P13 Why the Bible is the Word of God: Is The Book of Mormon also the Word of God?

Joseph Smith, 
founder of Mormonism
2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (ESV)

2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."

Introduction:

In this series we have been focusing on answering various questions surround the subject of "why the Bible". Up to this point we have been exploring the claims of scripture, its authority, it reliability and as we saw yesterday, why it is the basis for all true preaching. Thus far we have been addressing this subject as it is typically raised by either believers inside the church or those skeptics who claim to have no religious affiliation whatsoever. Today's post deals with the very important area of why the Bible, and no other book, is God's Word. 

In the above opening verses, we see the scriptures being described by the ESV as "breathed out by God" or rendered by other English versions as "inspired by God". We also see in the above verses the warning given of increasing counterfeits and heresies that will oppose the Gospel and which Timothy and subsequent generations of Christians have dealt with and will continue to battle. Both verses together express the reality of the Bible's uniqueness as God's Word and other wanna-be pretenders attempting to pass off as the truth. 

In our day and age, the Bible is not the only book in the world claiming to be the word of God or as a collection of writings revealed by God.  It is one thing to make the claim of something being revealed from God, and quite another to make good on such claims. In today's post we will be consider one such book that claims to be a book revealed from God - the Book of Mormon. In the course of our investigation, we will put forth a valid test for determining the claims of Divine revelation and inspiration of a given book. 

Testing the claims of Divine revelation and inspiration for any written document

To remind the reader of what we mean by the terms "revelation" and "inspiration", revelation refers to the event and process by which God makes known to people that which was previously unknown; whereas inspiration is the Divinely enabled work of putting that information into writing. Three areas can be used to test the claims of any document, namely: accuracy about the past, accuracy about the future and what it has to say about God. The first two areas are measurable by standard methods of science and history, and the third area follows from the results of the first two tests. In other words, if a given document claiming divine revelation from a given deity is shown to exhibit miraculous qualities such as predicting events beyond the date of the original prophecy, then the reality of the given Deity is demonstrated. 

Moreover, if the same document gives accurate details of events that were prior to the date of the author or which are contemporary to their day and past to our own, then the reliability of the document is confirmed and thus the reality of the Deity giving the information is confirmed. Philosophers such as Richard Swinburne have laid out similar such tests as the ones outlined above and such tests are mentioned in the philosophical literature that deals specifically with such matters. The Bible itself lays out the three tests in two main texts:

1. Is the past accurately described. Isaiah 41:21-22a

2. Is the future accurately predicted. Isaiah 41:22b-23

3. What does the book have to say about God. Deuteronomy 18:18-22

A quick history of the Book of Mormon and its main point

According to Mormon accounts, the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, had journeyed into a wooded grove in a rural area of New York in 1820. The then young Joseph Smith had grown disillusioned with the churches in and around New York, and so he went into the woods to gather his thoughts and to pray. According to the story, God the Father and the Son both appeared to Smith in bodily form, claiming that all the churches has apostasized, and that he need not join any of them. 

In  a copy of the Book of Mormon that I own, we read what happened later on to Smith on September 21, 1823: "While I was thus in the act of calling upon God, I discovered a light appearing in my room, which continued to increase until the room was lighter than at noonday, when immediately a personage appeared at my bedside, standing in the air, for his feet did not touch the floor." This alleged heavenly visitor was an angel by the name of Moroni, who told Smith of a set of golden plates that were deposited in a secret place. Written upon the plates of gold was an alleged history of the Jews migrating to the Americas and various appearances of Jesus to them. The angel then told Smith that with the plates were two stones, the "Urim and Thummim" that could be used to translate the golden plates. 

As one reads on down through Smith's testimony, he claims in 1827 to have found the golden plates and begins dictating the revelation on them to one of the chief witnesses attested in Mormon history, Oliver Cowdery. In every copy of the Book of Mormon, the reader can view a written testimony by Cowdery and two other men (David Whitmer and Martin Harris) as having seen the alleged plates. 

So with the revelation of the plates in 1827, Joseph Smith gains alleged insights and claimed visitations from Biblical figures as John the Baptist, Peter, James and John about how Smith was to restore the Levitical and Melchizedekian priesthoods. As Smith's movement picks up momentum and followers, the group moves from New York to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839. The group splinters and 600 followers go with Bringham Young to Utah in the 1840's. By 1850, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" is formed to become one of the largest religious movements in the world.

To summarize the Book of Mormon itself, an introductory section in one edition of the book reads: "The Book of Mormon is comprised of fifteen main parts or divisions, known with one exception as books, each designated by the name of its principal author. Of these, the first six books, namely, First Nephi, Second Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni, are translations from the Smaller Plates of Nephi. Between the books of Omni and Mosiah, we find 'The Words of Mormon', connecting the record of Nephi, connecting the record of Nephi, as engraved in the smaller plates, with Mormon's abridgment of the Larger Plates for the periods following." 

