425 Sermon Illustrations on Bible

It is related that "an old peasant in Northwest India learned by heart the first chapter of John's Gospel. After his harvest was over he would go out year by year into the villages nearby and repeat what he had learned. It is stated that in eight years he had brought some four hundred of his countrymen to embrace Christianity and receive baptism."

We know that it is written: "As the rain cometh down, and the snow, from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth bud, that I may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it" (Isaiah 55:10, Isaiah 55:11).

Wherever God's law is supreme, life and property are safe. Wherever the Bible is despised or discarded, neither life nor property is secure. When worldly friends were discussing theories around the dining table one day, Voltaire said: "Hush, gentlemen, till the servants are gone. If they believed as we do, none of our lives would be safe." The influence of the Bible in restraining sin and promoting righteousness is one of the evidences that it is a supernatural and divine revelation.

"As it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit ..." (1 Corinthians 2:9, 1 Corinthians 2:10).

His parents had sent the young boy to Florida to spend the winter, but he was disgusted with the area of Florida he had been in. Then a few months later he met a botanist who kindled the boy's interest in his favorite study. The boy became fascinated with the orchid and its strange life.

Looking at the orchids in the greenhouse one day, the botanist said enthusiastically: "You should see them in Florida, they are much better there; but these will give you some idea."

The boy looked at him in amazement.

"I have been in Florida," he said, "but I never noticed any of them."

"Perhaps you did not look for them," answered his friend, "but they will not escape you the next time."

That is the way it often is with the Bible. A person sees no beauty in it, but the Holy Spirit is ready to open the eyes of our understanding, and to teach us. It may be by some sermon or book which will lift a truth out of its hiding place and give it an application to our life which it never seemed to have before.

As Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey, three presents were made to her: first, the Sword of the State; second, the Imperial Robe; and, lastly, the Bible; these words accompanying the gift: "Our gracious queen, we present you with this book, the most valuable thing the world affords. Here is wisdom; this is the royal law; these are the timely oracles of God. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this book; that keep and do the things contained in it. For these are the words of eternal life, able to make you wise and happy in this world, nay, wise unto salvation, and so happy forevermore, through faith which is in Christ Jesus, to whom be glory forever. Amen." Words as true as they are beautiful!-and by few monarchs have they been put to a fuller test than by the royal lady to whom they were addressed.

The leading skeptical statesman of America, Thomas Jefferson, was wise enough to make this confession: "I have always said, and always will say, that the studious perusal of the sacred volume will make better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands." The words explain the source of America's prosperity. The Christian statesman, Edward Everett, said: "All the distinctive features and superiority of our republican institutions are derived from the teachings of Scripture."

Some years ago a woman delivered a lecture in Lancashire against Christianity, in which she declared that the gospel narrative of the life of Christ is a "myth." One of the mill-hands who listened to her obtained permission to ask a question. "The question I want to ask the lady is this: 'Thirty years ago I was a curse to this town, and everybody shrank from me that had any respect for himself. I often tried to do better, but could not succeed. The teetotalers got hold of me, but I broke the pledge so often that they said it was no use trying me any longer. Then the police got hold of me, and I was taken before the magistrate, and the wardens of the prison all tried me in vain. Then Christ took hold of me, touched my heart, and made me a new man. And now I am an honored and respected fellow-worker in gospel and Sunday school work with many dear to me. And I ask, if Christ is a myth, how is it that this myth is stronger than all the others put together?'" The lady was silent. "No, miss," he said, "say what you will, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16; 1 Peter 1:5).

A certain wayward young man ran away from home and was not heard of for years. In some way, hearing that his father had just died, he returned home and was kindly received by his mother. The day came for the reading of the will; the family were all gathered together, and the lawyer commenced to read the document. To the great surprise of all present the will told in detail of the wayward career of the runaway son. The boy in anger arose, stamped out of the room, left the house, and was not heard from for three years. When eventually he was found he was informed that the will, after telling of his waywardness, had gone on to bequeath to him $15,000-which was quite a sum of money in those days. How much sorrow he would have been saved if he had only heard the reading through! Thus many people only half-read the Bible and turn from it dissatisfied. The old Book says: "The wages of sin is death," yea, verily, but it says more, it says, "but the gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23).

