Reasons to Believe in the Bible Tuesday, Aug 1 2006

1. Its Uniqueness

The Bible is not simply one of the great works of literature, but is in fact, the one…the only great work, for it is unique among all other books.

Some great works take one man’s lifetime to write; the Bible was composed over a period or roughly sixteen hundred years. Some books require a team of scholars; the Bible is the work of more than forty authors from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statement, and scholars. Portions of the Bible were written in the wilderness, in a dungeon, in a palace, in exile, in wartime, and in peacetime.

The Bible was written on three continents in three languages on hundreds of controversial topics. It contains inspired poetry as well as detailed history, biography, letters, memoirs, and prophetic writings. Yet this astonishingly diverse book speaks with amazing continuity, as it depicts one unfolding story…God’s redemption of man.

2. Its Preservation

In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd made an extraordinary find in a cave above the
Dead Sea. The broken jars he found yielded documents that had been hidden for two millennia. Additional finds produced manuscripts that predated previous oldest copies by 1,000 years. One of the most important was a copy of Isaiah. It revealed a document that is essentially the same as the book of Isaiah that appears in our own Bibles. The presence of the Dead Sea Scrolls discredit the claims of those who believed that the authenticity of the Bible had been lost to time and tampering.

The books of Moses were written 500 years before the earliest Hindu Scriptures. Moses wrote Genesis 2,000 years before Muhammad penned the Koran. During that long history, no other book has been as loved or as hated as the Bible. No other book has been so consistently bought, studied, and quoted as this book. While millions of other titles come and go, the Bible is still the book by which all other books are measured. While often ignored by those who are uncomfortable with its teachings, it is still the central book of Western civilization.

3. Its Miracles

Israel’s exodus from
Egypt provided a historical basis for believing that God revealed Himself to
Israel. If the
Red Sea did not part as Moses said it did, the Old Testament loses its authority to speak on behalf of God. The New Testament is just as dependent upon miracles. If Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead, the apostle Paul admits that the Christian faith is built on a lie (I Corinthians 15: 14-17). To show its credibility, the New Testament names its witnesses, and did so within a time-frame that enabled those claims to be tested (I Corinthians 15:1-8). Many of the witnesses ended up as martyrs, not for abstract moral or spiritual convictions but for their claim that Jesus had risen from the dead. While martyrdom is not unusual, the basis on which these people gave their lives is what’s important. Many have died for what they believed to be the truth. But people do not die for what they know to be a lie.

4. Its Accuracy

Down through the ages, many have doubted the historical and geographical accuracy of the Bible. Yet modern archeologists have repeatedly unearthed evidence of the people, places, and cultures described in the Scriptures. Time after time, the descriptions in the biblical record have been shown to be more reliable than the speculations of scholars. The modern visitor to the museums and lands of the Bible cannot help but come away impressed with the real geographical and historical backdrop of the biblical text.

5. Its Power

There are many who claim to believe in the Bible without being changed by it. However, there are many more who have known the transforming power of the truth of the Bible. The Ten Commandments have been a source of moral direction to countless numbers of people. The Psalms of David have offered comfort in times of trouble and loss. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has given millions an antidote for stubborn pride and proud legalism.

The real power of the Bible can only be known through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word and indwells those who are Christ-followers (I Corinthians 2:9-16). It doesn’t mean that people can make up their own interpretations (2 Peter 1:20), rather the Holy Spirit uses the inspired words of the Biblical text to convict it’s readers of sin and testify to the work of Jesus Christ (John 16:8-15).

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The Uniqueness of the Bible Tuesday, Aug 1 2006

The Uniqueness of the Bible

Of all books that were ever published, the Bible is certainly the most unique in countless ways. Admittedly, the points that we are about to make under the heading of “uniqueness,” won’t really prove that the Bible is the one, true, exclusive, God-breathed authority for truth.

They will, however, show how the Bible stands alone from any other book ever written, published, sold, or read. Love it or hate it, believe it or render it as valuable as the newspaper that lines the birdcage, the Bible certainly is a unique book.

An all-time best seller, there is no other book in the world that is more widely read, studied, and referenced.  Today, it remains the best seller — second to none — even after hundreds of years, and countless

The Bible is not a single book, but it is rather 66 books that have been brought together under one cover.  It was written over a 1,500 year period of time by 40 different authors, representing 40 generations, using 3 different languages⁷ on 3 continents.

