WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE?

WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE?

2Timothy 3:15-17; 2Peter 1:19-21

What is in a book?

Over two billion people in the world put their faith in a collection of ancient writings called the Bible. What is this volume called The Bible? It is a library of 66 books, 39 of which are called the Old Testament and the remaining 27 called the New Testament. It is difficult to find any book which has been as read, as studied, as analyzed, as dissected, as summarized and as criticized as the Bible. Millions of books and articles have been written about it. Thousands base their education on it. Others base their livelihood on it. Kings and nations have tried to destroy it, atheist philosophers have tried to discredit it over the centuries. But the Bible has proved practically indestructible.

It possesses power to transform lives. Wicked men reading it see their wickedness rebuked and their lives changed. The foolish read it and learn wisdom. The grieved read it and are comforted. The hopeless read it and find hope. It offers hope for now and for the future. Many nations, though they may not admit it, base their laws on it.

The book teaches about God and creation, evil, the coming of Christ, future judgement on wickedness and coming reward for righteousness. This book is our Bible. We read it, study it, live by its precepts, get married according to its standards, bring our children up by its principles, and conduct our business based on its guidelines. We place our hope of eternal life in the saving work of our Saviour Jesus Christ as recorded in it. It is an extremely authoritative book. What is it that makes the Bible as indispensable as it is? It is an inspired book. It is God’s book though written by men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

NAMES OF THE BIBLE

The Bible we read today is known by many names, all of which are to be found in the Bible itself. These names describe to us the Writer of the Bible, the functions of the bible, the character of the Bible, its importance in the relationship between God and mankind. They reveal to us the purpose of God for writing the Bible and endowing it with such power. Here are some of the names by which the bible is called.

(i)                       The Word of God (Heb.4:12;  Eph.6:17; Col.1:25; Luke 8:11)

(ii)                      The Word of the Lord (Jer.1:2, 11; Ezek.1:3; Isa.1:10; Acts 8:25; 1 Pet.2:23-25)

(iii)                    The Word of Christ (Col.3:16)

(iv)                   The Word of Life (Phil.2:16)

(v)                     The Word of Truth (Eph.1:13)

(vi)                   The Word of Faith (Rom.10:8)

It is also called The Scriptures (28 times in the NT and once in the OT), invested with divine authority, in contrast to the uninspired works of men (2Tim.3:15-16)

The Bible is called the Oracles of God literally the speech of God (Heb.5:10)

SYMBOLS OF SCRIPTURE

(a)-  Fire (Jer.23:29); (b) Hammer (Jer.23:29); (c) (Lamp (Psalm 119:105; (d) Mirror (James 1:23); (e) Milk (1Pet.2:2); (f) Rod (Rev.11:1-2); (g) Seed (1Pet.1:23; Luke 8:11); (h) Sword (Heb.4:12; Eph.6:18); (i) Water (Eph.5:26; John 15:3; 17:17); (j) Gold (Psalm 19:7-10); (k) Honey (Psalm 19:10; Rev.10:10), etc.

What we find out is that the word of God lives up to all these symbols by which it is described. You can begin to appreciate its awesome power.

 

THE BIBLE IS AN INSPIRED LIBRARY

2Tim.3:15-16; 2Pet.1:20-21; Jer.1:9

The Bible’s firm declaration is, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction and for instruction in righteousness…” (2Tim.3:16). By “All Scripture”, we mean the Christian Bible containing 39 OT and 27 NT books. This includes the Jewish Bible containing the 39 OT books. This is the Bible that is inspired of God – God breathed on the writers what He desired to communicate to us. Inspiration does not mean dictation. A standard pattern of speech in OT is, “Thus saith the LORD”, or, “And the Lord said unto…” or “And the word of the Lord came to me…”  For instance, God laid His hand on the mouth of Jeremiah the prophet as a means of transferring the prophetic words to Him (Jer.1:9). With Ezekiel, God caused him to eat the “scroll”, or “roll”, representing the word of God, and he went forth to prophesy in the “heat” of his spirit (Ezek.3:1-4 , 14). This is what is known as inspiration.

