3--How We Got Our Bible
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THINK LIKE JESUS—Part 3 How We Got Our Bible
· One the morning of October 5, 2006, everything started as usual in the one room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, PA
o All that changed at 9:51 am when Charles Carl Roberts entered the school armed with:
§ 12-ga shotgun, 9 mm handgun, 30.06 rifle, 600 rounds of ammunition, a stun gun, & 2 knives
· Roberts let the teacher and all the boys, along with some mothers in the room leave
o Barricaded himself in the room with 10 young girls
o Before it was all over, he had killed 5 of those 10 girls before killing himself
· But that’s not the end of the story
o While Charles Carl Roberts had chosen to unleash his anger on the helpless kids, the Amish Community chose to give forgiveness to the guilty
o You may remember seeing on TV the Amish horse/buggy procession heading to the funerals of their children
o But the pictures that stuck in people’s minds were the Amish men and women who attended the funeral of Roberts
o They insisted it was not their place to judge him (and they were right!)
o The Amish also reached out to Roberts widow and 3 children
o As money came in from around the world to help pay for the medical bills of the wounded girls, the Amish leaders insisted that a fund be set up from these resources to take care of Roberts’ wife and children
· What is it that causes responses like this?
o Is this strictly a human response, or is there a much deeper answer?
o I’m confident any reasonable person would come to the conclusion that the ability to do what the Amish did comes from somewhere far beyond human ability to respond
o We would have to conclude that this is a God-enable act of forgiveness
· How is this possible? Only through the mercies of God
o Romans 1 tells us that God is evident in creation
§ Everywhere you look—which is absolutely true
o But there is much more in the way He interacts with us than we can see from just nature
o Our best source for learning about God is the Bible
o And that is what we are going to talk about this week and next in our series Think Like Jesus
§ Today: how our Bible came together
· I want you to develop a deep appreciation for how it came to be the book, or books, that it is today
· I also want you to develop an appreciation for the sacrifices that so many made so we can have a Bible we can read on our own
§ Next week: what the Bible can teach us
· What is the big picture of the Bible?
· Understanding it’s not a collection of stories about Moses, Abraham, Paul, and David—it’s the story of God…and how He works through the lives or ordinary people like us
· But for today, let’s focus on how we got our Bible
· Did you know the Bible is the best-selling book of all time?
o More copies, more languages, read by more people than any book in history
o Not only the best-selling religious book, but in any & all categories
· But it’s more than just a best-seller
o What is it that draws people to this book generation after generation?
o For 2,000 years, Christians have used a particular phrase to describe it
§ The Word of God
o That alone sets it apart from all other books
o Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17—“God-breathed”, or inspired by God
§ 3 implications:
· Inspiration covers every part of the Bible
· Inspiration covers the very words of the Bible
· Inspiration guarantees the absolute truthfulness of the Bible
o The Bible is infallible (teaching only the truth)
o The Bible is inerrant (incapable of teaching error)
§ In a nutshell, this is what makes the Bible so special
§ But…just saying so doesn’t make it so
o How can we know the Bible is what it claims to be?
o Suppose someone comes up to you & offers you a candy bar you have never had before
§ You’ll probably ask a few questions about it
· Does it taste more like a Snickers or a Butterfinger? –its claims
· Who makes it?—its credibility
· Is it crunchy or chewy? –its consistency
· Does it make you want another one? –its effects
§ Let’s look at those same 4 tests as they apply to the Bible
· Its claims, credibility, consistency, effects
· What does the Bible claim about itself?
o It clearly claims to be the “Word of God”
o Read 2 Peter 1:21
o Jeremiah didn’t dream up his visions, or David his Psalms, or Paul his letters
o These men spoke from God as the Holy Spirit inspired them to speak & write
o God is the divine author; Jeremiah, David, Paul & all the others were the human writers
o That’s why the Bible uses the phrases like
§ “The Lord says”
§ “Thus saith the Lord”
§ “The Lord spoke”
§ “The Word of the Lord came”
· Jeremiah 1:9 says it clearly—“The Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.’”
