Introduction to the Bible

(Were going to talk about where the Bible came from, different versions of it, how it is organized, and how to find references to specific parts of it.)

One of the most important facts about the Bible is that those who wrote it did not claim to be the source of the ideas they wrote about. This is proved over and over again. Paul never knew Daniel, David never met Peter, but their writings line up in the same way and never contradict one another! This is different from other religions! (Muslims Koran, Jehovahs witness, and the Book of Mormon are al written by one prophet). Lets count how many authors there are. (as a group count)

Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Job)

Daniel

Malachi

Joshua

Hosea

Matthew

Samuel (Judges, Ruth)

Joel

Mark

Nathan (1st & 2nd Samuels)

Amos

Luke

Jeremiah (1st & 2nd Kings)

Obadiah

John

Ezra

Jonah

Paul

Mordecai (Esther)

Micah

James

Sons of Korah & Others (Psalms)

Nahum

Peter

David (Psalms)

Habakkuk

Jude

Solomon (Proverbs)

Zephaniah

Isaiah

Haggai

Ezekiel

Zechariah

We counted almost 40authors who wrote one book, because it has one author!

Bible comes from the Latin word biblia and Greek word Byblos meaning books. In that time, it referred to the inner bark of papyrus reed that ancient scrolls were made of. Remember written over 1500-2000 year time period.

These are what we and Jesus call the Word of God or Scripture. Read Matt 21:42 (Jesus refers to the Scripture and quotes Psalm 118:22,23) Remember 4000 times just in OT Thus says the Lord

Scripture in Greek= Gramma means document or writing

Testament = covenant or something that serves as a sign or evidence of a specified fact, event (Jesus)

Worlds most popular book. Every year more copies sold than any other publication.

What percent of languages do you think still do not have a Bible in their language? Of the world's 7097 languages, 45% have at least partial, while, 2,422 (34% percent) languages are in the process of having Scripture translated but do not yet have completed. (1700-1800 havent even started!).

Why is this important? See Matthew 24:14

1. Origins of the Bible:

a. The Bible is one of the world's oldest books. Its oldest sections were written about 1500 years before the birth of Christ. Moses recorded Genesis around 1400 BC and John probably wrote Revelation around 80-90.

2. How the Bible was written?

a. End of the 2nd Century was decided what the OT was written in Hebrew

i. The OT that we use today is translated from what is called the Masoretic Text. The Masoretes were Jewish scholars who between 500 and 950 AD gave us the OT in the form that we use today.

ii. Remember the OT was widely used by Jesus time, because he quotes the Psalms and other prophetic writings. (Jesus has some drop the mic moments quoting scripture!)

iii. The Dead Sea Scrolls gave us hundreds of manuscripts from every book except Esther. The OT canon was fully written by 450 B.C.

iv. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947and scholars were anxious to see how lined up with the OT. They were written over a thousand years ago. (Think of the game telephone!)

v. After years of careful study, found to be almost identical with the Masoretic text. (minor spelling differences and NONE affected the meaning of the text.) 95% Identical.

b. End of the 3rd Century NT was written in the common language Greek, but some of it, particularly Jesus words most likely Aramaic. (what Jesus spoke.)

i. Around 120-150 AD, and even before then, false teachers were running around writing wrong info and putting fake names on it. (Gospel of Judas, from the DaVinci code. During the height of the DaVinci Code media craze, about 10 percent of the books on Amazon.coms bestseller list were dedicated in full or in part to disproving commonly held beliefs about Jesus Christ and Christianity. More books are still being released embellishing Dan Browns theme. One came out recently where the author claims that she is a descendant of Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Fortunately, Christian scholars have written some excellent books proving the DaVinci Code to be full of inaccuracies and outright lies.) THIS IS WHY WE ONLY TRUST THE BIBLE! Everything must be weighed on its truth. Ex. Mary Magdalene prostitute.

ii. Council of Carthage in Africa in 397 A.D. officially declared the 27 books to be the only acceptable Scriptures in the NT Canon. One of the criteria: had to be written by a prophet or apostle who was a direct witness or recorded eyewitnesses.

iii. Canon: The process of canonization has to do with what writings are deemed inspired and thus included in the New Testament canon. The word canon originated in reference to a measuring reed or standard (think yardstick).