A Jewish woman of wealth and position noticed an advertisement of some article which she fancied, that would accompany the purchase of a Bible. She sent an order for the sake of what she wanted, and tossed the unwelcome book aside; but in an idle hour, later, picked it up and turned its pages. The New Testament was unfamiliar and she glanced at it curiously, becoming interested before she knew.

She fought against belief, but it gradually forced itself upon her, and she found herself in deep trouble. Confessing her faith meant the loss of property and home, the heartbreak of father and mother, even separation from her husband, but she could not remain silent.

All that she feared was threatened in those awful days, but because they loved her, and to prove her error, her family also read the despised Gospel. Earth's unending miracle was repeated; they found what she had found, and looked wondering into each other's faces, a Christian household.

A young lady asked to explain devotional reading of the Bible, answered:

"Yesterday morning I received a letter from one to whom I have given my heart and devoted my life. I freely confess to you that I have read that letter five times, not because I did not understand it at the first reading, nor because I expected to commend myself to the author by frequent reading of his epistle. It was not with me a question of duty, but simply one of pleasure. I read it because I am devoted to him who wrote it. To read the Bible with that motive is to read it devotionally, and to one who reads it in that spirit it is indeed a love letter."

This young Christian's explanation is beautifully clear. The heart has not a little to do in interpreting God's word.

The bishop of Rochester was being led to the scaffold. As the cruel framework loomed grimly on his sight, he bowed his head and prayed, "Now, O Lord direct me to some passage which may support me through the awful scenes." He forthwith opened his Testament and his eye lighted on the words, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Closing the Book, he said, "Praised be the Lord, this is sufficient for time and for eternity."

It has often been reviled; but it has never been refuted. Its foundations have been examined by the most searching eyes. In Hume, and Gibbon, and Voltaire, and La Place, not to mention a multitude of vulgar assailants, the Bible has had to sustain the assaults of the greatest talent, the sharpest wit, and the acutest intellects. To make it appear a cunningly devised fable, philosophers have sought arguments amid the mysteries of science, and travelers amid the remains of antiquity; for that purpose, geologists have ransacked the bowels of the earth, and astronomers the stars of heaven; and yet after having sustained the most cunningly devised and ably executed assaults of 2,000 years, it still exists-a glorious fulfillment of the words of its Founder-"On this rock have I built my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18).

I have sometimes had persons ask me, "What portions of the Bible are most delightful to you?" I am reminded of the answer to a question once propounded to Daniel Webster. He was a great reader of Shakespeare's plays, and was asked which he liked best. He replied, instantly, "The one that I read last." It is very much so with Scripture. That portion which distills as the dew from heaven upon the thirsty soul, seems for the time the most precious of all Scripture; and which part it is, will depend very much upon the need of the man's own feeling, or heart-life.

A few years before the war, a humble villager in eastern Poland received a Bible from an evangelist who visited his small hamlet. He read it, was converted, and passed the book on to others. Through that one Bible two hundred more became believers. When the evangelist, Michael Billester, revisited the town in the summer of 1940, the group gathered to worship and listen to his preaching. Billester suggested that instead of giving the customary testimonies they all recite verses of Scripture.

Thereupon a man arose and asked, "Perhaps we have misunderstood. Did you mean verses or chapters?"

"Do you mean to say there are people here who can recite chapters of the Bible?" asked Mr. Billester in astonishment.

That was precisely the case. Those villagers had memorized not only chapters but entire books of the Bible. Thirteen knew Matthew and Luke and half of Genesis. One had committed all the Psalms to memory. Together, the two hundred knew virtually the entire Bible. Passed around from family to family and brought to the gathering on Sundays, the old Book had become so worn with use that its pages were hardly legible.

Dr. Howard W. Pope tells the story of a young lady who read a book, and, having completed it, remarked that it was the dullest book she had read in many a day. Not long after this experience she met a young man and in the course of time their friendship ripened into love and they became engaged. When he was visiting at the home of his fianc,e one evening, she said to him, "I have a book in my library which was written by a man whose name and even initials are precisely the same as yours. Is that not a singular coincidence?"

"I do not think so," he replied."

"Why not?"

"For the simple reason that I wrote the book."

