The Holy Bible

The message of the Holy Bible has been the foundation of the Church for almost 2,000 years. Christians hold this book out as the literal Word of God, and throughout the centuries have been willing to give up their lives in the defense of it. Christians will quote from this book with authority. They will turn to it for guidance in their lives, and will ask God to show them His will for their lives through His Word. In newness of life, parents will read from this book over their children, while those taking the last breaths of life will ask those near to read to them in their last moments here are on earth for comfort. Whether just entering this life, traveling through this life, or nearing the end of this life, the Bible is sought out for guidance and comfort. Is the Christian faith in this book justified, or is it, as some would say, just another “crutch” that people will use to give themselves false hope? This Bible study will seek to give a brief overview of this wonderfully unique and divine book, and to provide a foundation of knowledge that should give the Christian comfort in the knowledge that our Bible is truly the Word of God, and is worthy of the place we give it in our lives. How Were the Books of the Bible Chosen, and When Were They Assembled Into What We Now Call Our Holy Bible? The books in the Old and New Testaments are sometimes referred to as the canon, and the process used to determine which books were to be included in the Bible is referred to as the canonization. The Greek word “canon” originally meant “rule” or “measuring rod”, but was later used to refer to the books of the Bible. Before we discuss how the books in the Bible were chosen, we must first take a step back and realize that the decision was a divine decision. Though it was men who made the decision on which books to include, ultimately it was God, working through the Holy Spirit in those men’s hearts, who selected these books. For the Bible is the one and only foundational book to which all true Christians look for guidance in their lives. God, who created the heavens and earth, as well as all of us, would not allow any corrupted document(s) to make their way into His Word, that is, the Holy Bible. As God, through Paul’s letter to Timothy, states, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” (NKJ: II Timothy 3:16) This verse is in essence God’s stamp of approval on our Bible, for through this verse, God is telling us that all Scripture in our Bible is from Him. It would follow that God would not allow any false books to enter into the Bible. Therefore, as we discuss the canonization of the Bible, one must know that, even though the process was performed by men, it was actually God who made the decisions. The Old Testament was developed, i.e. canonized, over a long period of time. Each book that is in what we now call the Old Testament was reviewed and approve by Jewish scholars shortly after being written. This canon of the Old Testament grew over the years. The last book to be written and canonized into the Old Testament was the book of Malachi around 400 B.C. The Jews agreed that the last book of Scripture, Malachi, was written around 400 B.C. In 95 A.D. there was a Christian council that met in Jamnia to, among other things, review the canonization of the Old Testament. The outcome was that the committee merely ratified as the canon of the Old Testament those books that were already generally accepted as the Jewish canon nearly 500 years earlier. Neither a book was added or deleted from the original Jewish canon. The New Testament was developed in a similar fashion as the Old Testament. These twenty-seven books were written in the last half of the first century. They were originally written to specific churches or individuals, and then circulated among the various churches throughout what is now Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. In validating those books that were to be considered the result of divine revelation, three widely recognized principles were used: >The writing had to have a recognized prophet or apostle as its author (or one associated them). >The writing could not contradict previous Scriptures. >The writing must have general consensus from the Church that it was of divine inspiration. These writings were reviewed and accepted by the early churches as Scripture many times shortly after their writing. This early acceptance is evidenced by references to certain letters as being scriptural by other letters. For example, Peter makes reference of Paul’s writings in his second epistle, “…as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (NKJ: II Peter 3:15-16) Other examples of such references would be Paul citing Luke’s gospel as Scripture (I Timothy 5:18; cf. Luke 10:7) and Jude quoting from Peter’s epistle (Jude 17; cf. II Peter 3:2). Over several centuries, there were some debates on several of the New Testament books, but once the twenty-seven books were accepted, there have been no moves within the Church to either delete some of the books or to add others. The twenty-seven books of our New Testament, though previously accepted by the Church at large, were ratified by the Council of Hippo (A.D. 393) and the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397). Who Wrote the Books of the Bible? When first asked the question, “Who Wrote the Books of the Bible?”, most people will start naming