- Some people seem to
believe that Christians think
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the Bible just dropped
out of the sky one day,
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completely formed,
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but that's not at all
what Christians think happened.
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[upbeat music]
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[upbeat music continues]
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Welcome back to part
two in a series we're doing
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on the history of the Bible.
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It's a series that I
decided to do because, well,
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every week I challenge people
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to read this
book for themselves.
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And the reason I do
that is because simply put,
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this is easily the most
influential book in the world,
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and it's my personal conviction
that this book offers us
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the best possible opportunity
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to discover what it means to
live an authentic human life.
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I know that a
lot of people believe
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that this book is
somehow out of touch,
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but I've got to tell you, I
have never found better answers
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to the big questions of
life than I have in the Bible.
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There's a good reason that
people have risked their lives
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to smuggle this book
into countries that banned it
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because of its contents
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and the way that it
speaks about human dignity.
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This book creates a real
problem for tyrannical regimes.
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I've met some of the people
who put everything on the line
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back in the 20th century
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to make copies of the
Bible on manual typewriters
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in the dead of night, carefully
striking one key at a time
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so that the
letters would push through
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five or six
sheets of carbon paper.
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And of course,
they had to find a place
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where nobody could actually
hear them typing like that.
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I know of one
person who placed pillows
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all around the
typewriter to muffle the sound
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and she knew full well
that if she got caught,
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she'd be off to
the gulag or worse.
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You and I have access
to this incredible book
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because countless
people have been willing
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to pay the ultimate price to
be sure that you and I have it.
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And now we live in an age
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where we have more access
than we ever have had before,
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thanks to
digital forms of media.
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But sadly, at the same time,
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fewer and fewer people are
actually reading the Bible.
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And what a tragedy it is,
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because I know full well
that the Bible is not at all
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what the skeptics
are telling you it is.
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I know what happens for people
who take this book seriously.
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Look, I've lived
with the scriptures
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and I've lived
without the scriptures,
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and I've got to tell
you, there's no going back.
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And if this book is
everything that it claims to be,
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well, obviously you'd
be a fool to ignore it.
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So where exactly
did the Bible come from?
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Well, according to Paul,
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one of the most
prolific authors in the Bible,
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this is a collection of writings
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that began with God Himself.
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Here's what he wrote in
his second letter to Timothy.
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He said, "All
scripture is breathed out by God
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and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction,
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and for training
in righteousness,
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that the man of
God may be complete,
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equipped for every good work."
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Now, a lot of Bible
translations will say
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that the scripture
is inspired by God,
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which is why you'll
hear Christians talking about
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the inspiration of the Bible.
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The word that Paul actually
used in Greek is "theopneustos,"
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which literally
means "God breathed."
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So the version we just
read is a good translation
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when it tells us that scripture
is breathed out by God.
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Peter describes
that process like this.
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He says,
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"For no prophecy was ever
produced by the will of man,
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but men spoke from God
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as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit."
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So the content of the Bible
originates with God Himself,
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who inspired people to
write out His thoughts.
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And as they did that,
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they often wrote those
thoughts in their own words,
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which is why scholars can
spot different writing styles
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throughout the Bible.
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And you'll notice there
are large portions of the Bible
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where the writer really
is taking dictation from God,
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recording the words that
God is speaking verbatim.
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But outside of
those specific passages,
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the Bible writers
communicated God's thoughts
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in their own language.
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In some cases, you'll find
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that God actually prepared
these writers for the job
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even before they were born,
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like He did with
the prophet Jeremiah.
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I mean, just listen to this
at the head of Jeremiah's book.
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This is Jeremiah 1 in
verse four, and it says,
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"Now the word of the
Lord came to me, saying,
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'Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you,
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and before you were
born I consecrated you;
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I appointed you a
prophet to the nations.'"
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Now, what you
and I call the Bible,
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this single volume
bound between two covers,
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well, that single volume is
a relatively recent invention
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because for the longest time,
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the Bible was really
a collection of books,
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a collection of sacred writings
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contained in different scrolls,
and it was only later on
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that we bound them
together in book form,
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the form that you are used to,
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which scholars
would call a codex.
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A codex is a book
as we understand it,
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leaves of paper folded
over and bound together.
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The codex was a huge
technological advance over the
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scroll, which was
kind of difficult to use
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because you sometimes
had to unroll a lot of scroll
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before you could find the
passage you were looking for.
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Notice the description of Jesus
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reading in the
synagogue on Sabbath
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found on Luke
chapter four where it says,
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"And the scroll of the
prophet Isaiah was given to Him.
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He unrolled the scroll
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and found the place
where it was written."
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And then Jesus goes
on to read a portion
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from the book of Isaiah
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that actually predicts
His Messianic ministry.
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The codex, however, was
a far more convenient way
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to preserve sacred writings.
