Wow is it hot! It’s really hot! Please be safe outside. This kind of heat is dangerous. Stay hydrated and take breaks if you have to be outside. This is a great time to stay inside and review the attached bible study from Mike Stahl. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Prayer needs :
Tracy Stegall
Bill Fisher
Cindy Schiebein
Kenny Works
James Richardson
Connie Ernst
Praise:
Mary Dorrell
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Lesson 4 – How We Got the Bible – Part 4 Theme / Memory Verse: Mark 13:31
Mark 13:31 – Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Lesson:
As we covered in Parts 1 through 3 of this lesson, the 4 steps in God’s Revelation to us include: revelation, inspiration, manuscripts, and translations.
· Revelation (not only but including the New Testament book of Revelation) – God’s self- disclosure. How God made Himself known to the writers of the Old and New Testament. And even how God makes Himself known to others, including us, through His creation.
· Inspiration – the process that God used to guide the writers of the books of the Bible and at the same time to ensure its accuracy. The Holy Spirit inspired men to write down the messages that God had for His people. The same messages apply to us today.
· Manuscripts – copies of the original documents that make up the Scriptures. Made on parchment or papyrus so the Word could be spread to other Christians. Faithful people made sure that God’s Word was preserved for all of the ages.
· Translations – copying original manuscripts into the language of a certain people or culture. Without this step, we would have to either rely on others who know the original languages to tell us what God’s Word says or we would have to learn ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic for ourselves.
The final piece in our discussion of How We Got the Bible is the Canon of the Bible – which books are included in our Bible and why.
A good example is provided by Bill Donahue in his booklet “How We Got Our Bible”, Foundations Bible 101 Series, Intervarsity Press, 2000. (This lesson borrows much of its content from that booklet.) You may have heard this one before.
A well-known preacher was once asked in an interview, “With so much false teaching present these days, how do you keep up with all the cults and sects? You certainly must study them carefully so you can refute them.”
The preacher responded, “Not really. I asked the experts at the Department of the Treasury a similar question when I toured the facility. ‘How do you know a counterfeit bill when you see one?’ They answered, ‘We spent hundreds of hours studying the authentic bill. After that, it is easy to spot a fraud.’ So that’s how I can spot error in teachings about the Bible. Know the real thing and you can spot an error a mile away.”
We often hear about or see on television articles about the “lost books of the Bible.” Consider if we opened one of those books and read the following:
Now Jesus made of the clay 12 sparrows, and it was the Sabbath day. And a child ran and told Joseph, saying, “Behold, your child plays about the brook, and has made sparrows of the clay, which is not lawful (on the Sabbath).” And he, when he heard it, went and said to the child, “Why have you done this and profaned the Sabbath?” But Jesus answered him not, but looked upon the sparrows and said, “Go, take your flight, and remember me in your life.” And at the word they took flight and went up into the air. And when Joseph saw it he was astonished.
It could be very tempting to believe that this is authentic and somehow “lost” when the Bible was originally put together. Except for the trip to the temple when Jesus was 12, the Bible says nothing of His life from the time He was an infant until He began His ministry at around 30 years old. Jesus clearly had power of life, death, and the laws of nature. The way it is worded “sounds” like the Bible. How can we be sure that it wasn’t intended to be part of the Bible?
If we examine what the Bible says closely, we will see that the story above contradicts the Bible. First, we are told in John 2:11 that Jesus first miracle was turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana. We are also told that Jesus’ miracles were performed so that people would believe (John 20:30-31). Joseph already knew who Jesus was. He had been told before Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:18-25). Jesus did not begin His ministry (leading people to belief and repentance) until He was around 30 years old (Luke 3:23). There are certainly more issues than this with the story that is presented above. These are just a few examples. But, like the counterfeit bills, if we examine the story in the light of the real thing, we can see that it is clearly not consistent with the rest of the Word.
The word “canon” is often used to describe the assembled Books of the Bible. Canon is derived from the Greek kanon and means a “builder’s rule”. A canon is a body of (1) __________________________ ____________________. Three reasons that the establishment of the Biblical Canon was critically important to the early Church (and us) include:
1. To defend the Church from (2) _________ ________________
2. To be certain that only God’s Word was being used in (3) ______________ ________________
3. (4) _____________________ of believers was widespread during the early Church, and the believers needed to be absolutely certain they were standing for the (5) __________.
Canon of the Old Testament
The 39 books of the Old Testament were well established as the Jewish canon by the time of Jesus. In Luke 24:44, Jesus names the three divisions that comprised the Jewish canon:
Luke 24:44 – Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the (6) ______ of Moses and the (7) ________________ and the (8) ____________ must be fulfilled.” NASB
At the time, the Jewish books were divided somewhat differently than our Old Testament, but the contained exactly the same text:
· The Law (Torah) – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
· The Prophets (Nebhim)
– Early Prophets – Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings
– Later Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve (minor prophets)
· The Psalms / Writings (Kethubhim)
- Poetic Books – Psalms, Proverbs and Job
- Five Rolls – Song of Songs (Solomon), Ruth, Lamentations, Esther and Ecclesiastes
· Historical Books – Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles
Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were one book each instead of two books as we have them. Ezra and Nehemiah were combined into one book. The Twelve Minor Prophets were combined into one book.
