week 9 - the bible part 2
TRANSCRIPT
A cHRISTIAN
today’s worldWITNESS in
Tactics + sTRATEGIES
Relativism
The Bible
Pluralism
Islam
Sexual Revolution
Media
Training and Equipping Believers to Live Out a Confident Faith
A cHRISTIAN
today’s worldWITNESS in
Tactics + Strategies
Pluralism
Islam
Sexual Revolution
Media
Training and Equipping Believers to Live Out a Confident Faith
The bIble
Relativism
The Challenge of Authority - Part 2:
The Bible
“The Bible is just a book written by men”
The Challenge of Authority - Part 2:
The Bible
“The Bible has no authority over me”
There is only one way the bible has any
authority…
If it comes from God
Main qUESTION:
iS THE bIBLE A BOOK
FROM MENABOUT GOD?
oR…
iS THE bIBLE A BOOK
FROM gODgiven to Men?
AuthoritativeLiterature
From men:
SubjectiveFrom God:
Objective
TruthPreference
wHAT
Good REASONSDO we have to think
The Biblecomes from God?
The Bible comes from God
“All Scripture is inspired by God”
6 Reasons
Reason #1:March
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
The Bible has amazing unity despite its diverse
origins
Unity
Ring Finger“Unity”
Reason #2:March
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
The Bible has genuine fulfilled prophecy that is
precise, detailed, and accurate.
Prophecy
Pinkie“Prophecy”
Reason #3:March
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
The Bible has proven to be historically accurate, even
though it records supernatural events
History
Index“Index to History”
Reason #4:March
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
The Bible has survived through time and lots of
persecution
fIGHTER
Fist“Fighter”
Reason #5:March
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
The Bible has answers to the big questions of life that all
people ask.
biG quESTIONS
Biggest Finger“Big Questions”
Reason #6:March
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
The Bible has changed the lives and has done so for
thousands of years
cHANGED lIVES
Thumb“Changed Lives”
Pinkie“Prophecy”
Ring“Unity”
Biggest Finger“Big Questions”
Index Finger
“Index to History”
Thumb
“Changed Lives”
Fist “Fighter”
It is now time to
Practice1) Explain what each point means
2) Explain why it matters
Pinkie“Prophecy”
Ring“Unity”
Biggest Finger“Big Questions”
Index Finger
“Index to History”
Thumb
“Changed Lives”
Fist “Fighter”
1.What it means
2. Why it matters
toNIGHT
How do we know
The bIBLEwE HAVE TODAY
IS THE SAMEAS THE ORIGINAL?
Columbo Questions
“The Bible has been
Changed”
What Columbo questions could we ask here?
“The Bible has been
Changed”
“What parts, specifically, have been changed?”
“The Bible has been
Changed”
“Where did you study textual criticism?”
“The Bible has been
Changed”
“How many times has the Bible been retranslated”
“The Bible has been
Changed”
“Which parts have been changed the most?”
“The Bible has been
Changed”“Can you explain to me how you
understand the process of how the Bible was handed down?”
“The Bible has been
Changed”
“Can I share some evidence that shows the Bible hasn’t been changed?”
Where we start
The pROBLEMMarch
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
No originals of ANY classic writer exist.
“Did you that know no original manuscripts of any classic writer
exists, not even Shakespeare?”
The RealityMarch
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
All ancient documents were handwritten before the
printing press
“You realize that all ancient documents were hand-written, right?”
Why do we start
this way?
Treats the Bible as history, not as fantasy
Why do we start
this way?
The real power is in the comparison to other texts that nobody doubts
Lack of originals
manuscripts of the bible textsno original
Fact:
We have
Potion of
Eternal Youth
and Beauty
10 years later
Potion of
Eternal Youth
and Beauty
6 Copies (3nd Generation)
Can she rECONSTRUCT THE ORIGINAL?
Where do you start?
1. Compare the copies
Comparing the Copies
What if all 6 copies were exactly the same?
Could you confidently reconstruct the original?
Comparing the Copies
5 were exactly the some, but one had the ingredients
in a different order?
Could you confidently reconstruct the original?
Comparing the Copies
What if 3 of the 6 had spelling errors (but all the same ingredients)?
Could you confidently reconstruct the original?
Comparing the Copies
What if one of the copies had 2 ingredients
the others did not?
Could you confidently reconstruct the original?
Comparing the Copies
What if we had 10 copies instead of 6?
Could you confidently reconstruct the original?
2. ASK quESTIONS
Comparing the Copies
Is it more likely that one person added an
ingredient or 5 took one (the same one) out?