Inspiration can also be in the form of revelation, where God communicated truth to man that which could not be discovered by natural reasoning. God reveals Himself and His purposes to man through a human agent. Although there are things that are recorded in the Bible by experience and observation, they are no less revelation from God to man (Deut.29:29; John 16:12-15)

PROOFS OF INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

 

MIRACULOUS EVENTS IN THE BIBLE

The Bible is a book of miracles – a miracle is a supernatural act of power done by God. The Bible contains numerous accounts of miracles – the Red Sea dividing, manna falling from heaven every morning for 40 years, Water coming out of the rock, the dead being raised, the lame walking, the blind seeing, etc., etc., etc., etc… No work of man is comparable.

PROPHECY AND FULFILMENT

Prophecy is the foretelling of events before they occur. The Bible itself is called the book of prophecy. Event were accurately predicted generations before they occurred. This can only happen because God caused men to pen down such predictions. This is also a sign of inspiration of the Bible.

UNITY OF THE BIBLE

The 66 books of the Bible were written over a period of 1600 years, by approximately 40 different authors (Kings, statesmen, prophets, peasants, fishermen, herdsmen, priests, tradesmen and prisoners) who lived in different cultures and different countries (Egypt, Rome and Babylon) they wrote the Bible in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek). What they wrote contains almost every kind of literature (History, Law, Prophecy and Poetry). Yet the book is amazingly unified. It is as if each author produced a certain strand which fits in and harmonizes with the rest of Scripture. We affirm that the Bible the written word of God has one primary message – the revelation of the Living Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

MIRACULOUS PRESERVATION

The bible boast many superlatives. It is not only the most loved book, it is also the most hated book! Multiplied millions of it have been either burnt or destroyed one way or the other. Some countries ban it and forbid their people reading it. It’s authority has been the subject of constant vicious attack. But through the centuries, the Bible has survived all attacks and continues its work of changing lives. It is still loved by millions

INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE

The influence of the Bible as a book is unmatched by any other book. It has influenced some of the most beautiful music, art, law, science and education. Millions of lives have been changed by its truth. Only eternity will reveal the full influence of this holy book.

THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON

The simplest explanation of canon is that it is the standard by which we know what is inspired Scripture and what is not. The Jewish Scripture is called the Tanach standing for Torah (5 Books of Moses), Nevi’im (The Prophets) and Ketuvim (The Writings headed by the Psalms). Those are the three major divisions in the Hebrew Bible today. The OT is the book of God’s Covenant first made with Noah (Gen.9:8-17) with the rainbow as the seal. The second was made with Abraham (Gen.15:8; 17:1-4) with the seal of circumcision.

There is a lot that can be said of the OT but suffice it to say that Jesus gave His approval of it during His ministry on earth. He recognized the OT Canon, quoted it often in His teaching (Isa.61:1; Luke 24:27, 44-46; 11:50-52 (Gen.4:8; 2Chro.24:20-22)). Notice His approval of the three divisions of the Jewish OT (Luke 24:44). The Hebrew Bible today contains the exact number of Books (39) found in the Old Testament but with a different arrangement. The OT is therefore part of the Christian Bible. Some Church traditions add some other books called apocrypha. But these are considered not inspired. At every stage, God’s people understood what God’s word was and bound themselves to do them (Exod.24:3-7); (2 Kings 23:1-3); (Neh.8:1-9:38).

THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON

The New Testament is the most reliable collection of writings of any work of antiquity. Within 125 years of its completion, 43% of all the verses can be found in papyri. Within 125 years of completion, 0% classical literature is found any manuscript form. There are three times more of NT manuscripts with its first 200 years than the average Greco-Roman author has in 2000 year (D.B. Wallace). Some writers have said that the New Testament is the answer to the Old Testament. It is also important to note that the New Testament cannot stand without the Old Testament. God has planned that both testaments of His Word will be indispensable of each other. The Supreme subject of the NT is Jesus Christ, the Messiah of mankind. Its supreme purpose is the redemption of mankind. The Gospels declare the arrival of the Messiah (Luke 2:10-11). In the Epistles we see the Lordship of the Exalted Messiah (Heb.8:1). And in Revelation we see the soon returning of the Lord (Rev.22:7)  

The NT has 27 books. Athanasius was the first father of the Church, who recorded all 27 books of the NT in 367 AD. The books of the NT were written within 50 years of Christ’s ascension.