Jesus further confirmed the extent of the Old Testament in Matthew 23:35.
Matthew 23:35 – “so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous (9) ________ to the blood of (10) __________________, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” NASB
As Adam and Eve’s son, Abel represents the beginning. Zechariah was one of the prophets after the return of the exiled Jews to Israel, along with Haggai and Malachi. He represents the end of the Old Testament.
We sometimes hear of books called the Apocrypha referred to as lost books of the Bible. This group of 15 or so “hidden” or “unknown” books were mostly written after (11) ______________, the last book of the Old Testament but prior to (12) __________ __________. We can be certain that these are not part of the Bible that God has given to us for several reasons:
· The Apocrypha were not included in the (13) ____________ canon that was well established by the time of Jesus.
· They were not included in (14) __________ descriptions of Scripture. Jesus and the New Testament writers never quoted the Apocrypha as Scripture.
· The Roman Catholic Church includes 12 of these books in its canon. However, Jerome – the translator of the Latin Vulgate (the early Catholic Bible) in the 5th century AD made it clear that the Apocrypha were NOT scripture. 1546 AD is the official date that the Catholic Church recognized the Apocrypha as canon. 1500 years after Jesus’ life here on earth.
· The Apocrypha were also included in the 1611 version of the King James Bible. However, they were later dropped. Presumably to ensure that some readers would not confuse them with actual Scripture.
Canon of the New Testament
The early Church ensured that any writings passed three tests to be considered Scripture, to be included in its New Testament Canon:
1. (15) __________________ origin
2. (16) __________________ __________________ – are the teachings consistent with those of Jesus, the apostles, and the Old Testament
3. (17) ______________________ by the Church
Jesus’ teachings to his disciples give us the insight that those who would later write of Him under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit would have direct knowledge of Him.
John 14:26 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your (18) ______________________ all that I said to you.
John 15:26-27 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been (19) ________ ____ from the beginning.
The Apostles were (20) ____________________ or (21) __________________. They included:
· The 12 disciples that were called by Jesus.
· Matthias, who replaced Judas who betrayed Jesus and hanged himself.
· Paul – met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
· Barnabas, James the brother of Jesus, Jesus Himself, and a few others.
All of the books of the New Testament were written either by (22) ________________ or by someone (23) ______________ ____________________ with the apostles.
· 5 books of the New Testament were written by (23) ________.
· (24) __________ wrote 2 books.
· The Gospel According to (25) ________ was written by (26) ________ who as a close associate of (27) __________.
· (28) _______________ wrote 1 book.
· 13 books are known to have been written by (29) ________.
· 2 book were written by (30) ________ who was a close associate of (31) ________.
· The author of (32) ______________ is not known with 100% certainty, but if it was not Paul, it seems that it was a close associate of Paul.
· (33) __________ the brother of (34) __________ was also an apostle and wrote 1 book.
· (34) ________ the brother of (35) __________ wrote 1 book.
The Canon of the New Testament was solidified in the first few centuries AD.
Another group of books that we sometimes hear called lost Books of the Bible are the “Pseudepigrapha” or Apocryphal New Testament. These are 7 or more books written later than the New Testament books and by those claiming to have had contact with the (36) __________________. These books were never accepted by the early Church as (37) __________________. In fact, the real New Testament writers often warned about false teachers that would come along.
2 Peter 2:1 – But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false (38) ________________ among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the (39) _____________ who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
An article by Don Stewart, “What Are the New Testament Pseudepigrapha? (The Gospel of Thomas)” provides commentary on one of the books of the Pseudepigrapha. It is a short read
and provides insight into the inconsistency and false teachings found within these books. The article can be found at the following link:
In summary, we can be confident that the 66 Books of the Bible that are the Word that God wants us to have and that they are inclusive of everything we need to know about Him so that we can know Him and so that we can have the forgiveness and salvation that He wants for us.
Answers:
(1) authoritative literature
2) false teaching
3) worship services
4) Persecution
5) truth
6) Law
7) Prophets
8) Psalms
9) Abel
10) Zechariah
11) Malachi
12) Jesus’ birth
13) Jewish
14) Jesus’
15) Apostolic
16) Doctrinal soundness
17) Recognition
18) remembrance
19) with Me
20) messengers
21) delegates
22) apostles
23) closely associated
24) Peter
25) Mark
26) Mark
27) Peter
28) Matthew
29) Paul
30) Luke
31) Paul
32) Hebrews
33) James
34) Jesus
35) James
36) disciples
37) Scripture
38) teachers
39) Master
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