Accelerate Presents - Hot Topics

Transcription

1 Accelerate Presents - Hot Topics Can You Really Trust the Bible?

2 Your Neighbour Asks? How can you trust something that was written so long ago and has been copied so many times? How could the authors of these gospels, even if they were eye witnesses remember for that period of time the exact words spoken by Jesus? To believe they did is, in my view, fairy tale stuff.

3 WHAT IS THE BIBLE? It took around 1500 years to write (approx BCE to 100 CE) It has 40 different authors - from kings to fishermen It was written in many places - palaces, dungeons, the wilderness It was written on three continents - Asia, Africa, Europe It was written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic

4 WHAT IS THE BIBLE? The earliest copy of any part of the Old Testament is dated at around 250 BCE. This is part of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection. The earliest copy of any part of the New Testament dates at around 130 C.E. It is known as the Rylands Papyrus.

5 ALLEN BROWNE What do we mean by Inspiration

6 DO YOU TAKE THE BIBLE LITERALLY? Trap question the Bible uses normal language. Poetry/song Ex 15:4 Pharaoh s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. Narrative/history Ex 14:23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. Do the work! Read the genre, customs, historical setting. Don t try to make it say what it never said.

7 WHAT ABOUT ERRORS IN THE BIBLE? The Bible uses normal (non-technical) language: Approximations 10 cubits across, 30 cubits around (2 Chron 4:2) Selected details a colt (Mk 11:2); a donkey & a colt (Mt 21:2) Chronological differences temple cleansed (Jn 2; Mk 11) Different angles Judas hanged (Mt 27:5); burst open (Acts 1:18) Non-scientific perspectives the sun rises (Psa 113:3)

8 YOU THINK GOD WROTE THE BIBLE? Views of Inspiration: A. Human: Not God s revelation; just like ancient myths. B. Divine: But each writer s language, vocabulary, style is distinctive. C. Divine + Human: God revealed himself to/through humans. Jesus believed C Mark 12:36, quoting Psalm 110:1: David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: The LORD said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

9 WHY READ IT? Scripture reveals God, to bring us into relationship with God. Don t miss the point, Jesus says: John 5:39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

10 GRAHAM IRVINE Transmission how did we get the Bible we have today?

11 TRANSMISSION Is what we have now in the Bible the same as what was originally written and does it represent an accurate account of the events it is describing?

12 TRANSMISSION The Old Testament 1250 years Dead Sea Scrolls date from 250 BCE Masoretic Text date from 1000 CE

13 TRANSMISSION The Old Testament For Example: TABLE 1. QUMRAN VS. THE MASORETES Of the 166 Hebrew words in Isaiah 53, only seventeen letters in Dead Sea Scroll 1QIs b differ from the Masoretic Text (Geisler and Nix, 1986, p. 382). 10 letters = spelling differences 4 letters = stylistic changes 3 letters = added word for light (vs. 11) 17 letters = no affect on biblical teaching

14 TRANSMISSION The New Testament 5,700 Greek manuscripts of the NT with some dating back as far as 120 CE and as many as 400 dating back to the 4 th and 5 th centuries 10,000 Latin manuscripts and well over 1 million quotations of Bible verses

15 TRANSMISSION The NT manuscripts stand closer to the original and are more plentiful than virtually any other ancient literature. The NT is far and away the best attested work of Greek or Latin in the ancient world. Reinventing Jesus p71

16 TRANSMISSION Manuscript Evidence for Ancient Writings Author Written Earliest Copy Time Span # Mss. Caesar B.C. 900 A.D. 1,000 yrs 10 Plato B.C. 900 A.D. 1,200 yrs 7 Thucydides B.C. 900 A.D. 1,300 yrs 8 Tacitus 100 A.D A.D. 1,000 yrs 20 Suetonius A.D. 950 A.D. 800 yrs 8 Homer (Iliad) 900 B.C. 400 B.C. 500 yrs 643 New Testament A.D. 125 A.D yrs 15,000

17 TRANSMISSION Textual Variants scholars have identified up to 400,000 variations in the biblical text between manuscripts. 4 categories; 1. Spelling differences and nonsense errors 2. Variants that do not affect the way the text is understood God loves Paul Loves God Paul God Paul loves Paul God loves Paul loves God Loves Paul God

18 TRANSMISSION Textual Variants scholars have identified up to 400,000 variations in the biblical text between manuscripts. 4 categories; 1. Spelling differences and nonsense errors 2. Variants that do not affect the way the text is understood 3. Meaningful variants that are not viable 4. Meaningful and Viable variants

19 TRANSMISSION Meaningful but not Viable No Affect on Translation Meaningful and Viable Spelling

20 TRANSMISSION But what about the no writing period? Oral Transmission The disciples and other followers of Jesus did not go into hiding The story was told, in community, over and over again Both the repetition and the verification by other eyewitnesses served as checks and balances on the apostle s accuracy.

