Bible Breakdown - 2

Bible Breakdown
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth - 2Ti 2:15
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2Ti 2:15 (KJV)

How To Understand The Bible
By Robert F. Harkrider ©1989
THE MOSAIC PERIOD

Lesson 2
The second dispensation of Bible history is commonly called the "Mosaic Period." An understanding of this period is important for it is the history of the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham-that through Abraham's seed God would bless all families of the earth (Gen. 12:1-3). We are informed how God developed and dealt with the family out of which the Savior of the world was born.
I. SIGNIFICANT FACTS OF THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION:
A. Name-This period is named after Moses, for it was through him God delivered the law to the Jews.
B. Duration
1. This age begins with the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai and lasts until the death of Christ, a span of about 1500 years.
2. The Bible record of this period may be read from Exodus 20 through Acts 1.
C. Background
1. Abraham had been promised a great nation and land (Gen. 12:1-2). Jacob, Abraham's grandson, whose name was changed to Israel, fathered twelve sons, known as the twelve Patriarchs. The descendants of these sons became known as the twelve tribes of Israel.
2. The twelve tribes of Israel formed the nation of Israel. Through Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham, the Israelites spent 215 years in Egypt (Read Gen. 12-50). When God was ready to lead this nation to the promised land, He chose Moses to be His spokesman (Read Ex. 1-20). This occurred 430 years from the time of the original promise to Abraham (Gal. 3:16-17).
D. Importance
1. Many interesting and profitable stories are contained in this period. Valuable lessons can be gleaned from the lives of Moses, Joshua, Samson, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, and many others (Rom. 15:4; Heb. 11:32).
2. As we survey this period, however, keep in mind the underlying thread which ties it to the rest of the Bible-God is preparing the world for Christ.
3. We can best analyze the significance of this period in relationship to Christ by studying about the law of Moses.

II. THE LAW OF MOSES-ITS PURPOSE AND DURATION
A. The Law Was Given To The Jews-Not For All Nations.
1. The Ten Commandments were given on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 20:1-17).
2. These commandments, written on tables of stone, were important; however, we must remember that the Law of Moses included many other laws pertaining to their worship and government. The complete total of all commandments which were delivered through Moses, both religious and civil, are referred to as "the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38-39). The Law of Moses is the same as the Law of the Lord (2 Chron. 34:14; Luke 2:22-24).
3. This law was not given to all people or for all ages, but was given to the Jews only at Mt. Sinai (Horeb) Ex. 31:17-18; Nehemiah 9:13-14.
a. Not given to fathers, Deut. 5:1-3, 12, 15.
b. Not dealt so with any nation, Psalms 147:19-20.
c. One law for Israel and the stranger, Ex. 12:43-49.
B. The Law Was To Serve As A Schoolmaster, Gal. 3:19-29.
1. Worship revealed by this law consisted of animal sacrifices and observance of various days, weeks, months, and years.
2. Its sacrifices were as a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ, Heb. 9:19-28; 10:1.
3. Through its commandments man was made conscious of sin and his need for a Savior, Gal. 3:19; Rom. 3:20; Rom. 7:7,13.
C. The Law Did Not Provide Remission of Sins, Acts 13:38-39.
1. Every year sacrifices had to be made again because sins were remembered, Heb. 10:14.
2. For this reason, the law was called "weak and unprofitable." Heb. 7:18-19.
D. The Law Came To An End With The Death Of Christ.
1. A new covenant was necessary which would provide remission of sins, Heb. 8:6-8, 13.
2. The New Testament became of force at His death, Heb. 9:15-17.
3. The law was nailed to the cross, Col. 2:14-17.
4. Both Gentile and Jew now have hope in Christ, Eph. 2:11-17; Col. 3:11-12.
5. The Ten Commandments (written on tables of stone) were also done away when Christ died, 2 Cor. 3:7-14.
6. Actually the New Testament contains every one of the ten commandments with the exception of "Remember the Sabbath Day." Christians worship on the first day of the week (the Lord's Day), Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:10.
E. To Serve the Law Makes the Cross of None Effect. 1. If righteousness is by the law, Christ is dead in vain, Gal. 2:21.
2. Those who justify their religion by the law are fallen from grace, Gal. 5:2-4.
3. We do not search the Old Testament to learn how to become Christians nor to learn how to worship God as Christians.
a. We do believe and study the Old Testament, for it teaches the nature of God, the sureness of His word, and of His exceeding love for us, Rom. 15:4.
b. The example of Israel serves as an admonition to Christians, 1 Cor. 10:6-12.

III. CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS OF THE MOSAIC DISPENSATION.
A. Forty Years In Wilderness Because Of Unbelief, Numbers 13;14; Deut. 1.
1. Israel murmured and complained; lacked faith, Heb. 3:12-19.
2. Joshua led the Israelites after the death of Moses, Deut. 1:35-39.
B. Conquest of Canaan
1. Under the leadership of Joshua the Israelites gained the land promised to Abraham, Gen. 12:1.
2. Received all the land God had promised them, Josh. 21:43-45; 23:14; 1 Kings 4:21.
C. Period of the Judges
1. Fifteen judges ruled over a span of 450 years, Acts 13:20.
2. The most familiar names are Deborah, Gideon, Samson, and Samuel, Heb. 11:32.
D. The United Kingdom
1. Saul, David, and Solomon reigned forty years each.
2. Israel reached its greatest strength during this period, 1 Kings 10:1-7.
E. The Divided Kingdom
1. Upon the death of Solomon Israel became a divided nation. The ten Northern tribes led by Jeroboam and the two Southern tribes led by Rehoboam were separated.
2. The Northern Kingdom (Israel) was taken captive by Assyrians in 721 B.C.
3. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) was overthrown by Babylonians in 606 B.C.
F. The Age of the Prophets (The fall of the nation and prophecies of Christ).
1. During the decline of the nation, the captivity, and the return to Jerusalem God spoke through the prophets.
2. Their mission was to try to save the nation from its idolatry and wickedness; failing in this, they announced the nation's destruction. However, they foretold that a remnant would be spared.
3. Out of this remnant would come the Promised Seed of Abraham (Christ), who would bring all nations to God.
G. Return From Captivity
1. The first remnant of Israelites was led back to Jerusalem under the guidance of Zerubbabel who started them rebuilding the temple in 536 B.C.
2. The second remnant was led by Ezra, who helped to reorganize and re-establish the nation, in 457 B.C.
3. The third remnant was led by Nehemiah who directed the rebuilding of the wall about the city of Jerusalem in 444 B.C.

Bible Breakdown - 1

Bible Breakdown
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth - 2Ti 2:15
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2Ti 2:15 (KJV)
Before moving into specific textual portions of the New Testament and some lessons concerning Jesus there are some basic principles I would like to present on how to understand the Bible. When we open any Bible we see it divided into Old Testament and New Testament, then Book, Chapter and Verse. However, there is a timeline that is not outlined, and not all the Books follow this timeline. For example, the Book of Job is purported to be the oldest writing, but is located in the middle of the Old Testament. The Books of Ester, Ezra and Nehamiah are out of chronological order. The Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, although written after the resurrection of Christ, the content takes place under the Old Testament when to old Mosaic Law was still in effect. Our first lesson is going to be very general and I will be using copyrighted material that is in outline format. With all this in mind, let us begin.

How To Understand The Bible
By Robert F. Harkrider ©1989

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE BIBLE
Lesson 1
With this lesson you are beginning a study of the greatest book ever to be delivered into human hands. The Bible is the book of books. It has done more to change the course of human events than any other book ever printed. To engage in a successful Bible study one must understand a little about its make-up. All of the Bible is the word of God, but not all of it is in the form of commandments for us to obey today (e.g., "make thee an ark." Gen. 6:14). Therefore to properly understand, we must "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). We can do this best if we first have an overall view of the Bible story.

I. GENERAL MAKE-UP OF THE BIBLE
A. Its Name Indicates Its Pre-eminence.
1. The word Bible comes from the Greek word "Biblios" which means "a book."
2. Because of its importance God's Word is called "The Book of All Books."
B. The Bible Is Composed of Two Major Divisions.
1. Though the whole composition is called "The Book" the Bible is made up of 66 individual books which are divided into two major sections.
2. The Old Testament contains 39 books originally written in Hebrew by about 32 men over a period dating from about 1500 B.C. to 400 B.C. This part of the Bible tells of man's earliest existence and of God's first covenants with man.
3. The New Testament contains 27 books originally written in Greek by 8 men over a period dating from about 52 A.D. to 97 A.D. This is the record of God's covenant for man today. It is called "new" for the first covenant was set aside when this was given (Heb. 7:18; Heb. 8:13).
C. The Bible Is Inspired of God.
1. About 40 men wrote the Bible as God's Spirit directed them, 2 Peter 1:21.
2. They used the words given by the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 2:10-13; 1 Thes. 2:13.
3. Therefore the Bible is inspired (God-breathed), 2 Tim. 3:16-17;
Eph. 3:3 -5.
4. The unity of the Bible is one proof of its inspiration. These forty men lived over a span of 1600 years and had no possible way to confer with one another. They came from various backgrounds and social levels; they even wrote in different languages. Yet the Bible is without contradiction! Had the Bible been the work of 40 minds it would surely be filled with conflicting human opinions. Its unity proves that the Bible is from one mind-the mind of God!