Mormon had been, according to Mormon historians, a prophet of long ago who had a son, Moroni. Moroni was the one who allegedly appeared to Joseph Smith in angelic form and relayed to him the revelation of the Book of Mormon. The storyline is about how the Jews fled from Jerusalem in 587 b.c, crossed the ocean to the Americas and thus became the ancestors of two Indian tribes and their subsequent lives from 600 B.C to 400 A.D. The Book of Mormon retells the alleged post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to these peoples in America and how Joseph Smith and the Latter Day Saints are restorers of the lost message of Jesus and his followers.  

How does the Book of Mormon perform under the three tests of accuracy about the past, future and God?

In the edition of the Book of Mormon that I own, there are 524 pages of texts which average out to less than 295,000 words or roughly twice as large as the average New Testament. The above storyline and testimony of Joseph Smith makes some big claims of Divine inspiration. We could certainly detail the highly controversial history of Joseph Smith himself, but that will have to remain for another post. What we want to know is whether or nor the Book of Mormon is the Word of God like the Bible. To test these claims, we can note the following three tests as already outlined above:

1. Is the past accurately described. Isaiah 41:21-22a

Isaiah 41:22-22a states - "Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
22 Let them bring them, and tell us
what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome." Despite the numerous peoples and place names mentioned in the Book of Mormon, there is not one archaeological or geographical confirmation of evidence. Conspicuously absent from the Book of Mormon are maps of any of the locations mentioned in the book or in any of Joseph's Smith's other writings. For example, on the Mormon's official website, one can actually view what are called "The Joseph Smith Papers", where Smith identified Daviess County, Missouri as the place where Adam blessed his posterity after he had fled from the Garden of Eden. No (reputable) archaeological evidence nor map (produced outside the context of Mormon scholarship) can trace the connection between the ground in Daviess County, Missouri to the Garden of Eden in the Fertile Crescent near the Euphrates River Valley on the other side of the globe!

When you look in a Bible, there is always accompanying maps that one can use to trace the journeys of Abraham or the ministry journeys of Jesus or Paul. However, whenever you look at the Book of Mormon, there are no maps, indicating that there is no evidence of any migration of Jews from Israel to America nor any of the details of lost tribes as recorded in the Book of Mormon. The Bible on the other hand has hundreds of confirmations of its historical details in both archaeology and geography. When the Bible has been used to reconstruct history, it has always been accurate. So on this test, the Book of Mormon is shown wanting.

2. Is the future accurately predicted. Isaiah 41:22b-23

We read in Isaiah 41:22b-23   "or declare to us the things to come.23 Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified." Having read the Book of Mormon in times past, as well as information from scholars who have studied the book in detail, the test is failed in the fact that not one example of fulfilled prophecy can be found. In the accompanying volumes to the Book of Mormon (the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine & Covenants), there is no example of fulfilled prophecy. 

When we turn to the Bible on the other hand, we find literally dozens and hundreds of examples of fulfilled prophecy in history. In past posts we have witnessed how the prophecies concerning Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28, Israel's time table in Daniel 9:23-27 and Jesus' prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 24 are verified fulfilled in history. Jewish Historians such as Flavius Josephus, Roman Historians such as Tactius and Greek Historians such as Herodotus can be consulted to cross check the historical and prophetic fulfillment of these Biblical prophecies and others. 

3. What does the book have to say about God. Deuteronomy 18:18-22

So far we have subjected the Book of Mormon to two tests of accuracy in matters of the past and fulfilled prophecy and have found it wanting. The Bible on the other hand consistently passes such tests with robust and numerous examples. As we had noted earlier, whichever document passes the first two tests in its claims to Divine inspiration necessarily demonstrates the reality of the Deity claiming to both reveal and inspire its contents.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3 states - “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." 

The God of the Bible is first of all One in existence. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 43:10-11). Secondly, the God of the Bible is Three in identity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Matt 28:18-20; 1 Cor 8:6; 2 Cor 13:14) Thirdly, this One God, existing as Three Persons, has revealed His words and purposes in the Bible alone. (Exodus 24:4; Isaiah 41:22; Luke 24:44; 1 Tiim 5:18; 1 Cor 15:3-4; 2 Pet 3:16; Matt 16:18; John 1:1)

Even if we relax the requirements of passing the first two tests on the Book of Mormon, the question is: does the Book of Mormon describe the same God as the origin of its words as the Bible does for its contents? Joseph Smith himself is quoted as saying the following: "I am going to tell you how God came to be a God. We have imagined that God was a God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil. He was once a man like us. Yea, that God himself, the father, dwelled on earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did. (Teachings of Joseph Smith). In an edition of the KJV Bible issued forth by the Latter Day Saints, the definition for God in the accompanying Bible dictionary reads accordingly: "From latter day revelation we learn that the Father and the Son have tangible bodies, and that the Holy ghost is a personage of spirit without flesh and bone." (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22-23)