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As opposed to the
scroll, it was more portable
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and it was easy to
navigate your way through it.
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In fact, most of the early
Christian scripture collections
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were books about the size of
a modern-day paperback novel,
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about six inches high,
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so they were really easy
to slip into your luggage.
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And once the
printing press was invented
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more than a
thousand years later,
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codices, that's
the plural of codex,
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they became
very easy to produce.
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The ancient Jews used
scrolls to make copies
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of the Old Testament scriptures.
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Christians started
to use codices or books
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just about from the beginning.
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From the second century onward,
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almost all Christian writings
were produced in codex form,
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and a lot of these were
actually collections of books,
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say, a few of Paul's
letters bound together
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or maybe just the four gospels.
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But then as time moved along,
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we started to bind all
of the sacred books together
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in a single volume
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the way that you and I
experience the Bible today,
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although I've
noticed a recent publication
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from one Bible publisher
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that has all the books as
single volumes in a box set,
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and I'll admit that was
more than I could resist,
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so I bought that one.
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Now, in this series,
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we're still going to have to
eventually answer the question,
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how did we come to the decision
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that certain books were biblical
and other books were not?
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Now, that's a much longer
story than many people think
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because, well,
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the Bible didn't just
drop out of the sky one day,
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fully formed, ready to go.
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The Bible was formed gradually
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over a period of
about 1,500 years.
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The first five books date
back to the time of Moses,
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and today we know them as
the Torah or the Pentitude,
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and they've pretty much always
been considered canonical,
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which means we recognize
them as being authoritative
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and inspired by God.
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They are pretty much universally
recognized as scripture.
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Now, we know for sure that
while Moses likely authored
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the vast majority of those
first five books of the Bible,
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he couldn't have written the
very last part of Deuteronomy
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because, well, that
describes his death and burial.
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Obviously, the
Israelite community had someone
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complete the story by
adding those last few verses,
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and traditionally we think
it was Joshua, Moses' successor,
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which brings up a
really important point.
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While God
clearly used individuals
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to write the books of the Bible,
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the Bible is also the
product of a community.
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It's divinely
inspired, but at the same time,
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it has been somewhat shaped
by communities of human beings
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who were being guided
by the Holy Spirit of God.
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All right, it's time for
a short commercial break,
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and I hope you'll take advantage
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of what the good folks
at The Voice of Prophecy
00:08:47.86\00:08:49.82
are about to show you.
00:08:49.82\00:08:51.36
And I'll be
right back after this.
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[upbeat music]
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[soft music] - Life
can throw a lot at us.
00:08:56.63\00:08:59.73
Sometimes we don't
have all the answers,
00:08:59.73\00:09:02.07
but that's where
the Bible comes in.
00:09:02.07\00:09:05.07
It's our guide to a
more fulfilling life.
00:09:05.07\00:09:07.98
Here at The Voice of Prophecy,
00:09:07.98\00:09:09.78
we've created the
Discover Bible guides
00:09:09.78\00:09:12.28
to be your guide to the Bible.
00:09:12.28\00:09:13.88
They're designed to
be simple, easy to use,
00:09:13.88\00:09:16.42
and provide answers to many
of life's toughest questions,
00:09:16.42\00:09:19.42
and they're absolutely free.
00:09:19.42\00:09:21.42
So jump online
now or give us a call
00:09:21.42\00:09:23.76
and start your
journey of discovery.
00:09:23.76\00:09:26.76
- Before the break,
00:09:26.76\00:09:28.16
we were starting to talk
about the Old Testament canon,
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and I mentioned how
the scriptures were formed
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in a community of believers.
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God revealed
Himself to a covenant people
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and they were
inspired to share his thoughts
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by committing them to paper,
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or to be more
accurate, parchment.
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Parchment was actually
made from animal hides,
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and when we
discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls
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in the middle of
the 20th century,
00:09:49.38\00:09:51.45
something like 90% of them
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were written on
parchment or vellum.
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Normally, that kind of material
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wouldn't have survived that long
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because it's organic material,
00:09:59.63\00:10:01.53
but these scrolls
survived for thousands of years
00:10:01.53\00:10:05.23
because they were
placed in sealed clay jars
00:10:05.23\00:10:07.70
in a very arid desert climate.
00:10:07.70\00:10:10.07
So we kinda lucked
out and against all odds,
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we found them roughly 2,000
years after they were written.
00:10:12.57\00:10:17.01
The books of Moses or the Torah
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were always regarded as sacred,
00:10:19.45\00:10:22.08
and they had a special
place in the tabernacle
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that marked them as
being inspired by God Himself.
00:10:24.22\00:10:27.82
Deuteronomy 31 tells us
that these inspired books
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were actually kept
inside the most holy place,
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the innermost
compartment of the sanctuary.