II. THE HISTORICAL PERIODS OF THE BIBLE
A. Three Dispensations of Time
1. Some Bible students believe the patriarchal form of God's revelation continued among the Gentile nations until the cross of Christ. They reason that the Israelite nation was called aside by God for a special purpose (the coming of Christ) and that the law of Moses was a special law given only to them. This view certainly does not conflict with the Bible statement of how God spoke in "times past" and "in these last days" (Heb. 1:1-2).
2. However, for the sake of clarity and because the Bible really does not give us a detailed picture of the Gentile nations after the development of Israel, we shall follow the basic chronological development of three distinct periods of Bible history.
B. The Basic Descriptions of These Three Periods
1. The Patriarchal (Father-rule) began at Creation and lasted until the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai. Its history is recorded in Gen. 1 to Exo. 20.
2. The Mosaic or Jewish (National) began at Mt. Sinai and lasted until the crucifixion of Christ. Its history is found from Exodus 20 to Acts 2. This law was to last for a definite time (Gal. 3:19-29). It was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14-18). It was done away (2 Cor. 3). We no longer are bound by it.
3. The Christian (International) began at Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ and will last until the end of time. Its record is found from Acts 2 through Revelation. We live under this. Heb. 1:1-2; 10:8-10.

THE PATRIARCHAL PERIOD
The first dispensation of Bible history is commonly called the "Patriarchal Period." An understanding of this age is important, for it tells of man's earliest relationship with God and answers many questions basic to understanding the rest of the Bible.

I. SIGNIFICANT FACTS OF THE PATRIARCHAL PERIOD
A. Name
1. The word "patriarch" means "father, leader, chief, ruler"; therefore this period is literally called the age of "Father-Rule."
2. God revealed His will directly to the heads of the families who in turn taught their children (Heb. 1:1-2). There is no evidence of any written law during this age.
B. Man's Relationship to God
1. As God spoke to the fathers by dreams, angels, or visions, they would instruct their children, thus this is sometimes called an age of family religion (Gen. 18:19).
2. Worship consisted of animal sacrifices offered upon altars (Gen. 8:20; 12:7-8).
C. Duration
1. We will relieve the Bible of many pressures if we will keep in mind that it was written for religious ends rather than scientific or chronological purposes. We are not given an exact date for creation nor can we be certain that every generation from Adam is specifically mentioned. On the basis of what is revealed this period lasted at least 2500 years, perhaps longer.
2. This period begins with Creation, recorded in Gen. 1, and continues until the giving of the Ten Commandments recorded in Exodus 20.
D. Importance of the Patriarchal Period
The Bible record of the Patriarchal Period does not go into detail about every event or person, but what is told answers some important questions which give us a deeper understanding of the rest of the Bible. Let us consider some:

II. QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY THE SIGNIFICANT EVENTS OF THE PATRIARCHAL PERIOD:
A. How Did All Things Begin? (The Creation)
1. All things started with a miracle of God, Genesis 1:1-2:3.
2. The atheist must start somewhere-all things came from nothing? FANTASTIC! WHO CAN BELIEVE IT?
B. What Makes Man Superior To Animals? (The Creation of Man In God's Image)
1. Man created in God's image-spirit, intelligence, dominion, Gen. 1:26-28; 2:7-8.
2. Institution of marriage-woman, an help suitable for man, Gen. 2:18-24.
C. Why Do We Need God, Salvation, or the Bible? (The Fall of Man)
1. Man's first relationship with God was ideal. God placed man in the Garden of Eden and provided every necessary thing, Gen. 2:8-17.
2. Man is in God's image, thus God did not force Adam to serve Him. The devil tempted; man fell by his own choice; his return will be by choice, Gen. 3:1-13; Rom. 6:16-18.
D. Will God Really Destroy That Which He Has Created? (The Flood)
1. Man's wickedness increased; God purposed to destroy the world, Gen. 6:5-7.
2. Through the righteousness of Noah eight souls were spared, Gen. 6:8-10:32.
3. God has promised to destroy the world again, 2 Pet. 3:1-14.
E. How Did Man Become Separated Into Different Nations? (The Division of Man)
1. The Tower of Babel-confusing of tongues, Gen. 11:1-9.
2. The descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Gen. 10, 11.
F. Who Are The Jews, and Why Were They God's Chosen People? (The Call of Abraham)
1. The Land promise (Canaan, Palestine), Gen. 12:1.
2. The Nation promise (Israel, Hebrews, Jews), Gen. 12:2.
3. The Spiritual promise (Christ), Gen. 12:3, "bless all families ..." Gal. 3:26-29.

We will continue in our next lesson by looking at the Mosaic and Christian dispensations.

Apologetics - VIII

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
The New Testament: Truth Or Lie?

Up to this point I have tried to demonstrate the following FACTS. That Jesus actually lived and is a real historical person. That the New Testament has good reasons to be considered as a RELIABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. It was circulated soon after the events took place. Archaeology confirms the New Testament record in every area that can be checked. The bibliographical test gives us every reason to believe that what we have today is what was written by the original authors.

But what are we to do with the testimony of the New Testament concerning the miracles of Jesus, and the report of His resurrection from the dead? Archaeology cannot confirm or deny the truthfulness of such things. Each of us must decide whether the New Testament at this point is telling the TRUTH, or that a LIE was carefully orchestrated by the eight writers of the New Testament!
But are these the only alternatives? That the New Testament is either telling the truth or is a carefully orchestrated lie? YES! To understand why, consider let us consider why there are only two alternatives.

The writers of the New Testament leave us no other alternative! As Paul explained in his letter to the Corinthians, either Jesus rose from the dead, or he and other "eyewitnesses" are in fact "false witnesses" - 1 Co 15:14-15 "And if Christ wasn't raised to life, our message is worthless, and so is your faith. If the dead won't be raised to life, we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life, when he really did not." Peter, also, states that either the events (like the transfiguration) occurred as described by the "eyewitnesses", or they are "cunningly devised fables"! - 2 Pe 1:16-18 "When we told you about the power and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling clever stories that someone had made up. But with our own eyes we saw his true greatness. God, our great and wonderful Father, truly honored him by saying, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him." We were there with Jesus on the holy mountain and heard this voice speak from heaven."

We cannot say they might have been sincerely deceived! Especially in reference to the resurrection of Jesus. They claim they ate and drank with Him afterwards - Ac 10:39-41 "We all saw what Jesus did both in Israel and in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus was put to death on a cross. But three days later, God raised him to life and let him be seen. Not everyone saw him. He was seen only by us, who ate and drank with him after he was raised from death. We were the ones God chose to tell others about him" They claim they saw and touched Him - 1 Jn 1:1-4 "The Word that gives life was from the beginning, and this is the one our message is about. Our ears have heard, our own eyes have seen, and our hands touched this Word. The one who gives life appeared! We saw it happen, and we are witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you about this eternal life that was with the Father and appeared to us. We are telling you what we have seen and heard, so that you may share in this life with us. And we share in it with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing to tell you these things, because this makes us truly happy." They leave us NO ROOM for saying they were but MISTAKEN or DECEIVED! Some skeptics have tried to offer this as an alternative, that perhaps in their grief and loss over the crucifixion of Jesus they "hallucinated" or saw grief-inspired "visions" of Jesus. But "hallucinations" and "visions" are highly individualistic experiences. One person might see the hallucination or vision, but several or many people don't see the same vision at the same time! As outlined in the gospels and also 1 Co 15:3-8 "I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is: Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried, and three days later he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say. Christ appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After this, he appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died. He also appeared to James, and then to all of the apostles. Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.", the resurrection appearances of Jesus were often witnessed by many at the same time (over 500 on one occasion! So they leave us no choice; either the New Testament is a "Book Of Truth," or it is a "Book of Lies."

Which is more logical, more rational, to believe? To help us decide, consider the implications if the New Testament is not true. First, consider the implication that the New Testament is a carefully orchestrated lie! We have seen the great accuracy they used in describing events, places, and people (as confirmed by archaeology) - Lk 2:1-5. If the record of miracles and the resurrection is false, then they very carefully intertwined fact and fiction! -- IS IT REASONABLE TO BELIEVE THAT?