3. So when we go to the bookstore why isnt there just one Christian Bible?

a. Now that we know what Canon means, it is important to know when books were canonized

i. OT was canonized in 3 stages:

1. Books of Law were canonized before the Exile; the books of the prophets were by the time of the Syrian persecution of the Jews; and the writings were shortly after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70.

ii. A number of books were written in the time between the OT and NT (400 years between) and became scriptural by some early Christians and churches. For example, the Roman Church developed a different list from the Ethiopian Church. This is why the Protestant OT has a different number of books than the Catholic Bible. We have 66, the Catholic Bible adds an additional 15 books, making a total of 81.

1. Apocryphal Books: Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2nd Maccabees, Wisdom (of Solomon), Ben Sira, Baruch, Additions to (Song of the 3 Children, Story of Susanna, The Idol Bel and the Dragon) and additions to Esther.

a. The Jews never accepted as scripture. Never claimed to be inspired thus says the Lord. In fact, Macabees denies it.

b. Catholic church recognized them as scripture in 1546. 29 years after Martin Luther criticized them for being unbiblical.

b. False Religion Bibles

i. Mormons are a very large false religion. Called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They profess to love the Lord and believe the Bible, but actually put more emphasis on what their prophets say.

1. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young:

2. Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, or Mormons), claimed that after both God the Father and Jesus Christ visited him in 1820, an angel named Moroni, an ancient Nephite warrior, visited him in the fall of 1823. Smith was told by Moroni how he had buried gold plates fourteen centuries earlier not far from the Smith farm near Palmyra, New York. The angel said that they contained a record of ancient inhabitants and the source from whence they sprang. Smith claimed he was prohibited from retrieving the gold record for another four years. The story of the gold plates is an absolutely essential part of the Mormon narrative, for in the eyes of many Latter-day Saints, the coming forth of this record, and its subsequent translation into the Book of Mormon, legitimizes their belief that Smith was indeed a prophet sent by God to restore the true Christian faith lost long ago due to a great apostasy. The story of the gold plates cannot be underestimated, for without them there can be no Book of Mormon. Brigham Young was the 2nd prophet and their president. He taught that Adam is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do. And Adam is the Father of our elder brother, Jesus Christ. They believe Mary conceived by Adam-God, not the Holy Spirit.

3. Book of Mormon: Jesus was not begotten by the Holy Spirit, but by Adam-God. In 200 years has had 3900 revisions.

ii. The Jehovahs Witnesses (The Watchtower Bible)

1. Another very large false religion. They use parts of the Bible, but also use the teachings of the false prophets, Charles Russell and Judge Rutherford.

2. Our redeemer existed as a Spirit before being made flesh and blood and living amongst men. He was known as the Archangel Michael. So they believe Jesus was the Archangel Michael before he became flesh. They call Jesus the son, but not like we think. They mean he was created by Michael and deny that Jesus Christ is God.

3. They have reworded their Bible to fit this narrative.

4. Translations of the Bible

a. There are over 50 different versions of the Bible in English alone, because we all cant read Hebrew and Greek, the Bible must be translated. It must be translated in a way that people can understand Gods Word.

b.

5. The Anatomy of the Bible

a. The Bible was not compiled chronologically.

i. It is broken down into a way that is easy to understand. God is a God of order. He is also a God who divides. Even on the first day of creation, He divided the light from the darkness, etc... Therefore, it should not surprise us that God has provided natural divisions in the Bible. These divisions, interestingly enough, are sevenfold. Each level of division is a subdivision of the unit above it.

b. The sevenfold division has the mark of God upon it.

i. The number seven in scripture identifies the perfect (completed work of God.)

1. The creation of this world began with seven days.

2. There are seven colors of the rainbow

3. Seven notes in the major scale.

4. Joshua marched seven times around Jericho on the