God Wrote the Bible
Have you ever thought to yourself if the Bible is the word of God? You would think there are some amazing things about the Bible right? Here are some amazing facts about the Bible. It was written over 1,500 years by 40 different writers on three different continents: Asia, Europe, and Africa and written in three different languages. It has astounding agreement! Why? Because God is the Author. These were from all different types of people from Kings, Poets, Prophets, Shepherd's, Religious Leaders, Fishermen, Doctors, etc. All of them agree on the same thing...which is God's love letter to us through the person of Jesus Christ. I’m here to tell you that all 66 books, all 1,189 chapters, all 41,173 verses, and all 3,566,480 letters are the Word of God. The Bible acronym could be best thought of as:
B - Basic
I - Instructions
B - Before
L - Leaving
E - Earth
Understanding the basic process of canonization is crucial knowledge that every believer should have in order to communicate why the Church believes what Christians hold in our hand today is the Word of God. The process is quite lengthy, but I will do my best to summarize the events. Lest start with the Old Testament.
The Old Testament
The Old Testament (OT) was already established during Jesus’s time here on Earth and was known as the Tanak (Duvall & Hays, 2012). This is an acronym to communicate the three sections in the Old Testament canon: T for Torah [the Law], N for Nebi’im [the Prophets], and K for Ketubim [the Writings] (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Plummer, 2010). The early Church accepted these books as Scripture, and even Jesus accepted the three-fold division of the books to be Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16; Luke 24:44). One of the best discoveries in our day about the Old Testament is the Dead Sea Scrolls. Before these scrolls were discovered, the most significant manuscripts we had of the Old Testament were known as the Leningrad Codex [A.D. 1008] and Aleppo Codex [A.D. 900]. The Dead Sea Scrolls pushed the Hebrew manuscript evidence back a thousand years earlier (Plummer, 2010)! The Dead Sea Scrolls were a colossal discovery to demonstrate the preservation of God’s Word but also the incredible detail the Hebrews took when copying God’s Word.
The Apocrypha
One of the key questions that always arises when discovering how the OT was canonized is what about the Apocrypha? The Protestant Christians identify these books as writings that were written during the 500 years of silence [430 B.C. – A.D. 40]. Some of these books include Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch, Prayer of Azariah, 1 & 2 Maccabees, and others (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Plummer, 2010). Protestants do not consider these books to be the Words of God. Roman Catholics call these books the deuterocanonical books and were deemed canon later on in History at the Council of Trent, and the Eastern Orthodox Church has even more Apocrypha books than the Catholics (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Plummer, 2010). During the 500 years of silence, the Hebrews began to translate the OT to the standard native tongue in that time which was Greek. This translation of the OT from Hebrew to Greek is known as the Septuagint (Duvall & Hays, 2012). Even though some of the Apocrypha books were translated to Greek with the OT canon, the Jewish scribes always made the distinction within the notes of the translations making it clear that the Apocrypha books were not the inspired Word of God (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004). With some final support for the OT canon including only the original Tanak writings, Josephus who was a first-century Jewish historian made it clear that no book after the minor prophets were considered a part of the Hebrew Scriptures (Grudem, 2004; Josephus & Whiston, 1987). This would eliminate all of the Apocrypha since all of those writings were during the 500 years of silence.
Should I Read the Apocrypha?
Even in the fourth century, a man by the name of Jerome produced a Latin version of the Bible in which he included the Apocrypha as part of his translation. Jerome though made a clear distinction in his notes that the Apocrypha books were not and should not be viewed as the same status as the rest of the scriptures (Duvall & Hays, 2012). Perhaps the best thing to take away from these books is that many of these books were “read, circulated, and highly respected in Jewish synagogues, but they were never accepted by the Jews as equal to the authoritative books within the canon” (Duvall & Hays, 2012, p. 447). What is helpful about the Apocrypha is that they give us a good historical source for the intertestamental period which is found in Maccabees, they give us a better understanding of Jewish theology, and also provide us with a wealth of historical background material to help us understand the New Testament better (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004). Grudem (2004) says it this way,
Thus the writings of the Apocrypha should not be regarded as part of Scripture: (1) they do not claim for themselves the same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings; (2) they were not regarded as God’s words by the Jewish people from whom they originated; (3) they were not considered to be Scripture by Jesus or the New Testament authors; and (4) they contain teachings inconsistent with the rest of the Bible. We must conclude that they are merely human words, not God-breathed words like the words of Scripture. They do have value for historical and linguistic research, and they contain a number of helpful stories about the courage and faith of many Jews during the period after the Old Testament ends, but they have never been part of the Old Testament canon, and they should not be thought of as part of the Bible. Therefore, they have no binding authority for the thought or life of Christians today. (p. 59)
This is good counsel spoken of by Wayne Grudem and is surely my viewpoint as well.