So is Joseph Smith a true prophet? Is his teachings and the Book of Mormon a book of God the same as the Bible? The Old and New Testaments teach that God in the Person of the Father does not have a body of flesh and bones, but is a Spirit (John 4:24) and is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2). The Person of the Son shares in the same nature with the Father and is not a separate God or exalted being as taught in Mormonism. Moreover, only the Son came and incarnated Himself in human flesh (Philippians 2:5-11) and thus is deemed God in human flesh (John 1:14). Thirdly, along with the Holy Spirit, the Father and Son exist as One God from all eternity (Psalm 90:2) in contrast to Joseph Smith's denial of God's eternality. So on that score we would have to say Joseph Smith is not a true prophet. 

This brief survey of comparing the Bible and the Book of Mormon and other Mormon literature reveals two different deities spoken by the Bible vs the Book of Mormon. The Bible has been shown consistent in its claims to be the Word of God, and thus the Deity revealed in its pages is the True and Living God. The deity spoken of in the Book of Mormon cannot be the true and living God nor then, can the Book of Mormon be a revealed book worthy of the title: "Word of God".

Conclusion:
Today's post aimed to discover whether the Book of Mormon, with its claims of being the Word of God as revealed to Joseph Smith, is worthy of such claims. Three tests were put forth to evaluate the claims of both the Bible and the Book of Mormon as revealed, Divinely inspired pieces of literature:

1. Is the past accurately described. Isaiah 41:21-22a

2. Is the future accurately predicted. Isaiah 41:22b-23

3. What does the book have to say about God. Deuteronomy 18:18-22

In all three tests, the Book of Mormon and Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith, failed to demonstrate either claims to Divine inspiration or prophethood. The Bible on the other hand consistently passed all three tests and thus demonstrated itself to be the only Divinely revealed and inspired Book. Hence, the Bible alone is the Word of God. 

P12 - Why the Bible must the basis for preaching

2 Timothy 4:1-2 "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction."

Introduction:

I have in my office the above picture by artist Ron Dicianni hanging over my desk. When I look at that picture, it captures visually all that is being expressed in the key text of today's post. In this series we have labored to cover as much ground as possible in answer to the question: "why the Bible". We began this series by noting we need the Bible for the perilous times in which we live. We also considered why the Bible is authoritative, why the Bible is trustworthy in its text, why the Bible is God's Word and why the Bible is the foundation for the church and Christian living. 

Today's post will feature 2 Timothy 4:1-5 in which the Apostle Paul is urging young Timothy to "preach the Word". This text has a special meaning to me, since it was the text which God used in calling me to preach His Word over 23 years ago. Today's post is going to deal with the subject: "why the Bible is the basis for preaching". 

1. Divinely Commanded to Preach the Word. 2 Timothy 4:1-2
In 2 Timothy 4:1-2a the Apostle Paul writes: "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word....". Every pulpit and sanctuary in the world has an invisible balcony wherein the King of Kings is in attendance. The heavenly charge to preach the Word requires a Heavenly book with Divine authority. The preacher charged with this task is like the town crier: "Hear ye, hear ye what His Majesty the King has to say."

1 Timothy 5:20-21 reminds us of the preacher's calling, and how we need to exercise caution: "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in aspirit of partiality. 22 Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin." Preaching is not man's idea but God's Divine decreed method of calling sinners to repentance and saints to ongoing pursuit of Godliness. How then can the preacher fulfill the assignment placed upon his frail frame. Woe to preachers who rely only upon stories and opinions of the day - since such preaching will be death to the ears before it is every life to the heart. A Divine call demands a Divine Book - and that Book is the Bible. Everything that has been labored forth in this series has laid out the character, nature, inspiration, inerrancy and authority of the scriptures. The Divine command to preach the Word is the first reason why the Bible is the basis for preaching, but notice secondly....

2. Discernment necessary in preaching the Word. 2 Timothy 4:2
In 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul tells Timothy to preach the Word and to be ready in season and out of season. What is he saying? In effect, he is expressing the need to be ready all the time and more than that, to discern what the seasons are and to rely upon the only Book that can shine the appropriate light in otherwise dark places. People need a Word of God. The desperation of preaching is that lest the Spirit attends the preacher, the sermon will fail and fall to the ground. It was said of the prophet Samuel at the end of 1 Samuel 3 that God ensured that not one of his words would fall to the ground. 

In my 23 years of preaching God's Word, I have learned the necessity of discernment in preaching. A well-worn Bible that is marked from Genesis to Revelation is the sign that the preacher is equipped to bring God's mind to bear on any subject. The scriptures afterall are the only thing that can pierce soul and spirit and joints and marrow, thus discerning the innermost reaches of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) Biblical-based preaching must dig deeper before it can ever hope of reaching higher than the preacher's personality. My life experience is but a ladle used by God to dip out the unsounded riches and wisdom of God's Word. The Bible must be the basis for preaching because preaching is Divinely commanded and discernment is needed and...