The next implication would be that the authors suffered extreme hardship for what they knew was a lie! Many people will lie if they can get something out of it (such as money or power). But what did the apostles get out of it? - cf. 1 Co 4:9-13 "It seems to me that God has put us apostles in the worst possible place. We are like prisoners on their way to death. Angels and the people of this world just laugh at us. Because of Christ we are thought of as fools, but Christ has made you wise. We are weak and hated, but you are powerful and respected. Even today we go hungry and thirsty and don't have anything to wear except rags. We are mistreated and don't have a place to live. We work hard with our own hands, and when people abuse us, we wish them well. When we suffer, we are patient. When someone curses us, we answer with kind words. Until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and garbage of this world." What did Paul get for holding to his testimony? - cf. 2 Co 11:24-29 "Five times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes with a whip. Three times the Romans beat me with a big stick, and once my enemies stoned me. I have been shipwrecked three times, and I even had to spend a night and a day in the sea. During my many travels, I have been in danger from rivers, robbers, my own people, and foreigners. My life has been in danger in cities, in deserts, at sea, and with people who only pretended to be the Lord's followers. I have worked and struggled and spent many sleepless nights. I have gone hungry and thirsty and often had nothing to eat. I have been cold from not having enough clothes to keep me warm. Besides everything else, each day I am burdened down, worrying about all the churches. When others are weak, I am weak too. When others are tricked into sin, I get angry." How do we know they really suffered this hardship? The fact that the letters of the New Testament were even saved! For example, consider the letters 1 & 2 Corinthians. These letters are filled with rebuke of the Corinthians. The Corinthians would have every reason not to save these letters which exposed their faults. The Corinthians had first hand knowledge as to whether the apostles and Paul really suffered the hardship spoken of in their letters. If they knew the accounts of such hardship to be false, they would have quickly destroyed these letters written by a liar who embarrasingly wrote about their problems! So especially the author of half the books of the New Testament (Paul) suffered extreme hardship for a lie, if the New Testament is not true -- IS IT LOGICAL TO BELIEVE THAT?

The authors who were martyred knew they were dying for a lie! History and tradition record that, JAMES was stoned to death, PAUL was beheaded and PETER was crucified. If the New Testament is a lie, they went to their deaths KNOWING they were dying for a lie! -- IS IT RATIONAL TO BELIEVE THAT?
In suffering and dying for a lie, they went against everything Jesus and they themselves taught, if indeed the New Testament is not true! "But let your 'yes' be 'yes', and your 'no' be 'no'." - JESUS (Mt 5:37) "Therefore, putting away lying, each one speak truth with his neighbor..." - PAUL (Ep 4:25) "Therefore, laying aside all malice, all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking" - PETER (1 Pe 2:1) -- DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO BELIEVE THAT?

In fact, the book with the world’s highest standard and loftiest goals was composed by liars, frauds, and deceivers if indeed the New Testament is a lie! What book presents a higher standard of love and morality than the New Testament? For example, Jesus' "Sermon On The Mount" (Mt 5-7) and Paul's "Discourse On Love" (1 Co 13) -- CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?

This is what you MUST believe if you do not believe the New Testament when it speaks of the miracles and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that it is a carefully orchestrated lie! The authors suffered extreme hardship for what they KNEW was a lie! Those authors who were martyred KNEW they were dying for a lie! In suffering and dying for a lie, they went against everything Jesus and they themselves taught! And somehow, these liars, frauds, and deceivers came up with a book containing the world's highest standard morality and loftiest goals!
I am convinced that those who do not believe the New Testament are those who have never read the New Testament carefully. They are not aware of the evidence which supports it as a historical document. They have not considered the logical implications of simply regarding it as a mixture of fact and fiction! But to those who will read it, I believe that they will find that it has "the ring of truth" to it. They will also find that it will produce the faith necessary to believe in Jesus (cf. Ro 10:17), and through such faith
find eternal life (cf. Jn 20:30-31)!

There is a saying: "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." What I have tried to do is remove any obstacles that might hinder anyone from drinking of "the water of life" (i.e., the New Testament) But no one can present enough evidence to FORCE someone to read and/or believe the New Testament if they are determined not to! Have you read the New Testament? Even more important, have you OBEYED the New Testament?

The evidences supporting the Christian faith are numerous and this study has only skimmed the surface. For a more in depth study on this subject, I recommend beginning with the following books:
EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT, Vol. I (Josh McDowell, Here's Life
Publishers, San Bernadino, California, 1986, 388 pages)
THE NEW TESTAMENT DOCUMENTS: Are They Reliable? (F. F. Bruce,
Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1975, 120 pages)
Compiled from and used by permission
The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000
Used by permission (JMN)

Apologetics - VII

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Manuscript Attestation For The New Testament

In an effort to demonstrate the reliability of the New testament as a historical document we have considered evidence which confirms that the New Testament was written and being circulated soon after the events took place, by means of, for example, the internal evidence, Papyri fragments and Patristic writings. We noted that archaeology confirms the New Testament record (as we have it today) in those areas which can be checked; e.g., references to people, places and events. But one more question remains in order to establish beyond a reasonable doubt the historical reliability of the New Testament:
"What assurance is there, that what we have today in the form of the New Testament, is that which was penned by its original authors?"
In other words, since we don't have the original "autographs" (the manuscripts penned by the authors), how do we know there hasn't been significant changes or errors made in the process of copying over the years? How do we know there hasn't been collusion(secret cooperation for deceitful purposes) among those who possessed the early copies of the originals? This is where "The Bibliographical Test" in attesting ancient manuscripts can be applied to help answer such questions!

The answer this "test" gives to the historical reliability of the New Testament is an amazing one! But first, it may help to briefly explain what the "Bibliographical Test" is. This test is applied to all ancient historical documents such as:
Julius Caesar's "Gallic War"
"Histories" of Tacitus
"Annals" of Tacitus
The New Testament
In an effort to establish the likelihood that what copies we have are faithful representatives of the originals and have come to us free of changes, errors, or collusion there are questions raised in this test. "How many copies of the document in question are available?" In order to compare them with one another the more, the better.
"Where were the copies found?" If they all came from one place, collusion is possible
but if they are from places far removed by time and location, collusion is unlikely.
"What length of time passed between the original and the earliest copies?" If the earliest copies we have were written hundreds of years after the original, a lot of changes could have been made and we would not know it. But a short interval of time would increase our assurance in the reliability of the copies. "What variances exist between the copies?" If the copies of a document are filled with significant differences, then it would not be possible to know what the original author wrote! But if the variances are few and minor, then the process of copying over the years has been faithful to the original!
What answers do we find when these questions are applied to the New Testament? And how does the New Testament compare with other historical documents of antiquity? By asking the same questions as follows we see the results.

"How many copies of the document in question are available?"
Over 4,000 Greek manuscripts; 13,000 copies of portions of the New Testament in Greek! Compare this with other ancient historical writings:
Caesar's "Gallic Wars" - only 10 Greek manuscripts
"Annals" of Tacitus - 2
Livy - 20; Plato - 7; Sophocles - 100

"Where were the copies found?"
Various places: Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Italy. Such varied locations would make COLLUSION very difficult.

"What length of time passed between the original and the earliest copies?"
We saw in the previous lesson that several Papyri fragments have been dated to within 50-100 years. We have several nearly complete New Testament Greek Manuscripts which were copied within 300-400 years, for example:
Codex Sinaiticus, found near Mt. Sinai.
Codex Alexandrinus, found near Alexandria in Egypt.
Codex Vaticanus, located at the Vatican in Rome.
But compare this with manuscrits of various classical histories:
"Histories of Thucydides" - earliest copy is 1300 years removed from the original.
"Histories of Herodotus" - earliest copy is 1350 years removed from the original.
Caesar's "Gallic War" - 950 years.
Roman History of Livy - 350 years. (and the earliest copy is only a fragment)
"Histories" of Tacitus - 750 years.
"Annals" of Tacitus - 950 years. (and there are only two manuscripts)

"What variances exist between the copies of the New Testament?"
It is true that there are some variations between the many thousands of manuscripts available. But the vast majority are very minor (spelling, differences in phraseology, etc.; modern translations often note the differences in footnotes) Only 1/2 of one percent is in question (compared to 5 percent for the Illiad) Even then, it can be stated: "No fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith rests on a disputed reading...It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain: especially is this the case with the New Testament."

Sir Frederick Kenyon (authority in the field of New Testament textual criticism)
In regards to the "Biblographical Test" in attesting the manuscript evidence for the New Testament the New Testament not only passes with flying colors, but it does better than ANY other historical document come down to us from antiquity!
"The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be as beyond all doubt." -- F. F. Bruce
Josh McDowell makes some interesting comments:
"After trying to shatter the historicity and validity of the Scripture, I came to the conclusion that they are historically trustworthy. If one discards the Bible as being unreliable, then he must discard almost all literature of antiquity."
"One problem I constantly face is the desire on the part of many to apply one standard or test to secular literature and other to the Bible. One needs to apply the same test, whether the literature under investigation is secular or religious."
"Having done this, I believe one can hold the Scriptures in his hand and say, 'The Bible is trustworthy, and historically reliable.'"

Why then would anyone question the New Testament record concerning Jesus? It is because reference is made to miracles, such as the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. In our next study, we shall consider whether it is reasonable to believe that the New Testament is a LIE when it speaks of such things...

