I hope that you looked over the list of suggestions to ratchet up your commitment in the area of Bible study. These lists, however, were not necessary for the majority of Christians. This article touched on the following points: historians concur, archaeology concurs, the four Gospel biographies are in agreement, the preservation of document copies is remarkable, there is superior accuracy in the translations. Gann was born in 1878 in Lufkin, Texas, the first of 11 children in an impoverished cotton-farming family. (6) See Acts 2:22, 3:13, 4:13, 5:30, 5:42, 6:14, etc. The manuscripts written on papyrus came from the second and third centuries A.D. We have now placed Twitpic in an archived state. The second test of the reliability of the biblical documents asks, What claims does the Bible make about itself? Yes. Apart from some fragments, the earliest Masoretic manuscript of the Old Testament is dated at A.D. 895. You are welcome to sign up for a free study of the Gospel of John, which comes to you by email. When historians try to determine if a biography is reliable, they ask, "How many other sources report the same details about this person?". The number of letters, words, and lines were counted, and the middle letters of the Pentateuch and the Old Testament were determined. One merely needs to do a search of the electronic Kindle version of the Expositor’s Study Bible for the phrase, “modern church” and you will find numerous entries that malign the church. There really were around 40 authors of the Bible, but the Bible and tradition only call out around 35 by name. For example, the Gospel of Judas was written by the Gnostic sect, around 130-170 A.D., long after Judas' death. According to the Bible, the earth is flat. The descriptions are unique to each writer, but the facts are in agreement. The Life of Pablo ultimately experienced a chart-topping debut on the chart, giving West his seventh consecutive number one album in the United States and selling 94,000 album-equivalent units. And the multitudes of eyewitnesses who were alive when the New Testament books began to be circulated would have challenged blatant historical fabrications about the life of Christ. W.D. To summarize the bibliographic test, the Old and New Testaments enjoy far greater manuscript attestation in terms of quantity, quality, and time span than any other ancient documents. Related Topics: Bibliology (The Written Word), Apologetics, Dr. Boa is the President of Reflections Ministries and Trinity House Publishers. Yes, He has also given us the church as a larger family unit which compliments and confirms what is being taught at home, but the family itself has been ordained by God as the consistent environment for everyday spiritual growth. Unlike other religious writings, the Bible reads as a factual news account of real events, places, people, and dialogue. Paul started out as a violent opponent of Christianity and a member of the religious ruling class, but he became an ardent follower of Jesus, convinced that Jesus rose from the dead. Here is how the New Testament compares to other ancient writings*: *McDowell, Josh. Unlike other religious writings, the Bible reads as a factual news account of real events, places, people, and dialogue. We believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, thus our primary source for dating events and people in the Bible Prophecy Timeline are the Bible’s genealogies and event-to-event comparisons found in other traditionally accepted non-biblical sources, such as ancient historical records by Josephus and modern-day scholarship by professional theologians and educators. Today, man’s maximum life span is about 120 years,3 and our average life expectancy is still only 70–80 years—just as it was when the 90th Psalm was written 3,400 years ago! Some Protestants use Bibles which also include 14 … With few exceptions, they have reached these conclusions through second- and third-hand sources rather than their own study of the Bible. That would probably be true if the translations were being made from other translations. Reflect on your own or discuss with a Bible study group in your home or in your parish to gain a better understanding of the story of salvation history. The Bible has been copied and translated so many times! Not only was it composed by at least 40 writers, on multiple continents, over a span of 1,500 years, but it is not what we would expect to find were it “made up.” The Bible also includes major moral failings of its heroes, yet most writings of other religions tend to whitewash the flaws of their heroes. It shows us how to live with purpose and compassion. And the .5% differences are minor spelling variances and sentence structure that doesn't change the meaning of the sentence. It does not answer all the questions we might have, but enough of them. The other New Testament writers had immediate access to Jesus as well: James and Jude were half-brothers of Jesus who initially did not believe in him. Is the New Testament an accurate, reliable presentation of Jesus? Cleanliness is next to godliness is in the Bible. Some of these variant readings crept into the manuscripts because