3. Dangerous times need Biblical preaching. 2 Timothy 4:3
Paul writes these words in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 which aptly describes our day and age - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." What makes this age of ours so dangerous is how much in mass the church is selling-out in the name of being relevant and popular. I won't name the man nor the subject matter, but the other day I was watching a well-known preacher discussing how the church in America must stop relying upon 2,000 year old letter lest she become irrelevant. I know this man's message and have read his books and in as much as he had abandoned sound doctrine long ago, to abandon the Bible reveals how he is able to justify many of the positions he holds. 

The need of the age is not for less preaching, but more. However there is only one type of preaching that will effectively shine light through the thick darkness of our time - preaching based upon God's Book - the Bible. I write these words as a preacher who in many ways has only begun to preach. We need sermons with more, not less scripture and more, not less Christ. 

I recall years ago hearing a preacher state that the greatest danger faced by Noah in the Ark was not the storms on the outside but the woodpeckers on the inside! In our churches and pulpits is a cancer called Biblical illiteracy and an abandonment of Biblically based, Spirit-led preaching. Dangerous times need the pulpit to be the anchor of the ship, the rudder of the vessel that is not blown around by fads, fashion and fear. Notice one more reason why the Bible needs to be the basis for preaching...

4. Enduring ministries center on Biblical preaching. 2 Timothy 4:5
Notice what Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:5 "But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." Why would any preacher want to base their ministry on untested foundations when the one foundation that has endured millenia of scrutiny and countless attacks has been the Bible? The Bible is an anvil upon which uncounted hammers of doubt, criticism and opposition have bent and broken. Anyone who spends any length of time preaching God's Word knows first hand how high of a commodity endurance is to the man of God. Youthful enthusiasm and ambition runs out of fuel lately and just as soon one adopts the latest fad, it is already obsolete. Yet the Bible never fails!

Closing thoughts:
Today's post was all about answering the question: why the Bible must be the basis for preaching. In this post we discovered four such reasons from 2 Timothy 4:1-5:

1. Divine Command to Preach the Word. 2 Timothy 4:1-2

2. Discernment necessary in preaching the Word. 2 Timothy 4:2

3. Dangerous times need Biblical preaching. 2 Timothy 4:3

4. Enduring ministries center on Biblical preaching. 2 Timothy 4:5

P11 Why the Bible alone is the basis for the Christian and the church

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

Introduction:

For the past ten days we have labored to deal as practically, clearly and as comprehensively as possible with the question: "why the Bible?" Many readers may wonder why the length and effort. The prior posts we have looked at have dealt with the subject of "why the Bible" and could be summarized under the following three main headings:

1. Perilous times need the Bible

2. It is uniquely trustworthy because of its perfection, preservation and clarity

3. It demonstrates itself to be inspired by God through fulfilled prophecy

Such effort is worth the time and energy, since the battle for the Bible is never done. Today's post represents what is perhaps the "final turn" before heading down to the finish line of this series. Today we deal with issue of why it is that the Bible alone is the final authority for Christian living and the church.

How historically some people have equated or replaced scripture with other types of authority
Throughout the history of the church and the individual Christian life, the matter of authority is dealt with more often than we realize. The history of the church records how in some generations, other types of authority were elevated alongside the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, and even today, views church tradition as being on equal footing with the scripture. Eastern Orthodox Christianity will go as far to say that the Holy Spirit's living voice is realized through church history and appeal is made to the first seven ecumenical church councils along with the scripture. 

By the seventeenth century, many in Europe had been affected by the Enlightenment and thus enthroned reason alongside and eventually in place of the scriptures. By the eighteenth into the nineteenth centuries, experience came to be equated with the scriptures in terms of its ability to interpret truth. All of  this set the stage for the decline of the Bible's role in the Western world through the 20th and into the 21st centuries. 

Why the Christian and the church needs an ultimate, final authority
So is the Roman Catholic church and Eastern Orthodoxy correct in equating tradition as some type of "second divine stream" that reveals truth alongside the scriptures? What about those who enthrone reason, rather than scripture to the place of final authority? Certainly other people would bank on experience being the final arbiter of truth. Does tradition, experience and reason have a place in the church? Clearly these other forms of authority have their place, however they can be imperfect and are inadequate to deliver any sense of final authority. The logic we are driving at is that there can be only one authority that is without error, timeless and which has survived over 3,000 years unchanged - the Bible.

The uniqueness of the Bible's authority and the role it exercises in regulating and putting into perspective other types of authority is called by the Latin phrase: "sola scriptura" or "the Bible alone." The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 explains in the second half of its first article on the Bible: "Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation."