The New Testament
One of the first persons to describe a division between the Old Testament and New Testament (NT) was Tertullian who was a Christian apologist debating a heretic known as Marcion during A.D. 160-225 (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004; Tertullian, 1885). The New Testament was a divine miracle in its creation, distribution, and discovery across several decades. Let us begin with the first century. After the disciples saw the resurrected Christ, they were in full swing preaching the Gospel everywhere. Some of them started writing epistles to other Churches that were formed while others used an amanuensis which is someone who would write down what the apostle was dictating to them (Heiser, 2014). The Gospels were already being read and accepted in all the Churches the Apostles started up, and even the letters of Paul were being considered as scripture (1 Thess. 5:27; 2 Peter 3:15-16; Col. 4:16). Around this time, some false teaching started to begin (Gnosticism), and right around the 2nd century, we have evidence of the Canonization process beginning.
The Qualifications of Scripture
The word canon comes from a Greek word that means list, rule or standard (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004). The canon of Scripture displays a collection of books that the Church accepted as uniquely inspired which satisfied a specific list of criteria that each letter had to measure up to (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004). Some of the requirements were as follows,
Apostolic Origin (Apostolic Foundation): Who wrote the Gospel or letter in question? It had to have either come from Jesus’ disciples; someone who was close to the disciples; or an eyewitness of the events (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Heiser, 2014; Plummer, 2010).
Orthodoxy: Orthodoxy means there were already several books that were accepted and widely read in the church. If any of the Gospels or books didn’t measure up to what was already accepted, or if they were contradictory to what was already known truth, then they were thrown out (Heiser, 2014; Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004; Plummer, 2010).
Catholicity: catholic (small “c”) means the universal body of believers everywhere. If the book they were ruling on had been read and accepted in every church, everywhere, for all time, then it was included in the Canon (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Heiser, 2014; Plummer 2010).This point was one of the reasons that ruled out other significant letters like: first and second Clement, Epistle of Barnabus, and the Didache (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004; McGrath, 2013). Even though these letters were read in some of the Churches, it was not universally read and accepted.
Authority: God’s word is unlike anything you have ever read. Throughout the Bible more than 4,000 times you will read phrases like, “God said, Thus says the Lord, The Word of the Lord came to you, I (Jesus) say unto you” (Heiser, 2014). In Jesus’ day when Rabbis would teach, they would use the authority of someone else. When Jesus would teach, he would say “you have heard it or read that… but I say unto you…”
Alive: The Gospels and letters had to be able to change people’s lives. It had to be powerful, life-changing truth that would change you from the inside out (Heb. 4:12; Heiser, 2014; Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004).
One final aspect that the Church used later on in discovering what letters were inspired by the Holy Spirit was if the Apostolic Fathers confirmed them. The actual people that took over the churches after the original Apostles died had to be using it and teach it as well. People like Ignatius of Antioch acknowledged about seven books [A.D. 35-108], Polycarp of Smyrna acknowledged 15 books [A.D. 69-155], Clement of Rome acknowledge at least eight books [A.D. 95-102], Justin Martyr [A.D. 100-165] and Irenaeus of Lyons acknowledged 21 books [A.D. 130-202], Tertullian of Carthage [A.D. 155-235] and Hippolytus recognized 22 books [A.D. 170-235], Jerome, Augustine, Eusebius [A.D. 263-339] validated all 27 books of the NT (Heiser, 2014). At the close of the first century though, the Church clearly accepted the Gospels, “the book of Acts, and the letters of Paul as authoritative ‘canonical’ literature” (Duvall & Hayes, 2012, p. 448; McGrath, 2013).