each book and then associate that book with a human writer, for example, the book of John was written by the apostle John and the book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul. They will then point to certain books where the author is not known, such as the book of Hebrews. However, these answers are all incorrect for there is only one writer of all the books of the Bible, and that writer is God: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NKJ: II Timothy 3:16-17) “…knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (NKJ: II Peter 1:20-21) The words we are given in the Bible were given to us by God through men. These men were mere instruments used by God to physically write down His thoughts to us much like we use a pen to write down our thoughts on a piece of paper. And as different pens will give our writing a different style, so was the same with God using different men to write down His thoughts. We do see different writing styles between the different writers of the Bible, which was God’s intent, but again the words, thoughts, and principles in the Bible are 100% from God and not from man. It is interesting, though, that God’s ideas were written in the style and writing ability of the author which can be seen in the different writing styles, and, when the original text is studied, different writing abilitities. Apparently, God allowed the authors to write His, that is God’s, thoughts in their own words. At times, even allowing them to speak of personal matters such as when Paul asked Timothy for some personal items in his second epistle to him, “Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.” (NKJ: II Timothy 4:13) The authors, at times might have even not known they were writing Scriptures. God gave them their ideas, and guided their thoughts, but allowed there to be a personal aspect to each epistle. However, though a personal aspect in the Scriptures was allowed by God, He at the same time assured that every word written was correct and not contrary to His will, “…to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken).” (NKJ: John 10:35) Since God wrote the Bible, that means that there are no biases in the Bible. For example, the Bible is not biased towards men over women even though there were no woman who penned any of the books in the Bible. Likewise, there are no nationality biases even though the Bible was written by Jewish writers, with a few exceptions. The words of the Bible are from God, the Creator of the universe and of us. Finally, and we will discuss this in more detail later, since God is timeless, His Word is also timeless. The words and thoughts in the Bible were not just applicable to those people living in those generations in which the related books were written, but they are applicable and relevant to all generations. What appears to be an increasing lack of relevance of the Bible over the years and generations is really a growing rebellion of society against the laws and principles laid out in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. The relevance of the Bible in today’s society is more and more challenged as people seek to follow their own lusts and desires which are contrary to God’s teachings in the Bible. Regarding this, Paul writes in his second epistle to Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (NKJ: II Timothy 4:2-4) Thus, to render the authority of the Bible irrelevant in their lives, people will point to the large time gap between when the Bible was written and today. However, unfortunately for those who try to argue otherwise, the Bible is as relevant today as it was during the actual time it was written. Based on the foregoing, the more proper question to ask regarding the penmanship of the Bible would be, “Who were the men that God used to transcribe His thoughts into each of the books of the Bible.” With this question, we can give the following outline regarding the men that penned the books of the Bible. In reference to the table below regarding the writers and periods covered for each of the books of the Bible, the following should be noted: >In relation to the identified writers, I chose to take a very conservative approach. Unless the writer was specifically identified in Scripture, I noted the writer as “unknown.” In those cases where there was a strong case based on church tradition, indirect internal and external proofs, and a general consensus of agreement by biblical scholars, I wrote the likely author in parentheses next to the word “unknown.” >In relation to the time period covered, these time periods are generally close estimates. It is impossible to find complete agreement among biblical scholars on the exact periods being covered, however, the dates shown should be generally very close to the actual dates, and should serve as a good reference point. With the following two points in mind, the following is a listing of the books of the Bible with their writers and related historical time periods covered: Book Writer Period Covered Genesis Moses* ????-1805 B.C. Exodus Moses* - Jesus quotes Genesis and ascribes writing to 1805-1405 B.C. Moses: Mark 12:26>Exodus 3:6,15 and Luke 20:28>Exodus 3:1-6 Leviticus Moses* - Jesus quotes Genesis and ascribes writing to 1805-1405 B.C. Moses: Luke 2:22>Leviticus 12:2-8 Numbers Moses* 1805-1405 B.C. Deuteronomy Moses* - Jesus quotes Genesis and ascribes writing to 1805-1405 B.C. Moses: Mark 12:19>Deuteronomy 25:5 *The law, or Torah, refers to the first five books of the Bible, and was ascribed as being given and written by Moses>John 1:17,45 & 17:9,23, Romans 10:5, I Corinthians 9:9 Joshua Unknown 1405-1385 B.C. Judges Unknown 1385-1050 B.C. Ruth Unknown 1100-1050 B.C.