Dr. Pope concludes the story by remarking that the young lady sat up until the early morning hours to read the book again, and when it was completed it seemed to her the most interesting book she had ever read. It wasn't dull at all. She found it fascinating. The secret? She knew and loved the author!

You will enjoy the greatest of all books, the Bible, God's Word, if you love the Author. "We love him, because He first loves us."

A New Hebrides chieftain sat peacefully reading the Bible, when he was interrupted by a French trader. "Bah," he said in French, "why are you reading the Bible? I suppose the missionaries have got hold of you, you poor fool. Throw it way! The Bible never did anybody any good."

Replied the chieftain calmly, "if it wasn't for this Bible, you'd be in my kettle there by now!"

As my wife and I have been raising our four children, we've always lived on a busy street or highway. Like most other parents, when our kids were small, we gave them strict orders not to play near or in the street. For their own safety, we gave them boundaries. Our children are still alive today because of the grace of God and because they stayed within the boundaries and did not play in the street.

In many ways the U.S. is still a great country, and we're grateful and thankful to be Americans. But our nation is troubled, and we are reeling from the shock and grief of the Oklahoma City bombing. At first we thought it was the work of another foreign terrorist. Then we were horrified to find this dastardly deed came from within our own ranks. The tragedy in our nation's heartland is a grim reminder of the fact that we are a society in moral and spiritual decline. We cannot blame Saddam Hussein or other foreign entities this time. We are slowly self-destructing and we must shoulder our own blame.

It is this writer's opinion that our official decline began in 1962-63 when we allowed our Supreme Court to remove prayer and Bible reading from our public schools. Ten years later, we legalized abortion, and when we sanction the murder of our society's most innocent and helpless citizens, then none of us is safe! We have discarded the sanctity of human life and are reaping the bloody results. We have ignored the boundaries our loving heavenly Father gave us and are "playing in the street," and it is killing us! Profanity, desecrating the Lord's Day, disobedience to parents, murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting are all forbidden in the Ten Commandments, but Americans are acting like those were only "ten suggestions." There is a high price for "playing in the street" and every day we file for more divorces and lawsuits, increase our welfare rolls, build more jails and hospitals, bury more dead and shed more tears.

What is the remedy? The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." In other words, there must be "Revival for Survival." We must return to the God who loves us and who in His wisdom and mercy set boundaries for our safety and enjoyment. God said in Deuteronomy 30:19, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." It's up to us.

-Don Johnston

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. — Ps. 19:10.

Jenny Lind left the stage at the zenith of her powers. Sitting one day where the gentle tides come rolling in at Ostend, a Bible in her lap and her eyes on the glories of the setting sun, someone asked her why she had stepped down from her throne in the day of her coronation. She laid her hand on the open Bible and said, “It made me think little of this, and” (pointing to the great sun) “nothing of that; and so I gave it up without regret for ‘a greater life.’”

I have a wonderful treasure,

The gift of God without measure;

We will travel together,

My Bible and I.

Thy word … thy servant loveth it. — Psalm 119:140.

Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. — Jeremiah 15:16.

How good God has been to give us such a Bible! … In its fulness and entirety this Word is before us. How rich and manifold it is! How well adapted to our every want and need! Gentle are its commands; tender its precepts; heavenly its doctrine. — Young.

“We’ve traveled together, my Bible and 1,

Through all kinds of weather with smiles and with sigh;

In sorrow or sunshine in tempest or calm,

Thy friendship unchanging, my Lamp and my Psalm.

So now, who shall part us, my Bible and I?

Shall ism or schism, or new ‘lights’ who try?

Shall shadow for substance, or stone for good bread

Supplant its sound wisdom, give folly instead?

Ah, no! My dear Bible, Revealer of Light,

Thou Sword of the Spirit, put error to flight!

And still through life’s journey until the last sigh,

We’ll travel together, my Bible and I.”

Christians commonly present a circular argument in the way they discuss the authority of the Bible. They say that Jesus is the Son of God and produce proof texts from the Word of God to make their point. The unbeliever replies that he does not believe the Bible. The Christian then produces sayings of Christ that show the Scriptures to be the Word of God. The non-Christian replies that he does not accept that, only to be told that he should trust Jesus because He is the Son of God!

