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School of Ministry
Week 2
Contents:
What Gives the Bible its Authority?
2
Writers of the Bible
Who Wrote What? And when?
4
What Does the Bible Claim About Itself
6
Reasons given by authors of scripture for why they wrote
8
Is the New Testament as valid as the Old?
10
Similarities is how both old and new were preserved
11
History of OT preservation directly form scripture
12
Attitude of Jesus and NT authors toward OT
13
The Battle for scripture through the Dark Ages
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What about Translations
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Statement:
We believe that the Holy Bible is the Word of the living God; and that it was written by
holy men in ancient times as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 2:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be confident, equipped
for every good work.
What gives the Bible its authority?
1) Inspiration is the seat of the bible’s authority. It was inspired by God.
2) Inerrancy and infallibility describe the nature of God’s word.
Last week we talked about Jesus being fully God and fully man. Incarnation (God in the
flesh), actually a similar analogy helps us to describe the bible as well. It is written by
God, yet it was written by men (under His inspiration) resulting in the Holy Scriptures.
How might these principles be abused?
How might the neglect of the principles be dangerous?
As we discuss these issues… Remember, the bible is for you. It belongs to the bride of
Christ.
SELF-DISCLOSURE
“THIS IS MY NAME”
God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, the name by which I
am to be remembered from generation to generation.”
EXODUS 3:15
In the modern world, a person’s name is merely an identifying label, like a number, which could be
changed without loss. Bible names, however, have their background in the widespread tradition that
personal names give information, describing in some way who people are. 1
God has chosen to make Himself known. He not only says, “this is my name, this is who
I AM”!
1
J. I. Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs (Wheaton, IL:
Tyndale House, 1993).
2
We believe God is also saying, this is My Book. These (The Scriptures, The Holy Bible)
testify of Me!
The Road to Emmaus
Luke 24:27, 32
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning himself.
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the
road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
John 1:17-18
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him
known.
God has always been speaking! God has been making himself known from the beginning.
Even without the scriptures, Romans 1 talks about general revelation.
Roman 1:18-20
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what
can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his
invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they
are without excuse.
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Authors of the Bible
Who wrote what? And when?
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (written by Moses) 1400 BC
Joshua (written by Joshua) 1350 BC
Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel (written by Samuel/Nathan/Gad) 1000-900 BC
1&2 Kings (written by Jeremiah) 600 BC
1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah (written by Ezra) 450 BC
Esther (written by Mordecai) 400 BC
Job (written by Moses?) 1400 BC
Psalms (written by several different authors, mostly David, other authors are cited in the
text itself, authorship of some psalms are unknown) 1000-400 BC
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (written by Solomon) 900 BC
Isaiah
Jeremiah (Baruch by Jeremiah’s dictation)
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
700 BC
600 BC
550 BC
550 BC
750 BC
850 BC
750 BC
600 BC
700 BC
700 BC
650 BC
650 BC
650 BC
520 BC
500 BC
430 BC
New Testament
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
AD 55
AD 50
AD 60
AD 90
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Acts
AD 65
Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2
Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (All written by Paul) AD 50-70
Hebrews (unknown, most likely Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos) AD 65
James
1&2 Peter
1,2, &3 John
Jude
Revelation (written by John)
AD 45
AD 60
AD 90
AD 60
AD 90
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Throughout history, many have questioned the accuracy and reliability of the scriptures.
Textual critics claim hundreds of errors. Others question not only the reliability of the
text as it appears, but add suspicion that inspired portions have been lost, or that
uninspired portions have been added. We can’t cover all those areas in detail.
Here is what we will approach today.
What does the Bible say about itself?
How was the Scriptures preserved and transmitted?
Why or how did Scripture become so hidden and obscure for nearly 1000 years
during what we call the Dark Ages?
What brought the Scriptures out of obscurity for most of the civilized world?
What price was paid to free God’s word from religious tyranny?
Do I have to be a scholar to properly understand the bible?
What does the bible claim for itself?
1) Scripture itself is the breath of God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be
complete, equipped for every good work.
