Jerusalem.


“command of God” and “God’s word” (Mark 7:8–13; cf. Matt 19:4–5). As God’s Word every part of the Old Testament would be accomplished and fulfilled (Matt 5:17–18; 26:54, 56; luke 24:27, 44; John 7:38), and nothing it predicted could be voided or annulled (luke 16:17; John 10:35). Jesus described the Old Testament canon as extending from Genesis to Chronicles when speaking of the murders of Abel and the prophet Zechariah in Matt 23:34–35 and luke 11:49–51 (cf. Gen 4:8 and 2 Chr 24:20–22).

How Reliable Are the Old Testament Documents?

Though the earliest parts of the Old Testament were written ca. 1400 BC, the earliest existing Hebrew manuscripts for the Old Testament are the more than 200 biblical manuscripts found at Qumran among the dead Sea Scrolls, dating from roughly 250 BC to Ad 70. Prior to the discovery of the dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, the earliest extant Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament dated 800–1000 years after the time of Christ. The earliest complete copy of the Old Testament is Codex leningrad, dating to near Ad 1000.

despite these significant chronological gaps between the original manu-scripts and the earliest documents, one can have confidence that the original message of the Hebrew Bible was faithfully preserved throughout its long and complicated transmission process.

Scribal practices in the ancient Near east demonstrate the care and pre-cision taken by members of that craft in copying important political and religious texts. Israelite scribes who had a special reverence for the Scriptures as the Word of God were careful when copying the biblical manuscripts.

As the earliest existing Hebrew manuscripts, the dead Sea Scrolls are an important witness to the textual integrity of the OT. Many of the biblical scrolls found at Qumran reflect a text that closely resembles the later Masoretic Text (MT), the textual tradition represented in the Hebrew Bible today. The close similarity of the Isaiah Scroll (1QIsab) found at Qumran to later Masoretic manuscripts of Isaiah reflects how carefully the scribes copied the text.

A fragment from the Dead Sea Scrolls.


After the close of the OT canon (ca. 300 BC) and the standardization of the Hebrew text (first century Ad), meticulous and careful scribal practices ensured that the received text of the OT was handed down unchanged. A special group of scribes called the Masoretes (Ad 500–1000) played a vital role in the transmission and preservation of the OT text. The Masoretes also meticulously counted the letters, words, and verses in the text. For example, the final Masorah at the end of deuteronomy notes that there are 400,945 letters and 97,856 words in the Torah and that the middle word in the Torah is found in leviticus 10:16.

The study of textual criticism is the science that enables scholars to determine and establish the wording of the original text. The number of tex-tual variants due to handwritten mistakes that affect the meaning of the text are relatively few, and none of these variants change any major OT teaching or Christian doctrine.4 Rather than undermining a person’s confidence in the Scriptures, the textual criticism and transmission history of the Bible enables everyone to see how accurately the Bible today reflects what God originally communicated to His people in His Word. By contrast, no other documents from the ancient world were as accurately copied, preserved, and transmitted as the Old Testament Scriptures.

The Gezer Calendar is believed to be one of the oldest Hebrew inscriptions found to date. The inscription is on a limestone tablet and dates from 925 BC.

The Hebrew text on this collapsed stone from the trumpeting place in Jerusalem reads, “to the place of trumpeting to . . . .” This stone probably marked the place where a trumpeter announced the begin-ning and end of the Sabbath every week.


How We Got the New Testament

Which Books Belong in the New Testament?

The New Testament consists of twenty-seven books that were written from about Ad 45 to approximately Ad 100. Some authors penned their books, while other authors dictated the contents of a letter or narrative to an assistant (i.e., a scribe). This assistant wrote down what was spoken, and the author checked the document for accuracy. Apparently, Paul handwrote some of his first letters (Gal 6:11), but his later letters, which were dictated, ended with his handwritten salutation to authenticate them (2 Thess 3:17; Col 4:18; also see 1 Pet 4:12). The books of the New Testament were written on leather scrolls and papyrus sheets. These books included the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s letters, the General epistles, and the Revelation (or Apocalypse).

