How We Got Our Bible Lesson 1: Background

1. What language was used to write the Bible?

a. Hebrew – bold, simple, straight forward, beautiful.

b. Greek – exact, expressive, minute colors.

• Originally thought “Holy Ghost language.”

• Koine Greek is common everyday language. This made the Word of God immediately available to all

c. Chaldeans, parts of Daniel.

2. What was the original manuscript called? Autographs.

3. Why do we not have the original manuscripts?

a. Roman Emperors destroyed them.

b. Lost due to wear and tear.

c. Like relics, they would have been venerated and worshipped.

d. Early churches kept copies because the message was more important than the vehicle.

4. Some books written on the skins of young animals called parchment. Rolled into a scroll. Expensive.

5. Some books written on papyrus made from reeds (II John 12 and III John 13). Word for paper.

6. A codex was a collection of papyrus sheets sewn together into a book with pages and a spine. Not rolled.

7. Some New Testament books were handwritten, “See how large a letter I have written to you with my own hand” (Gal. 6:11). Some books were actually scribed by an amanuensis, i.e., secretary. Author signed it to authenticate it. “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand; which is the token in every epistle, so I write” (II Thess. 3:17).

8. Collection. By the time II Peter was written there was a collection of all Paul’s letters in one spot. “Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you . . . in all his epistles . . . as also the rest of Scripture” (II Peter 3:15-16).

9. The word Ta Biblia is the word for Bible, the collection of all the New Testament books into a whole.

10. Why were the New Testament books gathered into Ta Biblia?

a. Because the Old Testament was gathered into 39 books.

b. Because they were written by apostles, everyone wanted a copy.

c. The content was about Jesus Christ.

d. As apostles died, everyone wanted an authoritative record.

e. Churches used them in public worship. “I charge you by the Lord, that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren” (I Thess. 5:27).

f. The growth of false doctrine needed authoritative answers.

g. The arrival of apocryphal books made people want authoritative books.

h. Dioclesian ordered the destruction of sacred books (303), forced Christians to catalogue and hide them.

11. New Testament books remained in the possession of the addressee.

12. Churches met in great homes of the wealthy (villas) that usually had a library, where the New Testament manuscripts were kept. Slaves called Scribes copied manuscripts for their masters. They took or went to copy books from other churches. “Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea” (Col. 4:16).

13. From what sources do we get our Bible?

a. Uncials, manuscripts written in capital letters dating back to 200 A.D.

b. Minucles, manuscripts written in lower case letters.

c. Patristics, we have the entire New Testament quoted by a multitude of church fathers.

d. Lexionaries, books of scripture used in public worship like our responsive reading.

e. Ostra, broken pieces of pottery on which people wrote everyday memos, lists, etc. We have the whole Bible collected from garbage dumps where the scriptures were used in everyday life.

f. The Vulgate, the Latin translation from Greek manuscripts.

14. What sources do we have?

a. 5,000 total Greek manuscripts

b. 13,000 portions of manuscripts

c. 8,000 copies of original Latin Vulgates

d. 1,000 copies of other original translations

e. Ostra

f. Patristic quotations

g. Lexionaries. A total of 40,000 sources

15. What sources of contemporary writings?

a. Plato, 10 copies.

b. Aristotle, 5 copies.

c. Pliny, 7 copies.

d. Euripides, 9 copies.

16. It is wrongly assumed the greater number of copies, the greater likelihood of error. The opposite is true. The greater number of copies, the more precision is required.

17. In both the Old Testament and New Testament there were canon criteria. These were word count formulas to determine accuracy of every word and every letter.

18. What does the above mean to me?

a. I can have confidence that I am holding in my hand God’s Word.

b. That a perfect God would give His people a perfect book, and protect it against imperfections of message and methods of communication to us.

c. I can trust the message of the Bible, it will not mislead me.

d. I expect those who reject God’s standards and hate God’s control of their life will attempt to deny the Bible and discredit its authority over them.

e. Since the Bible is God’s message, I must consider it as the greatest and only authoritative guide for my life.