Comparing the Copies
Do spelling errors or varying order of
ingredients make them corrupt?
of copieslots and lots and lots
Fact:
We have
Lots
Criteria for evaluation
2 things that Matter
1. hOW MANY COPIES DO WE HAVE?
2. hOW CLOSE TO THE ORIGINALS ARE THEY?
MaterialsMarch
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
Plant
sheep or goat skins
calf skins
Papyrus
Parchment
Vellum
MaterialsMarch
The Challenge of Authority
Part 2
The Bible
do we have?copies
Our 2 Main Questions:
How Many
were they written to the events they record?
closelyHow
Manuscripts Time Gap
“Natural History”Author:
eARLIEST Copy:
Copies:
Written:
Gap:
Pliny Secundus
AD 61-113
AD 850
750 years
7
“History of rOME”Author:
eARLIEST Copy:
Partial Copies:
Written:
Gap:
Livy
AD 59-17Partial: 4th cen.
1
Complete: 10th cen.
Partial: 400 yrs. Complete: 1000 yrs.
Complete:19
“Writings of Plato”Author:
eARLIEST Copy:
Copies:
Written:
Gap:
Plato
400 BC
AD 900
71300 yrs.
“Writings of demosthenes”Author:
eARLIEST Copy:
Copies:
Written:
Gap:
Demosthenes
300 BC
AD 1000
2001400 yrs.
“iLIAD”Author:
eARLIEST Copy:
Copies:
Written:
Gap:
Homer
800 BC
400 BC
643400 yrs.
“New Testament”Author:
eARLIEST Copy:
Copies:
Written:
Gap:
Multiple
50-100 BC 114 AD (Fragments)
536650-225 yrs.
200 AD (Whole Books)250 AD (Most of NT)
350 AD (Complete NT)
Author Book eARLIEST C. CopiesWritten Gap
Pliny Natural History
AD 61-113 AD 850 750
Years. 7
Livy History of Rome
AD 59-17
450 yrs 1000 yrs
Partial: 4th Cen.Most: 10th Cen.
Partial: 1Whole: 19
Plato Writings 400 BC AD 900 1300 Years. 7
Author Book eARLIEST C. CopiesWritten Gap
Demos. Writings 300 BC AD 1000 1400 Years. 200
Homer Iliad 800 BC 400 yrs
Mult. New Testament
50-100 AD AD 114 50 yrs 5366
400 BC 643
“New Testament”Greek Copies 5366Latin Copies 10,304other Copies 9300
Total: 24,970
"on the basis of manuscript tradition alone, the works that made up the
Christians' New Testament were the most frequently copied and widely
circulated books of antiquity."
- F.E. Peters
In no other case is the interval of time between the composition of the book
and the date of the earliest extant manuscripts so short as in that of the
New Testament.
- Sir Fredric Kenyon, Director, British Museum
“In the variety and fullness of the evidence on which it rests the text of the New Testment stands absolutely and unapproachably alone among
ancient prose writings."
- f.j.a. hORT
Changed?But, Have they
Have they Changed?
N.t.tHE
ILIADhoMER’S
6435366 15,60020,000Copies CopiesLines (Total) Lines (Total)
Lines in Doubt: 40 Lines in Doubt: 764.05%Percentage of Total: 5%Percentage of Total:
These variants have so little support and are of so little importance that their
adoption or rejection would cause no appreciable difference in the sense of the
passages where they occur."
- bb Warfield
“Only about one-eighth of all the variants had any weight, as most of them
are merely mechanical matters such as spelling or style.
- bb Warfield
Of the whole, then, only about one-sixtieth rise above 'trivialities,' or can in
any sense be called 'substantial variations.'
- bb Warfield
Mathematically this would compute to a text that is 98.33 percent pure."
- bb Warfield
It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain: Especially is this the case with the New
Testament.
- Gleason Archer
The system of spiritual truth contained in the standard Hebrew text of the Old Testament is not in the slightest altered
or compromised
- Gleason Archer
by any of the variant readings found in the Hebrew manuscripts of earlier date
found in the Dead Sea caves or anywhere else.
- Gleason Archer
"A careful study of the variants (different readings) of the various earliest
manuscripts reveals that none of them affects a single doctrine of Scripture.
- Gleason Archer
lADIESaND
gENTLEMEN
ChangedThe bIBLE HAS NOT BEEN
bELIEVE ITwE CAN CONFIDENTLY
AS THE woRD OF gOD
Next Week:
lEVITICUS IN hEBREW
Next Week:
bREAK!