These books were circulated indepen-dently at first, not as a collection. Itinerant preachers such as the apostle Matthew may have stayed in the homes of rich believers who had libraries and servants to be their per-sonal scribes. Matthew may have allowed a scribe to copy his Gospel. Hence, the Gospel of Matthew was circulated widely as he trav-eled from church to church. Paul instructed that some of his letters be circulated (Col 4:16). We do not know if the actual letter (called an “autograph”) was circulated to various churches or if copies were made by scribes to be circulated. Regardless, copies were eventually gathered into collections (apparently there were collections of Paul’s letters, see 2 Pet 3:16). They were copied into codices which are similar to modern-day books, with the pages sewn together on one side to form a binding. In this form the documents were easier to read. leather and scrolls were harder to use because the entire book had to be unrolled to find a passage. Also, papyrus sheets cracked if rolled into a scroll; hence, the flat papyrus pages were sewn into a book. The codex collection was called in latin Ta Bibla, the words we use to designate our Bible.

Greek papyrus.


The Greek LanguageThe New Testament books were written in Greek that was different

from the classical Greek of the philosophers. Archaeological excavations have uncovered thousands of parchments of “common language Greek,” verifying that God chose the language of common people (Koine Greek) to communicate His revelation. God chose an expressive language to commu-nicate the minute colors and interpretations of His doctrine. Still others feel God prepared Greeks with their intricate language, allowed them to conquer the world, used them to institute their tongue as the universal “trade lan-guage,” then inspired men of God to write the New Testament in common Greek for the common people who attended the newly formed churches. This made the Word of God immediately accessible to everyone.

The Manuscript EvidenceThe original manuscripts, called “autographs,” of the books of the Bible,

were lost, mostly during the persecution of the early church. Roman emper-ors felt that if they could destroy the church’s literature, they could eliminate Christianity. Others were lost due to wear and tear. The fact that some early churches did not keep these autographs but made cop-ies and used them demon-strates that they were more concerned with the message than the vehicle of the mes-sage. God in His wisdom allowed the autographs to vanish. like the relics from the Holy land, they would have been venerated and worshipped. Surely bibliol-atry (worship of the Bible) would have replaced worship of God.

While some may have difficulty with the idea of not having an original manuscript, scholars who work with the nonbiblical documents of antiqui-ties likewise do not have access to those originals. When considering the manuscript evidence, it should be remembered there are close to 5,000 Greek manuscripts and an additional 13,000 manuscript copies of portions of the

This is the oldest complete Coptic Psalter, representing one of the most important ancient biblical texts. It dates to the fourth or fifth century and was found buried in a cemetery.


New Testament. This does not include 8,000 copies of the latin vulgate and more than 1,000 copies of other early versions of the Bible. These figures take on even more significance when compared to statistics of other early writings.5

THE NEW TESTAMENT CANONSome writers have supposed that Christians didn’t discuss a canon for

New Testament books until a few centuries after the life of Jesus. However, because of the presence of the heretic Marcion (died ca. 160), this is unlikely. Marcion was a bishop in the church who had a negative view about the God presented in the Old Testament. He rejected the Old Testament and had a severely shortened New Testament canon, consisting of only the Gospel of luke and ten of Paul’s letters. However, even these were edited to remove as much Jewish influence as possible. The church excommunicated Marcion and rejected his teachings and canon.

Another heretical movement, Gnosticism, developed in the second cen-tury. In general this group believed that salvation was found in attaining “special knowledge.” The Gnostics had their own set of writings defend-ing their beliefs and practices. Included in their writings are false Gospels (for example, the Gospel of Thomas). The Gnostics and Marcion raised the question as to which books were genuine and authoritative for Christians.6 Metzger concludes: “All in all, the role played by Gnostics in the develop-ment of the canon was chiefly that of provoking a reaction among members of the Great Church so as to ascertain still more clearly which books and epistles conveyed the true teaching of the Gospels.”7

TESTS OF CANONICITYThe process in which the canon was formed is rather complicated.

However, some offer the following three tests for a book to be considered part of the canon: (1) apostolicity; (2) rule of faith; and (3) consensus.

The test of apostolicity means that a book must be written by an apostle or one connected to an apostle. When applied to the New Testament, most books automatically meet this requirement (those written by Matthew, John, Paul, and Peter). Mark and luke were both associates of Paul. James was a half brother of Jesus, and Jude is either an apostle or the half brother of Jesus. The only book that has much difficulty with this criterion is Hebrews. Many in the early church believed Paul wrote Hebrews, but many New Testament scholars today suggest it was written by luke. If we don’t know who wrote it, how can we connect it to the canon? Hebrews 13:23a says, “Be aware that


our brother Timothy has been released.” Whoever the author of Hebrews was, this reference places him within the Pauline circle.8

The rule of faith refers to the conformity between the book and ortho-doxy. Orthodoxy refers to “right doctrine.” Therefore, the document had to be consistent with Christian truth as the standard that was recognized throughout Christian churches (e.g., in Corinth, ephesus, Philippi, etc.). If a document supported heretical teachings, then it was rejected.

