Author: believersarmedanddangerous

 

While the Old Testament was passed down to us in a fairly ritualistic fashion, the New Testament, not so much.

The New Testament is a collection of 27 biographies, letters, and a book of prophecy written by about eight authors over nearly 50 years.  These documents were sent to individuals (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1), to particular churches (Rom. 1:7) and to the church at large (Rev. 1:1-3).

When these letters and books arrived, some in the congregation would borrow them to make copies for themselves and friends.  This helped to spread the Gospel.  Occasionally, though, it led to discrepancies.  Let’s imagine I borrowed someone’s copy of the Gospel of Luke.  As I copied it, I might make some comments in the margin as certain passages impact me.  After all, it’s my personal copy, why not include notes?  Two problems arise, perhaps my friend who owns the manuscript I’m copying did the same thing.  I might see what he wrote and, thinking it Scripture, include it in the text as I copy it.  Then when I pass my copy on to another friend so she could copy it, she might well copy my friend’s notes and as well as mine.  Usually, the notes were recognized as such, but you can see how some manuscripts might be corrupted in this way.

In order to deal with this, we have textual critics who compare all the manuscripts with various priorities in mind (age, geographical area where it originated, etc.) in order to come to a complete text which they believe represents as precisely as possible the originals (autographs).  Because of this research, we believe we can reproduce the New Testament with better than 99% precision, and the portions in question are not doctrinal.  This is one reason why most modern translations are made from the oldest known manuscripts.  There is less time from the original writings to the known manuscript for error.

Besides this, even if we had no manuscripts of the New Testament at all (and we have over 24,000), we can reproduce nearly all of the New Testament from the writings of the early church fathers.

So, rest assured that the New Testament you hold in your hand on Sunday morning is the most accurately reproduced ancient document in history.  You can rely on it fully.

 

You can find an expanded version of this post including full text of passages cited in the menu.  This post is included under the item “Can I Trust My Bible”

Helpful books can be found under “Recommended Books” in the menu.

2Just how careful were the guys who copied the Bible up until the printing press was invented?  Does the Bible we have today compare well with the originals (the autographs)?

The copying of the Old Testament was very exact.  According to Geisler and Nix’s A General Introduction to the Bible, there were at least 17 rules that needed to be followed by the scribes when they copied the Old Testament to create a Synagogue Scroll.  Among the rules were these:  “(4) Every skin must contain a certain number of columns, equal throughout the entire codex. (7) The ink should be black, neither red, green, nor any other color, and prepared according to a definite recipe.  (9) No word or letter, not even a yod, must be written from memory, the scribe not having looked at the codex before him. (10) Between every consonant the space of a hair or thread must intervene (11) Between every book three lines….”, etc.

So, you get the idea that the scribes copying the Old Testament had to be extremely careful and reverent at their jobs.  When the scribe came upon the very name of God and needed to copy it, he was expected first to take a bath, dress in newly washed clothes, use a new pen and freshly prepared ink.  This meant when the scribe copied Ps. 4:3 or Ps. 6:2, he had to go through this ritual twice since God’s name appears twice in those verses.

On top of that, the scribe was expected to count the letters in the newly copied page and count the number of letters in the manuscript being copied.  If the numbers matched, he was to hold a thread across the text from the top left corner to the bottom right corner.  Another thread was held from the top right corner of the text to the lower left corner.  If the letter in the center where the two threads crossed was the same as the letter in the same position on the manuscript being copied, then the copy was approved.  If not, it was destroyed.

This extremely conservative approach to copying the manuscripts  gives us the reason why, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, they match almost precisely our modern manuscripts.

So, because today’s Old Testament matches a copy from more than two thousand years ago, we can be pretty certain the Old Testament we hold in our hands and study is an extremely reliable and authentic representation of the Old Testament autographs.  Geisler and Nix say it is more than 99% an accurate copy.  The less than 1% in question contains no doctrinal issues.

 

This post is the second in a series on the trustworthyness of the Bible.  There is a page where the posts are accumulated to create one document for your use in discussing the Bible.  The Page is called, Can I Trust My Bible?  This page can be found in the menus at the side bar or at the bottom of the page.

 

As usual, an expanded version of this post can be found in the menus under “Can I Trust My Bible?

If we’re going to live by what the Bible commands, shouldn’t we know for sure that it is what it claims to be, the very inspired Word of God?