The 2nd Century
During the second century [A.D. 100-199], we have historical records of people like Marcion who debated with the Church of what was inspired and what was not (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004). Marcion is noted for,
believing that Jesus and the God of the OT were opposites, and that anything in Christian writings that smacked of Judaism ought to be expunged. He therefore promoted a canon of edited versions of the Gospel of Luke and various epistles of Paul, but nothing else. (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004, p. 111)
Slightly later in the second century, Tatian’s Diatessaron was being circulated which was a harmony of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Heiser, 2014). Tatian was an important figure during that time as well since he excludes heretical documents that were trying to give rise to Gnosticism such as the Gospel of Thomas (Heiser, 2014). Tatian never included that gospel in his harmony. The last piece of evidence that shows the start of the canonization process is found in the Muratorian Fragment. In this fragment, all most every single book in the NT is found except for Hebrews, 1-2 Peter, and 3 John (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004; Heiser, 2014). By the end of the second century, it gave enough time for letters that were written at the end of the first century to be circulated and accepted around the Church such as the book of Revelation (Duvall & Hays, 2012). It would be these books alone that the early Church would be willing to die for due to the heavy persecution that they were beginning to face (Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004; McGrath, 2013).
The 3rd Century
In the third century [A.D. 200-299], one begins to find allusions or quotations to all the now accepted NT canon in the writings of major Church fathers: Origen, Tertullian, Irenaeus, and Clement of Alexandria (Duvall & Hays, 2012; Heiser, 2014). Each of these Church fathers affirmed most of all the NT writings while continuing to reject heretical writings such as the Gospel of Thomas (Duvall & Hays, 2012; McGrath, 2013). Eusebius was a third-century historian who also affirmed the authority of the NT writings agreeing with Origen’s list of the NT. At this point in history, the only disputed books that exist in our NT today were: 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, James, and Jude. It would not be until the fourth century that all current NT books would be affirmed by the Church as God-breathed.
The 4th Century
It is not until the fourth century [A.D. 300-399], that the first person to use the Greek word kanōn to refer to Christianity’s restricted list of inspired books was promoted by Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria (1892) in the Decrees of the Synod of Nicea 5.18. It would be at the end of the century that different councils: Hippo (A.D. 393) and Carthage (A.D. 397), would affirm the views of Athanasius (Grudem, 2004). During the end of the fourth century, we have other Church fathers like Augustine and Jerome who affirm the canonicity of the 27 books of the NT (Duvall & Hays, 2012; McGrath, 2013).
Finally, an exact list of the inspired letters from God was now fully agreed upon and accepted by the Church, and all the other letters that did not measure up to the standard of canonicity were thrown out (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Gal. 1:11-12; Isa. 40:8; 55:11; John 14:26; Klein, Blomberg, & Hubbard, 2004; Matt. 24:35).
External Evidence that the Bible is the Word of God
It is preeminent among circulation: There have been more bibles sold among any other book. Its current totals around 7 billion from the last poll in 2007! Nothing even comes close to the Bible. Second in place is the book called “The Red Book” totaling 800 million only because it had to be bought and was required by the communist government. Third in place is A Tale of Two Cities totaling at 200 million. NO COMPARISON! Another little side note is that the Bible is the most stolen book of all time.
It is preeminent in influence: There is no other book ever written that has influenced other authors to write about it. More authors quote the bible than any other source. Some examples of the river in influence from the Bible are Bible dictionaries, Bible encyclopedias, Bible lexicons, Bible atlases, Bible geographies, Bible commentaries, Systematic theology, religious education, church history, etc. I can go on and on. The river does not end!
It’s preservation under attack: No other book has been burned, banned, and outlawed as the bible. In any state there are people trying to ridicule the bible. No one is doing this to the Quran or the Book of Mormon. Why? Because it cannot stand up to the scrutiny. Here are some verses that will show you that God takes care of His Word and that it will always stand. (Isaiah 55:11, Isaiah 40:8, Matthew 24:35)
Proof from Archaeology: There are so many examples of people saying how things in the bible never happened. Like there was no King David, or the Hittites, or King Solomon, or the Exodus. People were saying all of that and then people started digging over there and started proving a lot of what the Bible talks about. Only one percent of the land in Israel has been excavated and it has already confirmed almost every major place and person in the bible!