The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000
Used by Permission (JMN)

Apologetics - VI

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Archaeological Support For The New Testament

In examining the question of the New Testament's reliability as a HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, we saw in the previous study that the New Testament passes the "ACID TEST". That is, it was written in the same generation in which the events took place. It was circulated among the very people about whom these documents spoke while they were still alive to confirm or deny it.

So it was written early...WERE THE AUTHORS ACCURATE in their depiction of the events which took place? This is where the science of ARCHAEOLOGY can be very helpful in determining the historical reliability of the New Testament: If the archaeologists prove that the New Testament is filled with errors concerning people, places, and events, then the New Testament could not be trusted as an accurate record of the life of Jesus and the early church! Not too long ago, some discounted the Biblical record because it frequently referred to things not mentioned by any source outside the Bible. But discoveries by archaeologists in recent years have vindicated the New Testament and silenced the skeptics!

In this study we shall consider just a few examples of how archaeology has confirmed the New Testament as a reliable document.

A census decreed from Caesar Augustus was to be taken when Quirinius was governor at the time of Jesus’ birth according Luke in writing the Gospel of Luke. Lk 2:1-3 "Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city."

It was once argued that Luke was in error. In other words, that there was no such census. Also, that Quirinius was not governor of Syria at that time and that people did not have to return to their ancestral home. But archaeological discoveries have proven otherwise. We now know that the Romans had a regular enrollment of taxpayers and held censuses every 14 years (begun by Augustus Caesar). An inscription found in Antioch tells of Quirinius being governor of Syria around 7 B.C. (evidently he was governor twice!) A papyrus found in Egypt says concerning the conducting of a census: "Because of the approaching census it is necessary that all those residing for any cause away from their home should at once prepare to return to their own governments in order that they may complete the family registration of the enrollment..."

Lk 3:1 "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene," Who is this Lysanias? The only Lysaniax known to ancient historians was one who was killed in 36 B.C. This caused some to question Luke's reliability. However an inscription was found near Damascus that speaks of "Freedman of Lysanias the tetrarch" and is dated between 14 and 29 A.D.!
Jn 19:13 "When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha." Whoever heard of "The Pavement" (Gabbatha)? For centuries there was no record of the court called "The Pavement" or "Gabbatha". This caused many to say "It's a myth" and, "See, it (the Bible) is not historical". But William F. Albright in "Archaeology of Palestine shows otherwise. This court was the court of the Tower of Antonia. The court was destroyed in 66-70 A.D. during the siege of Jerusalem. It was left buried when the city was rebuilt in the time of Hadrian and was not discovered until recently!

Ac 14:6 "they became aware of it, and fled unto the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the region round about:" Iconium a city of Phyrigia? Archaeologist at first believed Luke’s implication to be wrong. That Lystra and Derbe were in Lycaonia and Iconium was not.They based their belief on the writings of Romans such as Cicero who indicated that Iconium was in Lycaonia. Thus, archaeologists said the book of Acts was unreliable! But in 1910, Sir William Ramsey found a monument which showed that Iconium was indeed a Phrygian city. Later discoveries continued to confirm this!

Ac 17:6 "And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;" Whoever heard of "Politarchs"? "Politarchs" is a Greek word meaning "Rulers of the City". Since the term is not found in the classical literature of the Greeks it was assumed that Luke was wrong to refer to such an office. However some 19 inscriptions have now been found that makes use of this title. Five of these are in reference to Thessalonica!

This is just a sampling of the evidence, for entire books have been written providing further examples. Just how accurate is the New Testament in its historical description?

"It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference." -- NELSON GLUECK (noted Jewish archaeologist)
Of special interest is the testimony of Sir William Ramsay. Concerning his background:
He was trained in the German historical school of the mid-nineteenth century.
He was taught that the book of Acts was a product of the mid-second century A.D.
He was firmly convinced of this and started out his career in archaeology to prove it. However, he was compelled to a complete reversal of his beliefs due to the overwhelming evidence uncovered in his research. His conclusion:
"Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed of the true historic sense...in short, this author should be placed along with the greatest of historians."

What have we established thus far in this series of lessons? That Jesus was a historical figure. That the New Testament was written during the generation in which the events occurred. That its reliability as a historical document continues to be confirmed by the field of archaeology. But another question remains... "How can we be sure that the New Testament we have today is the same as that penned by the original authors?" Our next study will address that question...

The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000
Used By Permission

Apologetics - V

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Evidence For The Early Existence Of The New Testament

In our last lesson we looked at the evidence found in internal and historical evidence for the early existence of the New Testament and why this is crucial. In continuing this lesson we will be looking at the evidence for the early existence of the New Testament in the papyri fragments.

CHESTER BEATTY BIBLICAL PAPYRI (dated 200-250 A.D.)
Made public in 1931, contains the Gospels, Acts, Paul's Epistles, and Revelation
PAYPRUS BODMER II (dated 200 A.D.)
Discovery announced in 1956 contains fourteen chapters of John, and portions of the last seven chapters
EARLY CHRISTIAN PAPYRI (dated 150 A.D.)
Made public in 1935, written by someone who had the four gospels before him and knew them well
JOHN RYLANDS MSS (dated 130 A.D.)
This is oldest fragment of the NT "Because of its early date and location (EGYPT), some distance from the traditional place of composition (ASIA MINOR), this portion of the gospel of John tends to confirm the traditional date of the composition of the gospel."
GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE, Geisler & Nix
Looking at the evidence for the early existence of the New Testament we find patristic writings.
EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS (dated 120 A.D.)
A personal acquaintance of John, the apostle, he quotes from the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 Peter, and 1 John
LETTERS OF IGNATIUS (dated 115 A.D.)
Written to several churches in Asia Minor, he quotes from Matthew, John, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus
EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS (dated 95 A.D.)
This letter was written to encourage the church to respect their elders, he quotes from the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Titus, Hebrews, and 1 Peter

The implications of this evidence shows that the New Testament was in existence and well known by the end of the First Century A.D. As stated by Nelson Glueck, former president of the Jewish Theological Seminary in the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and renowned Jewish archaeologist: "In my opinion, every book of the New Testament was written between the forties and eighties of the First Century A.D."
"We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after 80 A.D." - W. F. Albright, biblical archaeologist.

Thus the New Testament passes the "Acid Test" for the authenticity of "any" document of antiquity. It was written in the same generation in which the events took place. It was circulated among the very people about whom these documents spoke while they were still alive to deny them! For example, remember Clifford Irving and his "biography" of Howard Hughes? It was quickly denounced as a fraud by those who knew best and soon lost its credibility. The fact that the first generation preserved the New Testament for posterity shows their regard for the genuineness of its contents.

But the "ACID TEST" is only the FIRST test any historical document must pass. So what if it was written early? How do we know that what we read today is an accurate representation of the original "autographs" (the manuscripts actually penned by the authors)? How can we be sure that in the passing of time the content of the original did not become corrupted through mistakes in copying? These questions shall be examined in the next study...

The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000

Apologetics - IV

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Evidence For The Early Existence Of The New Testament

The New Testament presents itself as a historical record of events that supposedly occurred during the First Century A.D. How reliable is it? How do we determine the reliability of any ancient document that professes to record events of history? To establish the reliability of ANY historical document, one of the first questions to be raised is:
"How soon after the events took place were they recorded?" Applied to the New Testament, this involves trying to determine what evidence there is for THE EARLY EXISTENCE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT...
Why is evidence for the early existence of the New Testament crucial? If some event is recorded long after it occurred it is not likely to have been written by "eyewitnesses". It is not likely to have been written when "other eyewitnesses" were around to confirm or dispute its accuracy. It’s credibility would be weakened; for example, which would be the more credible source for information about an event that occurred during The Civil War Between The States. A present day writer depending totally upon second-hand sources? Or diaries and letters written by eyewitnesses of the event? Of course, it would be necessary to show that such diaries and letters were authentic and where possible shown to be accurate.

During the last Century, some scholars asserted that the Gospels and the Book of Acts did not exist before 130 A.D. This would mean the Gospels and Acts were not written by eyewitnesses! Rather, it was written by frauds who misrepresented themselves as eyewitnesses! For the author of Acts claims to have been present during some of the events described in that book - cf. "we" in Ac 16:11-12 "Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days." The author of the Second Epistle Of Peter claims to have been an eyewitness of the Transfiguration - 2 Pe 1:16-18 "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there was borne such a voice to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: and this voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount."

Written by eyewitnesses and others who lived during those times, or a book written by liars in a effort to deceive...these are the only choices we have! This is why it is important to establish the early existence of the New Testament! Looking at the evidence for the early existence of the New Testament we find internal evidence at the ending of the Book of Acts. The book ends abruptly with Paul in prison, awaiting trial - Ac 28:30-31 "And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him."