** **Ruth, being King David’s Grandmother, probably Occurred sometime with this time period. I Samuel Unknown 1105-1011 B.C. II Samuel Unknown 1011-971 B.C. I Kings Unknown 971-850 B.C. II Kings Unknown 850-586 B.C. I Chronicles Unknown 1011-971 B.C. II Chronicles Unknown 971-538 B.C. Ezra Unknown 538-458 B.C. Nehemiah Nehemiah (Verse 1:1) 445-432 B.C. Esther Unknown 483-473 B.C. Job Unknown Unknown Psalms David (73), Asaph(12), sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Non-Historical Moses (1), Ethan (1), Anonymous (50) Proverbs Solomon (Verses 1:1, 10:1, 25:1) Non-Historical Ecclesiastes Unknown (Possibly Solomon) Non-Historical Song of Solomon Unknown (Possibly Solomon) Non-Historical Isaiah Isaiah (Verse 1:1) 745-695 B.C. Jeremiah Jeremiah (Verse 1:1) 626-586 B.C. Lamentations Unknown (Possibly Jeremiah) Non-Historical Ezekiel Ezekiel (Verse 1:2) 592-570 B.C. Daniel Daniel (Verses 8:1, 9:2,20, 10:2 and Matthew 24:15) 606-534 B.C. Hosea Hosea (Verse 1:1) 755-710 B.C. Joel Joel (Verse 1:1) 835-796 B.C. Amos Amos (Verse 1:1) 763-755 B.C. Obadiah Obadiah (Verse 1:1) 850-840 B.C. Jonah Unknown 784-774 B.C. Micah Micah (Verse 1:1) 735-710 B.C. Nahum Nahum (Verse 1:1) 650-630 B.C. Habakkuk Habakkuk (Verse 1:1) 620-605 B.C. Zephaniah Zephaniah (Verse 1:1) 635-625 B.C. Haggai Haggai (Verse 1:1) 520-505 B.C. Zechariah Zechariah (Verse 1:1) 520-470 B.C. Malachi Malachi (Verse 1:1) 437-417 B.C. Matthew Unknown (Highly probable the apostle Matthew based 2 B.C.-32 A.D. on early church testimony) Mark Unknown (Highly probable Mark, using the apostle 2 B.C.-32 A.D. Peter’s account, based on early church testimony) Luke Unknown (Highly probable Luke based on early church 2 B.C.-32 A.D. testimony, internal/external evidence, and association with the book of Acts) John Unknown (Highly probable the Apostle John based on 2 B.C.-32 A.D. church testimony plus internal evidence) Acts Unknown (Highly probable Luke based on early church 32-62 A.D. Testimony and internal/external proofs) Romans Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal I Corinthians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal II Corinthians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Galatians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Ephesians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Philippians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Colossians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal I Thessalonians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal II Thessalonians Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal I Timothy Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal II Timothy Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Titus Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Philemon Apostle Paul (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal Hebrews Not known Doctrinal James James (Verse 1:1) (Believed to be half brother of Jesus) Doctrinal I Peter Apostle Peter (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal II Peter Apostle Peter (Verse 1:1) Doctrinal I John Unknown (Highly probably the Apostle John based on Doctrinal Early church testimony and association with the Gospel of John) II John Unknown (Highly probably the Apostle John based on Doctrinal Early church testimony and association with the Gospel of John) III John Unknown (Highly probably the Apostle John based on Doctrinal Early church testimony and association with the Gospel of John) Jude Jude (Verse 1:1) (Believed to be half brother of Jesus) Doctrinal Revelation Apostle John (Verse 1:1) Future In What Language was the Bible Originally Written? The books of the Bible were originally written in one of two languages: Hebrew or Greek. The books of the Old Testament were originally written in the Jewish language of Hebrew. However, two of the Old Testament books had sections where the original language was Aramaic. Those books were Daniel (chapters 2 thru 7) and Ezra (Verses 4:8 thru 6:18 and 7:12-26). The books of the New Testament were written in Greek. Why is the Bible Special and Unique from all Other “Religious Books”? There are many “religious” books throughout the world, many of which proclaim to be divinely written or inspired. Each religious sect will point to their related writings as the true way to gain religious enlightenment and to truly understand God. Some religions will even have more of a universal belief structure where they accept most, if not all, “religious” writings as valid--believing that these writings basically are saying the same thing and pointing to the same God. Within this voluminous quagmire of “religious” books, what makes the Holy Bible different or stand out from all the other books. Well, let’s take a look at several significant distinguishing factors that set the Holy Bible in a class by itself above all other so-called divinely inspired books: Prophecy The primary and most significant factor that separates the Holy Bible from all other supposed divine books is the prophecy contained within its pages. No other religious book contains specific prophetic passages. Furthermore, of