THE GREAT DIVIDE - PART 2
“The Bible: Is it Credible?”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 & 2 Peter 1:20-21
INTRODUCTION: (:22 video intro)
This book is, without a doubt, the most popular book in history. Last week we talked about the novel, The Da Vinci Code and mentioned that it was one of the most popular novels ever. Well, let’s compare.. The Da Vinci Code was the #1 best selling novel for 26 weeks. The Bible is the #1 best selling book of all time. The Da Vinci Code has sold over 60 million copies in 3 years. The Bible sells 30-60 million copies every year! The Da Vinci Code has been translated into 44 languages. The Bible has been translated into over 1800 languages! The Da Vinci Code has challenged people’s view of renaissance history, the Bible has challenged people to view and change their personal history! What is it about this book that would cause people to rethink their lifestyles, change their values and actually risk their lives to get it to others? Why is this book so popular and influential? Well, as we continue in our series, The Great Divide, we come to a book that has caused great division among people. Some say it is the very Word of God, others say it is a man made myth and some say it’s just good children stories. So, this morning we want to ask the question: Is the Bible credible? Since it’s a book that elicits such strong feelings let’s look at it’s content, how it came to be, whether or not it’s a trustworthy document and most importantly - what kind of difference it could make to our daily lives.
I. THE BIBLE: WHAT IS IT?
No matter your personal opinion of the Bible, all of us can agree it is a unique book. The Bible is actually not one book but a library of books. It is 66 books in all with 39 books making up the O.T. and 27 books making up the N.T. Sometimes people will try to read it like a novel. That works okay through the first few books but when you get to say, Leviticus, you can really get bogged down! But when taken as a library of books, bound in one volume, it makes more sense.
Now, don’t get the idea that these are disjointed books without any line of logic or theme. There is an incredible unity in the Bible that we will talk about in a moment. But for now just realize how unique this book is. It was written over a span of 1500 years, by 40 different authors from every walk of life. It was written by Kings, servants, fisherman, poets, doctors, herdsman and even a first century IRS agent. They wrote on three different continents (Europe, Asia, Africa) in 16 different countries and in three different languages. (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek.) We’ve already seen it’s long standing popularity, but it’s also the most hated book in history. Time and time again people have tried to wipe it out of existence. Noted French Philosopher & skeptic Votaire died in 1778. Before he died he said, “Within 100 years the Bible will be a forgotten book.” When Voltaire died they auctioned off his home and it was purchased for the headquarters of: the French Bible Society! The Bible has outlived all of it’s pallbearers. Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said, “Heaven and earth will disappear but words will remain forever.”(Mt. 24:35 NLT)
What kind of book is this that has outlasted and outsold every other book? Well, whenever you are trying to discover the content and authenticity of a document you first look at what the writings say about itself. If you wanted to know what kind of book you had found in an old bookstore you would look at what the contents and writings told you about itself. You’d know if it started “Once upon a time,” that you would be reading a work of fiction, if it said “the historical account of..” you know the author meant it to be non-fiction. Well, the Bible is a document that is pretty clear about it’s purpose. Over 400 times in the O.T. alone you see the phrase, “Thus saith the Lord,” or “God says...” You don’t have to read very far to understand that the authors of this book believed that the Bible was God’s words to human beings. Look at our two printed texts. 2 Tim. 3:16-17: “Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. 17Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”(Mge) Obviously this author is convinced that all scripture, not part, but every part of the Bible is given by God. And he’s not alone. 2 Pt. 1:20-21- “Understand this first, that no one can explain the written Word of God as he likes, because it never was the will of a human being that brought us God’s Word, but the Holy Spirit moved holy men to write what God told them.”(NTTL) According to Peter this book was written by men, with their styles and personalities evident but God made sure they wrote what He wanted in this book. Now, you can say you don’t believe it, you can say you won’t accept it but you can’t deny what this book says about itself. If we try to refute that, it’s like saying that Abraham Lincoln, when he wrote the Gettysburg address in 1863 and said, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” did not believe that our nation was started in 1776 by people who wanted equality. It’s clear that he believed that from his first paragraph. It is just as clear that those who wrote the Bible believed, beyond any doubt, that this book was and is from God. That’s what it says about itself.
II. THE BIBLE: HOW DID WE GET IT?
So, how did we get this book? Any historical document must have someone or someones compile and preserve it. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years and was compiled and preserved by people who believed it to be a special book, God’s Word and so therefore guarded it’s integrity with their lives. From research we know each author of each book and we know the approximate date of each book from dating procedures of documents found much the same way we know the Gettysburg address was written by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. But how were these books accepted over others? We will talk about reliability and credibility in a moment but first I just want you to understand how our bible came to be.