What does it mean to be inspired?  The English Standard Version (ESV) translates “theópneustos”  in 2 Tim. 3:16 as, “breathed out by God,” and that’s exactly what it means.  2 Peter 1:20-21 tells us that the writers of the Bible were “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” the Third Person of the Trinity.  So, the Bible itself claims to be inspired by God.  If the Bible is from God, there should be a supernatural aspect to it.  Predicting things before they happen would be pretty good evidence.

The ancient city of Tyre existed in two parts, half on the coast of the Mediterranean and half on an island about a half mile off shore.  Early in the sixth century B.C., Nebuchadnezzar II laid siege to Tyre for 13 years.  Nebuchadnezzar’s forces eventually broke through the walls of Tyre but found the people had packed up and moved to the island offshore.  With no navy to reach the island, Nebuchadnezzar was forced to return home.

In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great came to Tyre demanding they surrender.  Since Alexander also had no navy, the Tyrians on the island felt safe in denying Alexander.  Over the following seven months, Alexander’s men took the rocks and debris from the old city of Tyre and built a land bridge between the mainland and the island city, even scraping the rocks and the very dust from the site of the old city.  Alexander then conquered the island city.  Today, fishermen spread their nets to dry there as there are no rocks to snag the nets.  Ezekiel predicted this very thing about 586 BC.

In 70 A.D., Titus, Roman Emperor Vespasian’s son, broke through the walls and sacked Jerusalem including setting fire and destroying the temple such that nothing is left of it today except one of the walls of the outer court, the Wailing Wall.  40 years earlier, Jesus predicted this very thing.

The Bible is filled with supernatural occurrences, prophecies, and descriptions.  These are just two that can be checked by examining secular sources for their fulfillment.  So, the Bible does, in fact, have a supernatural aspect.

 

As always, a more extensive version of this post can be found on this page through a link with the same title.

The American Bible Society estimates there are about 900 English translations and paraphrases, but only a few are widely accepted by the church.  For the sake of brevity, I’m just going to address reasons for  New Testament translations:

Families of texts

Definitions first. A “Manuscript”  is an ancient handwritten copy of the Bible, and a “Text” is someone’s compilation of a set of manuscripts attempting to give a good representation of the originals.  English translations are made from mostly two texts:

The Majority Text is translated from the majority of Greek manuscripts, and we have about 8,000.

The Westcott-Hort text-type (WH) is based on a few manuscripts, but these are older than those of the Majority Text.  The question is, “Should we depend on the oldest but the few or the newer but the largest library of manuscripts?”

As a result, we have two “families of Bibles” produced.  The King James Version (KJV) and New King James Version (NKJV) are translated from the Majority Text.  Almost all other modern translations are translated from the Westcort-Hort text.  All are well accepted.  There is really no doctrinal difference.

Philosophy

There are different philosophies of translations, too.  There are the “word-for-word” translations where each Greek word in the text is directly translated into English.  Examples would be the KJV, New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the English Standard Version (ESV).  The benefit is we are less likely go see the translator’s bias in the translation.

Then there are idiomatic translations.  These translate meaning as well as actual language.  In Spanish, “You are pulling my hair” is similar to the English, “You are pulling my leg.”  Idiomatic translations such as the New Living Translation and New International Version would translate it “You are pulling my leg,” while the NASB would translate it exactly as stated.

Both of these types of translations are occasionally revised and improved when new understanding of the language or better understanding of a particular portion of text occur.

And, there are paraphrases like the old Living Bible and the Philips Paraphrase.  These are not translations at all but just a paraphrase of what the author thought the biblical text was saying.

Lastly, there are biased “translations” like the Watchtower’s New World Translation (NWT) which is not a  translation but is presented as such to the readers.  The Watchtower has changed portions of the Bible to support their own doctrines and convince the reader the Watchtower is correct in their teaching.

As usual, an estended version of this post is available at the menu item of the same name.

Sometimes we discuss God and how He created everything: the universe, the atmosphere, humans, etc. with someone who is a bit critical of the Christian witness.  We will often get a comeback that sounds something like this: “Well, if God made everything, who made God?”

Sounds like a reasonable question doesn’t it? Let me give you a quick answer to the question.  We’re always looking for a quick response aren’t we.  The response can be something like this: “Let’s suppose someone did make God.  It doesn’t really matter who made Him.  He made you, and we are answerable to the God who made us and not to the person who made Him. What have you done with the commands He’s given you?”