· In Galatians 1:11-12, Paul says his message did not come from man, but by direct revelation from God
§ The biblical writers (about 40 of them, in all) did not just decide to sit down one day & write the Bible
· Moses or Paul or John didn’t get on a roll & start turning out books like John Grisham or William Shakespeare
· Every biblical writer was working in the power of the HS, who made sure everything they wrote down was accurate
· Not one of them knew their writings would become part of the Bible
§ Their individual personalities came out through their writings
· Paul was direct & to the point
· John was more flowing in his gospel, 1/2/3 John & Revelation
· Luke, in his gospel & Acts, was meticulous in the details—he was a doctor
o Whatever else we may say about the Bible, we must take seriously what it says about itself—it is the Word of God
· But so what if it makes that claim, is that claim credible?
o I can claim to be Michael Jordan on the basketball court, but that wouldn’t make it so
o It’s not the claim, but what backs up the claim that counts—i.e., CREDIBILITY
o Let’s look at the Bible’s credibility from 2 angles
o The various parts of the Bible were written 2000-3500 years ago & we don’t have any of the original manuscripts
§ If they were copied by hand, lots of mistakes, right?
§ How do we know that what we are reading is accurate?
o The key is how the Jewish scribes insisted on accuracy
§ Everything was copied by hand
§ When they copied a manuscript by hand, they counted the total number of letters & even figured out the middle letter in the entire book/letter
§ Once they finished making the copy, it the middle letter was off by even one, the entire manuscript was destroyed
§ The scribes even counted the letters in various word, & if they didn’t match, they destroyed the manuscript
§ This is why all ancient manuscripts are virtually identical
o They used a different stylus/pen for the word Jehovah
§ Used it once, then threw it away
o These guys were so meticulous!
o In the New Testament, we have 5300 complete manuscripts of books/letters, & another 8,000 partials
§ Oldest goes back to within one century of the originals
§ We have 5300 manuscripts of the NT, but no more than 5 copies of anything written by Aristotle—yet no one ever doubts his works
§ Earliest copy of Julius Caesar’s Gallic War (fought in 58-50 BC) has been dated to 1,000 years after it was written
§ Earliest copy of Homer’s Odyssey is dated 2200 years after written
o Without a doubt, the Bible is by far the best-attested ancient book in the world
§ More copies, earlier, & more accurately recorded than any other book in history
· The 2nd aspect of credibility is historical accuracy
o Historical research has tended to confirm every major factual claim in the Bible
§ Archaeology does not prove the Bible, but it does confirm the Bible
§ If a place or a person has not yet been confirmed, it just means they haven’t found it yet!
§ The Bible can stand on its own—we don’t have to defend it
§ It will stand up to any fair test
· Next, let’s look at the Bible’s consistency
o First, through fulfilled prophecy
§ At least ¼ of the Bible was prophecy when it was written
§ Hundreds of specific prophecies regarding people, places, kingdoms, wars, & nations—a lot of them made several centuries before they came true
§ The greatest evidence of prophecy involves events in the life of Jesus
· Approximately 500 predictions concerning the 1st coming of Christ
o Birthplace
o Manner of His birth
o Family into which He was born
o Many aspects of His ministry
o How He would die
o Many facts about His resurrection
· The amazing thing is that they were all written 400-1500 years before He was born—but they were all fulfilled to the letter
o List of many of them on the table in the back
§ Here’s an example—mathematicians have calculated that the odds of fulfilling just 8 of those prophecies are 1 in 100 quadrillion!
· That’s like taking that 100q (that’s a “1” followed by 16 zeroes) quarters & scattering them across the state of Texas—they would be 2 feet deep
· Mark 8 of them with a red “X”, then blindfold someone & have them pick those 8 marked coins on the first try!
· Those are the odds of fulfilling 8 of those 500 prophecies
· Yet Jesus fulfilled all 500!