2) God’s word will stand forever
Matthew 24:35
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
3) God’s word is pure; it will guard you from an evil generation
Psalms 12:6-7
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the
ground, purified seven times. 7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us
from this generation forever.
4) When God’s word is planted into a person, it will be tested.
Deuteronomy 8:1-3
“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do,
that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore
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to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord
your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble
you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his
commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you
with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might
make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every
word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
Matthew 4:4
But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that comes from the mouth of God.’
5) God’s word in the form of Scripture can be used properly and improperly.
2 Peter 3:16
16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are
some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable
twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
Acts 17:11
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the
word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were
so.
6) The Word of God must not be only taught and recited, it must be obeyed and lived. If
God’s word is preserved, it is good for future generations, even if the present generation
is faithless.
Romans 2:21-3:5
28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward
and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the
heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
God's Righteousness Upheld
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?
2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of
God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the
faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a
liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when
you are judged.”
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What reasons did some of the men God choose to pen scripture claim as reasons for their
writing?
Exodus 24:3,4,7
Moses wrote in a book all the words and ordinances of God that the people were
to obey. He read this Book of the Covenant aloud in the hearing of all the people.
They professed that they would obey all that the Lord had said to Moses.
Deuteronomy 28:58,59
Moses describes the penalty for not obeying the words of the Lord written in the
book.
Deuteronomy 30:9-10
Moses describes the blessing of obedience to the Book of the Law.
Deuteronomy 31:9-13, 24-29
Moses wrote the law and placed it where the people could read it in the future for
learning to fear the Lord God and the words of His law.
Jeremiah 36:1-8
God commanded Jeremiah to write in a book all the words God gave him to teach
Israel to repent. Notice how the Word of the Lord goes forth even through
obstacles and resistance.
1 Corinthians 14:37
What Paul wrote were the commands of the Lord.
John 20:29-31, 1 John 1:1-4
John wrote so that people would have an eyewitness account from those who
personally saw and heard what Jesus did and said. Special blessing was afforded
to those who would believe, that had not seen.
1 John 2:1
…I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin…
Revelation 1, 2, 3
John was instructed by Jesus in a vision to write a message from Jesus to instruct
the churches in Asia regarding Jesus’ will for them.
Ephesians 3:3-6
Paul received direct revelation from the Spirit, he wrote so that others could
understand what he had received.
Jude 3
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Jude wanted to write encouragement about salvation, but found it necessary to
blister them in the name of the Lord with a warning against false teachers.
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Is there evidence with in the bible that the New Testament was considered “scripture”
even as it was being written?
2 Timothy 3:14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed,
knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been
acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good
work.
2 Peter 3:15,16
16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are
some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable
twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore,
beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with
the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
1 Timothy 5:18, Luke 10:7
Here Paul quotes Luke’s gospel as authoritative just as he had quoted several OT
passages as authoritative.
1 Thessalonians 5:27
27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
How do we know Scripture was for the present circumstance it was written in and for the
future as well?
Psalm 102:18
Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created
may praise the Lord:
*Deuteronomy 17:18-20
18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a
book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with
him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the
Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing
them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may
not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so
that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
Acts 2:39
For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off,
everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
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Mark 14:9
And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world,
what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
God promised to preserve His Word, and He did just that for both the Old and New
Testaments.
1) Both testaments were given by the inspiration of God.
2) Both testaments were collected, copied, circulated, and translated over a period of
years.
3) Both testaments were intended to serve as a standard of authority even for future
generations
4) Both testaments passed through generations in which no new revelations were added,
and generations in which people neglected the Scriptures.
5) Both testaments contain promises that God would preserve them.
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History, directly from Scripture itself, for how the Old Testament was preserved for
future generations, and the fulfillment of God’s plan.
First collection of writings were written and recorded by Moses in 1400 BC. These
documents can be traced straight through the Old Testament into the time of Christ and
His apostles.
