Sunday Sermons
The Amazing Book
The Amazing Book
In this lesson we want to answer the questions, “In what sense is the Bible inspired?” (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and “Can we trust the accuracy of our modern translations?”
Two types of Revelation:
General, Natural revelation: Psalms 19:1-4; Romans 1:20. Everyday every person on the planet receives the same sermon from the physical creation, “There is a Creator” and we need to seek Him (Acts 17:27).
Supernatural revelation: This truth was given to apostles then to us as we read what they recorded, John 14:26; 16:15;Ephesians 3:3-5. Notice that this revelation is understandable, after all why would God speak to all men if not to be understood by all men?
Eyewitness Accounts
New Testament contains eyewitness accounts, and there is no hint of mythical characters. In fact there is not enough time between the events and the writing of the New Testament books for any myth to develop. The writers saw, heard, and touched Jesus: Luke 1:1-4; I John 1:1-2; Acts 1:1-3; I Corinthians 15:6-8. Even unbelievers could not deny the things that Jesus didJohn 11:47; 12:9-11; Acts 4:13-16.
Verbal Inspiration:
The term translated "inspiration" in II Timothy 3:16-17 is the Greek word THEOPNUESTOS which means "God-breathed". The Old Testament claims inspiration 2600 times, especially check out books like Haggai, when the author repeatedly says “Thus says the Lord” (1:2). If God breathes something then obviously the product is not man’s word but God’s word. On this point consider the following passages:
I Corinthians 2:6-13 God’s truth is revealed in “words” because man could not discover it by his own intuition or limited wisdom(Jeremiah 10:23). Scripture is the outcome when God gives both the spiritual truth or concept and the exact word or words to express that truth (2:13 “combing spiritual thoughts with spiritual words”).
II Peter 1:16-21 The word is confirmed by the seeing and hearing of the apostles. In addition, the prophets never preached their own opinions, but rather Scripture is the result when men are moved, not by their own impulses but by the Spirit of God.
John 10:34-36 The Scripture cannot be broken, and the Scripture mentioned here is not one of the more prominent verses, yet even such verses cannot be set aside.
Matthew 22:29-33 Jesus made an argument from a single Scripture and based His argument on the precise tense of a phrase, “I am the God of”, not, “I was the God of”. This reveals that Jesus knew that every word of Scripture was inspired right down to the grammatical details such as the tense of a word in a particular verse. Compare with Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:16, where the apostle makes an argument based on the fact that a word in a specific Scripture was singular and not plural.
Evidences of Inspiration
Fulfilled Prophecy: The only book ever that contains a large body of prophecies relating to individual nations, cities, peoples, and a Messiah. In all of Greek and Latin literature there is not one specific prophecy of a great historic event to come or of a Savior to come. Remember, these prophecies were in print before such events took place and especially before Jesus was born.
High Moral Standard: Right up front, let us be impressed that the Bible stresses inward as well as outward purity (2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 2:1-2; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The writers have no tolerance for hypocrisy or religion that is merely external or from ulterior motives (Matthew 6:1-4). While other books may have a flash of moral teaching (the Koran, Bhagavad-Gita (Hindu), Tripitaka (Buddhist), the Bible is the only book that sums up the totality of all religious and moral truth (2 Peter 1:3; Jude 3; John 16:13). Justin Martyr noted, “Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians”(Apology, II). The point is that when people hit the nail on the head concerning some moral issue, they are only agreeing with what God has already said. Geisler argues, “A book that sums up and transcends the best morality of all books of all time is best explained as God’s Word. The Bible is such a book. Therefore, the Bible is best explained as God’s Word” (A General Introduction to the Bible, Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, pp. 120-121).