Those who put their pens to the scroll included rich kings, and poor peasants. Respected statesmen, and scholars, as well as uneducated fishermen, herdsmen, and poets.

The Bible was written in many different locations including from inside prison walls, on a hillside, a dungeon, the wilderness, on an island and at sea.  It was written at times of war and times of peace by men who were in extreme anguish and despair, and by the jubilant.

The translation of the Septuagint came around 250 B.C., making the Bible one of the first major books ever translated.

The Bible has stood the test of time.  There is no other book in the world that is more widely read, studied, and referenced.  Today, it remains an all-time best seller, even after hundreds of years, and countless attempts at extinction.  Written on material that perishes, the Bible was copied and recopied before the invention of the printing press.

However, this factor did not diminish its existence or correctiveness.  Compared with other ancient writings, there is more manuscript evidence than any 10 pieces of classical literature combined.Bernard Ramm testifies to the accuracy of the Biblical text:

“Jews preserved it as no other manuscript has ever been preserved.  With their massora (parva, magna, and finalis) they kept tabs on every letter, syllable, word and paragraph.  They had special classes of men within their culture whose sole duty was to preserve and transmit these documents with practically perfect fidelity — scribes, lawyers, massoretes.  Who ever counted the letters and syllables and words of Plato or Aristotle? Cicero or Seneca?”

The Bible has survived against the odds.  It was written on perishable material and had to be copied and recopied for hundreds of years prior to the invention of the printing press.  Throughout history, the Bible has been the subject of vicious attacks by infidels, committed to the destruction of the Christian faith.  Voltaire stated that 100 years from his time, Christianity would be stomped out of existence.  However, 50 years after his death in 1778, the Geneva Bible Society used his own press to print stacks and stacks of Bibles.  More than 200 years after his prediction, it is Voltaire who has become history, yet the Bible continues to grow in circulation and popularity.

It is noted by Sidney Collett in All About the Bible, that “the English Cathedral in Zanzibar is built on the site of the Old Slave Market, and the Communion Table stands on the very spot where the whipping-post once stood!  The world abouds with such instances … As one has truly said, ‘We might as well put our shoulder to the burning wheel of the sun, and try to stop it on its flaming course, as attempt to stop the circulation of the Bible.’”

Not only has the Bible been physically attacked by those in high places of government and influence, it has also been challenged by the minds, mouths, and pens of the philosophers and noted infidels.  Bernard Ramm notes:  ”A thousand times over, the death knell of the Bible has been sounded, the funeral procession formed, the inscription cut on the tombstone, and committal read.  But somehow, the corpse never stays put.  No other book has been so chopped, knived, sifted, scrutinized, and villified.  What book on philosophy or religion has been subject to such a mass attack as the Bible, with such venom and skepticism, with such thoroughness and erudition upon every chapter, line and tenet?  The Bible is still loved by millions, read by millions, and studied by millions.

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FACTS ABOUT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Tuesday, Aug 1 2006