A plausible explanation is that Luke wrote ACTS during this time, before Paul finally appeared before Nero. This would be about 62-63 A.D., meaning that ACTS and LUKE (which came first - cf. Ac 1:1 with Lk 1:1-4) were written within thirty years of the ministry and death of Jesus. There is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Matthew, Mark and Luke record Jesus' prophecy that the temple and city would be destroyed within that generation - e.g., Mk 13:1-4 "And as he went forth out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Teacher, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings! And Jesus said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down. And as he sat on the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished?", 14 "But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains:", 30 "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished."; Lk 21:5-9 "And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, ehe said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not led astray: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am he; and, The time is at hand: go ye not after them. And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for these things must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately.", 20-24 "But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand. Then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out; and let not them that are in the country enter therein. For these are days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.", 32 "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished."

History records that in 70 A.D. Jerusalem with its temple was destroyed, exactly as Jesus foretold! Yet not a single book of the New Testament refers to this event as having happened! Such would be very unlikely if they had been written after 70 A.D. For that event helps to verify Jesus' claim to be the Son of God, and it is hard to imagine that any writer after 70 A.D. would not make mention to the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy! This has prompted some scholars to conclude that ALL of the books of the New Testament were written prior to 70 A.D.- e.g., John A. T. Robinson, in his book REDATING THE NEW TESTAMENT

In our continuation of this lesson we will be looking at the evidence for the early existence of the New Testament in what we can find in papyri fragments.

God Bless,
Jim Newsted

Apologetis - III

Having looked at the evidence of Jesus being a historical person we will continue our studies in Apologetics by looking at the New Testament as a historical document and the evidence of its reliability.

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Our Dependence Upon The New Testament
We have seen the evidence from UNBIASED SOURCES that establishes Jesus of Nazareth as a person of history who lived and died in the First Century A.D. But we also pointed out that such sources tell us nothing about who He was or what He did to earn such a reputation that, centuries later, His teachings and life still has so much influence in our society.

For the Christian, the only record which describes in any detail the life and death of Jesus is the NEW TESTAMENT. But as a HISTORICAL DOCUMENT, is it reliable? Can we trust it to be accurate in relating facts of history concerning Jesus, His life, death and resurrection? Can we even have confidence that what we have today in the form of the New Testament is an accurate copy of that penned by the original authors? These are some of the questions we shall attempt to answer as we begin to examine "The Historical Reliability of the New Testament".

But first, to appreciate the importance of this subject, it may help to demonstrate how dependent our faith is on the reliability of the New Testament as a historical document. Why do we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God? The answers we would give are "because of the miracles He did" and "because He fulfilled hundreds of the Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament" also "because He rose from the dead." But where does one learn about these things? Where do we read about His miracles? THE NEW TESTAMENT! Who says that He fulfilled the Messianic prophecies? THE AUTHORS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT! What evidence is there for the resurrection of Jesus Christ? AGAIN, IT IS PRIMARILY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT!

What if it is shown concerning the New Testament that it was written over 100 years after the events supposedly happened? Then the New Testament was not written by eyewitnesses, nor by those whose names are connected with it (Paul, Peter, etc.)! It was the general consensus of many scholars in the last century that the New Testament was in fact composed during the Second Century A.D., not the First. If such is true, then the New Testament is a FORGERY! What if it is shown concerning the New Testament that it is filled with errors in reference to geography, people, and events? Then how could we trust the authors of the New Testament to be accurate in describing supernatural events, when they were careless with describing the natural ones? This would make the New Testament an UNRELIABLE RECORD!

What if it is shown concerning the New Testament that the manuscript evidence is very scarce, and a thousand years removed from the original documents? Then we would have no way of testing the accuracy of the copyists, who for hundreds of years preserved the New Testament only by making copies by hand. Then our faith in Jesus would be based upon shallow ground, upon a document which is historically questionable!

Our faith in Jesus is dependent on the New testament being reliable as a historical document! Blind faith may seem adequate for some such as children who believe whatever their parents say; people who are never placed in an environment where their faith is challenged (like state universities) or for people who are not trying to convince others to trust in Jesus for their salvation. But if we desire to have a "stong faith" for ourselves and others then we need to understand our dependency upon the New Testament. We need to know how to demonstrate the evidence which supports it as a reliable, historical document!
Hopefully, we now appreciate the need to carefully examine the evidence for the historical reliability of the New Testament. In doing so, we shall apply the same kind of tests applied to any ancient document to determine its reliability! The next study will examine what is called the "ACID TEST" for any ancient document claiming to be a historical record of certain events.

The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000

God Bless,
Jim Newsted
Shamrock, Tx
The town that turns green for a week every year

View my new Blog at http://jimsbiblestudies.blogspot.com/
Join my Bible Study Group at internet-bible-studies-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/internet-bible-studies
Even though you can't see the air, It doesn't stop you from breathing
Even though you can't see God, It doesn't stop you from believing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apologetics - II

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS" The Historical Jesus In the previous lesson, we laid the foundation for a study in Christian apologetics. We established that the Christian faith is an objective faith, with Jesus of Nazareth as the object of that faith. We established that He is the Son of God, who died for our sins and rose from the dead. A historical faith in Jesus is based upon real people, places, and events that actually took place in history. It is an intelligent, rational faith which invites people to use their minds. It invites them to examine the historical evidence which logically supports placing one's faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God. With these things in mind, we begin by considering the evidence which establishes Jesus of Nazareth as a HISTORICAL FIGURE. One who actually lived in Palestine during the First Century A.D. Some might wonder was there ever any question? There are skeptics who believed Jesus was just a "myth." This concept was popular with some scholars of the 1800s'. It is rarely found today, except among those who are ignorant of the facts and who purposely suppress the evidence (e.g., as was done in formerly communist-dominated countries) Today, no serious historian (even those who are atheists) disputes the fact that Jesus existed. H. G. WELLS, as an atheist, spoke of Jesus in his book, Outline Of History "...one is obliged to say, 'Here was a man. This part of the tale could not have been invented.'" WILL DURANT, an ex-professor of Philisophy of History at Columbia University. He spent two chapters in The Story Of Our Civilization depicting Jesus as a historical figure right along with the Caesars. ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, used over 20,000 words to describe Jesus. More than Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, or Napoleon. So there appears to be sufficient evidence to have convinced these and others like them that Jesus actually lived. What is this evidence? There is evidence among "pagan" sources. THALLUS (a Samaritan historian, ca. 52 A.D.) wrote attempting to give a natural explanation for the darkness which occurred at the crucifixion of Jesus. Note carefully: he did not deny the existence of Jesus, but only tried to explain away the strange circumstances surrounding His death. LETTER OF MARA-SERAPION (written to his son, ca. 73 A.D.) He tells of the deaths of Socrates, Pythagoras, and of Jesus. "What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king?...Nor did the wise king die for good; he lived on in the teaching which he had given." CORNELIUS TACITUS (Roman historian, ca. 112 A.D.) Writes of Jesus in his ANNALS; "Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberias." PLINY THE YOUNGER; Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, ca. 112 A.D, wrote to the emperor Trajan about Christians and their devotion to Christ. SEUTONIUS (Court official and annalist under Hadrian, 120 A.D.) "As the Jews were making constant disturbance at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome." Luke makes reference to this same expulsion in Ac 18:1-2 "Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, where he met Aquila, a Jewish man from Pontus. Not long before this, Aquila had come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Emperor Claudius had ordered the Jewish people to leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla" There is evidence among "Jewish" sources. THE TALMUD Consists of two separate books dealing with Jewish law, written during the period from 100 A.D. to 500 A.D, speaks frequently of Jesus of Nazareth, in unfriendly terms, of course. But never disputing his status as a historical figure. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS A Jewish general turned Roman historian, born 37 A.D. He makes several references to Jesus in his History Of The Jews. E.g., "...and brought before it the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ, whose name was James." Such is the evidence which must be taken into account by any intelligent and rational person. But what are the implications of such evidence? It provides a solid basis upon which one can intelligently believe in Jesus as a person who actually existed in history. It exposes the shallow thinking of any who would try to mark off Jesus as a myth. It requires everyone to give some sort of answer to the question posed by Jesus Himself: "But who do you say that I am?" - Mt 16:15 The evidence we have seen thus far DOES NOT prove Jesus to be the Son of God. In fact, it does not tell us anything about Jesus except that He lived and died during the First Century A.D. and that He must have done something significant to gain some notoriety by the historians. To learn more about Jesus, we must look elsewhere. There have been many fanciful stories written about Jesus. But the Christian considers the twenty-seven books known as the New Testament to be the only reliable source of information about Jesus. But are they? Is the New Testament reliable as a historical document? Can we even be sure that what we have is actually what was penned by the original authors of the New Testament? The next study shall begin an attempt to answer these questions. For now, we have simply laid one block as we build a foundation upon which we can rest our faith. We have seen that it is more logical to believe that Jesus did in fact exist. To assert that He is a myth is groundless. And since He actually existed, that requires our giving some answer to the question Jesus asked: "WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?" Will our answer be "LORD!", or "A CAREFULLY CONTRIVED LIE!" As we shall see, these are the only two choices we have. The evidence we shall continue to examine should help give us the right answer! Original Outline, The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000 God Bless, Jim Newsted Shamrock, Tx The town that turns green for a week every year View my new Blog at http://jimsbiblestudies.blogspot.com Join my Bible Study Group at internet-bible-studies-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/internet-bible-studies Even though you can't see the air, It doesn't stop you from breathing Even though you can't see God, It doesn't stop you from believing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apologetis - I

"CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS"
Introduction To Christian Apologetics

In 1 Pe 3:15, all Christians are commanded to be ready to make a "defense" for the reason of their hope in Christ... "but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason ("defense") concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:" The word "defense" is from apologia, which means "a speech in defense of what one has done, or of truth which one believes" The formal use of this word is used by Paul in Ac 22:1 "Brethren and fathers, hear ye the defence which I now make unto you."; 1 Co 9:3 "My defence to them that examine me is this."

