God Speaks to Us Through the Bible

"The BIBLE is the truest utterence that ever came by alphabetic letters from the soul of man, through which, as through a window divinely opened,  all men can look into the stillness of eternity,  and discern in glimpses their far-distant, long-forgotten home"   -Thomas Carlyle, Scottish biographer, historian, and philosopher

How many times have we heard these questions? Is the Bible reliable? Can the Bible be trusted? Is the Bible relevant? There are people offering us answers from all directions, both from modern and ancient sources. We want to know if we can trust the sources we are being told to place our faith in.

Many people are under the impression that the Bible is one book written in Old King James English full of "Thees, Thous, and Woes," authored by gray-haired old men who wanted nothing but to tell other people what to do. When, in fact, there is nothing that could be further from the truth.

This reminds me of a video in which an interviewer was asking people on the street about the Bible and different Bible translations. One lady responded by saying, "If King James English was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me!" Well, King James English was not Jesus’ language, nor the language of the biblical authors.

The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Bible is not one book, but a collection of books--66 in total in what is commonly termed the "Protestant canon." Other Christian groups, such as the Orthodox and Catholic, have other books in addition to these 66 as well.

Each collection of books was chosen by different groups of people within the civilized world of the time, over a period of about 300-400 years. The collections were not chosen by one council, but by the agreement of many people over a long period of time. This agreement is testimony alone that God was at work among these people. Slowly, but surely.

One of the factors that distinguishes Christian Scripture from all other literature is the fact that it is all based upon reliable ancient sources. These ancient sources are housed all over the world from Washington, D.C. to Oxford, England to Berlin, Germany to Jerusalem, Israel. In this sense, study of the Bible is a worldwide project.

The Bible was written and edited by many different people over a period of 1,000-1,500 years. Some of its stories date back about 2000 years prior to the birth of Jesus, that is 4,000 years ago. Unfortunately, we do not have the original manuscripts of any biblical book. But the copies of the biblical books we do have are testimony that it was copied incredibly accurately. The biblical books were copied all across the civilized world of the time in massive quantities.

There are over 6,000 manuscript copies of the Greek New Testament. In comparison, Homer’s Iliad, the greatest of all Greek classical works, has only 650 manuscripts. Euripides’ tragedies, the next greatest collection of Greek works, has only 330 manuscripts. All other works of Greek literature have even far less than these. This is testimony that the Bible is truly miraculous!

With this many copies of the New Testament books, one would expect to find lots of differences among these copies. Of course, there are some, but very few differences are significant. Most of these differences are either grammatical or literary preferences. The message of the New Testament or any other important theological matter is not changed. The resurrection of Christ, the Virgin Birth, and loving your neighbor as yourself remain the same.

Interestingly, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in 1947, further confirm the accuracy of the Bible. There is not another collection of books in the world like it. Both in its accuracy and in the way it was brought together; the Bible is truly miraculous!

The Bible is how God has chosen to reveal Himself to the world and to have His words preserved through the generations. The Bible is unique and unlike any other book ever written. The Bible is tangible proof that God exists. Approximately 40 separate authors wrote the Bible during a several thousand-year time frame.

The Bible is one complete book. It has a beginning in Genesis (Beginning). It has continuity from Adam and Eve to Jesus. And, the Bible has an ending, the book of Revelation (make known). There is no supplement or addition needed for the Bible. The Bible is complete; it covers the creation of the universe and all time, up to and including the future and Jesus' eternal everlasting kingdom.

Most of the Bible, at the time that each verse was written, was written as prophesy. In the Bible the events were described in the Bible before the event actually happened. This prophetic writing of the Bible could only happen with knowledge of the future, knowledge man does not have, knowledge God does have.

The Bible thoroughly reveals to man who God is, His nature and His plan for mankind. The Bible is without self-controversy, and without self-contradiction. In other words, the Bible is without error.

Over the thousands of years of the Bible's existence, the Bible has one clear message and one clear meaning; the predicament of mankind in sin and death and the remedy of the love and forgiveness of God.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16;  Romans 15:4; Isaiah 40:8; 2 Peter 1:21; Luke 8:11; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13

Prayer: Dear Father, please help me today. Please give me the patience to work with others. Help me be a positive influence to everyone around me. Amen

Have a blessed day!

D'Arcy