The longer and more philosophical answer is a problem in logic.  The question presupposes a God who must have been created.  If we’re talking about the God of the Bible, we’re not talking about Someone who has been created but Who has always existed and always will (Ps. 9:7, 90:2).  So, there is a definition problem here.  The God we’re talking about is an infinite Being.  Infinite beings do not have a beginning, a creation.

As usual, a longer version of this post can be found in the side bar or at the bottom of the page.

If you have questions you would like to be addressed about witnessing, answering skeptics, or just Bible questions, please write me at thebaadblog@gmail.com, and I’ll do my best to answer those.

This is a copy of an answer I gave to a FaceBook critic.  His question was if Christianity is true, why are there so many different beliefs within it and why are there so many interpretations of the Bible?  Here is what I wrote, and I think it is important to post here as well:

 

Reading the Bible, in a way, is like reading the newspaper. When my local paper says the sun will rise at 5:30 and set at 7:30, I don’t immediately think the weather guy doesn’t understand that the earth rotates. When it says someone is a “giant of industry” I don’t understand them to be saying something about the person’s physical stature. In the same way, the Bible contains idioms, metaphors, and other figures of speech. Not everything is literal.
. Christians don’t claim the actual Bibles we hold in our hands in church on Sunday are inspired. We claim the original copies, the autographs, were inspired. We no longer have those, but we are very confident the Greek and Hebrew texts we have today are better than 98% identical to the originals. And, none of the disputed portions are doctrinal in nature.
. Many of the “errors” pointed to by Bible critics are actually scribal errors which come from personal copies being made prior to the printing press. If I wanted a copy of Paul’s letter to Titus, I borrowed someone’s copy and copied it myself including any errors his copy had and unwittingly, perhaps, a few of my own. We have textual critics in the church whose job is to search all the manuscripts (we have over 24,000 handwritten copies of the New Testament alone) and discover the most accurate reading based on a number of factors including the manuscript’s closeness in age to the originals and the number of manuscripts which agree with one another on that passage.
. We are also dealing with translations from the original languages. With translation comes loss of some meaning.
. While the central message that Jesus is God, died for your sins in your place, and faith in Him as your Lord and Savior brings forgiveness and salvation is clear, many other points are open for interpretation. Some of those would be mode of baptism, type of church government, which day of the week to worship, and so on. We can all disagree on those and other points but still be Christians.
. Then there are those who do not accept the Bible as inspired or even valid. There are those who deny the central message and call themselves Christians. They’re not. Just as there are physical characteristics that identify us as humans, there are beliefs which need to be held in order for us to be identified as Christians. At a minimum, those beliefs are what I laid out as the Bible’s central message.

Anselm of Canterbury gave this definition of God: “Now we believe that You [God] are something than which nothing greater can be thought.”  I’ve always liked that definition.  It says however grand our thoughts of God might be, He’s much more.

He is personal because a personal God is greater than an impersonal one.  He is all powerful, all knowing, ever present, unchanging, all good, infinite in His nature, eternal past and present all because those attributes are greater than their alternatives.

Interesting enough, the Bible supports these ideas: He is all-knowing (1 John 3:20), He is all powerful and greater than the universe itself – infinite (Gen. 1:1), He is omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10), He is unchanging (Jam. 1:17), He is personal (Ex. 3:14), He is all good (Luke 18:19), He is eternal past and future (Ps. 90:2).

If God is infinite in nature, then His attributes should be infinite as well.  We serve a God who is more merciful than we can ever imagine, more gracious, more forgiving, more just, more loving, our God, the God of the Bible, is greater in all ways than could ever be imagined.

A few weeks ago Pastor Tim talked about Namaan the leper (2 Kings 5:1-14).  Namaan came to Elisha’s home with gifts and all sorts of expectations of what Elisha should do to heal him of leprosy.  Instead, Elisha didn’t even come to the door but sent his servant.  The servant told Namaan Elisha’s instructions were to dip seven times in the Jordan river.

Thinking about this later, I realized Namaan didn’t understand whose door he was knocking on.  It was the door of  the personal representative of the perfect and infinite God.  Namaan expected rituals and sacrifice.  What he got was a commonplace request: “go bathe.”

To the God we love Who is greater than we can ever imagine, healing leprosy requires no effort at all.  In fact, Genesis 1:1 required no effort at all for an infinitely powerful God.  How can we doubt Him as Namaan did.  Is there truly anything this God cannot do in our lives?

 

As usual, an expanded version of this blog containing the Scriptures cited can be found in the menu either on the right side bar or at the bottom of the page.