Finally, consensus refers to the widespread and continuous use of a document by the churches.9 At first there was not complete agreement—not because a particular book was questioned, but not all books were universally known. However, the books that were included had widespread acceptance. Because the Holy Spirit breathed His life into a book by the process of inspi-ration (2 Tim 3:16), then the Holy Spirit that indwelt individual believers (1 Cor 6:19–20), and the Holy Spirit that indwelt churches (1 Cor 3:16), gave a unified consensus that a book was authoritative from God.

Applying these criteria to the books contained within the New Testament, and those that were left out, shows the consistency of the canon as it was handed down. Some “Gospels” have been found in recent years and have raised quite a stir, for example, the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas. Why aren’t these “Gospels” considered authoritative for Christians? First, these Gospels cannot be definitively linked to apostles, even though apostles are named in the titles.10 Second, some heretical teachings in each document contradict the teachings of Scripture. Third, neither of these docu-ments was used either universally or continuously by the church.11 Therefore, they each fail at all three criteria.

The New Testament that Christians use today has a long, rich history. The original copies were written almost 2,000 years ago and were copied for over 1,000 years by hand. All the books in the New Testament can be con-nected to an apostle, have content consistent with sound doctrine, and were used widely throughout the church. The New Testament was translated into many languages early in church history. Wycliffe and Tyndale were early translators of the Bible into english, culminating in the King James version and many contemporary versions that now exist for the edification of the body of Christ.

Altogether the Old and New Testament manuscripts, copies, and transla-tions have stood the test of time. The Bible is God’s Book, written to reveal Him and His message of salvation. God has preserved His Word over the centuries to speak to our hearts today. As you read the Bible, let Him speak


to you. His words will challenge your thinking, stretch your faith, inform your mind, bless your heart, and stir your soul.

NOTES

1. Paul d. Wegner, The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1999), 101.

2. The word Apocrypha means “hidden books” and was first used with reference to these works by Jerome c. Ad 400. The exact meaning of this term when applied to these books is unclear but implies their biblical authority was doubtful. Thus, they are not included in Protestant versions of the Bible.

3. In the twenty-four-book canon, the Minor Prophets are a single book (“The Book of the 12”), and 1–2 Samuel, 1–2 Kings, 1–2 Chronicles, and ezra-Nehemiah are viewed as one book each. Josephus arrived at a total of twenty-two books by also viewing Judges-Ruth and Jeremiah-lamentations as single books.

For Further Reading

Beckwith, Roger. The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church: And Its Background in Early Judaism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.

Bruce, F. F. The Canon of Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1988.Geisler, Norman, and W. Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible. Chicago:

Moody Press, 1986.Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. The Old Testament Documents: Are They Reliable and

Relevant? Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001.Merrill, Eugene H. “The Canonicity of the Old Testament.” In The World and the

Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Nashville: B&H, 2011.Rooker, Mark F. “The Transmission and Textual Criticism of the Bible.” In The

World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament. Nashville: B&H, 2011.

Wegner, Paul D. A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism of the Bible: Its History, Methods and Results. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006.

Study Questions

1. What does the term canon mean in relation to biblical books?2. What is the threefold division of the Hebrew Bible?3. What is the function and purpose of textual criticism?4. How reliable are the Old Testament documents?5. In which language are the books of the New Testament written?6. How does the relation of the apostles to the New Testament

books influence their credibility?


4. Mark. F. Rooker, “The Transmission and Textual Criticism of the Bible,” in eugene H. Merrill, Mark F. Rooker, and Michael A. Grisanti, The World and the Word: An Introduction to the Old Testament (Nashville: B&H, 2011), 109.

5. Josh Mcdowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict (San Bernardino, CA: Campus Crusade for Christ International, 1972), 48.

6. F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture (downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1988), 153.7. Bruce M. Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (New york: Oxford university

Press, 1987), 90.8. For more on the authorship of Hebrews, see the chapter on Hebrews.9. Also referred to as universality or catholicity.10. See Andreas J. Köstenberger and Michael J. Kruger, The Heresy of Orthodoxy: How

Contemporary Culture’s Fascination with Diversity Has Reshaped Our Understanding of Early Christianity (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), esp. 151ff.

11. See Nicholas Perrin, Thomas: The Other Gospel (louisville: Westminster, 2007).