Peter, however, uses the word in the context of an informal inquiry by a friend or neighbor...e.g., someone asking "Why are you a Christian?" To such Peter says that we should be ready to give reasons why we believe.

In this series of lessons on "CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS", we shall examine some of the evidence that exists for placing one's faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. In doing so, I hope to accomplish two objectives. To STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH in Jesus Christ. To HELP PREPARE OURSELVES to be able to do the very thing enjoined by Peter in 1 Pe 3:15

In this lesson, I wish to establish some "BASICS" for Christian apologetics that are important for all to realize the Christians faith is "an intelligent, rational faith." It appeals to the "mind" as well as to the "heart." God expects us to use our minds - Mt 22:36-38 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment."; Jn 8:32 "and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." I.e., we do not have to commit "INTELLECTUAL SUICIDE" in order to have faith! This is important, for as one person said, "My heart cannot rejoice in what my mind rejects!" A "WEAK FAITH" may be the result of the heart trying to believe in something the mind cannot accept. But the "STRONG FAITH" God requires involves both the mind and the heart. So it is important that we present reasons why we believe in an INTELLIGENT and RATIONAL manner. "We cannot pander to a man's intellectual arrogance, but we must cater to his intellectual integrity." - PAUL LITTLE

Does this mean we can offer 100% proof? No, because there is virtually nothing of which we can be 100% sure (e.g., who our parents are) Yet, we often make 100% commitments with less than 100% proof; e.g., flying on an airplane. We cannot be 100% certain that we will have a safe journey. But the statistical evidence is strong enough to convince us that we will. So though we may not have 100% certainty of arriving safely, when we step on the plane we make a 100% commitment! So the question becomes: IS THERE ENOUGH EVIDENCE OR PROOF TO WARRANT MAKING A 100% COMMITMENT TO CHRIST? I believe that there is. Certainly enough evidence to commit myself 100% FOR HIM, rather than be 100% AGAINST HIM! There is no other alternative - Mt 12:30 "If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don't gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it." Jesus is like is like taking a trip on an airplane; either we get on board totally, or we get left behind! So the
Christian faith is to be an INTELLIGENT, RATIONAL FAITH. As an example, consider the next "BASIC".

The Christian faith is "a historical, factual faith." Christianity appeals to history, and the facts of history. "The facts backing the Christian claim are not a special kind of 'religious' fact. They are the cognitive, informational facts upon which all historical, legal, and ordinary
decisions are based." - CHARLES PINNOCK
It will be my purpose in future lessons to present these HISTORICAL FACTS then demonstrate that the CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION is more logical than any other.

To briefly illustrate that Christianity is based upon historical facts consider Lk 2:1-5 "About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family. Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby," 3:1-2 "For fifteen years Emperor Tiberius had ruled that part of the world. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was the ruler of Galilee. Herod's brother, Philip, was the ruler in the countries of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was the ruler of Abilene. Annas and Caiaphas were the Jewish high priests. At that time God spoke to Zechariah's son John, who was living in the desert." Notice the appeal to time, places, people and events that actually existed in history. The Christian faith, therefore, is a historical faith that appeals to certain facts of historical
occurrence. Not a PHILOSOPHICAL faith appealing to philosophies of men, nor a faith based upon MYTHS and LEGENDS.

As we consider the evidences for the Christian faith, it is also important to bear in mind that the Christian faith is "an objective faith." It is a faith in "an object"; Jesus of Nazareth! Faith in WHO He was: The Christ, the Son of God. Faith in WHAT He did: He rose from the dead on the third day. It "does" make a difference "what" we bwlieve! The old cliche "It doesn't matter what you believe, as long as you believe in something" is
inconsistent with the Christian faith. Consider Jn 8:24 "That is why I said you will die with your sins unforgiven. If you don't have faith in me for who I am, you will die, and your sins will not be forgiven.""; Ro 10:9 "So you will be saved, if you honestly say, "Jesus is Lord," and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death." Note that it is not faith IN OF ITSELF that is important, but IN WHOM (the object) our faith is based!

And then consider that the Christian faith is "based on principles of truth" such as "truth is always open to Examination." So is the Christian faith. For example, Ac 2:22 "Now, listen to what I have to say about Jesus from Nazareth. God proved that he sent Jesus to you by having him work miracles, wonders, and signs. All of you know this." - Peter appealed to the crowd to examine what they themselves knew. Another example, Ac 26:24-26 "Before Paul finished defending himself, Festus shouted, "Paul, you're crazy! Too much learning has
driven you out of your mind." But Paul replied, "Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true, and it makes sense. None of these things happened off in a corner somewhere. I am sure that King Agrippa knows what I am talking about. That's why I can speak so plainly to him."" - Paul invited Agrippa to examine the evidence. Unlike some religions (esp. "Jehovah's Witnesses" and the "Mormons"), the CHRISTIAN FAITH is open to honest examination.

We also need to consider that "truth is always open to non-truth (falsification)" That is, it is open to be proven wrong. To illustrate, if you don't believe Jesus was raised from the dead. Use the evidence that is available, and attempt to prove by it that He wasn't! Do this and then we shall see which interpretation of the facts is more logical (intelligent and
rational).

Before I close this lesson, I wish to address one last question: "If the Christian faith is such an intelligent, rational, historical and factual faith, then why do many people reject it?" In the days of Christ, it is usually due to one of three reasons. Reason one is ignorance - Jn 7:40-43 "When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, "He must be the Prophet!" Others said, "He is the Messiah!" Others even said, "Can the Messiah come from Galilee? The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?" The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus." Some rejected Jesus as the Christ because they were ignorant of the historical facts concerning
His birth. So, many do today for a similar reason: LACK OF ACCURATE INFORMATION!

The second reason is Pride. John 12:42-43 "Even then, many of the leaders put their faith in Jesus, but they did not tell anyone about it. The Pharisees had already given orders for the people not to have anything to do with anyone who had faith in Jesus. And besides, the leaders liked praise from others more than they liked praise from God." Pride in wanting to be approved by men kept them from confessing Jesus as the Christ. Today, many do not want the RIDICULE or REJECTION one might face for following Christ.

The third reason is a moral problem. Jn 3:19-20 "The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done." Some people reject the evidence because it would mean having to change their LIFESTYLE. Today, many people in efforts to justify their immorality accept only that evidence which supports theories which allows them to continue their lifestyle. They reject any evidence which may support a doctrine which would condemn their behavior and require a change. What it boils down to is this. The rejection of Christ is not so much a problem of the "MIND" but of the "WILL"! It is not so much "I CAN'T" but "I WON'T"! There is enough evidence to convince the honest and sincere seeker, but there is not enough evidence to force a man against his will when he is determined to reject it!

In conclusion it is with these "BASICS" in mind that I shall endeavor to give evidence that warrants faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the Son of God. I shall not attempt to prove anything "beyond a shadow of a doubt," for that is not possible. But I shall try to show that it is more logical to believe in Jesus, than for one not to! And we shall begin by examining the evidence that demonstrates Jesus to be a true, historical figure, a person who actually lived!

The Executable Outlines Series, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2000, used by permission.