the hundreds of prophetic passages in the Holy Bible, over half have already come to pass with a zero error rate, that is, not one prophecy has yet to be proven incorrect. Let’s review several of these prophecies: Historical Events Prophecy The Lord prophecies through the prophet Ezekiel (Chapters 26-28) the city of Tyre will be destroyed and, “…Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations….They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst of the water. I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have spoken,’ says the Lord GOD.” (NKJ: Ezekiel 26:3-5,12-14) Fulfillment This was fulfilled historically in two phases by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Alexander the Great of Greece. The city of Tyre was both a coastal city and an island city. Nebuchadnezzar attacked the coastal city of Tyre, and, after thirteen years, was successful in conquering this city. But many people escaped to the island city of Tyre located about one-half mile off the coast. They well fortified the island city, and Nebuchadnezzar, after conquering the coastal city, did not extend his attack to the island city. The island city of Tyre survived for another approximately 240 years while its coastal city lie in ruin. Then Alexander the Great, with his armies moving across that region, decided to attack the rebel island of Tyre, not wanting to leave them intact and at his back as he moved down the coast towards Egypt. He came upon the idea of building a causeway from the shore out to the island to allow his troops to attack the fortified city. His soldiers pushed the ruins of what had been the coastal city of Tyre into the sea creating a sea bridge out to the island city of Tyre. In addition, Alexander organized a fleet of ships from several conquered nations to assist in the attack. Three years later, Alexander had conquered and laid ruin the coastal city of Tyre. To this day, the city has not been rebuilt, and local fisherman spread their nets on the flat rocky area previously built by Alexander’s soldiers. Thus, all the ruins, including even the dust, was cast into the sea to build the causeway. Babylon and Greece (along with a fleet of ships made up of other conquered nations) laid siege to the island city of Tyre and pillaged all her treasures, and finally fishermen today spread their nets on the rocks of the causeway. Thus, the prophecy was completely fulfilled in every respect. Also note that the time period between the writing of Ezekiel’s prophecy (~570 B.C.) and Alexander’s attack of the coastal city of Tyre (~330 B.C.) was approximately 240 years. Prophecy “And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” (NKJ: Zechariah 12:3) Fulfillment One need only open a newspaper to realize the preciseness of this prophecy. At the time of this writing, Israel was a city with no natural harbor or resources, a city of no major worldly importance, and a city that possessed no attributes that would ever enable it to grow into any type of prominence. But today, Israel is perceived as the major stumbling block to world peace. It would appear that every nation’s government has their eye focused on Israel, and is attempting to determine how to handle the tension between Israel and the Muslim Middle-Eastern nations. This little piece of dirt called Israel, which can actually fit in the California county of San Bernardino, has the entire world wondering how to resolve this issue. Who, back in the days of the writing of Zechariah, would have imagined that Israel would create such a stir for the entire world. Only one who truly knew the future would have made such a prophetic statement. Prophecy “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” (NKJ: Matthew 24:1) Fulfillment In the year 70 AD, around 40 years after Jesus’ prophetic statement above, the Roman General Titus Flavius Vespasianus, due to rebellious activity in the region, laid siege to the city. By command of the Emperor, the temple and the city were razed to the ground. Only a couple of buildings were purposefully left standing to accommodate the soldiers that would stay behind and secure the region. Not a stone of the Temple was left in place except for some of the foundation stones. The unbelievable prophecy that, “not one stone shall be left here upon another” was precisely fulfilled. Who would have thought that such a magnificent structure would be so completely and utterly destroyed. Prophecy Daniel Chapter 11:1-35 Fulfillment In Daniel 11:1-35, it has been estimated that there are 135 prophecies all of which were literally fulfilled. The chapter details out approximately 150 years of history in specific detail. As an example, let’s take Daniel 11:3-4: “Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.” (NKJ: Daniel 11:3-4) In this passage, Daniel is speaking of Greece, and how a mighty ruler will rise and lead Greece to world prominence. Then, when that ruler dies, the kingdom of Greece will be divided into four separately ruled regions, and the rule of these regions will not be given to anyone in the prior-ruler’s family line, that is, “not among his posterity.” This exactly depicts what happened historically with Greece. Alexander the Great, ruler of Greece, succeeded in conquering Persia, the then ruling world kingdom, and made Greece the new ruler of the world. He commanded that upon his death the kingdom of Greece be divided between his