EACH IS CALLED UPON TO JUSTIFY BELIEF IN THE OTHER

One reason we get into this predicament is that it was the apostle Paul’s usual practice to evangelize the Jews by reasoning with them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. The Jews however believed those Old Testament Scriptures to be inspired and authoritative. Paul had a very different approach addressing Gentiles (Acts 14 & 17). His theology remained biblical without presuming that Bible texts should be the final court of appeal.

A second reason is that we do not think clearly about the object of Christian belief. We should be asking people to put their trust in a person, not a book. ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved’ (Acts 16:31).

Christians regard the Bible as the revealed word of God ultimately because we conclude that Jesus himself had that view of Scripture, and discipleship means intellectual as well as moral submission to his kingly rule. ‘You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, for so I am’ (John 13:13). Jesus insisted repeatedly ‘A student is not above his teacher... it is enough for the student to be like his teacher’ (eg, Matt 10:24). Trusting the Scriptures is a proper consequence of first of all submitting ourselves to Jesus and becoming his disciples. It is Jesus whom we are asking people to trust and obey.

OUR ARGUMENT IS LINEAR NOT CIRCULAR

The force of our argument about Jesus flows from the apostolic testimony about him recorded in the collection of first century documents which we call the New Testament. Our appeal to them is not as authoritative Scripture, but as credible historical documents.

In other words we start where they are. They cannot reasonably deny that these documents were written in the first century. We can produce compelling evidence that these writings have survived the centuries essentially as they were written.

The documents describe the amazing figure of Jesus of Nazareth, who gave the world a body of teaching which is there for everyone’s evaluation. He is described as an exemplary character who practised what he preached. He is said to have performed amazing deeds, and his sayings are shot through with the most extraordinary claims he made about himself. The events of his life are said to have climaxed not only in his death but in his resurrection.

The whole saga, because of the importance of his teaching, the example of his character, his astonishing claims and the impact he had made on the world’s stage, demands evaluation from every thoughtful responsible person. They may conclude that the whole story is invention, but history is not on their side.

Our task is to argue from history that Jesus is the Son of God.

On a parachutist’s first jump, his chute failed to open. As he plummets toward earth, he sees someone ascending toward him. As they near each other he yells, “Do you know anything about parachutes?” The other man replied, “No, do you know anything about Coleman gas camping stoves?” Apparently neither bothered to read the manual.

I recently made use of my years of writing organ service manuals and wrote step by step instructions for new computer users. In trying to instruct couples, I notice that the husband impatiently wants to dive right into the Internet and e-mail, whereas the wife is willing to take the time to study the simple basics and learn it step-by-step. So, guess who is better at it in the shortest time. Yup — the wife.

Unfortunately, this parallels some folk’s Christian experience. There are some who want to dive right into The Revelation without studying the preceding basics like John, Mark and Paul’s letters. So, guess who has the stronger Christian foundation. In fact, there are those who try to live the Christian life without reading the instruction book at all — the Bible.

Heb 4:12 (nlt), “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires.” You may be cruising toward a crash if you try to jump the basics and live without studying The Manual.

Jeremiah 36 — Jeremiah’s Scroll — Youth / children's message (can be acted out)

Zedekiah

• kind of Jerusalem and land of Judah

• son of Josiah

° good king for over 30 years

° who turned people back to the LORD

• but Zedekiah an evil king

° turned people from God

° turned people from obeying His word

• so, God sent warning through …

Jeremiah

• who was a prophet of God (and name of book in O.T.)

• warning: if king, his counsellors, the people did not change

° their wicked ways

° from worshipping idols

° from being unjust to widows, to orphans in accepting bribes

• then God would remove him from the throne of Judah and take away the people to Babylon (Iraq)

• so, the king limited where Jeremiah went (’house arrest’)

° because he was unpatriotic

° because he said enemy would defeat Judah

° could not go to the temple to worship nor to preach

• because Jeremiah’s message from God was so sad

° he is called the weeping prophet (Jeremiah 2:13, 7:3, Ch 18)

° he wrote Lamentations (meaning 'crying') after Jerusalem was captured

° hence the word ‘jeremiad’ means a 'sad story'

• one day God told Jeremiah to write down everything he had been told to preach and read it to the people

° so that they might repent (be sorry)

° if not, they wold be taken away to Babylon; and the king, too

• but Jeremiah couldn’t read these messages to the people himself because of thekings orders

• so he sent

Baruch

• who went to the temple and read the scroll to all the people

• the people were afraid, but

° they were not sorry for their sin

° they feared the king more

° they said to Baruch

° ‘you and Jeremiah better hide!’