of visual errors in copying or because of auditory errors when a group of scribes copied manuscripts that were read aloud. The Bible not only inspires us, it explains life and God to us. So the early church readily accepted the four gospels because they agreed with what was already common knowledge about Jesus' life. Other errors resulted from faulty writing, memory, and judgment, and still others from well-meaning scribes who thought they were correcting the text. Imagine you are collecting biographies of President John F. Kennedy. Jesus is also mentioned a number of times in the Jewish Talmud. Historians and scientists have long since proven that the Bible is inaccurate and unreliable. (12) John 20:30,31. It encourages us to rely on God for strength, direction, and enjoy his love for us. In his first epistle, John wrote, What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the Word of life . "In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities and nine islands without an error. Primitive cultures were becoming civilized with farming, ranching, mining, specialization of labor, small-scale manufacturing, and trade about BC 4000. Ezekiel 1:2 allows us to date Ezekiel's first vision of God to the day (July 31, 592 B.C.). The Woolton Cemetery adjoins St Peter’s Church in Liverpool. John, one of the writers sums it up well, "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."12. While the quality of the Old Testament manuscripts is excellent, that of the New Testament is very good--considerably better than the manuscript quality of other ancient documents. The Nuzi tablets and Mari letters illustrate the patriarchal customs in great detail, and the Ras Shamra tablets discovered in ancient Ugarit in Syria shed much light on Hebrew prose and poetry and Canaanite culture. Man's life did decrease in length right after the flood, though in Genesis 11 we find many people still lived longer than 120 years. Kenneth Boa View Chuck Swindoll's overview chart of the Bible, ... Genesis–Deuteronomy—A Life Lesson from Every Chapter Purchase. However, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls dating from 200 B.C. Mark and Luke were companions of the apostles, having access to the apostles' account of Jesus' life. The first test examines the biblical manuscripts, the second test deals with the claims made by the biblical authors, and the third test looks to outside confirmation of the biblical content. But the codified Laws of Hammurabi (ca. How can you be sure that the Bible is the same now as when it was written? Here's a few of the other books and chapters we'll be looking at: Zechariah 14, Isaiah, Joel, Daniel, 1 Thess 4 & 5, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 17 and 21, Ezekiel. But translations are actually made directly from original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic source texts based on thousands of ancient manuscripts. Here is why. Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1969, P. 176. The English Bible is a translation of a translation of a translation (etc.) (4) Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998). (11) Ibid. By and large the whole church had recognized and used the same list of books since the first century after Christ. In the case of the Old Testament, there are a small number of Hebrew manuscripts, because the Jewish scribes ceremonially buried imperfect and worn manuscripts. The Bodmer Papyri are dated from A.D. 175-225, and the Chester Beatty Papyri date from about A.D. 250. How many of these statements do you think are true? 1860 B.C. The Gospels are presented as matter-of-fact, "this is how it was." Two of the gospel biographies were written by the apostles Matthew and John, men who knew Jesus personally and traveled with him for over three years. The time span for most of the New Testament is less than 200 years (and some books are within 100 years) from the date of authorship to the date of our earliest manuscripts. Furthermore, no variant readings are significant enough to call into question any of the doctrines of the New Testament. But by the late 16th century, the Gregorian calendar (named after Pope Gregory XIII) succeeded the Julian version, but it had to correct the inaccurate measurements due to the leap years that took place over a 1700 year span. How can you base your life on a book that's so full of contradictions and errors? from Case Institute of Technology, a Th.M. The top half and clearest band is a list of events in the Christian Bible put into a “historical” context. You can find everything from closely reasoned apologetics for the major faiths, to New Age life guides in the same place. Regarding the New Testament, it is humanity's most reliable ancient document. We find another early secular reference to Jesus in a letter written a little after A.D. 73 by an imprisoned Syrian named Mara Bar-Serapion. (7) Bruce, F.F. Q. At the time of their writing, there were still people alive who had heard Jesus speak, watched him heal people and perform miracles. The Bible places great stress on accurate historical details, and this is especially obvious in the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, Luke's