four senior generals. Thus, the kingdom was “divided toward the four winds of heaven” being that each of the four generals would receive a region of Greece to rule over, and the rule over Greece was “nor (not) according to his dominion with which he ruled” since instead of having one ruler over the kingdom of Greece, there would now be four separate rulers. These events occurred approximately 200 years after Daniel wrote this prophecy. Greece was not even a contending world power at that time. The remainder of this passage in Daniel, i.e. Daniel 11:1-35, is just as amazing in its precise prophetic narrative as the above discussed verses. No one but God could have provided such precise and 100% accurate prophetic words. Messianic Prophecies (that is, prophecies regarding our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ Prophecy “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (NKJ: Isaiah 7:14) Fulfillment In the book of Matthew we read, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” (NKJ: Matthew 1:18-23) Prophecy “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” (NKJ: Isaiah 11:10) Fulfillment Jesse was the father of King David. Various passages in the Old Testament specify that the Messiah will come through the lineage of King David. In the books of Matthew and Luke, we are given the lineages of Jesus. In Matthew 1:6-16 we are given the lineage of Jesus through His father Joseph back to Jesse, and in the Luke 3:23-32 we are given the lineage of Jesus through His mother Mary back to Jesse. Prophecy “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting..” (NKJ: Micah 5:2) Fulfillment We read in the book of Matthew, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king…” (NKJ: Matthew 2:1) The above noted prophecies are only a sampling of hundreds of events that were accurately prophesized in the Bible. There is not a single prophesy in the Bible that has been proven incorrect. This, in itself, is impossible if it were not for one thing. This one thing is that the Holy Bible was written by God who knows all of history before it happens. The prophecies that were given to us in the Bible are God’s signature on His written work. The God of this universe wanted us to know that the Bible was given to the human race directly from Him, and that there exists no other equal in all the world. Faced with God’s prophetic signature on the Bible, one who is truly seeking the truth and God can only come to one, and only one, conclusion regarding the Bible, and that conclusion is that this book is truly the Word of God. For additional discussion on prophecy in the Bible, please see the Bible study, “Prophecy”. Time Span of Writings and Number of Writers with No Contradictions The Holy Bible was written over several thousand years by over 40 authors. These authors themselves had significantly diverse backgrounds, for example: Author Background Books Written Moses Raised in royalty for Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 40 years, exiled in Deuteronomy the desert hearding sheep for 40 years Solomon King Proverbs Daniel Second to the Daniel King of Babylon John Fisherman Gospel of John, I,II,II John, Revelation Luke Doctor Gospel of Luke, Acts Matthew Tax Collector Gospel of Matthew Paul Pharisee and 13 Epistles-Romans thru Philemon, Disputably Hebrews Hebrew Scholar Taking into consideration the significant time span over which the books of the Bible were written, and the number and diverse backgrounds of all the authors of the books of the Bible, it would be inconceivable to think that such a collection of writings as these could come together as one cohesive document. However, these sixty-six books, penned by over forty authors over several thousand years, when brought together, form a perfect union. In these books, hundreds of different topics are addressed such as religious doctrine, historical events, moral and ethical issues, and prophecy. Yet there is no contradiction in the writings as if they were all written by the same author (actually, they were written by one author: God). I once heard a pastor give an example to illustrate how impossible it would be for such a unity to exist as we have in the Bible. He made a simple observation. The example was to select ten individuals around the same age, with relatively identical political, moral, ethical, and religious views. Once the group of individuals is selected, then give them a current day controversial topic, and have them separately each write an essay on that topic. Once written, when those essays were compared, we would undoubtedly find conflicting viewpoints among those essays. For even with such similar backgrounds, complete consistency and unity is not achievable from a human standpoint. Now, if picking just ten individuals with similar backgrounds, living in the same time period, would yield contradicting viewpoints on just one topic, then how impossible would it be for over 40 authors with extremely diverse backgrounds, living in different time periods ranging over several thousand years, to write separate essays covering hundreds of religious, historical, moral, and ethical issues, and to have those writings come together in perfect unity and agreement. Without a divine authorship, this would be impossible. Inerrancy of the Bible The Holy Bible is inerrant, that is, it is without error. Written over several thousand years by over 40 authors, and