The Bible’s Unity: Although written over a time span of 1500 years, by about 40 different human authors, on three continents, there exists not even one contradiction in doctrinal teaching from Genesis to Revelation. Doctrinal Unity: Most sermons that you will hear confirm this truth, as a preacher will cite passages from various books in both Testaments to make his point(Psalm 119:89 “All Thy commandments are faithful”; 119:128). And this is not merely a unity on superficial topics or questions. The Bible is unified from beginning to end on not only controversial topics, but probably what remain the most controversial topics among the human race to this day. Organic Unity: That is, all parts of the Bible are necessary to the complete whole. Every book of the Bible is essential. What book of the Bible could we afford to discard? Genesis? Exodus? Leviticus? Psalms? Proverbs? Jeremiah? Matthew? Acts? Romans? Or, in other words, which book of the Bible has proven fruitless in promoting your understanding of God and His will? (Psalm 119:160 “The sum of Thy word is truth”; James 2:11). Unity In Style: The Bible is a very condensed collection of books, yet contains one epic after another. The Creation of the universe and mankind is told in only two chapters. Sin enters the world in one chapter. The birth of Jesus is revealed in Matthew 2 and Luke 2. The death of John the Baptist we find in Matthew 14:10. The whole life of Jesus Christ upon this earth is found in four short Gospels. Throughout the Bible, the reader can perceive the divine restraint that prevented the human authors from elaborating or rambling. Any human writer, relying upon his own inspiration, would have written volumes concerning the Creation, what God was doing before the Creation, the flood, the birth, life and death of Jesus(John 21:25), and the lives and deaths of each one of the apostles, and so on. Thus, we must conclude, that the extreme brevity of the Biblical record reflects the truth that “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21).
The Alternate Possibility
Concerning who Jesus is, we often point out to people that one cannot claim that Jesus was a good man, or even good religious teacher, but not God, because a mere good man does not claim to be God when he is not. The same lack of any middle ground exists also concerning the Bible. Some want to believe that the Bible is a good book, a good guide for life, helpful and practical, but not the Word of God. Yet the Bible does not claim to be merely a good book (John 12:48; James 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is either the Word of God, or it is a book of lies, for a mere good book does not claim to be the Word of God when it is not.
Eventually any view of the Bible must confront Jesus’ own view of the Scriptures. What did Jesus believe and teach about the Bible? Jesus considered the Old Testament and the New Testament to be God’s truth in print (John 17:17; 16:13). Jesus understood that His apostles would not be depending upon their own fallible memories as the New Testament was being preached and complied (John 14:26). Whatever such men would write about His life would not be the product of their own opinion, prejudices, or misguided personal interests. Jesus clearly taught that His words, the very words that He spoke while upon this earth, would outlast the creation (Matthew 24:35). They would not become lost, corrupted, or forgotten. Jesus viewed the smallest details in the Old Testament translation that He possessed as being part of the genuine text of Scripture. When Jesus looked that the copy of the Old Testament in existence in His day, He did not see a corrupted text:
“Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).
The expression “smallest letter” refers to the “Iota, the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet”. And the word rendered “stroke” means the apex of a Hebrew letter (like the dot of an “i” or the cross of a “t”). Jesus considered the copy of the Law that was in existence in His day to be the Word of God right down to the smallest detail, and therefore in force and binding upon the Jewish people right up until the time that He would die upon the cross. Clearly, Jesus had absolute confidence in the Scriptures. He argued from them, quoted them often, used them to answer complicated questions, and constantly appealed to them. Over and over Jesus will say, “It is written”. Jesus considered the Old Testament Scriptures to be the Word of God, regardless of whether people believe in it or not. What this means is that while men worry about whether the translation process has been accurate over the centuries, God does not worry about such things (1 Peter 1:23-25).
Our Bible is Reliable
Many claim that the manuscript copies were polluted by Catholicism or by miscopying. This is a popular myth that has circulated for some time and is rooted in complete ignorance of the facts. The Old Testament was finished and was accepted by the Jews as a complete collection centuries before the Catholic Church ever existed. The books of the New Testament were acceptedand known by Christians even before the first century closed and long before the arrival of the Catholic Church (2 Peter 3:16). There are also lists of New Testament books, thousands of manuscripts of New Testament books, and complete New Testaments that date prior to the formation of the Catholic Church as well. In the Fourth Century A.D., when the Council of Carthage issued the list of twenty-seven New Testament books, it did not decree which books Christians had to accept, rather, it simply listed the books that Christians had already been accepting for centuries. No one had to tell first century Christians that Paul’s letters were Scripture! Our earliest New Testament manuscript date around 130 A.D., and a complete New Testament manuscript exists which dates at 325 AD. Besides this, the entire New Testament can be reproduced from the quotes of Christian writers between 100 AD and 200 AD. In addition, Jesus clearly said that His words would never pass away (Matthew 24:35), and Peter said that the word of God is incorruptible seed, is always living and abiding, and is far more durable than man or his accomplishments (1 Peter 1:23-25). Compare the Bible manuscripts to other classical manuscripts and we cannot doubt Bible accuracy.
Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net/mdunagan@easystreet.com
