DEFENDING OUR FAITH: WEEK 4 NOTES KNOWLEDGE. The Bible: Is it Reliable? Arguments Against the Reliability of the Bible

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1 DEFENDING OUR FAITH: WEEK 4 NOTES The Bible: Is it Reliable? KNOWLEDGE The Bible: The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. From < Arguments Against the Reliability of the Bible Integrity The Bible has been altered/doesn t include all of the books (i.e. other gospels ) The Bible was written too long after the events actually occurred The Bible wasn t written in English/ has been corrupted through translation The Bible s authors aren t known for sure Inerrancy The Bible is full of inconsistencies/ contradictions Issues related to: Accuracy The Bible isn t true/historical (fiction) The Bible has been disproven by science The Bible s authors were biased so we can t trust them Inspiration The Bible was written by man, not God Interpretation The Bible can be interpreted differently by different people 1

2 The Bible s Reliability: Notes & Discussion TRANSLATION & INTERPRETATION The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever (Psalm 12:6-7). Questions Related to Translation Q. Has the original meaning been lost in translation? Objections Scriptures were copied over and over so many times they cannot be accurate. The fact that there are so many versions proves that the Bible has mistakes. Which one is right? There are too many English translations out there to trust any of them. Response The Old Testament Same as the books in the Hebrew Bible o The order and combination of the books differ, but not the writings Same books used and accepted by the Jews as Scripture from the time of Moses until Jesus o Jesus quoted from these Scriptures Written primarily in Hebrew A small portion (1%) was written in Aramaic o (Genesis 31:47; Ezra 4:8 6:18, 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11, Daniel 2:4b-7:28) o Aramaic eventually replaced Hebrew as the common language spoken The New Testament Written in Greek By the time the Gospels were being written, many Jews didn t even speak Hebrew anymore Koine Greek was used a common form The Bible wasn t originally written in English. Translations are necessary. Translations are not new. The purpose of Bible translation has always been to put it in the language of the common people. Bible translation is NOT a game of telephone. 2

3 History of Ancient Bible Translation 1 Manuscripts are written, as opposed to printed, copies of the original text (or of a version either of the whole Bible or part of it). From Moses time, the written Word was considered sacred. The job of transmission through copying went to the tribe of Levi and the Scribes (who were also responsible for continuing oral transmission). Copying of the Scriptures had extremely strict rules: o Each scroll must contain a specific number of columns, all equal throughout the entire book. o Each column s length must not be less than 48 lines or more than 60. o Each column s breadth must be exactly 30 letters. o The copyist must use a specially prepared black ink. o The space between every consonant must be the size of a thread. o The copyist must sit in full Jewish dress. o The copyist must use a fresh quill to pen the sacred name of God. o The copyist could copy only letter by letter not word by word. o The copyist counted the number of times each letter of the alphabet occurred in each book. o The copyist knew the middle letter of the Pentateuch and the middle letter of the entire OT. o After copying the copyist counted forward and backward from the middle letter. o The copyist must count all letters and spaces. o The copyist must not be interrupted, even if the King walked in, they could not stop. o Each manuscript would be compared and read out-loud before the people. o Any mistake in any area would require the copyist to burn the copy, or tear it up, and start over. Manuscripts were written on either papyrus or vellum o Papyrus was made from strips taken from the stem of the papyrus plant, was very fragile, and deteriorated due to exposure to air and moisture o Vellum (aka parchment ) was made from animal skin o Palimpsests were vellum manuscripts that were re-used o Codex is the term used to describe a manuscript that is in pages instead of a roll The material and the script of a manuscript are both important in categorizing and dating them Bible Manuscripts 2 Manuscripts Language Composed Copies Date Contains OT Masoretic Text (MT) Hebrew 100 BC AD Entire OT OT Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) Hebrew 250 BC-100 AD 250 BC-100 AD Entire OT except Esther OT Samaritan Pentateuch Hebrew (Samaritan) BC AD Genesis Deuteronomy NT New Testament Koine Greek AD AD Entire NT plus* 1 Case-Making 101: A Case for the Bible How was the Bible transmitted over time?, Truth, Faith & Reason, February 6, Manuscripts of the Bible, New Advent, (February 6, 2016) 3

4 The Masoretic text is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic Text for Rabbinic Judaism. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in the Qumran Caves, West Bank (Israel). They matched the Masoretic text very closely, helping to validate the accuracy of the text, and to prove that the OT prophecies weren t written after Jesus. The Samaritan Pentateuch differs from the Masoretic text in about 6,000 instances. Most of those are minor (i.e. spelling), but some are more significant. The most well-known and complete copies of the Greek New Testament include the Codexes Vaticanus, Sinaiticus, and Alexandrinus (dating back to ~300 AD). Other ancient translations of the NT also exist, such as Syriac, Coptic and Armenian. Ancient Bible Translations Translation Language Translated Copies Dated Translator(s) Contains Septuagint (LXX) Greek BC BC ~70 scholars Entire Bible plus* Old Latin Latin AD Many Entire Bible Vulgate Latin 382 AD AD Jerome Entire Bible plus* The Greek Septuagint would have been the Scriptures used by those in Jesus time (and those quoted in the NT). It was translated in Alexandria, Egypt. Many Latin translations existed, and Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damascus I to revise those collections that were in use by the church at that time. The Vulgate (meaning common ) was made the official Latin Bible version of the Catholic Church in mid-15oo s. History of Modern (English) Bible Translation AD Jerome is commissioned by the Catholic church to translate the Bible into Latin. He Vulgate translated from the original Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT). 600 AD The Bible is restricted to only the Latin Vulgate by the Catholic church. Any person in possession of non-latin scriptures were to be executed AD John Wycliffe completes the first hand-written copy of the Bible in English. He Wycliffe s Bible opposed the organized Church and wanted everyone to have access to the Bible. He translated from the Latin Vulgate AD Gutenberg invents the printing press, and the first book printed is the Bible in Latin AD Erasmus completes a translation of the New Testament from the original Greek into Latin for a parallel NT. Textus Receptus (TR) 1522 AD Martin Luther publishes the first German NT, translating from the Greek-Latin NT AD William Tyndale published the first English NT, translating from the Greek-Latin NT. Tyndale Bible 3 English Bible History, Greatsite.com, (February, 2016) 4