it is 100% accurate when it comes to its depiction of historical events, historical persons, prophetic or future events, and its internal consistency and unity between its different books. There are those who would point to certain apparent discrepancies in the Bible between its authors, however, once a critical study is made of any of these suggested errors, it is determined that the passages in question are not in error, but are in agreement. There have been many books published addressing and resolving these suggested “errors.” For the student who wishes to delve further into this area, I would suggest the following books as a start: “When Crictics Ask” by Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe-Victor Books “Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties” by Gleason L. Archer-Zondervan Publishing House “Alleged Discrepancies” by John W. Haley-Whitaker House In its early years, the Bible was attacked by some of its detractors based on the fact that the Bible mentioned many places and people that were not mentioned in any historical records. Those who would try to discredit God’s Word would point to this situation as proof that the Bible was not divinely inspired, but was just fanciful story telling handed down through the ages. However, over the last 60 years or so, modern archeology has uncovered many archeological finds that proved the existence of these locations and people that were not mentioned in secular history, but only in the biblical records. Thus, the Bible was proven again to be without error. Prophecy, consistency, and inerrancy, no other “religious” book can boast of these attributes in the way that our Holy Bible can. Only a book, written by God, could possess such divine attributes. The Bible is unique in its origin and nature, and is exclusive in its testimony. It will not share the stage with any other book or any other god(s). To accept the Holy Bible as God’s testament is to reject all other “religious” books and their gods. This may seem narrow, but there can only be one true word of God. Does History and Archeology Support or Refute the Bible? Over the last fifty or sixty years, many biblical places, events, and persons who were previously thought to have not been real, but only mythical, have been proven to be real based on archeological finds. As Dr. Nelson Glueck, thought to probably be the greatest modern authority on Israeli archeology, has said, “No archeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.” (Rivers in the Desert—New York: Farrar, Strauss and Cudahy, 1959, page 31) Historical records and archeology only serve to support the Biblical record. In fact, I was listening once to a lecture where the speaker made the comment, “Every time a archeological shovel hits the dirt, another archeologist becomes a Christian.” The point being made by the speaker was that the archeological record only serves to prove and support the Bible, and those archeologists who are truly searching for truth, based on their findings, will come to a conclusion that the Bible is true. Once this fact is established, it is only a few more steps to acknowledgement of Jesus Christ, repentance of one’s sin, and then salvation. For the purposes of this study, a detailed discussion on archeological finds relating to the Bible would be much too voluminous. However, for the person who wants to delve into this subject further, I would recommend reading “The Stones Cry Out” by Randall Price. Does Science Support or Refute the Bible? One of the amazing divine aspects of the Bible is the fact that many modern scientific principles are referred to in the Bible as fact. It is astonishing that these scientific facts, which were either not yet proven or were contrary to scientific opinion at that time, are recorded in the Biblical record. Some of these scientific principles noted in the Bible are as follows: >The roundness of the earth (even though at the time, the earth was considered flat): “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth…” (NKJ: Isaiah 40:22) >The hydrologic cycle (river water goes to the sea, evaporates, then rain redeposits this same water back into the rivers): “All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again.” (NKJ: Ecclesiastes 1:7) The water cycle has only come to be understood by the sciences in the past few centuries. >Creation verses Evolution: The first scientific law of thermodynamics states that matter cannot be created or destroyed. The second law of thermodynamics states that the available amount of energy in the universe is decreasing, and that energy and matter go from a state of organization to disorganization. Evolution would point to the opposite of these scientific laws in that matter formed from nothing, energy increased, and matter and energy somehow organized themselves to become living organisms and eventually organized themselves into the complex human body. Creation, on the other hand, states that God created everything from nothing. He designed everything that exists. From that point in time, we have seen the laws of thermodynamics take effect on God’s creation. This supports the Creation account in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, and rejects the theory of evolution (Please note that this is just one of hundreds of valid arguments in supporting Creation and refuting Evolution). >The Number of Stars in the Universe: With