two-part masterpiece (see his prologue in Luke 1:1-4). from Dallas Theological Seminary, a Ph.D. from ... More. (John 10:10), In the early years after Jesus' death and resurrection there was no apparent need for written biographies about Jesus.Those living in the Jerusalem region were witnesses of Jesus and well aware of his ministry.6. Events within the book of Judges span the geographical breadth of the nation, happening in a variety of cities, towns, and battlefields. It sounds like we are using the testimony of the Bible to prove that the Bible is true. We have ten copies. The Bible says that God helps those who help themselves. Gann . Because of the thousands of New Testament manuscripts, there are many variant readings, but these variants are actually used by scholars to reconstruct the original readings by determining which variant best explains the others in any given passage. . "It had wedge-shaped characters on it and contained the detailed laws of Hammurabi. Even reports of Jesus doing the miraculous is written without sensationalism or mysticism. Here's how this works. The John Rylands Fragment (P52) of the Gospel of John is dated at A.D. 117-38, only a few decades after the Gospel was written. In this work, Josephus gives us many background details about the Herods, the Sadducees and Pharisees, the high priests like Annas and Caiaphas, and the Roman emperors mentioned in the gospels and Acts. BibleThe Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures sacred to Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Rastafari and others. Click here to see a chart listing some of the major archaeological finds. Relationship with His Co-workers Other first- and second-century writers who mention Christ include the Roman historians Cornelius Tacitus (Annals) and Suetonius (Life of Claudius, Lives of the Caesars), the Roman governor Pliny the Younger (Epistles), and the Greek satirist Lucian (On the Death of Peregrine). Haven't you ever played the game where people sit in a circle and pass a sentence from one person to the next until it comes back around in a completely distorted version? The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 55. 1950 B.C. This resulted in the removal of 10 days from the Julian calendar. If you would like to know more about Jesus, this article will give you a good summary of his life: Beyond Blind Faith. Not only do we have well-preserved copies of the original manuscripts, we also have testimony from both Jewish and Roman historians. You find many biographies describing his family, his presidency, his goal of putting a man on the moon, and his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Regarding Jesus, do we find multiple biographies reporting similar facts about his life? We can be more certain of what we read about Jesus’ life and words, than we are certain of the writings of Caesar, Plato, Artistotle and Homer. Should an Unbeliever Partake of Communion? As the church grew beyond the Greek-speaking lands and needed to translate the Scriptures, and as splinter sects continued to pop up with their own competing holy books, it became more important to have a definitive list. Ancient attribution and modern attribution aren’t even really in the same ball park. Yet ancient historians (Jews, Greeks and Romans) confirm the major events that are presented in the New Testament, even though they were not believers themselves. Jesus says time and time again that he is the giver of life, the author of life. Archaeology consistently confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible. Everyone Has to Eat In this booklet, we will consider a number of objections to the accuracy and reliability of the Bible to help you make a more informed decision as to whether or not it is authoritative. But we are really examining the truth claims of the various authors of the Bible and allowing them to speak for themselves. You would expect the healing to make a grand point. For faith to really be of any value, it must be based on facts, on reality. Greek translation of the Old Testament), the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Targums (ancient paraphrases of the Old Testament), as well as the Talmud (teachings and commentaries related to the Hebrew Scriptures). to A.D. 68 drastically reduced the time span from the writing of the Old Testament books to our earliest copies of them. When other books were written hundreds of years later, it wasn't difficult for the church to spot them as forgeries. Then archaeologists discovered the Black Stele. The earliest New Testament manuscripts go back only to the fourth or fifth centuries A.D. I. The copies we have today are dated 1,000 years after he wrote it. Few people doubt Plato’s writing of “The Republic.” It’s a classic, written by Plato around 380 B.C. A Protestant Bible is a Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestants.Such Bibles comprise 39 books of the Old Testament (according to the Hebrew Bible canon, known especially to non-Protestants as the protocanonical books) and 27 books of the New Testament for a total of 66 books. Pauline New Testament (NT) letters (or epistles