00:10:34.13\00:10:37.27
Some scholars think
they were actually kept
00:10:37.27\00:10:39.13
inside the Ark of the Covenant,
00:10:39.13\00:10:41.04
while others and
people like me believe
00:10:41.04\00:10:43.30
they were kept by
the side of the ark.
00:10:43.30\00:10:46.31
This all happened at the time
00:10:46.31\00:10:48.31
when God was visibly
present with His people,
00:10:48.31\00:10:50.41
leading them across the
wilderness as a cloud by day
00:10:50.41\00:10:53.08
and a pillar of fire by night.
00:10:53.08\00:10:55.52
When the children of
Israel pitched their camp,
00:10:55.52\00:10:57.89
that cloud would descend
into the most holy place,
00:10:57.89\00:11:01.26
where the presence of
God would literally dwell
00:11:01.26\00:11:04.26
between the cherub on the
top of the Ark of the Covenant.
00:11:04.26\00:11:07.93
From that spot, God
would communicate with Moses
00:11:07.93\00:11:10.70
and Moses recorded
the evergreen material,
00:11:10.70\00:11:13.47
the stuff that would
affect every generation
00:11:13.47\00:11:16.07
in the books of the law,
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or the Torah, as
it's come to be known.
00:11:17.91\00:11:20.91
In addition to the Torah, the
Hebrew scriptures also include
00:11:20.91\00:11:24.71
the prophets and the writings.
00:11:24.71\00:11:27.58
So now we have three
divisions of scripture,
00:11:27.58\00:11:30.05
the Torah, the
prophets, and the writings.
00:11:30.05\00:11:33.52
In Hebrew, these
three divisions are called
00:11:33.52\00:11:35.69
the Torah, the
Nevi'im, and the Ketuvim.
00:11:35.69\00:11:38.93
When you take the first
syllable of all three words
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and you mash them together,
you get the word "Tenakh,"
00:11:41.50\00:11:44.97
which
eventually became shorthand
00:11:44.97\00:11:46.84
for the entire Hebrew Bible.
00:11:46.84\00:11:49.27
Now, if you pick up a
copy of the Hebrew scriptures
00:11:49.27\00:11:53.34
like this one,
00:11:53.34\00:11:55.11
Christians will find
something really interesting
00:11:55.11\00:11:56.91
in the table of contents.
00:11:56.91\00:11:58.81
This has all the same books
as the Christian Old Testament,
00:11:58.81\00:12:02.05
but they're arranged
in a different order.
00:12:02.05\00:12:04.45
In later years, Christians
rearranged the books in order
00:12:04.45\00:12:07.32
to have the prophetic
books like Micah and Malachi
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come right
before Matthew's gospel
00:12:10.46\00:12:12.56
so it would be
obvious to the readers
00:12:12.56\00:12:14.50
that Jesus was the fulfillment
of the Messianic promise,
00:12:14.50\00:12:18.33
but the Jewish scriptures
arranged them quite differently
00:12:18.33\00:12:21.97
so that Ezra and
Nehemiah come near the end
00:12:21.97\00:12:24.74
and the final word
in this entire book
00:12:24.74\00:12:27.21
is First and Second Chronicles.
00:12:27.21\00:12:29.91
That way, the scriptures
end with the sack of Jerusalem,
00:12:29.91\00:12:33.15
the story of the
Babylonian captivity,
00:12:33.15\00:12:35.28
and then a very brief mention
of the Persian general Cyrus,
00:12:35.28\00:12:38.72
who liberated the Jews
and allowed them to go home
00:12:38.72\00:12:41.16
to rebuild the Holy
City and the temple.
00:12:41.16\00:12:44.86
Now, obviously those
parts of the story were written
00:12:44.86\00:12:47.66
after the Babylonian captivity,
00:12:47.66\00:12:49.70
and so you can
see that the process
00:12:49.70\00:12:51.93
of putting together a collection
of authoritative holy books
00:12:51.93\00:12:55.47
actually took a
lot of generations.
00:12:55.47\00:12:57.97
Now, some scholars
dispute what I'm about to say
00:12:57.97\00:13:01.08
and with good reason,
but a lot of people believed
00:13:01.08\00:13:04.11
that the Hebrew
canon was finalized
00:13:04.11\00:13:06.55
at the Rabbinic
Council at Jamnia
00:13:06.55\00:13:09.12
near the end of the first
century, in about A.D. 90,
00:13:09.12\00:13:12.39
after the destruction
of the second temple.
00:13:12.39\00:13:15.02
The theory suggests that
this happened as a response
00:13:15.02\00:13:17.63
to the appearance of a
brand new Jewish offshoot,
00:13:17.63\00:13:20.50
which was the Christians.