The books of the Bible we have today are known as the Canon. The word Canon simply means “standard” or “rule.” In classical Greek it carried with it the meaning of “carpenter’s rule.” In other words these books are the accepted standard. But how were they accepted and who accepted them? The books that we have in the Bible were accepted through a process, first by Jewish rabbi’s and scholars for the Old Testament and then by early Christians and church fathers for the New Testament. There was hardly any controversy over the Canon of the Old Testament. By Jesus’ time there was nearly universal acceptance of what we now have. The N.T. books were accepted as inspired by early church historians based on at least two criteria: (1) Whether or not the books were written by chosen followers of Jesus (apostles) or by those who were closely connected to these chosen followers. And secondly, how close to Jesus’ life, in terms of date, were these writings written? Those books that were not written by apostles and not written within 30-70 years of Jesus’ life were considered religious but not on the same level as the canonized books.
Recently there has been much talk, a lot of it due to The Da Vinci Code, about such writings as The Gospel of Phillip, The Gospel of Judas and The Gospel of Mary. Well, all these writings are dated some 300 years after Jesus’ life. They are the writings of an early sect or cult upon which most scholars believe are related to and are at the core of, the eastern mysticism and new age thinking that we have today. In fact, Gnosticism was beginning to be attacked by the apostle John in his letters that we call 1,2, 3rd John. I don’t want to get too deep into this but suffice it to say that we have received our Bible from scholars and leaders who placed each book through a rigorous test as to it’s reliability. And for people of faith it’s really quite simple. If you believe that the Bible is given to us by God, it’s really easy to accept that the same God who made sure it was written right, would make sure it had the correct books.
But what about today’s translations? Is it possible that by the time the Bible got to us in English that it was all messed up? All mainstream translations of the Bible are done by a team of scholars who used the oldest manuscripts possible, of Hebrew for the O.T. and Greek for the N.T.. If you have a translation it will usually have several pages in the front telling you who translated it and what documents they used.
But the reliability of the documents that chronicle Jesus’ life and the process by which we have our Bible, the Canon, are accepted by every serious Biblical scholar. Let me let several “experts” chime in here.
{Video clip “Bible Reliability” Mpeg - From Da Vinci Code Deception = 3:50}
III. THE BIBLE: CAN WE TRUST IT?
That’s a good transition to our next question. Can we trust the Bible we have? Well, let me give you two evidences that I think answer this important question.
(1) The internal evidence. There are several impressive factors from the Bible itself that makes a great case for the Bible’s reliability. First is it’s unity. This book was written over 1500 years by 40 different authors on 3 different continents and yet it has a unified theme throughout. The theme is simply this: God created man, man broke his relationship with God through sin and God offers reconciliation to man through Jesus Christ. That’s it. In fact one man wrote: “The Bible is a unified story of how God worked throughout history to restore His relationship the human race. Read it cover to cover and you will find: One ultimate hero: Jesus; One ultimate villain: Satan; One ultimate problem: sin; and one ultimate purpose: Salvation.” (Todd Hudnall)
Just think of it. Let’s say we bring up one controversial subject, let’s say, the war in Iraq and all of us in this room were to write a couple of pages on that subject - do you think we’d have total unity in our opinions? No! Yet the Bible, written by 40 authors, with various backgrounds, living in diverse places, spoke with perfect unity on a broad range of controversial topics. Doesn’t every design have a designer?
Then there is the prophecy in the Bible that has come true. Dr. Peter Stoner, Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, wrote a book entitled Science Speaks, (Moody Press, 1969, P.109) in which he wrote about the law of "compound probability" in reference to just 8 of the 50 prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ’s birth. He said that the odds of one man accidently fulfilling 8 of these detailed prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That’s 1 with 17 zero’s after it. I don’t know how you say that number but it’s huge! And that’s just the odds about the prophecies concerning Jesus’ birth!
Plus, there are a number of historical discoveries that make the Bible credible. The Bible is not a scientific book, but the Bible is scientifically accurate. For example, the roundness of the earth is talked about in Isa. 40:22, gravity in Job 26:7, the uncountable number of stars in Jer 33:22. All these concepts were in the Bible long before science discovered them.