as they are sometimes called) are laid out here in chart form in chronological order. There is one central message consistently carried by all 40 writers of the Bible: God, who created us all, desires a relationship with us. But your positive experience would not be enough to get that plane to London. ...Christus [Christ], from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus...."9, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (A.D. 38-100), wrote about Jesus in his Jewish Antiquities. Because of the great reverence the Jewish scribes held toward the Scriptures, they exercised extreme care in making new copies of the Hebrew Bible. Soon after, Jerome and Augustine circulated this same list. (2) The renowned Jewish archaeologist, Nelson Glueck, wrote: "It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference." Nevertheless, only a small number of these differences affect the sense of the passages, and only a fraction of these have any real consequences. However, when news of Jesus spread beyond Jerusalem, and the eyewitnesses were no longer readily accessible, there was a need for written accounts to educate others about Jesus' life and ministry. Noted archaeologists such as William F. Albright, Nelson Glueck, and G. Ernest Wright developed a great respect for the historical accuracy of the Scriptures as a result of their work. From the Talmud, "we learn that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock, gathered disciples, made blasphemous claims about himself, and worked miracles, but these miracles are attributed to sorcery and not to God."11. For a sample from one of the Gospels, click here. The book of Judges acts as the sequel to the book of Joshua, linked by comparable accounts of Joshua’s death (Joshua 24:29–31; Judges 2:6–9). These writers had direct access to the facts they were recording. The answer is that all of them are false. It is well worth the price! Because the historical narratives of the Bible are so specific, many of its details are open to archaeological investigation. The earliest copies we have of it are dated 900 A.D., which is a 1,300 year time lag from when he wrote it. The following chart shows a lot of I/O and disk usage anomlaies as we were performing some large batch loads on these systems: Prism - Anomaly Chart. Witness the fascinating story of our faith unfold, and see how you, at this moment in your life, fit into God’s plan for all of humanity. Your faith, however, is not what gets you to London. For example, a theory still taught in some colleges today asserts that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), because writing had not been invented in his day. & Moreland, J.P. Jesus Under Fire (Zondervan Publishing House, 1995), p. 40. The text even describes the five porticoes (walkways) leading to the pool. What the New Testament writers originally wrote is preserved better than any other ancient manuscript. But the existing Hebrew manuscripts are supplemented by the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Septuagint (a third-century B.C. The Case for Christ (Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), p. 132. But in spite of this time span, the number of variant readings between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Masoretic Text is quite small, and most of these are variations in spelling and style. Archaeologists have consistently discovered the names of government officials, kings, cities, and festivals mentioned in the Bible -- sometimes when historians didn't think such people or places existed. The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), p. 55. Prayer! Peter was one of the 12 apostles. Dear Twitpic Community - thank you for all the wonderful photos you have taken over the years. (10) Wilkins, Michael J. (5) McDowell, Josh. The real Eleanor Rigby was born in 1895 and lived in Liverpool, … The Bible, history, and science all tell us that the time around 4000 BC was a time of major change on earth, a pivot point when the whole order of life took a new direction: CIVILIZATION . Psalm 90:10 shows the life expectancy of man at that particular time was 70-80 years. Four of the writers of the New Testament each wrote their own biography on the life of Jesus. The Lord told Moses that He would only strive with man for 120 years. One typical example is the account in Luke, chapter 8, where Jesus brings a little girl back to life. Q. All ancient manuscripts were written on papyrus, which didn’t have much of a shelf life. By doing so, the album blocked American singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton 's debut studio album Traveller (2015) from the top spot, which sold 73,000 units. Here is a sampling of facts about Jesus, and where you would find that fact reported in each of their biographies. Most of the New Testament was written between A.D. 47 and 70, and all of it was complete before the end of the first century. It was pre-Mosaic; not only that, but it was pre-Abraham (2,000 B.C.). Removal of 10 days from the Dead Sea Scrolls dating from 200.... The plane, pilot, etc. ) this letter to his son compares the of! 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