00:13:20.50\00:13:22.43
Suddenly they needed to define
00:13:22.43\00:13:24.37
what constituted
real Jewish belief
00:13:24.37\00:13:26.67
in very definitive terms,
00:13:26.67\00:13:28.37
so they produced
the Old Testament canon.
00:13:28.37\00:13:31.47
But in recent years, this
theory has lost some ground.
00:13:31.47\00:13:34.14
And the famous 20th
century Bible scholar F.F. Bruce
00:13:34.14\00:13:37.28
has said that it
is probably unwise
00:13:37.28\00:13:39.81
to talk as if there were a
council or synod of Jamnia,
00:13:39.81\00:13:42.85
which laid down the limits
of the Old Testament canon.
00:13:42.85\00:13:46.49
But still, I want to draw
your attention to this idea
00:13:46.49\00:13:49.92
because it
highlights something important.
00:13:49.92\00:13:52.63
If that council
really did finalize a list
00:13:52.63\00:13:55.73
of canonical books, they
weren't creating a canon.
00:13:55.73\00:13:59.53
They were recognizing
something that already existed.
00:13:59.53\00:14:02.84
And that's a really
important distinction
00:14:02.84\00:14:05.07
because the way that secular
historians tell the story
00:14:05.07\00:14:08.01
of Christianity, they say
it was the faith community,
00:14:08.01\00:14:10.88
the church who created the Bible
00:14:10.88\00:14:12.91
without any need for
God to intervene at all.
00:14:12.91\00:14:15.82
In other words,
according to those folks,
00:14:15.82\00:14:17.92
the Bible is a
purely human document,
00:14:17.92\00:14:20.32
and it only became authoritative
because we decided it was.
00:14:20.32\00:14:24.76
But among people of
faith, including me,
00:14:24.76\00:14:27.83
we recognized that
God inspired these books,
00:14:27.83\00:14:30.50
and then we
recognized those inspired books
00:14:30.50\00:14:33.27
in a finalized canonical list.
00:14:33.27\00:14:36.47
In other words, we
didn't invent the New Testament.
00:14:36.47\00:14:38.87
We recognized it.
00:14:38.87\00:14:40.64
Of course, getting
back to the Hebrew canon,
00:14:40.64\00:14:43.41
it was really
important to make a distinction
00:14:43.41\00:14:45.38
between inspired
and non-inspired books
00:14:45.38\00:14:48.45
because the 39
books of the Old Testament
00:14:48.45\00:14:51.39
were by no means the only
treasured writings of the day.
00:14:51.39\00:14:54.69
There were other books
like First and Second Maccabees,
00:14:54.69\00:14:57.46
which told the story
of Israel's deliverance
00:14:57.46\00:14:59.73
from Greek oppression.
00:14:59.73\00:15:01.46
And we had other
important documents as well.
00:15:01.46\00:15:03.83
They were very important books,
00:15:03.83\00:15:06.47
and I honestly believe everybody
probably should read them
00:15:06.47\00:15:09.60
because of the
historical context they give
00:15:09.60\00:15:12.47
for the scriptures.
00:15:12.47\00:15:13.91
But these books were never
recognized as divinely inspired.
00:15:13.91\00:15:17.45
Why?
00:15:17.45\00:15:18.68
Well, for starters,
they were written in Greek,
00:15:18.68\00:15:20.78
and the Jews rejected the notion
00:15:20.78\00:15:22.45
that God could inspire books
00:15:22.45\00:15:23.82
in anything but
the Hebrew language.
00:15:23.82\00:15:26.22
But there were
other issues as well.
00:15:26.22\00:15:28.69
The books of the Maccabees
were simply written too late
00:15:28.69\00:15:32.06
to be considered scripture.
00:15:32.06\00:15:34.73
Other
non-inspired historical books
00:15:34.73\00:15:37.00
largely had the same problem.
00:15:37.00\00:15:38.63
And Christians have noticed
that Jesus never, ever quoted
00:15:38.63\00:15:41.27
from any of these
apocryphal writings.
00:15:41.27\00:15:44.31
That's probably
because in places,
00:15:44.31\00:15:46.34
they openly
contradict the teachings
00:15:46.34\00:15:48.61
of the well-established
scriptural books.
00:15:48.61\00:15:51.48
In modern times, there
are Christian traditions
00:15:51.48\00:15:53.62
that have reintroduced
these apocryphal books
00:15:53.62\00:15:56.02
into the Old Testament,
but it's important to note
00:15:56.02\00:15:58.89
that the Jews never accepted
any of these as scripture.
00:15:58.89\00:16:02.76
I remember as a new believer,
00:16:02.76\00:16:04.89
being confused about
all these extra books
00:16:04.89\00:16:06.90
and portions of books
00:16:06.90\00:16:08.30
that appeared in some
editions of the Bible.