Bible Reading - II

The Book of Genesis - A Must for Bible Reading

In our last lesson we summarized the first eight chapters of the book of Genesis. We will now look at the remaining chapters and some of the reasons for our understanding of this book.
After the flood Genesis tells of the procreation of our current races of man from the family of Noah, of the tower of Babel, where God gave the various foreign tongues or languages to man, thus dividing them up into various races of peoples.
Genesis covers much of the history of the time of the Babylonian Dynasty, of the Egyptian Empire, the time of the great pyramids; during which time Abraham lived. Genesis tells us of Abraham in Chapters 11-14. Abraham lived in a time when most of man worshiped idols, but not Abraham.
The New Testament refers to Abraham and his Seed, which was Christ. (c.f. Romans 5) Even in the first book of the Bible, we see the importance of the prophecies regarding the coming blessing which would bless all nations of the earth, the Messiah.
In Genesis, we see Abraham receiving the call from God and he believed in 1 God, not the many false idols. We read of Lot and his separation from Abraham's fellowship. Lot went to live in the city, where he finally had to flee because of the coming of God's wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis tells of a battle between Abraham and his forces and the Babylonian kings to rescue Lot, who had been captured. In Genesis 14, we read of Melchizedek. Without reading this, you will not quite have a good understanding of the New Testament passages that compare Christ to him. (Heb.5-7)
Genesis tells us of the miraculous birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sara when they were both old beyond the age of having children. We read in chapters 20-21 of Ishmael, who was born of Hagar and Abraham. The New Testament mentions both Ishmael and Isaac in Galatians 4.
Abraham and Sarah are mentioned in Hebrews 11 and other places, such as in the sermon of Stephen in Acts.
Genesis tells of the offering of Isaac upon an altar to God in Chapter 22. See in the New Testament of this in Heb. 11.19. This event happened on the same mountain, where 2,000 years later the Son of God was offered as our sacrifice for sins. This account in Genesis 22 is so important for you to understand.
Genesis 24 tells us of Isaac taking Rebekah for his wife. They had twins, named Jacob and Esau (chapter 25) These are also referred to in our New Testament.
In Genesis 29-30, you can read the love story of Jacob for Rachel, for whom he had to work for 20 years to get, but her daddy Laban deceived Jacob and gave him Leah instead.
In chapter 37, Joseph, the son of Jacob was sold into slavery into the country of Egypt. You must read and understand this story to understand much of Christianity.
The book of Genesis ends with the death of Jacob and also Joseph. The great family of Jacob, his 12 sons, and all of the descendants of these and servants are now in Egypt, from which in the next book they will be rescued. This is to fulfill one of the promises and prophecies given to Abraham in chapter 14-15.
The entire Bible rests upon Genesis. Jesus gives it credibility by quoting from it. The apostles refer many times to the events that are recorded there. What we are as God's people today was planned from the very beginning of time.
I greatly encourage you to read again the book of Genesis and study it. If you have a reference bible, look at how many references are made to the New Testament.

This lesson has been adapted and expanded from a lesson on Bible reading written by Joe McLure and is used with his permission.

Bible Reading

The Book of Genesis - A Must for Bible Reading

If you have read and studied the last two lessons that I have published, accept that God is; in a believing faith and likewise accept that He has spoken through the Bible as His Holy inspired Word, I would encourage you to read and study it. I would encourage you to take thirty minutes out of your day to do so. Set your alarm thirty minutes earlier or spend this time at the end of the day. There is no other way that I know of to compliment God than to start our day reading or meditating (thinking, reflecting) in His Word. Likewise, before ending our day to do the same. I know of people who have purchased the Bible on audio tape. By using a pillow speaker attached to a portable tape player, they listen to God’s Word read as they go to sleep.

If you are a novice student or reader your most likely question is where do I start? I would suggest at the beginning. The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. If we do not properly understand and have faith in the book of Genesis, it is extremely difficult to ever come to a full knowledge of the rest of the scriptures. Once you understand, or even get a glimmer of understanding of the book of Genesis, it will be like a light turned on in your brain.

God is the author of a grand plan, even from the first day of creation. This is important. Some believe that God set in motion the world, and then allowed it to develop without any further action on the part of God. This is not exactly the case. It is true that individuals have the choice to choose good or evil, but God still has a plan.

As we read the creation account, we see the plan of God for the physical world, and how that God made it so that all things worked well together. When we read of the creation of the universe, and couple that with the findings of scientists today, we get an idea of how great and Almighty our God is. Consider that just our universe contains the Milky Way, which within itself contains over 30,000,000,000 suns, many of them larger than our own sun. Our sun is a million and 1/2 times larger than the earth. It would take 200,000 light years to travel from one edge of the Milky Way to the other. There are at least 100,000 galaxies like the Milky Way, some of them millions of light-years apart. What we can know scientifically about space may only be a tiny speck of what is beyond. God created all of these planets, stars, suns, galaxies, and universes.
When you read of the creation of the man and then the woman, you see the beginning of the greatest human institution, that of the home. Here is made possible the procreation of the human race. There are two important laws that God gave at this time. We are introduced to morale law regarding marriage; one man and one woman bound together for life. The other law was that they were not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As long as they obeyed this law they remained innocent before God, and was given the promise of life. If they disobeyed they were to die. At this time we find Satan introduced in the form of a serpent that chose to deceive the woman first and her to deceive the man. Although Adam was responsible for Eve he negated that responsibility, thus sin (disobedience to God) was introduced. We also find the first animal sacrifice in God providing them with a covering. As a consequence of their disobedience they were cast from the Garden, the presence of God. No longer having access to the tree of Life mankind would now experience spiritual and physical death. But God had a plan and in the Garden of Eden, we see the first promise (prophecy) of a Saviour of mankind. God made the following pronouncement to Satan in Gen 3:15 "and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

All of this occurs within the first three chapters of this Book of Genesis. In the next five chapters we see the beginning and the consequences of evil’s influence upon mankind. Genesis tells us of the 1st murder, when Cain slew Abel. We see that even in the early days of man's history that God required worship. One brother worshiped as God required. The other chose to do it his way. Result, God rejected it, envy and anger leads to murder. God confronted Cain and then we see God showing mercy. He could have required Cain’s life. However, instead He lays out Cain’s consequences.

Another younger brother, Seth followed after God. With Cain representing evil and Seth representing righteousness Genesis tells of evil’s influences over mankind growing worse and worse until God decided to destroy all that would not repent. Only Noah and his family were receptive to God's message and faithful enough to be save by water. We see this referred to in the New Testament. (1 Peter 3:18-22) This will not be the only time that God will use water to separate good from evil, old from new, or past into the future. More will be said about this in future lessons. Genesis tells of the building of the ark and the punishment meted out to all but 8 souls of all mankind.

There are a number of lessons one can choose and elaborate on in these eight chapters. Lessons on the influence of sin, finding God’s pleasure in striving to remain righteous in His ways, the need to for obedience and the results, would any have been saved if Noah had chose to change any of the instructions God gave Him, and more.

Genesis tells of the procreation of our current races of man from the family of Noah, of the tower of Babel, where God gave the various foreign tongues or languages to man, thus dividing them up into various races of peoples.

We will pick up the further events in our next lesson as we start with chapter nine.

This and a future lesson has been adapted and expanded from a lesson on Bible reading written by Joe McLure and is used with his permission.

God Hath Spoken - II

"God Hath Spoken"

Part Two

Let us consider how we are affected by a strong conviction that "God hath spoken" and what effect that has upon our behavior.

Since "God Hath Spoken" I Must Not Neglect What He Said––
Hebrews 2:1–4 "We must give our full attention to what we were told, so that we won't drift away. The message spoken by angels proved to be true, and all who disobeyed or rejected it were punished as they deserved. So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape? The Lord himself was the first to tell about it, and people who heard the message proved to us that it was true. God himself showed that his message was true by working all kinds of powerful miracles and wonders. He also gave his Holy Spirit to anyone he chose to."

"Dust on the Bible is indicative of a drought in the soul."
The Bible is still the best selling book of all time. More copies of it sold in more languages than any other book. However, it is probably the least read book that is owned. Most know very little of what it actually says, and less of what requires for salvation. If you truly believe the Bible to be the Word of the One True God you will read and study it with a willing enthusiasm.
Psalms 119:97 "I deeply love your Law! I think about it all day.," 131 "I honestly want to know everything you teach."
You will make time for the consideration of it.
Psalms 63:6 "I think about you before I go to sleep, and my thoughts turn to you during the night."; 119:147–148 "Even before sunrise, I pray for your help, and I put my hope in what you have said. I lie awake at night, thinking of your promises."
You will make opportunity to be instructed therein by those who know it best.
Isaiah 2:3 "Many people will come and say, "Let's go to the mountain of the LORD God of Jacob and worship in his temple." The LORD will teach us his Law from Jerusalem, and we will obey him."
Micah 4:2 "People of many nations will come and say, "Let's go up to the mountain of the LORD God of Jacob and worship in his temple." The LORD will teach us his Law from Jerusalem, and we will obey him."
It is an unconvincing affirmation that leads to so little real study and inquiry into the pages of what is "the mind of Christ." There should be in all of us an insatiable yearning to commune with our God; a yearning that can only be satisfied by hearing Him speak to us.

Since "God Hath Spoken," I Should Expect to Understand Him––
Acts 17:11 "The people in Berea were much nicer than those in Thessalonica, and they gladly accepted the message. Day after day they studied the Scriptures to see if these things were true."
The nobility of the Bereans lay in their unwillingness to accept anything without proving it by the Scriptures. Their confidence was in God, His word and their ability to understand it for themselves.
1 John 4:1 "Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world,"
There are so many that rely upon a preacher, family member or close friend to "tell" them what the Bible says or what they should believe.