A fragment called The Muratorian fragment (dated 170 A.D.) contains 21 of the 27 NT books, showing us that the 27 book canon was established very early in the life and worship of the Church.

The early Church considered the canon of the NT closed by 100 AD. This was about the time when the last apostle, John died. Anything written after the apostles were not at all considered to be part of Scripture, because the eye witnesses inspired by the Holy Spirit did not stamp their authority on such.

Councils of Hyppo (393AD) and Carthage (397 AD) recognized and affirmed the 27 books we have today as the books of the NT.

CRITERIA FOR CANONICITY

The 27 books of the NT had to pass a strict test for canonicity before they were accepted by the universal Church. The books had to show:

(1)           APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY – the author must be an apostle of Jesus Christ or someone who has a close connection to an apostle.

(2)           DATE OF WRITING – the book must be written within the lifetime of the apostles (the last apostle died at about 100 AD.

(3)           ORTHODOXY – the teachings in the book must be in agreement with the teachings in other books of the NT and in deed other books of the OT.

(4)           CATHOLICITY – the book must be accepted by the Church as a whole, not just in one region.

(5)           TRADITIONAL USE – the book must have some tradition of having been used as scripture by the Church.

(6)           INSPIRATION – the book must show signs of inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and in most cases claim this inspiration.

All 27 books of the NT met all of the above conditions. All the other books written after these did not meet these criteria. So we are very confident that all the books we have in our NT are the only books that were recognized by the Church from the very beginning. So all the other books you hear about like the book of Enoch, or the Gospel of Thomas, even if some quotation from them found their way into the NT, did not meet these conditions and thus were excluded from the canon (Jude 1:14).

THE FOCUS OF THE BIBLE

The Bible reveals God’s plan of redemption through the ages. From Genesis 3:15, we see God’s promise of redemption after the fall of Adam and Eve. This fall would affect every human being in the world and cut them off from the glory of God.

The Bible traces for us how God from the very beginning planned the redemption of man. He called Abraham and made a covenant with him to build a nation. Through that Nation Israel, God’s Anointed One – the Messiah would be born.

From Genesis 3:15, prophecy after prophecy was given concerning the identity of the Messiah. All those prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Micah 5:2 in 1Pet.1:20; Isa. 7:14 in Mat.1:22-23; Zech.9:9 in Mat.21:1-7; Isa.53:4-7 in Mat.27:12-14; 1Pet.2:21-25; psalm 22:1ff; Psalm16:8-11).

Now we know that all these prophecies concerning Jesus have been fulfilled. This means that the rest of the prophecies concerning His return in the Rapture and to judge the living and the dead will surely come to pass. Are you ready for that?

HOW TO APPROACH THE BIBLE (2Tim.3:15-17; 1Pet.2:2-3)

The bible has set objectives that it seeks to achieve in the life of believers – to TEACH, REBUKE, CORRECT and TRAIN in righteousness. The Bible can do this for us because it is perfect (Psalm 19:7-11). In Halley’s Bible Handbook we find some useful suggestions on how we should approach the Bible.

(i)                       Accept the Bible. It is the word of God. Do not worry about the theory of critics. Pin your faith in it. It will never let you down. Trust and practice its teachings and your joy will be full and you will be happy forever.

(ii)                      Read the Bible with an open mind. Do not put it into a strait jacket of a few pet doctrines. Remember it was given by inspiration of the Omniscient mind of God. Read it fairly. Read it honestly. Apply its teachings to your daily life.

(iii)                    Read the Bible Thoughtfully. Set your mind to understand what it is communicating to you.

(iv)                   Write its instructions down. You are free to mark its content as the Holy Spirit illuminates it for you.

(v)                     Memorize Verses of the Bible. Repeat them to yourself. Use them in your prayers and in your worship. Claim its promises. Obey its commands.

(vi)                   Memorize the names of the books. Know what the books are, the other in which they are arranged, and what they teach.

(vii)                 Love and cherish the Bible. It is God’s book to you. The teachings of Christ and His apostles recorded in the Bible will lead you to salvation.

  

(adapted from Haley's Bible handbook)