· More than 1500 concerning 2nd Coming!
o 2nd, let’s look at the unity of the Bible
§ 66 books written by 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years
§ And yet there is a solid consistency from Genesis to Revelation
§ How do we explain the unity of the Bible? Jesus is the focus
· OT points to the coming of Christ
· Gospels point to the appearance of Christ
· Acts points to the preaching of Christ
· The letters point to the Body of Christ—the Church
· Revelation points to the return of Christ
· All of this points to the supernatural origin of the Book of Books
· One more line of evidence that the Bible is God’s holy Word—the Effects of it
o You’re looking at the effects of the Bible right here in this room
o Changed lives
o History shows that wherever the Bible goes, lives are changed
§ Hospitals
§ Schools
o The Bible is “God-breathed”—the breath of God
o It is a living book, still as real & relevant today as when it was written
· A little bit about the how the Bible got to us
o Old Testament was put together somewhere between 200 BC-40 BC
§ Completed by the time of Jesus
§ It was written almost exclusively in Hebrew
o New Testament was completed in its current form by around 200 AD
§ It was written in Greek & Aramaic
o There were many other writings from this period, but, for various reasons, were not considered inspired by God, & were not included
o Lost books of the Bible? No!
o Chapters added in 1227 AD; verses added in 1448
· Through the years, the Bible was translated into Latin, the most accepted language of the Roman Empire
o Over time, Latin was no longer the language of the masses
§ German, French, Spanish, & English became more & more popular
§ But the Roman Catholic Church, the “face” of Christianity for centuries, would not allow the Bible to be translated into these other languages
· This way, they could control what the people heard & how to interpret it—power
§ By 1100 AD the Catholic Church had become so corrupt with power and one of the ways to maintain control was to keep the average people from learning how to read, making them dependent on the church
· Wanting to get the Bible into the hands of the common people, several men attempted to translate the Bible into the languages of the people
o The Church made laws making this a criminal offense, punishable by public lashing & even death
o If the people could understand the Bible for themselves, the church would lose some of its power & influence
· There were many men involved in translating the English Bible, but let me tell you about 2 of them
o JOHN WYCLIFFE (1324-1384)
§ Considered the father of the English Bible
§ Completed the English New Testament in 1380 and the Old Testament in 1382, translating it from the Latin version the church used
§ Rome persecuted Wycliffe bitterly and attempted unsuccessfully to have him imprisoned
§ But he was hung on December 31, 1384, and 43 years later, in 1428, the Roman Catholic Church dug up Wycliffe’s bones and burned them
§ It was illegal to own a copy of the Wycliffe Bible, and most of the handwritten copies of the Scriptures were burned
o WILLIAM TYNDALE (1484-1536)
§ The first to translate the English Bible from Greek and Hebrew
§ When he expressed his plan to Catholic authorities in England, he learned that it would not be possible to do this work in his own country
§ Tyndale traveled to Europe to work, where he had to move from place to place and keep his work hidden
§ After completing the New Testament and a portion of the Old, Tyndale was arrested in May 1535
§ On October 6, 1536, Tyndale was strangled and then burned at the stake. His ashes were thrown into a river
o When English Bibles came available, they had to be chained to the pulpit!
o Because the Bible was in the language the people spoke, people began to learn how to read
§ You are not taught this in school, but translating the Bible was one of the chief reason for the Renaissance
· A great price has been paid by many people to get the Bible into your hands & we need to cherish it because of the sacrifices made by others for us to have it
· Today there are around 6,000 Bibles in print in lots of translations
o There are two main types of translations
§ Word for word
· NASB
· ESV
· CSB
§ Thought for thought
· NIV
· NLT
§ Best Bible app--YouVersion
· This week we have talked about how we got our Bible & why we can trust it
· Next week, what does the Bible tell is—the major themes, how to know Christ
· This Bible is no ordinary book
o So many have given their lives for you to have it in your hand
o Cherish it, but most important, read it!
o Make a commitment to spend some time with it, uninterrupted, without the TV on, without Facebook, & let God speak to you!
o Average American spends 3:10/day on their phone
o What if we took just 30 minutes of that time & spent it in the Word of God?
· To get a good pastor, you must be a good church—starts with getting into the Word