The attack of time: One word comes to mind when talking about ancient writings and that is Manuscripts. We have nearly 25,000 early manuscripts of the Bible. We have about 5,500 of those 25,000 in the original Greek language alone! They consist of Papyri (about 100), Uncials (about 300 which is written on animal hide), Minuscules (over 2,800) and finally Lectionaries (about 2,200). Compare that to second place in an ancient writing like “Homer’s Iliad” with roughly 650 manuscripts. If you went into any college and said, “Hey I don’t believe we have a reliable version of Homer’s Iliad”. The professor would say I'm not listening to you, your crazy! Look at all the Manuscripts we have on it. Same with the Bible but in no comparison on how much we have of it. One big difference between the two also is Homers writing was written around 900 B.C. The earliest copy we have is from 500 B.C. That’s 400 years. Now from the New Testament it was completed around 95 A.D. We have manuscripts that date around 125 A.D. That’s only 35 years from the original! That’s not even mentioning the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Internal Evidence from the Bible
The Bible has amazing agreement: As listed above about 40 different writers and has been written over a 1,500 year period it has amazing agreement. If I took four people to a corner and told them to explain to me this car accident I would get a totally different story from each one. Yet in the Bible they all agree on everything! Why? Because God used them by the power of the Holy Spirit to pen His word. It's main theme is Jesus Christ. He is the anticipation of the Old Testament, He is the manifestation of the Gospels, He is the proclamation of the book of Acts, He is the explanation from Romans through Jude and finally He is the expectation of the book of Revelation. He is King Jesus!
Fulfilled Prophecy: This is the only proof I need. There are about 2.000 prophecies that most scholars agree on and 1,500 have already come true! Even unbelieving mathematicians say that just eight of these prophesies being fulfilled is one in 10 17th power . That’s one hundred thousand trillion. Let me give you something that you can understand to grasp that number. The state of Texas for example would be filled with silver dollars two feet deep. One person would be blind folded and told to pick the one silver dollar that has been marked with a red dot. He would have to find it in the entire state of Texas! Yea right! That just gives you a sense on how this amazing book that God wrote is from Him.
The Bible Confirms Science: Just look at some of these Bible verses that prove what scientists have discovered. But yet the Bible confirms these thousands of years before they could figure it out.
Geology: Isaiah 40:12 (Isostasy) - Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?
Geology: Isaiah 40:22 - (The Earth is round) - It is He who sits above the circle of the earth... The Hebrew word that is used for circle here chuwg which means sphere.
Geodesy: Job 26:7 - (Gravity) - He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.
Cosmology: 1 Corinthians 15:41 - (Stars are different) - There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
Astronomy: Psalm 19:6 - Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat... Our sun with our entire solar system orbits at 72000 miles an hour that orbits 2 million centuries to complete. We are moving from one end of the heaven to the other....
Astronomy: Job 25:5 - (Moon Reflects Light) - If even the moon has no brightness and the stars are not pure in His sight... Job knew the moon was not a luminary body way before science figured it out.
Meteorology: Job 28:25 & Ecc 1:6 - (Circulation of the atmosphere) - When He imparted weight to the wind and meted out the waters by measure, & Ecc 1:6 - Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, the wind continues swirling along; and on its circular courses the wind returns... Galileo discovered that winds have circuits and weight.
Meteorology: Isaiah 55:10 - (Hydraulic Cycle) - For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
Physiology: Leviticus 17:11 (Blood) – For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. William Harvey 1628 discovered that the circulatory system is the key to life. It was in the Blood…
Physiology: Proverbs 16:24 – Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. God knew that emotional stress could effect physical health.
Physiology: Proverbs 17:22 – A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. A happy person is a Healthy Person.
Famous Quotes about the Bible
“It is the best gift which God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this Book. But for that Book we could not know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man are contained in it.”
- Abraham Lincoln
“I ask every man and women in this audience that from this day on they would realize that part of their destiny of America lies in the daily reading of this book."
- Woodrow Wilson
"The whole of the inspiration of our civilization springs from the teachings of Christ and the lessons of the Prophets to read the Bible for these fundamentals is a necessity of life."
- Herbert Hoover
"To read the Bible is to take a trip to the fair land where the spirit is strengthened and faith is renewed."
- Dwight Eisenhower
"So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident would be my hope that they would prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of their society."
- John Quincy Adams
What about the Gnostic Gospels in the New Testament?
The Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Mary Madeline, Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Truth, Gospel of Peter, Gospel of The Egyptians, Gospel of The Twelve Apostles, Gospel of Gospel of Matthias, Gospel of Eve, Secret Gospel of Mark, Book of James, Gospel of Nicodemus, etc..