5 1535 AD Myles Coverdale publishes the first complete English Bible, translating from the German NT and Latin. Coverdale Bible 1537 AD John Rogers published the second complete English Bible, translating from the original Hebrew and Greek. Matthews Bible 1539 AD King Henry VIII commissions the first authorized English Bible. Great Bible 1560 AD Refugees fleeing England and Queen Mary publish a new English Bible that includes Geneva Bible numbered verses in the chapters, as well as marginal notes and references. Translation is from the original Hebrew & Greek, and is done by a committee AD The Anglican church authorizes a revision of the Great Bible to counter the Geneva Bishops Bible Bible AD The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582) for the first complete Catholic Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. Douay-Rheims Bible 1611 AD The King James Bible is printed after being commissioned by the King and completed KJV over 7 years by a committee of ~50 who translated from the original Hebrew & Greek, as well as the Tyndale and Geneva Bibles AD The Apocrypha is officially removed from the King James Bible AD The English Revised version (revision of the KJV) published in England. ERV 1901 AD The American Standard version (revision of the KJV) published in America. ASV 1971 AD The New American Standard Bible is published as a modern and accurate word-forword NASB English translation of the Bible AD The New International Version is published as a modern and accurate phrase-forphrase NIV English translation of the Bible AD The New King James version is published as a modern English version maintaining NKJV the original style of the King James 2002 AD The English Standard Version is published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV ESV Bible Translation Theory Formal/Verbal Equivalence o word-for-word o Attempt to select words that are equivalent to the original o Can be awkward and difficult to understand Functional/Dynamic Equivalence o thought-for-thought o Attempt to reproduce the original thoughts and ideas in equivalent concepts o Can result in distortion of meaning Considerations for Bible Translations Which manuscripts are used? Who is doing the translating? What is the purpose behind the translation? Is there an agenda? What translation theory is used? Are there deviations from the norm? 5

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8 Questions Related to Interpretation Q. Can t people each interpret the Bible differently? Objections We have to rely on what the experts tell us. That s just your interpretation. The Bible has been used to justify everything you can think of. You can make it mean an you want. The meaning comes from the reader, not from the text. It s impossible to get inside the of the writers, so we can only read the text and create the meaning for ourselves. Response There are many reasons for these kinds of objections today: Portions of the Bible are hard to understand Biblical illiteracy is rampant Church history shows ugly disagreements over the Bible s meaning Relativism undermines confidence in an objective meaning Hermeneutics The science of understanding the Bible The study whereby we learn how to properly and responsibly interpret scriptures Getting at the author s intended meaning Three Key Principles to Understanding the Bible Consider context What is the author talking about in the surrounding text? o Read paragraph before & after, ideally more (chapters, even entire book) o Context drives, if not determines, the meaning of the smaller unit of text o Never read a Bible verse Consider history What is the historical occasion for the passage o What historical event or reason prompted the author to write what he wrote? o Event, geography, etc. factor into the writing? Consider genre What literary style is the author using? o Different interpretive principles apply to different styles o History, poetry, apocalyptic, biographical, etc. 8

9 Analogy of Faith Principle Affirms the fact that all Scripture comes from the mind of a single person As such, Scripture cannot contradict other Scripture Look at other passages of scripture that are clear to understand the less clear passage Additional Considerations Take Scripture at face value Don t force a 21 st century understanding on a 1 st century expression Application John 14:6 - Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. o The proposal of an alternative interpretation, no matter how supported, doesn t not by default make that interpretation equally valid o Analogy of Faith principle if that isn t the intended meaning, then other Scripture will not support it Discussion Sometimes people look to Philippians 4:13 for assurance that they can win a big game or succeed in business. Look at the context, beginning in verse 10. What does Paul mean by all things in verse 13? The truth shall set you free, from John 8:32, has been used to support almost everything from belief in conspiracy theories to coming out as a homosexual. In the context of verses 31 and 32 is this what Jesus was talking about? According to the verses that follow John 8:32, will the truth that a person is practicing a particular sin set that person free if he or she refuses to acknowledge that the behavior is sinful? See especially verse 34. Revelation 3:20 is often used to invite sinners to receive Christ and be saved. Is Jesus talking to unbelievers in this passage? Read verses Is this a call to salvation? Perhaps the verse most often taken out of context today is Matthew 7:1, Judge not that you be not judged. Does Jesus mean that we should never make judgments about sin in another s life? What is the purpose He gives in verse 5 for taking care of our own sin first? In the context of the whole Bible, how does John 7:24 shed light on Matthew 7:1 6? Some false religions use John 14:28 to say that, since Jesus Himself says the Father is greater than He is, Jesus cannot be God. Apostle John also recorded John 8: How does the broad context of the Gospel of John show that this is a false view of Jesus? But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. ~ 1 Corinthians 1:27 9

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