00:16:08.30\00:16:10.40
And I was curious to
know if maybe Protestants
00:16:10.40\00:16:12.80
hadn't made a mistake by
not accepting these books.
00:16:12.80\00:16:16.24
Fortunately, though,
I'm a pretty avid reader,
00:16:16.24\00:16:19.04
and I read through the works
00:16:19.04\00:16:20.51
of the famous Jewish historian
Josephus really early on.
00:16:20.51\00:16:24.48
Josephus was
born at about the time
00:16:24.48\00:16:27.05
when the early Christian church
00:16:27.05\00:16:28.45
was making its
presence felt, and at one point,
00:16:28.45\00:16:31.42
he provides us
with a list of the books
00:16:31.42\00:16:33.19
the Jews
considered authoritative.
00:16:33.19\00:16:35.86
Here's what he said.
00:16:35.86\00:16:37.33
"For we have not an innumerable
multitude of books among us,
00:16:37.33\00:16:40.96
disagreeing from and
contradicting one another
00:16:40.96\00:16:43.40
as the Greeks
have, but only 22 books,
00:16:43.40\00:16:46.70
which contain the
records of all the past times;
00:16:46.70\00:16:49.00
which are justly
believed to be divine;
00:16:49.00\00:16:51.31
and of them, five belong to
Moses, which contain his laws,
00:16:51.31\00:16:54.81
and the traditions of the origin
of mankind till his death."
00:16:54.81\00:16:59.25
Now, of course, the Hebrew
Bible that we have is 39 books,
00:16:59.25\00:17:02.82
and Josephus only mentioned 22.
00:17:02.82\00:17:04.95
That's because back in his day,
00:17:04.95\00:17:06.79
some of the books were
combined with each other,
00:17:06.79\00:17:08.56
like First and
Second Chronicles.
00:17:08.56\00:17:10.66
Lamentations and
Jeremiah were lumped together,
00:17:10.66\00:17:13.29
and so were Judges and Ruth.
00:17:13.29\00:17:15.70
It's exactly the same material
00:17:15.70\00:17:17.50
as the 39 books that we
have in the Old Testament,
00:17:17.50\00:17:20.27
just arranged a
little differently,
00:17:20.27\00:17:22.87
but the fact is the
Hebrew community never accepted
00:17:22.87\00:17:26.84
the apocryphal books
as divinely inspired.
00:17:26.84\00:17:29.34
Important? Sure.
00:17:29.34\00:17:30.85
Informative and
inspirational? Yeah, absolutely.
00:17:30.85\00:17:34.95
But they were never considered
00:17:34.95\00:17:36.25
to be a part of the
inspired scriptures,
00:17:36.25\00:17:38.75
and honestly, nobody really did
00:17:38.75\00:17:40.62
until the Council of
Trent in the 16th century,
00:17:40.62\00:17:43.86
when the Church of Rome included
these apocryphal writings
00:17:43.86\00:17:46.23
in order to defend ideas that
the Protestants were disputing
00:17:46.23\00:17:49.80
like the doctrine of purgatory.
00:17:49.80\00:17:52.47
And at some point, we'll
get to that story as well,
00:17:52.47\00:17:55.40
but right now it's time
for another quick break.
00:17:55.40\00:17:57.71
So I'll be
right back after this.
00:17:57.71\00:17:59.54
[upbeat music]
00:17:59.54\00:18:02.91
[upbeat music]
00:18:02.91\00:18:04.15
- [Narrator] Here at
The Voice of Prophecy,
00:18:04.15\00:18:05.61
we're committed to
creating top-quality programming
00:18:05.61\00:18:07.25
for the whole family,
00:18:07.25\00:18:08.72
like our audio adventure
series, Discovery Mountain.
00:18:08.72\00:18:11.45
Discovery Mountain
is a Bible-based program
00:18:11.45\00:18:14.39
for kids of all
ages and backgrounds.
00:18:14.39\00:18:16.73
Your family will enjoy
the faith-building stories
00:18:16.73\00:18:19.46
from this small
mountain summer camp pen town.
00:18:19.46\00:18:22.03
With 24 seasonal
episodes every year
00:18:22.03\00:18:24.80
and fresh content every week,
00:18:24.80\00:18:26.94
there's always a new
adventure just on the horizon.
00:18:26.94\00:18:30.21
- And we're back.
00:18:33.21\00:18:34.38
And today we're
doing part of a series
00:18:34.38\00:18:35.98
on the origins of the Bible,
00:18:35.98\00:18:37.75
and I think there's
probably a pretty good chance
00:18:37.75\00:18:39.78
I'm gonna skip around
through history a little bit,
00:18:39.78\00:18:42.02
sometimes looking at the
earliest formation of the canon
00:18:42.02\00:18:44.92
and other times exploring
the story of various Bibles
00:18:44.92\00:18:47.96
that had a real impact
on the Christian community.