• then they told the king

• and gave the scroll to him

Zedekiah

• sat by the fire while it was read

• every so often he took part of the scroll

° and his knife

° and cut off what was read

° and tossed it into the fire

° but he wasn’t sorry

• so God sent Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon to captured him

• and took him and the people back to Babylon

Baruch and Jeremiah

• were hidden safely away

• and Jeremiah dictated it all to Baruch a second time

• so we have it in our Bibles today.

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1. What kind of king was Zedekiah?

2. What was Jeremiah’s nickname? … why?

3. What was Baruch’s job?

4. Could Zedekiah dstroy God’s word?

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________________________Slide 1________________________

The Bible Canon and Manuscripts

The Story of How God’s Revelation Has Come To Us

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• We believe the Bible to be the complete Word of God; that the sixty-six Books, as originally written, comprising the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by the Spirit of God and were entirely free from error; that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice and the true basis of Christian union.

• But, most of us do not read the Bible in its original languages; can we trust in the translation we have? … that is for next week.

• But, how do we know this Bible in our hands is the same as originally written, that it is not full of errors and changes? … that is what the Bible Canon and the study of manuscripts is about.

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________________________Slide 2________________________

The Nature of Revelation

• “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” (Hebrews 1:1-2 NAS)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• the first two verses of the book of Hebrews define for us the character of God’s revelation

° long ago … and in these last days – progressive

° prophets … men the recipients and messengers

° many portions – not all at once; bit by bit, line on line

° many ways – using various instruments, means

° the ultimate self-revelation of God: Jesus Christ

° He being God’s Son, and the focus from finish to start – the final Heir, but the One already there at creation

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________________________Slide 3________________________

The Nature of Revelation

• God, not man, initiated His revelation

• His revelation is progressive in time

• His revelation was through ‘prophets’

• God’s ultimate revelation was in the Person of His own Son, Jesus Christ

• The central theme of God’s revelation is the Saviour, Jesus Christ and His work

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• here is a summary

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________________________Slide 4________________________

Attitudes Towards God’s Revelation

• It is a work of Man

° Its words are inspirational (like a poem)

° It may contain God’s word

° This is Satan’s lie: ‘Has God said …?’

• It is a work of God

° Its words are God-breathed; inspired

° This is the testimony of the Bible itself: ‘All Scripture is given by inspiration …’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• not everyone believes the Bible is God’s Revelation

• here are the two groups

• mankind has been divided into these two groups from the start7

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________________________Slide 5________________________

The Canon of Scripture

• Bible … a work of man … then

° No need for canon of the Bible

° It is just another human book

• Bible … the revelation of God … then

° Need assurance the Bible is complete

° Need assurance Bible only God’s revelation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• The Canon of Scripture is the story of how the 66 books we now have were selected out of all the books that were written so as to comprise our Bible or Scriptures

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________________________Slide 6________________________

Old Testament Principles Used

• Jesus followed Jewish canon & we, too

• Was the writer a prophet who …

° … spoke fulfilled prophecy?

° … was commanded by God so to speak?

° … was accepted as such in his lifetime?

• Was his writing immediately accepted?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• In both the Old and New Testament

° the books were not chosen willy-nilly

° nor did God send an angel to say ‘use this, discard that’

• but, as the Holy Spirit led men to speak and write

• that same Holy Spirit led men to select the Bible books

° not by lot

° not by its style or beauty

• but by principles which are evidenced

° by the books that were chosen

° and, by the books that were rejected

• Christians follow the Canon of the Old Testament as was established by the Jewish rabbis and scholars in the centuries before Jesus was born

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________________________Slide 7________________________

Old Testament Principles Applied

• That Moses wrote in a book is implied by Deuteronomy 17:18

• That this was immediately accepted as God’s revelation, Joshua 1:8

• So we find references throughout to various prophets writing prophetical, historical and poetical books of Bible

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Take the example of the first 5 books of the Bible