Jesus illustrates how tradition is secondary to the final authority of scripture
The truth of sola scriptura or "scripture as the final authority" is seen in how Jesus handles tradition. The scriptures being the final arbiter of all truth, with all other authorities playing second fiddle to the scripture, marks the Biblical model for authority in the church. Jesus warned about tradition being placed on equal footing or in place of the scriptures in Mark 7:8 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." Matthew 15:6 records Jesus saying: "he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition." 

So with the above warnings about tradition, was Jesus totally against tradition? Clearly Jesus put tradition in its place as a valuable but secondary method of expressing one's faith in the Lord. For example, the Jews had developed a tradition within the Biblically revealed Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (compare Leviticus 23:33-44) of taking water out of the pool of Siloam, with the seventh day entailing the priests bringing a golden pitcher filled with water from that pool in a public ceremony. Such a tradition was used by the Jews to remind them of God's provision in their desert wanderings. Jesus utilized that background as window dressing in his statement in John 7:37-38 "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” Though the tradition was used as window dressing, the core of Jesus' statement was an allusion to the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah 12; 44:3; 55:1 and 58:11. Clearly Jesus was governing His use of tradition by the ultimate authority of scripture. 

The apostles illustrate how experience is to be judged by the final authority of scripture
Oftentimes I will here people say that the reason they know something to be truth is because they "feel it". When we consider the events that transpired on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the Apostle Peter had a very important role of explaining the events in light of scripture. Acts 2:14-16 records - "But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel." Notice how Peter subordinates experience and events under the authority and clarity of the scriptures. His application of Joel's prophecy was not arbitrary, but very strategic and in the context of the Spirit's arrival at Pentecost. Imagine if Peter had reversed the roles of experience and scripture? We would not only had read a chaotic scene with no definitive explanation, but the reader would not be able to link the life of the early church to the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven in Acts 1. 

Reason is to be judged by the authority of scripture
Sadly some Christians think reason and faith are at odds with one another. However in response to that misunderstanding, I say: do friends need to be reconciled? We are told after all to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength in Matthew 22:37. Reason is necessary in the process of discerning good and evil, a true mark of spiritual maturity. (Hebrews 5:14) Within the context of Hebrews 5 we hasten to add that such reason is only useful as it is informed by scripture (compare Hebrews 5:12-13). Paul reminds his readers to take every thought, reasoning process and idea that raises itself up against Christ and bring it into subjection to Christ's authority in the Word. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) 

Closing thoughts on why the Bible alone is the basis for the Christian and the church
Today we have aimed in this post to show biblically why the scripture alone is authoritative over other secondary authorities such as reason, experience and tradition. When we place other sources of authority in their proper use and perspective as being judged by scripture, we match the model set forth by Jesus and the Apostles. Two quotes about the Bible being the basis for the church and Christian life will close out today's post. Theologian Dr. Michael Horton writes in his Systematic Theology: "The Christian Faith - A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way", page 198 - "Because God alone saves, God alone teaches and rules our faith and practice. Because the church is the creation of the Word rather than vice versa, 'salvation belongs to the Lord!' (Jonah 2:9). The late pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Dr. James Montgomery Boice, notes about the necessity of God's Word being the final basis for the Christian and the church in his book: "Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace", page 85 - "That is, it is the very Word of God and therefore carries within it the authority and very power of God. Yes, and it is useful too. It is useful for 'teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work' (2 Timothy 3:17). That is exactly it. That is what we need. It is what everybody needs. And only the Word of God is sufficient for it."

P10 Why the Bible? Proof of inspiration - Dr. John MacArthur illustrates how accurate the Bible is in its prophecy

Ezekiel 26:1-6 "Now in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,’ 3 therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God, ‘and she will become spoil for the nations. 6 Also her daughters who are on the mainland will be slain by the sword, and they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Introduction

Today's post features an extended explanation on God's prophecy of Tyre through the prophet Ezekiel. Why this prophecy? It gives the reader an opportunity to see firsthand how amazingly accurate the Bible is in historically verified fulfilled prophecy. To see prophecy fulfilled in history demonstrates the Divine inspiration of the scriptures. 

It wasn't long ago I heard a sermon by Bible teacher Dr. John MacArthur on the prophecy of Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28. His unfolding of it was so well done that I felt like what he said needed to be included in today's post. The excerpts quoted below is from a transcript of his sermon that can be found on his website "Grace to you" at: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/55-17/our-godbreathed-bible. The audio of this sermon by Dr. MacArthur can be heard at this link, also on his website at gty.org: http://webmedia.gty.org/sermons/High/55-17.mp3 

I encourage the reader to read the excerpt below and to see how accurate the Bible is in the things of prophecy and why it evidences the earmarks of Divine inspiration. 