Joshua 1:7-8
About 40 years after Moses wrote, God commanded Joshua to meditate day and night on
Moses’ words, and to observe and obey them without variation. The writings to that point
had been preserved accurately, and should be studied and obeyed as an authoritative
standard.
Joshua 23:2,6
Now 60 years after Moses wrote, Joshua died. But just before he died, he charged Israel
and to exactly keep all that Moses wrote. The scriptures were accurately preserved and
were expected to be obeyed as the authoritative standard.
1 Kings2:1-3 (960 BC)
Around 400 years after Moses wrote, David charged Solomon to keep God’s commands
as written in the Law of Moses. The scriptures were still accurate and authoritative after
40o years.
*2 Chronicles 34:14-19, 29-31 (605 BC)
About 800 years after Moses, Josiah found Moses’ book of the law. He restored the
worship and the service of God by performing the commands he found written there.
Note that the scripture was still accurate and authoritative, even though it had been
successfully preserved for centuries and though God’s people Israel had neglected it and
had been in apostasy for years.
Yet all that was needed to restore faithful service to God was simply to practice what was
written in the book.
Also see 2 Chron. 35, and 2 Kings 22,23
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 8 (450 BC)
Over 900 years after Moses wrote, the people of Israel again re-establish the service of
God in Palestine. This occurred following an apostasy so great that it lead to the
Babylonian captivity. Yet, scripture was still accurately preserved and it could be
understood and obeyed
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Observe the attitude of Jesus and His disciples of the OT scripture
Big Picture:
It’s roughly 2000 years since God called Abraham.
It’s roughly 1400 years since Moses wrote the book of the law.
It’s roughly 400 years since Malachi wrote his book
Now look at how the scriptures were regarded by Jesus and his disciples.
1) In the first century, copies of the OT were widely circulated and studied as revelation
from God.
Luke 4:16-21 Jesus reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue
of Nazareth and proclaimed the passage was fulfilled.
Acts 8:28-35 The Ethiopian treasurer was reading Isaiah. Phillip used it as
authority to teach about Jesus.
Acts 15:21 For many generations, every city had a copy of the scriptures (of
Moses), and they were read each Sabbath.
These writings, 1400 years after they were written, were still preserved and had been
copied and circulated, but were still approached as authoritative.
2) Inspired men quoted the OT, and expected people to study and respect them as
accurate, authoritative revelation from God.
Matthew 4:1-10 Jesus quoted scripture to defeat Satan’s temptations
Matthew 15:1-9 Jesus quoted the OT as being the commandment of God, and He
rebuked those who did not obey it.
Matthew 22:29-33 Jesus rebukes scribes for not knowing the scripture, and
further says that God said these things “to you”… these things were written 1400
years before this argument.
1 Corinthians 10:11, Romans 15:4 Paul said that the scriptures were written for
the learning and admonition of people in his day.
Acts 17:11 The Bereans were willing to search the scriptures to determine if their
if the teaching they were receiving was indeed the truth.
3) Inspired men appealed to the OT authority to confirm the truthfulness of their own
teaching.
Luke 24:27, 44-46 Jesus claims he fulfilled Moses, all the prophets, and the
psalms. Indirectly, Jesus appeals to the whole OT as authoritative.
Acts 17:2,3 Paul demonstrated that Jesus was the Christ by reasoning from the
OT.
John 5:39, 45-47 Jesus said that Moses and the Scripture testify of Him.
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We can accept our modern Bible as being an accurate record of God’s word because of
our faith in God’s power and his promises to preserve His Word. He truly does watch
over his word to perform it.
What were Scribes?
How were text copied and preserved?
Dead Sea Scrolls
Qumran Community and Essenes
How did God’s word become “hidden in plain sight”?
How important is language?
What price was paid for returning the scripture to the people?
John Wycliffe
John Huss
William Tyndale
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Translations of the Bible
With so many different versions of the bible available to us in English, how are we to
choose a good translation?
Is the King James the only legitimate version of the Bible?
Translation Goals: It maybe helpful to know the basic goals behind the different versions
of the bible.
1) Word for Word Translations
2) Thought for Thought translations
3) Paraphrases
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