° called the Pentateuch or Torah

° also, the books of Moses

• We find this repeated for the other O. T. books

° in some cases less, in some, more

° referenced by other O. T. writers

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________________________Slide 8________________________

Old Testament Canon — Accepted

• Torah: first five books by Moses

• Prophets (term also applied to writings)

° ‘former’: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings

° ‘latter’ : Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the 12

• Writings (literally, ‘scriptures’)

° Poetical and wisdom books

° Chronicles, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• so by Jesus’ time

° the contents of the O. T. were settled

° and loosely gathered into three sections

• with the Pharisees, rabbis and scribes accepting all three as the revelation of God

• but the Sadducees only accepting the Torah (which is why Jesus answered their question about the resurrection from only the Torah)

• today, Jews may or may not believe these are God’s revelation and some give different weight to the three sections

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________________________Slide 9________________________

Old Testament Canon — Lost Books

• Old Testament refers to other books

° Num 21:14, Book of the wars of the Lord

° Josh 10:13, Book of Jasher

° 1 Ki 11:41, Book of the Acts of Solomon

° 1 Ki 14:19, 29, Book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel, … kings of Judah

• Where are these? … do we need them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• what about the so-called ‘Lost’ books?

• there are references in the Bible to books no longer extant?

• are we missing something?

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________________________Slide 10________________________

Old Testament Canon — Old Books

• Other old Hebrew books

° Enoch, Book of Jubilees, Lamech

° Hebrew version of Ecclesiasticus

• Old Greek books of period between Malachi and New Testament: Apocrypha

° Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Sirach

° 1 and 2 Maccabees

° Additions to Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Sometimes there will be an article in a magazine, etc

• About some ‘new discovery”

• of a missing book of the Bible (both O.T. and N. T.)

• here are some examples; the Apocrypha are found in Roman Catholic Bibles and are considered ‘a Second (or lesser) Canon’ good for reading but not to be accepted as fully inspired

• what should we think of these?

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________________________Slide 11________________________

Old Testament Canon — Rejects

• ‘Lost’ books – do we need these?

° Canonical books preserve what is needed

° Some ‘found’ but not genuine (‘Jasher’)

• Other old Jewish writings

° Never considered by Jews as authoritative

° Often speculative, fantastic in character

° Faulty historically; contrary to Scriptures

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• the fact that the books of the Canon quote these show that they were used as sources by the O. T. writers, but the inspiration of Scriptures leads us to conclude that only the needed parts from them were preserved in our Bible

• as for the Apocrypha, no Jews ever considered them as authoritative; their contents are never quoted with the formula, ‘it is written’

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________________________Slide 12________________________

New Testament Principles Used

• Did the author have apostolic authority?

• Did the author write conscious of that?

• Did the early church (church fathers) give witness to a book as apostolic in origin? … did it meet with acceptance early and widely?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Like the O.T. so the New; there was no sign from heaven marking a book as canonical or not

• There were many spurious writing claiming to be by apostles, etc., that had to be weeded out in the first 2 to 3 centuries of the church

• Some of these surface from time to time as ‘newly discovered’ – a few years ago it was the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ (I think)

• So, under the Holy Spirit, books were chosen, using criteria such as those listed here

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________________________Slide 13________________________

New Testament Principles Applied (1)

• Apostolic authority

° Primary: Matthew, John, Peter, Paul

° Secondary: Mark (Peter), Luke (Paul)

• Consciousness of authority

° Luke’s introductions to his gospel & Acts

° John’s (20:30-31) statement of purpose

° 1 Timothy 6:2, Titus 2:15, 2 Peter 3:15

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• and here are some specifics

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________________________Slide 14________________________

New Testament Principles Applied (2)

• Acceptance by Early Church

° Clement, bishop of Rome ca. 95AD, wrote letter alluding to John, 5 of Paul’s epistles, James, and Hebrews

° Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, martyred before ca.117AD, left 7 letters has many references to the gospels as Scripture and to the epistles of Paul

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• We should not understate the role of the church – the local church bodies from place to place – in establishing the Canon of the N. T.