00:18:47.96\00:18:51.39
So I'm hoping
you'll be patient with me
00:18:51.39\00:18:53.19
if we kind of do
things out of order sometimes.
00:18:53.19\00:18:55.56
In fact, knowing me,
there's a good chance
00:18:55.56\00:18:58.07
we'll even drop the
series at some point
00:18:58.07\00:18:59.83
and then come back
to it in the future.
00:18:59.83\00:19:02.27
One of the big ideas
that's important to understand
00:19:02.27\00:19:05.44
is that the
creation of the Bible
00:19:05.44\00:19:07.18
was a collaborative effort.
00:19:07.18\00:19:08.88
It all began with God.
00:19:08.88\00:19:11.08
He inspired the prophets
00:19:11.08\00:19:12.51
to convey His
thoughts to the people,
00:19:12.51\00:19:14.92
thoughts that had
universal application
00:19:14.92\00:19:17.59
and would prove to be important
00:19:17.59\00:19:18.89
to every
generation of believers.
00:19:18.89\00:19:21.66
What that means is
that there was human agency
00:19:21.66\00:19:25.16
in the creation
of the scriptures.
00:19:25.16\00:19:27.10
The church
didn't invent the Bible
00:19:27.10\00:19:28.76
the way that some
secular scholars suggest.
00:19:28.76\00:19:31.47
We merely recognized it.
00:19:31.47\00:19:33.97
Among our Jewish cousins,
there was a sizable effort
00:19:33.97\00:19:36.17
to keep the scriptures intact
from generation to generation.
00:19:36.17\00:19:41.01
They went out of their
way to prevent tampering
00:19:41.01\00:19:43.71
or even simple copy mistakes.
00:19:43.71\00:19:46.38
When you look at
some of the older scrolls,
00:19:46.38\00:19:48.38
you'll find a note
at the end of each book,
00:19:48.38\00:19:51.02
sometimes listing
the number of words
00:19:51.02\00:19:53.02
that are supposed
to be in that book,
00:19:53.02\00:19:54.79
or maybe mentioning the word
00:19:54.79\00:19:56.56
that's supposed to be in
the very middle of the book
00:19:56.56\00:19:58.96
so that readers can
check the copyist's work.
00:19:58.96\00:20:03.16
The scribes who
produced copy after copy
00:20:03.16\00:20:06.30
of these important books
00:20:06.30\00:20:07.54
knew that this book
was the voice of God,
00:20:07.54\00:20:10.64
and even one tiny
mistake could change the meaning
00:20:10.64\00:20:13.11
of an entire verse.
00:20:13.11\00:20:15.21
Jesus kind of referred
to that level of vigilance
00:20:15.21\00:20:17.88
when He told His disciples
00:20:17.88\00:20:19.65
that the moral law
of God is permanent.
00:20:19.65\00:20:22.25
You might remember that He
said, "For truly, I say to you,
00:20:22.25\00:20:25.45
until heaven and earth pass
away, not an iota, not a dot,
00:20:25.45\00:20:30.16
will pass from the law
until all is accomplished."
00:20:30.16\00:20:33.60
Now, the iota and the dot
00:20:33.60\00:20:36.26
were tiny little
markings made by scribes
00:20:36.26\00:20:39.23
and they represented the
finer details of the text.
00:20:39.23\00:20:42.67
Jesus said that those
could never be changed,
00:20:42.67\00:20:45.41
and it kind of reminds
us of the incredible care
00:20:45.41\00:20:48.01
that the covenant community took
00:20:48.01\00:20:50.15
when it came to
preserving those sacred texts.
00:20:50.15\00:20:53.35
If you made a
mistake in the small stuff,
00:20:53.35\00:20:56.02
you might
inadvertently change the meaning
00:20:56.02\00:20:58.35
of an entire sentence,
00:20:58.35\00:20:59.85
and they knew that must
never be allowed to happen.
00:20:59.85\00:21:03.36
Now, that doesn't mean
the scribes never ever made a
00:21:03.36\00:21:07.13
mistake because, well, they did.
00:21:07.13\00:21:08.53
We know they
did, but fortunately,
00:21:08.53\00:21:11.17
the Jewish community
was incredibly careful.
00:21:11.17\00:21:14.64
And because we have so
much manuscript evidence,
00:21:14.64\00:21:17.74
any mistakes that made it
into the various manuscripts
00:21:17.74\00:21:20.98
are actually
really easy to spot.
00:21:20.98\00:21:23.28
And when we
discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls
00:21:23.28\00:21:25.41
back in the 1940s, we also
found the entire book of Isaiah,
00:21:25.41\00:21:30.32
and much to the
skeptics' surprise,
00:21:30.32\00:21:32.55
the book of Isaiah that we have
today is virtually identical
00:21:32.55\00:21:36.42
to the ancient
copy we found in a cave.