Among the qualifications for a bishop listed in 1 Timothy 3, is the ability to teach (vs 2).  Often, we leave this to the church leadership thinking that is their duty and not ours.  But, is that true?

As servants of God, we are instructed to be able to teach (2 Tim 2:24).  The Greek word for “teach” here, “DidaKtikos,” doesn’t necessarily mean we should hold positions as teachers, but we should be able to teach the basic beliefs of the church to those who are young in the Lord (Col. 3:16).

We who are older in the faith should be able to contend for the faith  and be able to spot false teachers within the body (Jude 1:3-4), we need to examine ourselves to see if our beliefs line up with the Bible (2 Cor. 13:5), we are to be able to answer the questions of those who challenge our faith (1 Pet. 3:15), older (in the Lord) women are expected to teach the younger women (Titus 2:3).  This takes more study and commitment than the average Christian is willing to take on.

Ours is a reasonable faith, a faith founded on fact, not a blind faith.  We have reasons to believe what we do, and this blog is here to help you find ways to deepen your faith and to share your faith more effectively with others.

Ours should be a quest to lead people out of the darkness and share the Light of the world, Jesus.

The resources to help us do this are plentiful and readily available.  If you can’t find them, drop me a note so I can help.  Let’s build an army of Believers Armed and Dangerous to reach out to even the hard to reach.

 

As usual, an extended version of this can be found on the “Apt to Teach” page found either on the right sidebar or at the bottom of the page.

This is a word study on “ransom.”  To see a more in depth treatment, please look for the link to “Ransom” on the sidebar, if you’re using a PC, or at the bottom of the page if you’re using a tablet:

Ransom

In our culture the word “ransom” means pretty much one thing: a payment for the release of a hostage or hostages.  In the verses in the Old Testament where the KJV translates a Hebrew word, “ransom,” it can mean a number of things from a payment in place of the death penalty (Ex. 21:30) to a simple census fee (Ex. 30:12).  In Prov. 13:8 it is used as a measure of a man’s wealth.

Most of the time, however, it generally means a payment to redeem someone to keep them from punishment.  One interesting portion of Scripture is Isa 43:3 where it is used to describe God giving Egypt, Seba, and Cush to Cyrus, the king of Persia, as a consideration for delivering Israel.  Seems to be a national substitutionary sacrifice, these three nations as a ransom for Israel’s freedom.  Not sure on this.  I’m going to look into it further.  Lots of history to look over.

In the New Testament, two Greek words are translated as ransom:”Lytron,” which we find in both Matt 20:28 and Mark 10:45.  This word means, “to liberate many from the misery and penalty of their sins.” Here we find the idea of Christ’s death as a ransom.  That ransom is a sort of bail paid to God (Prov. 49:7) in order to gain our release from the penalty we face.

The second Greek word, “antilytron,” means something which is given in exchange for another as a price of his redemption.  “Anti” as a prefix in Greek can mean, “replacement” or “substitution” as in “antichrist” who makes himself a substitutionary Christ.  In the same way, the ransom paid for us in 1 Tim 2:6 is a substitution.  Christ for you and for me.  This idea is called the vicarious atonement.  Jesus’ death was my debt, but He paid it in my place.

It has been suggested that my blog posts are a little too long.  Most folks look here for a pithy comment or as a sort of devotional.  My ideas usually take longer to lay out.  So, I’m going to try something new, a short post here and the thought and research behind it on a page listed on the right of this post.  If you are viewing this on a tablet or phone, you might have to scroll down to the bottom of the screen.  So, if you would like to read more on the subject, just look for a page with the same title.  Here is my first attempt at this.  The following is a word study on “longsuffering:”

Longsuffering:

Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)
²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

God may well be longsuffering in His goodness to show His riches and glory in the lost who are being saved.  Just look at Paul as an example:  He was a murderer and a blasphemer, yet God uses him to show us how longsuffering He is toward the sinner.

As Christians, we are to be joyfully longsuffering toward others in the body of Christ.  It is one of the fruit of the spirit, part of the Christian walk, and identifies God’s elect. Persecution should be faced with faith and longsuffering.  We should follow the examples of those who faced death and torture but faced it with faith and longsuffering.  These and the prophets of old are our examples for how we should act.

Pastors should be longsuffering with their congregants lest they drive them into the arms of false teachers.

So, be tolerant of others especially for fellow Christians.  Realize that God is extremely patient with the lost and so should we be.  We are examples to the world of God’s character.  Let’s not drive people away and into the arms of false teachers.