FACTS ABOUT THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS·  The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in eleven caves along the northwest shore of the
Dead Sea between the years 1947 and 1956. The area is 13 miles east of
Jerusalem and is 1300 feet below sea level. The mostly fragmented texts, are numbered according to the cave that they came out of. They have been called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times.
·  Only Caves 1 and 11 have produced relatively intact manuscripts. Discovered in 1952, Cave 4 produced the largest find. About 15,000 fragments from more than 500 manuscripts were found. ·  In all, scholars have identified the remains of about 825 to 870 separate scrolls. ·  The Scrolls can be divided into two categories – biblical and non-biblical. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew canon (Old Testament) have been discovered except for the book of Esther. ·  There are now identified among the scrolls, 19 copies of the Book of Isaiah, 25 copies of Deuteronomy and 30 copies of the Psalms . ·  Prophecies by Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel not found in the Bible are written in the Scrolls. ·  The Isaiah Scroll, found relatively intact, is 1000 years older than any previously known copy of Isaiah. In fact, the scrolls are the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever found. Some of the scrolls found by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 were discovered in cylindrical pottery jars of this type, which are unknown elsewhere. Many authorities consider the discovery of these unique vessels in the
Qumran excavations as well as in the caves, as convincing evidence of the link between the settlement and the caves. These jars, like the other pottery vessels recovered at
Qumran, were probably manufactured locally. ·  In the Scrolls are found never before seen psalms attributed to King David and Joshua. ·  There are nonbiblical writings along the order of commentaries on the OT, paraphrases that expand on the Law, rule books of the community, war conduct, thanksgiving psalms, hymnic compositions, benedictions, liturgical texts, and sapiential (wisdom) writings. ·  The Scrolls are for the most part, written in Hebrew, but there are many written in Aramaic. Aramaic was the common language of the Jews of Palestine for the last two centuries B.C. and of the first two centuries A.D. The discovery of the Scrolls has greatly enhanced our knowledge of these two languages. In addition, there are a few texts written in Greek. ·  The Scrolls appear to be the library of a Jewish sect. The library was hidden away in caves around the outbreak of the First Jewish Revolt (A.D. 66-70) as the Roman army advanced against the rebel Jews. ·  Near the caves are the ancient ruins of
Qumran. They were excavated in the early 1950’s and appear to be connected with the scrolls. ·  The Dead Sea Scrolls were most likely written by the Essenes during the period from about 200 B.C. to 68 C.E./A.D. The Essenes are mentioned by Josephus and in a few other sources, but not in the New testament. The Essenes were a strict Torah observant, Messianic, apocalyptic, baptist, wilderness, new covenant Jewish sect. They were led by a priest they called the “Teacher of Righteousness,” who was opposed and possibly killed by the establishment priesthood in
Jerusalem. ·  The enemies of the
Qumran community were called the “Sons of Darkness”; they called themselves the “Sons of Light,” “the poor,” and members of “the Way.” They thought of themselves as “the holy ones,” who lived in “the house of holiness,” because “the Holy Spirit” dwelt with them. ·  The last words of
Joseph, Judah, Levi, Naphtali, and Abraham (the father of Moses) are written down in the Scrolls. ·  One of the most curious scrolls is the Copper Scroll. Discovered in Cave 3, this scroll records a list of 64 underground hiding places throughout the

land of
Israel. The deposits are to contain certain amounts of gold, silver, aromatics, and manuscripts. These are believed to be treasures from the
Temple at
Jerusalem, that were hidden away for safekeeping. ·  The Temple Scroll, found in Cave 11, is the longest scroll. Its present total length is 26.7 feet (8.148 meters). The overall length of the scroll must have been over 28 feet (8.75m). ·  The scrolls contain previously unknown stories about biblical figures such as Enoch, Abraham, and Noah. The story of Abraham includes an explaination why God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Issac. ·  The scrolls are most commonly made of animal skins, but also papyrus and one of copper. They are written with a carbon-based ink, from right to left, using no punctuation except for an occasional paragraph indentation. In fact, in some cases, there are not even spaces between the words. ·  The Scrolls have revolutionized textual criticism of the Old Testament. Interestingly, now with manuscripts predating the medieval period, we find these texts in substantial agreement with the Masoretic text as well as widely varient forms. ·  Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls actually appeared for sale on June 1, 1954 in the Wall Street Journal. The advertisement read – “The Four Dead Sea Scrolls: Biblical manuscripts dating back to at least 200 BC are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group.” ·  Although the Qumran community existed during the time of the ministry of Jesus, none of the Scrolls refer to Him, nor do they mention any of His follower’s described in the New Testament. ·  The major intact texts, from Caves 1 & 11, were published by the late fifties and are now housed in the Shrine of the Book museum in
Jerusalem. ·  Since the late fifties, about 40% of the Scrolls, mostly fragments from Cave 4, remained unpublished and were unaccessible. It wasn’t until 1991, 44 years after the discovery of the first Scroll, after the pressure for publication mounted, that general access was made available to photographs of the Scrolls. In the November of 1991 the photos were published by the Biblical Archaeological Society in a nonofficial edition; a computer reconstruction, based on a concordance, was announced; the Huntington Library pledged to open their microfilm files of all the scroll photographs.

·  The Dead Sea Scrolls enhance our knowledge of both Judaism and Christianity. They represent a non-rabbinic form of Judaism and provide a wealth of comparative material for New Testament scholars, including many important parallels to the Jesus movement. They show Christianity to be rooted in Judaism and have been called the evolutionary link between the two.

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