HOW DID WE GET

THE BIBLE?

CHALLENGE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURYTrust in: (a) reason (b) emotion (c) ethics CHALLENGE TODAY FROM EMERGING CHURCH (a) the Bible is not to be fully trusted (b) parts of the Bible have different values (i) OT- Paul are not as trustworthy as Gospels

(ii) Bible is a library not a constitution (iii) It contains a trajectory of revelation (iv) It is not God’s word but a record of human experience of God(c) substitute- experience & feelings

HOW DID WE GET THE OLD TESTAMENT?

(A) FROM GOD’S OT PEOPLE(B) WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE THE OT? (1) Because Jesus did (2) Because Apostles did (3) Because early church did

HOW DID WE GET THE NEW TESTAMENT? (A) THE GOSPELS & ACTS

“The evidence indicates that the written sources of our Synoptic Gospels are no later than AD 60; some of them have even been traced back to notes taken of our Lord’s teaching while His words were actually being uttered--We are, in fact, practically all the way through in touch with the evidence of eyewitnesses” (FFB)

HOW DID WE GET THE NEW TESTAMENT? (B) THE LETTERS?

(1) Their authorship was affirmed by the early church

(2) Paul’s letters are the earliest: Galatians about 48 AD the Pastorals letters about 64 AD

THE EARLY DATE OF THE WRITTEN NT IS CONFIRMED BY EXTANT DOCUMENTS-

(1) FFB “If the NT were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond doubt”

(2) Comparison with ancient secular writings (a) e.g. Caesar’s Gallic Wars (b) (i) NT 5,000 good Greek manuscripts (ii) papyrus fragments thousands from 150- 250 (iii) quotations in other early writings- 90 to 160 AD

(3) “The interval between the dates of original composition & the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed.” Kenyon

HOW WAS IT DECIDED WHICH BOOKS TO PUT IN THE BIBLE?

“One thing must be emphatically stated. The NT books did not become authoritative for the church because they were included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing” (FFB)

THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD(A) DEFINITIONS: (1) Inspired means expired (2) Infallible- all Bible says is true & worthy of entire confidence (3) Inerrant- contains no errors

(B) WE SAY THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE (1) This is the Christian faith (2) This is the Christian’s experience

“the Word of God—our full persuasion & assurance of the infallible truth & divine authority thereof, is from the inward working of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by & with the Word in our hearts.” (Westminster Confession)