• The pastoral epistles clearly assign the responsibility for guarding the truth in a church to the spiritual leaders of that church

• In those early centuries when false writings kept surfacing (then as now) it was these men who identified the true and false

• And, we have copies of their writings still in existence that give witness to what should be in the New Testament … that these still exist show how important their writings were considered in choosing the Canon

• These early men were first and second generation believers; some knew the apostles personally; some knew the apostles first disciples

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________________________Slide 15________________________

New Testament Principles Applied (3)

• Acceptance by early church (continued)

° Polycarp, who knew John, was martyred ca. 155AD, wrote letter prior to Ignatius’ martyrdom which made allusions to almost half the New Testament books

° the Peshitta, early 2nd century translation into Syriac, included entire Bible, except four general epistles and Revelation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Here are some more evidences of acceptance

• The earliest Peshitta we have is from the 6th century, but it was a revision in translation, not in content, of the 2nd century work

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New Testament Principles Applied (4)

• Books were not fully accepted at early date, principally due to the uncertainty in their authorship, were

° Hebrews, James & Jude, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, and Revelation

° Acceptance varied among ‘church fathers’

° By end of 4th century, all accepted

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• There is a difference between the informal acceptance of some books and the formal acceptance by the church at large

• This difference now reflects not so much doubt about these books but the care that was taken in recognizing them – a point we can take in assurance that what we have is really the Bible

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Bible Manuscripts (‘mss.’)

• For both the Old and New Testament

° Manuscripts had to be copied by hand

° The quality of the source mss., varied

° The quality of the copyists varied

° Some knew the language, some did not

° The conditions under which they were made included persecution and haste

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• But, given that we have the right books

• How do we know what we have is accurate

• With the 10’s of thousands of manuscripts of parts of the Bible

° won’t the copies be full of errors after a while

° given the considerations listed here?

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Manuscripts and Textual Criticism

• Textual criticism is the detective work in determining which manuscript is correct

• Massoretes, the first ‘textual critics’, began between 1st and 5th centuries and continued to about 12th century

• Took the texts received from scribes (‘sopherim’) and created single text; began counting words & characters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Textual critics

° are not people who criticize the Bible’s truth

° but those who fervently care about God’s revelation

° and devote themselves to finding the most likely reading

° for every doubtful passage

• The Massoretes were the first ‘textual critics’ working on the O. T.

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Isaiah 29:1 and following

• graphic of section of Dead Sea Scrolls and of Massoretic Text for same

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Here is a sample from the Dead Sea Scrolls, dated about 100 BC

• And the corresponding printed Massoretic text for which the oldest manuscript we have dates from about 900 AD or 1,000 years later

• And, given the differences in spelling (such as use of vowel letters), and other minor variants, the two are essentially the same

• which testifies to the care that the Sopherim and Massoretes took

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Massorete’s Textual Criticism

• Did not document all their methodology

• Destroyed source manuscripts which is why the Dead Sea Scrolls so important as showed no substantial differences

• Left the scribal text alone and showed words to be read instead

• Added vowel points, accent marks

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• The Jewish synagogues, when a copy of the Scriptures became worn, destroyed it; so did the Massoretes once they had incorporated it into their copies

• Just as our modern Bible have notes about the variations in mss., so the Massoretes made notes of such variations. Where they disagreed with the ‘scribal text’ handed to them by the Sopherim, they put in the margin a Qere, to the text to be read. Most translations use the Qere in such situations

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________________________Slide 21________________________

New Testament Textual Criticism

• There are many thousand N. T. mss.

° Containing all or part of the N. T.

° Despite attempts to destroy the scriptures

° Oldest mss. all in capitals, no spaces

• What about the many manuscripts?

° Notes in Bibles as ‘a few late mss. read …’ & ‘… is not found in most of the old mss.’

° Are difference between mss. significant?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• the existence of so many manuscripts – they have been discovered in all sorts of out of the way places – one set of very important and very early portions of the N. T. was found with business records written over the original and these were about to be burnt!

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________________________Slide 22________________________

Spread of Manuscript Copies

• Graphic of tree: branches illustrate deviation of versions; TR is one limb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Applies to each book; but also to the collections of books as they became recognized as forming the Canon of Scripture

• Originally, copies from the one original

• Later, were copies of copies

• Tended, quite naturally, to become geographically distinct

° North Africa

° Egypt / Alexandria

° Jerusalem / Syria

° Greece and Asia Minor

° Italy and West

• some differences explainable as page lost at the end of book (Mark)

• other reasons

° marginal notes incorporated

° regional spelling differences (U.S. and U.K.)