21 TRANSMISSION Where did the final selection of books of the Bible come from? What is really remarkable is that, though the fringes of the NT canon remained unsettled for centuries, a high degree of unanimity concerning the greater part of the NT was attained within the first 2 centuries among the very diverse and scattered congregations not only throughout the Mediterranean world but also over an area extending from Britain to Mesopotamia.

22 TRANSMISSION What of the Facebook declaration? The KJV was compiled in 1611 this is when it was first release for sale to the public by 8 members of the Church of England there were 47 scholars involved in the translation, most of whom were professional academics rather than church leaders There were (and still are) no original texts to translate yes this is true, as it is true for most ancient documents

23 TRANSMISSION What of the Facebook declaration? The oldest manuscripts we have were written hundreds of years after the last apostle died actually the earliest portion of NT we have dates to 125 CE which means the original must have been even earlier. There are 8000 of these old manuscripts and no two are alike there are no significant variants in the manuscripts

24 TRANSMISSION What of the Facebook declaration? The KJV used none of these...parliament would approve. Yes this is true but does not say anything about the last 400 years of textual study. So, 21 st century Christians believe... written in the 1 st century. There are few issues of contradiction in transmission. The discovery of 1000s of Greek manuscripts, both biblical and non-biblical, has enabled today s translators to have a much greater confidence in the words of today s biblical translations than ever before since they were originally written.

25 TRANSMISSION Whether we ascribe any authority or relevance to these writings or not, is another matter.

26 TIM HEALY Is the Bible relevant to us today?

27 RELEVANCE Does the Bible have anything to say that affects me now? Can the Bible answer my questions about life, faith and God? Does the Bible provide solutions to our 21 st century problems? Does the Bible dictate / prescribe how we should live?

28 RELEVANCE What the Bible is NOT: A Scientific Textbook A Moral Rulebook A Legal Constitution An Owner s Manual

29 RELEVANCE What the Bible IS: A Portable Library of multiple genres A Revelation of God s plan for Creation A Record of God s redemptive dealings A unique source for the community of faith

30 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? 1. To reveal Jesus to us and direct us toward a relationship with Him

31 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? You diligently study the Scripture because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about Me. - John 5:39 -

32 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? Then he said, When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. - Luke 24:44 -

33 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit, and with the guidance of good teachers, will bring us to Him. - C.S. Lewis -

34 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? The purpose, center, and interpretive key to scripture is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the true and final Word of God, in relation to whom scripture is God s secondary, written word of witness and testimony. - Christian Smith -

35 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? 1. To reveal Jesus to us and direct us toward a relationship with Him 2. To provide wisdom, guidance, inspiration and example for the community of faith

36 RELEVANCE What is the PURPOSE of the Bible? The Bible is not an end in itself. It is there so that, by its proper use, the creator may be glorified and the creation may be healed. - N.T. Wright -

37 RELEVANCE The Trap of Biblicism Biblicism: A theory about the Bible that emphasises its exclusive authority, infallibility, perspicuity, selfsufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. - Christian Smith

38 RELEVANCE The Trap of Biblicism The risen Jesus, at the end of Matthew s gospel, does not say, All authority in heaven and on earth is given to the books you are all going to write but All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. - N.T. Wright -

39 RELEVANCE Even among presumably well-intentioned readers (including many evangelical biblicists) the Bible, after their very best efforts to understand it, says and teaches very different things about most significant topics... It becomes beside the point to assert a text to be solely authoritative or inerrant, for instance, when, lo and behold, it gives rise to a host of divergent teachings on important matters. - Christian Smith - A Final Word: Making Peace with Paradox

40 RELEVANCE A Final Word: Making Peace with Paradox God did not choose to give us a series of timeless, non-culturebound theological propositions to be believed and imperatives to be obeyed. Rather, he chose to speak his eternal word this way, in historically particular circumstances in every kind of literary genre. By the very way God gave us this Word, he locked in the ambiguity.

41 RELEVANCE One should not fight God and insist that he give us his Word in another way, or, as we are more apt to do, rework his Word along theological or cultural prejudices that turn into a minefield of principles, propositions, or imperatives but denude it of its ad hoc character as truly human. The ambiguity is part of what God did in giving us the Word in this way. - Gordon Fee - A Final Word: Making Peace with Paradox

42 RELEVANCE There is no reason whatsoever not to openly acknowledge the sometimes confusing, ambiguous, and seemingly incomplete nature of scripture... All of scripture is not clear, nor does it need to be. But the real matter of scripture is clear, the deepest secret of all, that God in Christ has come to earth, lived, taught, healed, died, and risen to new life, so that we too can rise to life in him. - Christian Smith - A Final Word: Making Peace with Paradox

43 Last chance to ask a question SHORT BREAK

44 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

45 Starts Monday July 30 at 7 p.m. If you have not yet registered please do so tonight! ACCELERATE The Lord s Prayer Foundations Unit 3 The Holy Spirit Foundations Unit 7 Reading the Bible Next Hot Topic Night September 17th The role of women in the Church ACCELERATE Presents July 19 th Science and God; Conflicting or Compatible