Excerpt from Dr. John MacArthur's sermon: "Our God-Breathed Bible", where he describes the amazing prophecy of Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28
"The Bible is accurate on everything it talks about. It says, “He hangeth the earth on nothing.” Whether you’re talking about geology, geodesy meteorology, physiology, biology, anthropology, astronomy, hydrology – I don’t care what you’re talking about, when the Bible speaks, it’s accurate.

Then you look at things in the Bible like prophecy. For example, maybe we have time to show you at least one. Look at Ezekiel, chapter 28, and I’ll just give you this one insight, which is so great, to show you the accuracy of Scripture historically. Ezekiel 26-28. We’ll go back to 26. Here comes a prophecy to Ezekiel about the destruction of the city of Tyre. Tyre was a Phoenician stronghold. Tyre was a fairly significant city, large city, on the coast of Phoenicia, now known as Palestine. The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel in verse 2 of chapter 26 telling about the destruction of the place."

Dr. MacArthur then reads Ezekiel 26:2-14 in the sermon to set the text before the audience, and then delivers the following explanation:

"Now, that’s pretty detailed stuff, folks. I mean that is not some kind of general prophecy, very specific. This is a great Phoenician city. From the seventh century B.C., it controlled Phoenicia. It had strong walls. About 150 feet high was the wall. That’s very high. Fifteen feet thick, and it was flourishing when Joshua led Israel into Canaan. Hiram the first was its king. He helped David build the palace, and according to 1 Chronicles 22, he helped Solomon build the temple.

Three years after this prophecy was given, Nebuchadnezzar came and laid a 13-year siege on that city. See, they were walled cities, so all you had to do was if you couldn’t get in the city, you just cut off anything coming into the city, and they eventually starved. It took him 13 years from 585 to 573. Finally, the city surrendered because they were all dying. Nebuchadnezzar broke down the walls and the towers, destroyed the city, did every single thing Ezekiel said he would do. 

Dr. MacArthur goes on to make further remarks about Nebuchadnezzar's historic conquering of the city, but in effect the events transpired just as Ezekiel had predicted. MacArthur then transitions into talking about how the Greeks would be used by God to complete the process of fulfillment of this prophecy:

"The island then became the new city and it flourished for 250 years out on that island. Only part of the prophecy was fulfilled, the part about Nebuchadnezzar, the part about destroying the wall, smashing it down, slaughtering the people, not getting the spoil. But not all of it was yet complete. The ruins were still on the old site. The rubble was still there.

After 250 years, a 24-year-old guy came by the name of Alexander the Great. He had 33,000 infantrymen. He had 15,000 cavalry. He had just defeated the Persians, and he was on his way to Egypt. He needed supplies, so he came by the now island city of Tyre, and he sent word, “I want you to supply all of my men and all of my horses and all of my army,” and they said, “Forget it, buddy. You don’t have a navy and we’re on an island. We’re not going to help you at all.” He didn’t like that, and it wasn’t good to get Alexander mad. He didn’t have a fleet, so he decided he had to get a way to go to that island. So he did what Ezekiel, the prophet, said would be done. It said the place would be scraped bare as a rock and all of the rubble would be thrown into the sea.

Well, what conqueror in his right mind would ever do that? Why waste your time once you’ve conquered the place, picking up everything and throwing it in the ocean, all the stone and all the rest of it? But that’s exactly what had to happen, so Alexander did it. He took all of the debris and built a 2,000 foot long, 200 foot wide causeway all the way to the island with all the debris."

In the sermon Dr. MacArthur gives more details behind exactly how Alexander the Great went about conquering Tyre, again correlating the history with the prophecy. Dr. MacArthur proceeds onward:

"It took him seven months. He went in and murdered 8,000 people over a period of a few months. Executed 7,000 more, and sold 30,000 into slavery, and fulfilled every single detail of the prophecy. Though the city of Jerusalem has been rebuilt 17 times, Tyre has never been rebuilt. That’s exactly what God said. “You will be built no more.” You know what they do? Go there today. You’ll find out what they do. They dry fish nets there, just what it said. What’s the probability in that? About 1 in 75 million happening by chance."

As we close today's post, we will consider the closing remarks of Dr. MacArthur on this prophecy:

"So, when you see the Bible speak scientifically, geographically, historically, or whatever it is; it’s accurate. This is the Word of God, and what is the benefit of it? Let’s go back our original text and end up there, 2 Timothy 3. What’s the benefit of it? “All Scripture is inspired by God, profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be adequate, fully equipped for every good work.” What a tremendous thing!" 

P9 - Why the Bible is the only Trustworthy and Inerrant Word of God - reasons to trust it

2 Timothy 3:15-16 "and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."

Introduction:
As we continue on in this series "Why the Bible", we noted yesterday where this particular blogger comes from when it comes to teaching, preaching or writing about the Bible. In unfolding the doctrines of revelation and inspiration in that post, the stage was set for what we will be looking at today, namely reasons to trust the Bible as being the only trustworthy word of God. Today's post will consider three reasons why we can trust the Bible as the only trustworthy Word of God. Notice first of all that the Bible was/is....