° inexpert hands making personal copies

° inserting verses from other gospels, repeating lines, etc

° the ‘pious’ family (expanding title of Jesus)

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________________________Slide 23________________________

N. T. Textual Criticism: the Tools

• Formal rules have been developed and tested to identify how copy errors arise

• The manuscripts are evaluated as to their intrinsic quality by various tests

• Early translations, quotations compared

• Classification into parent-child families enables finding when error introduced

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Textual Criticism is objective in its approach

• The age of documents is determined by a variety of means: the shapes of the letters, the materials used, and, where other documents have been written over top of the Bible ms., the date of those newer documents.

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________________________Slide 24________________________

Textual criticism results: Hort quote

• ‘The proportion of words … accepted on all … not less than 7/8 … remaining … formed in great part by changes in order … comparative trivialities … and … spelling . The real problem in textual criticism of the N.T. is concerned with 1/1000 of the entire text.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• So, how sure are we of what we have?

• The N. T. is of the order of 100,000 words in length

• This leaves the major concerns of textual criticism centred on about 100 words!

• And, there is no major doctrine of scripture which is threatened or altered by any of the differences that exist

• Take the end of Mark, for example: substantially all of the missing ‘page’ can be found in the other 3 gospels, or the book of Acts, in either expanded or summary form

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________________________Slide 25________________________

Textual criticism results: Kenyon

• … of this 0.1%, ‘It is practically certain that the true reading of every doubtful passage is preserved in some one or other of these [mss. which] can be said of no other ancient book in the world.’

• The Holy Spirit who inspired it has also seen to Bible’s canon and preservation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Notes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• We can trust this Bible we have as God’s revelation

° in the books it contains

° in the contents of those books.

In the 1850s the greatest moral debate in America concerned slavery. Southerners believed they had a God-given right to own slaves. Northerners believed they had a divine obligation to outlaw slavery.

The politics on this issue were intense, especially since the United States was still adding new territories. Each new addition carried the possibility of tipping the political balance from one side to the other.

No territory was more decisive in this struggle than Kansas. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Bill had decreed that Kansas could become a free state or a slave state, depending on how the people of Kansas voted. Surrounding territories rushed to push their voters into Kansas, and did their best to kill the voters on the other side. The territory was soon called “Bleeding Kansas.”

Surprisingly, some of these political immigrants came all the way from New Haven, Connecticut. Before this group of Yankee abolitionists left, Professor Silliman, of Yale University, pledged $25 for a Sharps rifle for the group. Then Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the famous minister from Brooklyn, pledged that his church would give the money for 25 rifles if the audience would give enough for another twenty-five. The people responded so enthusiastically that another 27 rifles were paid for.

Beecher supported his decision by saying there was more moral persuasion in one Sharps rifle than in a hundred Bibles. To emphasize this point, the first shipment of rifles to Kansas was put in a box labeled “Bibles” and Sharps rifles were called Beecher Bibles from that point on.

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Material adapted from the Kansas State Historical Society website: http://www.kshs.org/portraits/beecher_bibles.htm

Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures. — Matthew 22:29.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. — Col. 3:16

That is the practical test of the Bible. Wherever it has gone it has taught men what they did not know and could not have found out for themselves. It has pricked the conscience and deprived man of sin. It has aroused the will to holy resolve and set the man right before God. It has turned him out a skilled soldier and warrior, and it has furnished him as a workman for all good service. — A. T. Pierson.

Speak, my heart, and tell thy ponderings,

Tell how far thy rovings led,

When THIS BOOK brought back thy wanderings,

Speaking life as from the dead.

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only. — James 1:22.

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein. — Revelation 1:3.

An old Scottish minister who was going to visit Palestine was telling one of his deacons what he was going to do when he got to that country. Amongst other things, he said he was going to climb to the top of Mount Sinai and sit down and read the ten commandments. The deacon, a canny old Scotchman, replied, “I’11 tell you something better than that, sir. Stay at home and keep them.” — H. K. Downie

When thou readest what here is writ,

Let thy practice second it;

So twice each precept read shall be:

First in the book and then in thee. — Found in an old Bible.