Since "God Hath Spoken" I Must Tell Others––
What if…
I knew how to cure cancer? I had discovered a map that led to riches beyond belief?
I found the way to feed the whole world? You would expect me to share this good news with you and everyone we met, even strangers and enemies. Once God has spoken to you the greatest news that has ever been heard is now in your possession.
Examples of those to whom God had spoken:
The Samaritan woman, John 4
The demoniac, Mark 5:18–20
Witnesses to the healing of the deaf and dumb man, Mark 7:31–36
Andrew and Philip, John 1
If we truly believe God has spoken, we cannot be silent with those around us.

Since "God Hath Spoken" I Expect Him to Enforce His Word––
It is unbelievable that one should believe the Bible is God’s Word and then live a life contrary to its principles.
"I believe the Bible, but…"
"I know the Bible says this, but I think…"
"I know it’s not in the Bible, but I feel…"
"The Bible might not allow this, but we like…"
The God whom we serve is the God revealed in the Bible. He is the God who took Adam out of the Garden of Eden for one sin. He is the God who rejected Cain’s offering. He is the God who destroyed the world with a flood. He is the God who destroyed Egypt with the plagues. He is the God who left Israel strewn in heaps in the wilderness. He is the God that consumed Nadab and Abihu with fire. He is the God who opened the earth to swallow Dathan and Abiram. He is the God who struck Uzza dead. He is the God that smote Uzziah with leprosy. He is the God that drove Nebuchadnezzar like a mad man into the fields.
Judgment is according to the Word of God:
John 12:48 "But everyone who rejects me and my teachings will be judged on the last day by what I have said."
Romans 2:6 "God will reward each of us for what we have done.", 16 "when God appoints Jesus Christ to judge everyone's secret thoughts, just as my message says."
Revelation 20:12 "I also saw all the dead people standing in front of that throne. Every one of them was there, no matter who they had once been. Several books were opened, and then the book of life was opened. The dead were judged by what those books said they had done."

CONCLUSION:

There Is No Salvation Apart from God’s Word––
Do you believe that God has spoken and the Bible is His Word? If so how has that transformed your life? How does that truth direct your conduct?

Belief that "God Hath Spoken" Will––
Motivate genuine interest for study and meditation.
Cause you to seek your own understanding and not to rely upon others. Lead you to tell others what you have learned. Give rise to an expectation of judgment according to His word.

Please address all questions to jnlnewsted@nts-online.net

Note:
The basic outline for this lesson was taken from a 66 page lesson book written by Jeff Asher. I have edited, adding and deleting as necessary for clarity by converting the outline to textual form. All scripture verses added are from the Contemporary English Version for ease of readability. (JMN)

God Hath Spoken

"God Hath Spoken"
Part One

Hebrews 1:1, 2
"Long ago in many ways and at many times God's prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son."

There Is No Faith in God or Salvation from Sin Apart from His Word––
Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, "No one can have faith without hearing the message about Christ." (Romans 10:17). If we are not willing to read or listen with an open mind how are we to learn and obtain a knowledge of God? How is our faith to come about? Without faith it is impossible to please God, "But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him." (Hebrews 11:6). Therefore, without the Word of God we cannot please God.

That God Hath Spoken Is Evident––
It is reasonable to believe that the God who created would communicate with His creation, "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? He that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct, Even he that teacheth man knowledge? Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man, That they are vanity." (Psalms 94:9–11). The God that made us rational thinking beings is Himself a Rational Thinking Being, necessarily of superior thought guided by infinite wisdom. He made speech, hearing and thought. He made us in His image, "God said, "Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures." (Genesis 1:26). He must have intended to communicate with us and give us instruction, "Our God, be kind and bless us! Be pleased and smile. Then everyone on earth will learn to follow you, and all nations will see your power to save us." (Psalms 67:1, 2). Just as a parent is able to communicate with an infant child, so God has made himself known unto us. He is not beyond our comprehension provided He makes the revelation of Himself known, which He has, "They know everything that can be known about God, because God has shown it all to them. God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse." (Romans 1:19–22)
"God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn't far from any of us," (Acts 17:27). He is not hard to find. Any revelation that God would make would be so conceived and designed as to make it possible for His creation to gradually come to know and understand, "They will always be my most prized possession and my source of joy." (Psalms 119:111). With God caring so much would He create us and then leave us ignorant of Him?

The Bible Is the Means by which God Has Spoken––
The Holy Scriptures make the claim to be the only revelation of the one true God, "Long ago in many ways and at many times God's prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son."; "Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God's servants to do all kinds of good deeds." (Hebrews 1:1, 2; 2 Timothy 3:15–17). The evidence supporting this claim is overwhelming. The unity of the Book exemplifies its claim. The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by about 40 men over a 1500 year span, with a harmonious thread and essential agreement characteristic of a single Mind, "We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith. But it isn't the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who will soon disappear. We speak of God's hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began. The rulers of this world didn't know anything about this wisdom. If they had known about it, they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross. But it is just as the Scriptures say, "What God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds!" God's Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God. You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God's Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God's mind. But God has given us his Spirit. That's why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think. That's also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us. Every word we speak was taught to us by God's Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people."; "All of this makes us even more certain that what the prophets said is true. So you should pay close attention to their message, as you would to a lamp shining in some dark place. You must keep on paying attention until daylight comes and the morning star rises in your hearts. But you need to realize that no one alone can understand any of the prophecies in the Scriptures. The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God." (1 Corinthians 2:6–13; 2 Peter 1:19–21).

The character of the Book verifies its origin.
It is not the kind of book a man would write if he could, or could write if he would. It reveals the weaknesses of its heroes and condemns their sins and shortcomings. It presents a morality that none, but one, have lived up to, but which all have admitted is excellent.
The knowledge revealed in the Book certifies its supernatural character.
Undeniable accuracy in matters of history, geography and contemporaneous culture (e.g. the Hittites, Pilate, writing). No statements of fact that can be demonstrated to be out of harmony with established and knowable principles of physics, earth science and
mathematics (e.g., the ark properly proportioned for sailing, circle of the earth in Isaiah 40:22, one blood (common ancestory) in Acts 17:26). Biblical prophecy obviously revealed and written years, and in some cases centuries, before the events transpired establish the supernatural superintendence given to its authors (Daniel’s visions, Isaiah’s reference to Cyrus, the prophecies concerning Christ).

As Noted Before, Conviction Determines Conduct––
The unbeliever, the atheist or agnostic, does not order his conduct to please God, "The wicked brag about their deepest desires. Those greedy people hate and curse you, LORD. The wicked are too proud to turn to you or even think about you. They are always successful, though they can't understand your teachings, and they keep sneering at their enemies. In their hearts they say, "Nothing can hurt us! We'll always be happy and free from trouble." They curse and tell lies, and all they talk about is how to be cruel or how to do wrong. They hide outside villages, waiting to strike and murder some innocent victim. They are hungry lions hiding in the bushes, hoping to catch some helpless passerby. They trap the poor in nets and drag them away. They crouch down and wait to grab a victim. They say, "God can't see! He's got on a blindfold." (Psalms 10:3–11). Neither does the fallen Christian, "My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God." ; "We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith." (Hebrews 3:12, 19). All unbelief and apostasy begins with doubting the Word of God.
"I’ll take the words of Christ, but I’m not so sure about those Apostles."
"There are many things the Bible which just cannot be true, like that fish story and the tale of making a man out of dust."
"When science, reason and experience contradict the Bible we cannot ignore the preponderance of evidence that necessitates we conclude differently."
Numerous times in the Scriptures we are warned that men can and will lead us astray if we are not diligent to test the things were are taught. Our confidence is in the word not men ("Friends, I have used Apollos and myself as examples to teach you the meaning of the saying, "Follow the rules." I want you to stop saying that one of us is better than the other." 1 Corinthians 4:6; "But you must make them be quiet. They are after money, and they upset whole families by teaching what they should not.", Titus 1:11; "Do your best to win God's approval as a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed and who teaches only the true message. Keep away from worthless and useless talk. It only leads people farther away from God. That sort of talk is like a sore that won't heal. And Hymenaeus and Philetus have been talking this way" 2 Timothy 2:15–17). God has not placed His word in the keeping of special handlers, a clergy, who have a supernatural gift of understanding, "Christ Jesus made me his prisoner, so that I could help you Gentiles. You have surely heard about God's kindness in choosing me to help you. In fact, this letter tells you a little about how God has shown me his mysterious ways. As you read the letter, you will also find out how well I really do understand the mystery about Christ." (Ephesians 3:1–4). Note that the readers were to read the letter, the whole congregation, not just the hierarchy. We are commanded to understand, "Don't be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do." (Ephesians 5:17). We are told that we can know and do the truth, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32). We can not only know, but also do the will of the Father in Heaven, "Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in."; "Anyone who hears and obeys these teachings of mine is like a wise person who built a house on solid rock." (Matthew 7:21, 24).

God Bless,
Jim Newsted
Shamrock, Tx
The town that turns green for a week every year

Even though you can't see the air, It doesn't stop you from breathing
Even though you can't see God, It doesn't stop you from believing
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