1. Perfectly written (inerrant). 2 Timothy 3:15. 
When Paul wrote to Timothy regarding the "sacred" writings or scriptures, he was refering to their character as being "pure", "holy" or "set apart". In an earlier post in this series we explored at at length the meaning and significance of this term "sacred" and "holy". Paul in effect is saying that the Bible's authority as God's Word is due to the fact that is without error as originally revealed. That absolute quality as describing the original manuscripts or autographs is the base for the Bible's authority. Moreover, such authority carries on down the stream of every copy and translation that stays true to the wording of the originals. 

As scholar Dr. Wayne Grudem has noted in His Systematic Theology: “For most practical purposes, then, the current published scholarly texts of the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament are the same as the original manuscripts. Thus, when we say that the original manuscripts were inerrant, we are also implying that over 99 percent of the words in our present manuscripts are also inerrant, for they are exact copies of the originals. Furthermore, we know where the uncertain readings are (for where there are no textual variants we have no reason to expect faulty copying of the original).” So the Bible is the only trustworthy Word of God due to the fact it is perfectly written or without error, both in fact of its original production and inasmuch as the copies and translations are faithful to those words. But notice a second point....

2. Preserved down to today. 2 Tim 3:15. 
This closely related truth is significant, in that the words in our Bibles today are claiming to be the same as those originally written. When comparing all of the manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments, the tedious and technical science of textual criticism has aimed for the past two centuries to recover what the original wording would had been like, since we don't possess the original documents of the Old or New Testaments. 

Keeping all of these details in their proper perspective can enable specialists and non-specialists alike to avoid the extreme skepticism of those scholars that doubt the reliability of the Bible. Paper trails, whether in the world of banking, housing or Biblical studies gives evidence and proof of authenticity and reliability of the documentation. Even within the manuscripts themselves, as time went forward, the knowledge of variants between the manuscripts prompted scribes to preserve all of them. Why? To have a paper trail and to assert the belief that not one of God’s words had been lost in the copying process. Much like the paper money in wallet, whereby the one using it has confidence in the reliability of the money they use despite never having seen the original mint plates from whence they were made, such is the case with the Bible. We can trust that the inerrancy of scripture that originally made up the autographs of the Old and New Testament carries down in the doctrines, details and words preserved and faithfully translated in accords with those documents.

It always amazes this writer how easily skeptics will accept other writings of antiquity with no issue and yet level unwarranted criticism at the Old and New Testament writings. How does the Bible stack up in the time between its original production and copies, as well as the rate of accuracy? Dr. Randall Price, Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Liberty University, notes the following:

Author      Approx.     Earliest     Time     Number
                 Date           Copy        Span      Copies
                 Written
Caesar     100-44bc     900 ad     1000 yrs   10
Livy         59bc-17ad   350 ad      400 yrs     27
Plato       420-347bc   900 ad      1200 yrs   7
Thucydides  460-400bc  900 ad   1300 yrs    20
Tacticus      5-120 ad    1100 ad  1000 yrs    3
Suetonius   6-140 ad    950 ad     800 yrs    200+
Herodotus  484-425bc  1st cent.  400 yrs     75
Homer       900 bc        400 bc     500 yrs    643
New Test.  40-95 ad   100-150 ad  25-50 yrs 6800     
Concerning the rate of accuracy between the copies of ancient manuscripts, scholarship applauds if there is anything approaching 90%. All the non-biblical ancient manuscripts above never get higher than 90%. Yet the Hebrew Old Testament, having some 3,000 Hebrew copies plus translations, averages over 95% accuracy and the New Testament boasts an over 99% accuracy rate of copying among its 25,000 plus manuscripts and ancient translations. 

So with manuscripts with admitted differences between them, did that mean then that the Word of God itself, as well as its authority as the inerrant, infallible rule and standard of faith and practice cease to exist? Jesus didn't think so (Matthew 5:18; 24:39), nor the apostles (2 Timothy 3:15). The quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament stem from the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Moreover, of church history records statements by Christian leadersregarding how they viewed the Bibles of their day:

1. Clement of Rome: “The utterances of the Holy Ghost” (95 A.D)

2. Clement of Alexandria “Receive from God through the scriptures” (150-211 A.D)

3. Origen notes that the authorship of the Holy Spirit precludes mistakes of the human authors (185-250)

4. Irenaeus “Scripture is the perfection of God’s words” (200 A.D)

5. Polycarp “Scripture is the voice of the most high God” (65-155 A.D)

6. Tertullian “writings and words of God” (160-225 A.D)

7. Samuel Rutherford “Bible is surer than a direct oracle from heaven” (1600-1661)

8. Luther notes that the “scriptures are the throne upon which Christ presides over His church” (16th century)

9. Richard Baxter (1615-1691); Calvin (1483-1546); Knox (1509-1564); Wesley (1714-1770) all affirm this doctrine.


Like us today, the Christians and church throughout the centuries understood that they still had the words of God, even though they, like us, worked with copies or translations of the scriptures. This issue is peristently attacked today by extreme skeptics, and yet when compared to the evidence, there is no good reason to deny the trustworthiness of the Bible as God's Word when it comes to its perfect writing (inerrancy) nor it preservation. Now lets consider one final area... 