And the external evidence is quite impressive also. Integrity of any historical document is based on the number of documents we have to examine. Here’s how the Bible stacks up to some other ancient manuscripts. For Plato’s writings we have 7 documents. Aristotle’s writings we have 49 documents and no one asks questions about them. Homer’s Iliad has 647 documents. But the Bible has the most. What would you guess? (Ask) The O.T. has 14,000 documents and the N.T. has 24,000 documents to refer to. And are these documents reliable? Take the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947. There they found portions of every O.T. book except Esther and the book of Isaiah was found in it’s entirety. Now these parchments date back to 300 - 500 years before Christ. But the difference between the 2000 year old scroll of Isaiah, and the Bible that we have today? The difference is: six words! And that is attributed to spelling differences! The Bible can be textually trusted and with finds like the Dead Sea Scrolls we see time honoring this book.
And archeology has helped show that the Bible is reliable. There are many finds that I could mention but for time sake let me just mention a couple. The name Pilate was said to be a figment of the Gospel writer’s imagination. There was no historical record of the famous Governor who gave the go ahead for Jesus’ crucifixion. Then, in 1961 a helicopter was flying down the coast of Israel and noticed a strange circle in the sand. That led to an excavation of an entire city named Caesarea Philippi and a magnificent amphitheater. On the walls of that amphitheater was a plaque dedicating it to the man who built it: Pontias Pilate, Governor of Judea. There are places that for years were only told about in the Bible, like the city of Nineveh or the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Skeptics believed they never existed. Until Ninevah was excavated in 1854 and Sodom and Gomorrah were found in the late 1980’s. How did they know they were Sodom and Gomorrah? The top layer of each city was covered in ash.. Burned to the ground leaving only the basements and underground structures.. Just like Genesis 19 says.
For those who wish to openly and objectively investigate there is ample evidence to believe what the authors say.. That this is the Word of God.
IV. THE BIBLE: WHAT DOES IT MATTER?
But the most important question we can ask about the Bible is what does all that matter? Even if the Bible is God’s love letter what difference does that make to me?
{Video Clip: Walk The Line - Start: Chp. 2:2:36 - Chp. 2:4:43 - 2:07}
Johnny Cash’s brother is right. If we are going to know the right things, if we are going to tell the right things then we need to know this book. Because this book makes all the difference in the world!
(1) That makes the Bible essential for salvation. There is no greater value. 1 Peter 1:23 reads, "For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God."(NLT) Now, you might ask, "How does that work? I thought it was Jesus Christ that saves?" Well, Jesus is the one who saves you. The Bible however, is the source of our knowledge of Jesus and His saving power. The Bible is the channel that God uses to bring us to Jesus.
(2) The Bible is also essential because it increases our faith. Romans 10:17 says, "Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God."(NKJ)The more you know about God through His Word the more you learn to trust Him.
(3) The Bible is essential for providing authoritative answers for life. What authority do you accept for your life or like our opening video asked: What do you believe in? How do you make decisions on what is right and wrong? Is it as some say: "Oh, I choose what is right by how it feels to me. If it feels right, then I do it." Of course the problem with that is that there may be an enormous difference between what you feel is right and what I feel is right. Maybe I feel like it’s okay to beat you to a pulp if you disagree with me? You say, "Oh, no, that’s wrong." Why? If feelings are our authority than all of us have the right to act as we feel. Maybe you say you choose your authority by what is culturally acceptable at the time. Living together before marriage must be okay. Why? Because it is accepted by society, "everybody is doing it." But 100% of the people believing in the wrong thing simply makes 100% of the people wrong. Isn’t that virtually what happened in WWII Germany? So choosing an authority for your life is critical, but what do you use? Well, as a Church we encourage you to choose the Bible as your ultimate authority. The Bible has all the answers for life. From it you can find timeless answers to raising kids, improving your marriage, managing your emotions, handling your money, experiencing forgiveness and finding fulfillment in life. It is credible, reliable and useful.. For “showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us...”
So, start reading it today! Just a couple of “easy” suggestions as we close. Get an easy, readable translation. I suggest the New Living or New International. In fact, if you don’t have a Bible you are welcome to one in our lobby, a NLT. Start in an easy place. Read the Gospel of Mark or John. They tell about the life of Jesus. Then go to the book of James, often called the “Blue Jean” book of the bible because it’s so practical. Read an easy amount. It’s best to read a “section” of a chapter and then ask yourself - “What has this got to do with me?” But start reading it and decide for yourself what many of us have come to know. This book is exactly as 2 Tim. 3:16 says it is... “God breathed and useful...” in every way.
*Resources:
DVD - The Da Vinci Code Deception produced by Grizzly Adams Productions
Sermons from Sermon Central: How Reliable Is the Bible? by Todd Hudnall
Books: How we got our Bible by Dr. Chuck Missler
Web sites: www.bibleprobe.com - Dead Sea Scrolls
{Scripture quoted from Holy Bible, translation as noted}