00:21:36.42\00:21:39.16
In other words, the text
has been faithfully preserved
00:21:39.16\00:21:43.06
thanks to the
diligence of scribes
00:21:43.06\00:21:44.90
who knew they were
handling the word of God.
00:21:44.90\00:21:48.54
Now, that's hardly doing justice
00:21:48.54\00:21:50.17
to the birth of
the Old Testament canon
00:21:50.17\00:21:52.11
because there are all
kinds of fascinating stories
00:21:52.11\00:21:55.11
about the people who
preserved these important books.
00:21:55.11\00:21:58.65
But what I'm trying to
accomplish with this series
00:21:58.65\00:22:01.02
is just a really quick overview,
00:22:01.02\00:22:03.08
and eventually we'll talk about
00:22:03.08\00:22:04.45
the birth of the New
Testament canon as well,
00:22:04.45\00:22:07.32
and we're gonna spend
more time talking about that
00:22:07.32\00:22:09.96
because the New
Testament actually has
00:22:09.96\00:22:12.49
a lot more detractors.
00:22:12.49\00:22:14.46
The canon of the Old
Testament is pretty much settled
00:22:14.46\00:22:17.00
in the minds of most
people, but in recent years,
00:22:17.00\00:22:20.14
the canon of the New Testament
has been coming under fire.
00:22:20.14\00:22:24.11
You'll remember
that in our last episode,
00:22:24.11\00:22:26.68
we touched on the
historical fiction of Dan Brown,
00:22:26.68\00:22:29.74
who suggested that
the Council of Nicaea
00:22:29.74\00:22:32.15
actually chose the four
gospels that we have today.
00:22:32.15\00:22:35.35
Even secular historians know
that Dan Brown made that up,
00:22:35.35\00:22:39.82
or at least he was repeating
00:22:39.82\00:22:41.39
really sketchy
conspiracy theories.
00:22:41.39\00:22:43.93
But still, there
are more questions
00:22:43.93\00:22:46.43
we should probably examine,
00:22:46.43\00:22:48.13
like the reappearance of
the so-called Gnostic gospels
00:22:48.13\00:22:51.90
in the 20th century,
books like the Gospel of Thomas.
00:22:51.90\00:22:56.44
There are people who
would like you to believe
00:22:56.44\00:22:58.44
that those books were
suppressed by the church
00:22:58.44\00:23:01.34
for political reasons.
00:23:01.34\00:23:02.51
And so in time, on some show,
00:23:02.51\00:23:04.85
we'll probably take
a closer look at that.
00:23:04.85\00:23:07.62
But for now, I
just want to underline
00:23:07.62\00:23:10.05
one really important idea.
00:23:10.05\00:23:12.59
The scriptures were
born in a faith community.
00:23:12.59\00:23:16.12
They did not
appear in isolation.
00:23:16.12\00:23:17.83
They didn't drop out of the sky.
00:23:17.83\00:23:20.10
They were produced by a covenant
community of God's people
00:23:20.10\00:23:23.73
who were inspired by God Himself
to write these documents.
00:23:23.73\00:23:28.47
So the Bible, in some ways,
00:23:28.47\00:23:29.77
is just a little
bit like Jesus Himself.
00:23:29.77\00:23:32.57
The Bible calls Christ the Word,
00:23:32.57\00:23:34.81
and of course, we also
call the Bible God's Word.
00:23:34.81\00:23:38.61
Jesus was fully
human and fully divine
00:23:38.61\00:23:41.45
at the very same time,
00:23:41.45\00:23:43.22
and it turns out that's the
case with the Bible as well.
00:23:43.22\00:23:46.86
It's an infallible document,
00:23:46.86\00:23:49.46
which means that
it's never wrong,
00:23:49.46\00:23:51.53
but at the same time,
it's a very human document,
00:23:51.53\00:23:54.30
which only makes
sense because, well,
00:23:54.30\00:23:56.36
it was penned by human beings
inspired by God to write it.
00:23:56.36\00:24:00.67
You can see their personalities,
00:24:00.67\00:24:02.67
their individual writing
styles shining through the text,
00:24:02.67\00:24:05.74
but that doesn't make the
Bible a purely human document.
00:24:05.74\00:24:09.41
And this is where I park
company with secular historians.
00:24:09.41\00:24:12.91
The Bible was
produced in a community,
00:24:12.91\00:24:15.65
but not really
by that community.
00:24:15.65\00:24:17.92
And that's a really
important concept because, well,
00:24:17.92\00:24:20.86
it actually explains
one of the key differences
00:24:20.86\00:24:23.19
between the way
that Roman Catholic
00:24:23.19\00:24:24.86
and Protestant
Christians understand the origin
00:24:24.86\00:24:28.30
and the role of the scriptures.
