Canaan Celebration Service

Transcription

1 Sermon Series Canaan Celebration Service 18 November am Level 4 Hall 84 St Francis Rd, Canaan Centre, S Ps Larry Arienzano

2 QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ANSWER: 1. Are The Ancient Documents That Make Up The Bible Dependable? 2. Are They Historically Accurate In Their Claims? 3. Is The Bible Relevant Today?

3 THE WORLD IS AT WAR WITH THE WORD DESPISE DISREGARD DISTORT

4 A retranslation would be a summary of the Old Testament with some Buddhist scripture and Confucian teachings and new commentary for the New Testament. Sinicization of Christianity Means to change 'Christianity in China' into 'Chinese Christianity,' THE WORLD IS AT WAR WITH THE WORD

5 AUTHORSHIP OF THE BIBLE 3 OPTIONS: 1. Written by Good Men 2. Written by Bad Men 3. The Only Logical Alternative: THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN BY GOD.

6 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21 God inspired 40 different authors who wrote over a span of 1,600 years AUTHORSHIP OF THE BIBLE

7 AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE Ø Over 640 ancient copies Ø The oldest was copied 2,200 years after the original. Ø At least 10 ancient copies Ø The oldest was copied about 1,000 years after the original.

8 What about the NT? Over 5,500 existing ancient manuscripts of the New Testament. Found in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt. Content is virtually identical no matter where they were found. AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE

9 What about the OT? Over 800 ancient Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 11 different caves near the Dead Sea from 1947 to Dates back to 100 B.C. They contain fragments from every book of the OT. Scholars have examined those fragments and found them to be virtually identical with our standard Hebrew Bible. AUTHENTICITY OF THE BIBLE

10 One thing we cannot deny the Christians is the documentation that is available across the centuries nothing in ancient literature has ever matched it not even Homer nor the Gallic Wars of Caesar. Richard Ostling There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.

11 ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE As I have dealt with one apparent discrepancy after another and have studied the alleged contradictions between the biblical record and the evidence of linguistics, archaeology, or science, my confidence in the trustworthiness of Scripture has been repeatedly verified and strengthened by the discovery that almost every problem in Scripture that has ever been discovered by man, from ancient times until now, has been dealt with in a completely satisfactory manner by the biblical text itself or else by objective archaeological information Gleason Archer: A Scholar Of Biblical Studies (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties,1982, p. 12).

12 The Scientific Accuracy of the Bible ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE

13 The Historical Accuracy of the Bible The City of David, which experts now believe to be the ancient Jerusalem, was discovered only 150 years ago. Archaeology is sometimes called the 5 th Gospel because it can tell us things that our written historical texts may not reveal. ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE

14 The Prophetic Accuracy of the Bible The first coming of Jesus verifies the prophetic accuracy of the Bible. The OT alone has over 2,000 specific prophecies that have already been fulfilled. It is the only book of its kind with so many accurate prophecies. ACCURACY OF THE BIBLE

15 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any doubleedged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 ABILITY OF THE BIBLE TO TRANSFORM LIVES

16 RESPONSE: We can and should put our total trust in the Bible as evidences of its textual reliability and historical credibility are overwhelming.