Finding the Bible relevant
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- Published on Thursday, July 21, 2016
By Linda Rioux
In the past few months we have been examining Christianity as reasonable and historically accurate. This month we shall begin looking at the Bible, which is where we learn about saving faith. Unknown to many people is the opinion many archaeologists, historians and scholars hold that the Bible is accurate and more historically valid than many other well-accepted documents from ancient times.
It has been decades since Canadian families commonly went to church; so much so that thousands of people are no longer familiar with what the Bible means or contains. Over the next few months it will be interesting to investigate the Bible, what's in it (what is not), intriguing facts, its history, relevant archaeological finds and whether or not you can trust it to be your B-I-B-L-E, an acrostic that means Book of Instruction Before Leaving Earth.
Let's begin with some basics. The Bible is divided into two parts called testaments. A testament is a covenant, promise or contract defining a relationship. So there are two main contracts, one in the Old Testament and another in the New Testament. We'll investigate those covenants in a future article zoning in on each testament by itself, looking at its different promises and contracts between God and mankind.
There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. The various books cover history, prayer/praise, teaching, wisdom, poetry, biography and prophecy. The Bible is the oldest known book, with its writing begun around 1450 BC and it was the first to be printed, in 1454 AD. The oldest, nearly-complete manuscript is the Codex Vaticanus, dating from the fourth century. The oldest New Testament fragment preserved is a scrap of the Gospel of John from the second century. Concerning the Old Testament, there are even earlier manuscripts still preserved.
The “canon” of Scripture is a list of texts accepted as authoritative by religious leaders. Canon comes from a Greek word meaning measuring stick. By the fourth century there was agreement amongst church leaders about the authenticity of the current Bible. Other gospels and writings had been eliminated from this standard because they were not consistent with the inspired word of God. So what does “inspired word of God” mean?
That God chose to breathe His words through His prophets, then these prophets spoke God's words to His people and the people wrote those words down onto biblia or sheets of linen or papyrus. Christians believe this process by faith.
But there are reasons to believe the Bible is God-inspired because there are logical arguments for its divinity. Here are some of them:
a) The Bible is a negative book; that is, it condemns man from beginning to end. Would any normal man write a book that is so negative about himself? Logic says no.
b) The Bible is authoritative, meaning that it claims to be the only inspired book. And its central character, Jesus Christ, says He is the only way to Heaven.
c) The Bible is infallible, meaning it is not wrong. Although many have tried unsuccessfully to discredit it, the Bible has so far been proven correct scientifically, historically and prophetically. One example of scientific accuracy is the 20th century discovery that our teeth have a fine film over the bone. The earliest book of the Bible, Job, has this interesting verse in it: “I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.” (Job 19: 20b) That was written about 3,500 years ago.
d) The Bible is prophetic. Other ancient writings do not even try to prophesy. Not only does the Bible attempt to do it, it also fulfills its prophecies. For example, there were at least 44 prophecies about Jesus' life and death made hundreds of years before His birth; all were fulfilled in His lifetime.
e) The Bible is unified. All 66 books complement one another even though written over a period of 1,500 years and by about 40 different authors — kings, fishermen, priests, government officials, farmers, shepherds and doctors, most of whom did not know each other.
f) The Bible is historical. Events described in the past are verified by non-Biblical sources such as Tacitus, a Roman historian. Evidence of historical accuracy can be seen by the recent discovery that the ancient city of Jericho once existed and its walls suddenly and inexplicably fell down.
g) The Bible is a preserved book. Things that man has accomplished in the past, such as the seven wonders of the world, great empires or educational systems have all deteriorated or disappeared over time, yet the Bible still exists, virtually unchanged and uncontaminated from its original purpose and meaning.
These are only some of the reasons to consider the Bible God's message to man. We are just beginning to learn why this great book can be trusted with your life.