the naked eye, which was all that was available to which to view the universe, there are supposedly only about 4,000 or so stars that are visible. However, the Scriptures speak of an uncountable sum of stars which would contradict what was known during the time period of the Old Testament. We read in the book of Jeremiah, “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.” (NKJ: Jeremiah 33:22) One current estimate puts the number of stars in the universe at 1025, which is 10 with 25 zeros after it. There are other estimates that are actually much higher than this. Obviously, the number of stars in the universe is astronomical which supports the biblical view, but was contrary to human knowledge at that time. >Man was Formed from the Dust of the Earth: In the book of Genesis we read, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” (NKJ: Genesis 2:7) Only within the past century has the true nature of this verse been confirmed. For, as hard as it may be to believe, all the basic elements needed to form the human body can be literally found in the soil, or, as the Bible states, “the dust of the ground.” Such a concept was radically foreign to the mind of anyone living during the time of the Old Testament. The Bible is not only consistent with all known sciences, but has set forth many advanced scientific theories hundreds and/or thousands of years before such information was even discovered. Truly, only a book of divine origin could accomplish such a feat. What is the Importance of the Bible to Us? In the book of Hebrews we read, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.” (NKJ: Hebrews 13:8-9) These verses teaches us two very important lessons. First, that our Lord Jesus Christ is unchanging. He does not “change with times”, or alter His words as societies change. He is our stable and immovable rock, and likewise so is His and His Father’s Word, the Holy Bible. The words and thoughts in the Bible were not just applicable to those people living in those generations in which the related books were written, but they are applicable and relevant to all generations. What appears to be an increasing lack of relevance of the Bible over the years and generations, is really a growing rebellion of society against the laws and principles laid out in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. The relevance of the Bible in today’s society is more and more challenged as people seek to follow their own lusts and desires which are contrary to God’s teachings in the Bible. This coming rebellion in the world can be seen in Paul’s exhortation to Timothy in his epistle to him, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (NKJ: II Timothy 4:2-4) Thus, to render the authority of the Bible irrelevant in their lives, people will point to the large time gap between when the Bible was written and today. However, the Bible is as relevant today as it was during the actual time it was written, and those who would try to argue otherwise are just revealing their rebellious hearts. The second lesson to learn from the Hebrews passage above is that there will be “strange doctrines” that will creep into the church. These “strange” doctrines will undoubtedly contradict those doctrines given to us through God’s Word. The primary motivation behind these doctrines will be an attempt to justify ungodly living which Paul noted in his second epistle to Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (NKJ: II Timothy 4:3-4) People will rebel against God’s Word with a desire to live their lives in accordance with their own desires and lusts that will be contrary to the precepts laid out in the Scriptures. In Paul’s second epistle to Timothy he writes, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NKJ: II Timothy 3:16-17) This Scripture passage is a powerful statement to the fact that a life lived according to God’s Word will profit much. For God has given us His Word to serve as a road map for our lives. In essence, we were given these earthly bodies to dwell in while here on earth, and the Bible is the “How To” manual for our lives. There is not a decision to be made in our lives for which the Bible will not give us valuable and insightful guidance on how to proceed. But would we expect anything less from a book written by the God who created us and the entire universe? We are now living in a world that is desperately attempting to blur the lines between right and wrong, and between good and evil. The concept of “relativism”, in which each person defines there own rules for right and wrong, is rapidly taking over. And the main obstacle in the way of “relativism” is the Bible, for there is no other document in existence, with such a wide acceptance, that is made up of pure absolutes. The Bible clearly delineates between right and wrong actions and thoughts. There is no squeeze room or gray areas for which one can make exceptions, hence the current hatred by many towards the Bible and those who would hold it up as the true Word of God. The relevance of the Bible to us today is that it provides a rock for us to anchor on to in life when the storms come against us. The Bible is also our North Star that is an unwavering beacon to which we can always set our course in life. The world may be tossing and turning in the storms of rebellion, but the Christian need not fear as long as they have set their life’s course according to the Word of God.