00:24:28.30\00:24:30.97
All right, it's time
for one last quick break,
00:24:30.97\00:24:33.17
but I'll be right back
after this to wrap things up.
00:24:33.17\00:24:36.44
[upbeat music]
00:24:36.44\00:24:39.34
- [Narrator] Dragons,
beasts, cryptic statues.
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Bible prophecy can be
incredibly vivid and confusing.
00:24:43.65\00:24:48.18
If you've ever read
"Daniel - A Revelation"
00:24:48.18\00:24:50.92
and come away scratching
your head, you are not alone.
00:24:50.92\00:24:53.56
Our free Focus on
Prophecy guides are designed
00:24:53.56\00:24:56.86
to help you unlock
the mysteries of the Bible
00:24:56.86\00:24:59.09
and deepen your understanding
00:24:59.09\00:25:00.70
of God's plan for
you and our world.
00:25:00.70\00:25:03.16
Study online or
request them by mail
00:25:03.16\00:25:05.60
and start bringing
prophecy into focus today.
00:25:05.60\00:25:09.20
- Fortunately,
there's not much doubt
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about the Old Testament books
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that the Jews
considered to be holy.
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Their list of
canonical books was settled
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by the time the
Christian church was born,
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and what you'll
find in the New Testament
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is an awful lot of reverence
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for those Old
Testament scriptures.
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Jesus quoted from them regularly
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and even told us that
"Scripture cannot be broken."
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And when you get
to the Book of Acts,
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you find the disciples
preaching from the Old Testament
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in order to demonstrate
that Jesus really was
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the fulfillment of
Messianic prophecy.
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And of course,
Paul's letters do the same.
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They repeatedly
quote the Old Testament.
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He builds his
arguments on the authority
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of those Hebrew scriptures.
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Now, of course, our
Jewish cousins wouldn't call it
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the Old Testament, but just
the scriptures because, well,
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they don't
acknowledge the New Testament.
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In recent years, there's
been this half-hearted attempt
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to rename the Old Testament
to recognize that fact.
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So some people
have taken to calling it
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the First Testament instead,
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but the habits of many centuries
are really hard to change,
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so that never really took root.
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Today, some Christians assume
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that we call it
the Old Testament
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because it's somehow defunct
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and they treat it like an
old car or an old sweater,
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as if it's time
to throw it away.
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But it's really
important to understand
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how that terminology was born.
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It wasn't talking
about the book itself,
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it was talking
about the covenant.
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In the first 39
books of the Bible,
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we have God making a
covenant with His chosen people,
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and of course, as
fallen human beings,
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they actually
failed to live up to that.
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Then in the new covenant,
Jesus becomes one of us
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and keeps our end
of the bargain for us.
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It's still the same covenant,
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but now God Himself has kept
both sides of the agreement,
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His side and ours.
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As the New Testament
church began to write
00:26:57.48\00:26:59.38
what they knew about Christ,
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their writings
quickly became very important
00:27:00.88\00:27:03.22
to the early believers.
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In fact, at one point,
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the Apostle Peter even
calls Paul's writings scripture
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when he complained that they
were really hard to understand.
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You'll find that in 2 Peter 3,
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where Peter tells the believers
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that false teachers
were twisting Paul's writings
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like they were
twisting other scriptures.
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This appears to
contradict some modern scholars
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who say the church
came up with the idea
00:27:24.17\00:27:26.21
of a New Testament cannon
hundreds of years after Christ.
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But the internal evidence
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that we actually
find in these writings
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suggests pretty strongly
that the church recognized
00:27:33.48\00:27:36.58
the New Testament as
it was being written.
00:27:36.58\00:27:40.76
And now I'm
completely out of time.
00:27:40.76\00:27:43.53
But before I sign off,
00:27:43.53\00:27:45.06
let me encourage you to head
on over to biblestudies.com,
00:27:45.06\00:27:47.36
where you'll find
all the material you need
00:27:47.36\00:27:49.70
to really ground
yourself in the Bible
00:27:49.70\00:27:51.80
and begin to understand it.
00:27:51.80\00:27:53.60
We've got courses
that will carry you through
00:27:53.60\00:27:55.20
all the major
themes of scripture,
00:27:55.20\00:27:57.21
as well as courses
that focus on prophecy
00:27:57.21\00:27:59.84
like "Daniel - A Revelation,"
and you can't beat the price
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because generous donors
have made this available to you.
00:28:02.98\00:28:06.92
Thanks for joining me today.
00:28:06.92\00:28:08.42
I'm Shawn Boonstra,
00:28:08.42\00:28:09.92
and this has been
another episode of "Authentic."
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[upbeat music]
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[upbeat music continues]
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