All of these Gospels were written between the 2nd and 3rd Century (200-399 CE). They give us a very different Jesus then we see in the Gospels we have in the Scripture today. They present a Jesus as a type of Greek philosopher. All of these books fail to measure up to the standard or rule of measure to be included in the canon of Scripture. Due to this, they were thrown out.
Why Should I Read the Bible?
There are so many reasons now after we have come to realize who wrote the Bible and how it was canonized on why we should be digesting this book each and every day. For starters we should be reading it because it is the very words of God. The Bible is the manual for life, it has everything in it that you will need to know. You need manuals for everything and anything that is complex and lets face it, life is complex.
Picture this, lets say you were married to your spouse and your whole life he/she was helping you, guiding you, and blessing you but one day your spouse was tragically killed. Later on that night you were going through her/his things and found a journal that was titled, "My Love Letter to You". When you opened it up it was full of wonderful things that your spouse had written. Would you want to the read that journal everyday for the rest of your life? Well this is exactly what God has done for us in His Word. He has written us a love letter that tells us how much He loves us and what He has done to save us to forever be with Him in Heaven.
Why from Scripture
Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
We need to read this book everyday and meditate on it every day like a cow chews on his food, swallows it and then throws it back up and chews on it again.
The Bible equips us to serve God (2 Timothy 3:17; Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). It helps us know how to be saved from our sin and its ultimate consequence (2 Timothy 3:15). Meditating on God’s Word and obeying its teachings will bring success in life (Joshua 1:8; James 1:25). God’s Word helps us see sin in our lives and helps us get rid of it (Psalm 119:9, 11). It gives us guidance in life, making us wiser than our teachers (Psalm 19:7, 32:8, 119:99; Proverbs 1:6). The Bible keeps us from wasting years of our lives on that which does not matter and will not last (Matthew 7:24-27).
It's been said that when we want to talk to God we pray, but if we want to hear from God we read! Charles Spurgeon said, if you want to know the tone of Gods voice then read Gods Word. Greg Laurie says, "A bible that is falling apart is usually a persons life who isn't". You will never outgrow reading Gods word just like you will never outgrow eating or breathing.
Where Should I read?
Start in John! John says, “I wrote this book so that you might believe.”
Deuteronomy 6:24 - when you wake up and rise up at out bed and when we lay down for the night.
Final word: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19) Let us read the Word of God so when we go out, as we are commissioned to share the Gospel, we could be sure were spreading the correct news of Jesus Christ and the principles of His Word!
Conclusion
In conclusion we can take a stand that there is no other book in this world like the Bible. It is the Word of God in written form, best selling book every week and of all time, most quoted, most published, most circulated, most translated, and most influential book in the history of mankind. The Bible is authoritative, infallible, inerrant, and effective. It is not only meant to be studied (Acts 17:11) but it gives us hope, direction, and teaches us everything we need to know about life.
References
Athanasius of Alexandria. (1892). De Decretis or Defence of the Nicene Definition. In P. Schaff & H. Wace (Eds.), J. H. Newman & A. T. Robertson (Trans.), St. Athanasius: Select works and letters (Vol. 4). New York: Christian Literature Company.
Duvall, J. S., & Hays, J. D. (2012). Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible (Third Edition). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: An introduction to Biblical doctrine. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.
Heiser, M. S. (2014). NT281 How we got the New Testament. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Irenaeus of Lyons. (1885). Irenaeus against Heresies. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1987). The works of Josephus: Complete and unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson.
Justin Martyr. (1885). The First Apology of Justin. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.
Klein, W. W., Blomberg, C., & Hubbard, R. L. (2004). Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Plummer, R. L. (2010). 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible. (B. L. Merkle, Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional.
McGrath, A. E. (2013). Historical theology an introduction to the history of Christian thought. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Quasten, J., & Plumpe, J. C. (Eds.). (1948). The Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, The Epistles and the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, The Fragments of Papias and The Epistle to Diognetus. (J. A. Kleist, Trans.) (6th ed.). New York; Mahwah, NJ: The Newman Press.
St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch. (1946). The Epistles of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch. (J. Quasten & J. C. Plumpe, Eds., J. A. Kleist, Trans.) (1st ed.). New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Tertullian. (1885). The Five Books against Marcion. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), P. Holmes (Trans.), Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian (Vol. 3). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.