3. Clearly revealed to be understood (and thus lived out in our daily lives). 2 Tim 3:16. 
We have already explored in more depth in previous posts the exact meaning and significance of Divine inspiration. Inspiration refers to the writing down of God's revelation by the Prophets and Apostles. Inspiration tells the reader about the "event" of the production of sacred scripture, even though we are not privy to its exact details. (see 2 Peter 1:20-21) The word in 2 Timothy 3:16 that we are interested in today's post is the word translated "profitable". When something is profitable, it has within it the quality of being clearly understood as being so. This of course does not mean that all scripture will be as easy to understand as other scriptures. However, as the scripture is studied and as other scripture is brought to bear in shedding light on other portions, the meaning of the scripture will be made clear by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 1 John 2:20,27). As Paul lays out to Timothy the profitability or clear applicability of scripture:

1. For teaching, which tells me what is right

2. For reproof, to alert me when I'm not right

3. For correction, to show me how to get right

4. For training in righteousness, to show me how to stay right

Then 2 Timothy 3:17 notes - "so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." The word translated "equipped" refers to someone being "well put-together". Only a book that is made clear by the Holy Spirit and having been originally inspired by Him could perform all the functions explained in this post. 

Closing thoughts
Today we looked specifically as to why anyone should trust the Bible as the only Trustworthy Word of God. We labored to show three reasons:
1. Perfectly written
2. Preserved
3. Clearly revealed to be understood, and thus lived out in our daily lives

P8 Why the Bible alone is the trustworthy Word of God - What I teach

2 Timothy 3:15-16 "and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness."

Introduction:

I have so appreciated the reader's patience these last several days as we have been making our journey through this series I'm entitling "Why the Bible". Though it may appear at times we are unnecessarily diving into techinicalities, yet the reader needs to know why the Bible they have is the Word of God. Today's post is partially devoted to reviewing what we have covered thus far in this series and partially devoted to moving ahead. We want to bring into the discussion the specific issue of the Bible's inspiration and consider it in relationship to all that has been already covered. Perhaps more for this blogger than anyone else, the attempt is being made to lock into the heart and mind this vast but important area for the Christian - namely showing why the Bible alone is the trustworthy Word of God.

What I teach regularly when it comes to the revelation and inspiration of the Bible.

The doctrine of revelation has to do with God communicating His Word(s) to the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. Once that process began, the biblical authors, by the superintending work of the Holy Spirit, wrote down in each of their own writing styles the words of scripture by a process called "inspiration". Two chief texts provide the foundation for these two closely related truths of revelation and inspiration. 2 Peter 1:20-21 "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." The word underlined in Peter's text, "moved", refers to the manner in which a ship would had been borne or "moved" along by the wind. The second text is the one mentioned at the beginning of this post, 2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." The word translated "inspired" gives the idea of God "exhaling" his breath and words into the words that the prophets and apostles wrote. To borrow an illustration from Genesis 2:7, just as God breathed into the nostrils of Adam to make him a living soul, God breathed into the words of the scriptures to make them a living set of Divinely authoritative books. 

The very words in which the prophets and apostles wrote were superintended and preserved from error by the Holy Spirit. Consider this logical argument:

1. God cannot lie nor speak error when he reveals information (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18-20). 

2. The Person of the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:17)

3. The Person of the Holy Spirit is credited as being the primary author and revealer of the words written down by the prophets and apostles. (1Peter 1:10-11; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

4. Hence the Bible is the Word of God, without error.

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BFM 2000) is the particular doctrinal statement to which I subscribe and does a very good job in summarizing the entire teaching of the Bible as God's Word. Here is what it says: "The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation." Within the BFM 2000 article on scripture, the following scriptures are listed that show from whence this statement is derived: Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89,105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39;16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16ff.; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21. 

The reader can refer to these verses and see firsthand that the Bible has to say for itself in regards to its Divine inspiration and authority. This is what this blogger teaches, preaches and proclaims every week and also undergirds the entirety of this blogsite. Tomorrow we will continue consideration of the Bible alone being the trustworthy Word of God. To God be the glory. 

P7 Why the Bible? The trustworthiness of the words in the Biblical text

2 Timothy 3:15 "and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

Introduction:
So when we read the words above, are we reading the same words that Paul wrote in the first century? For that matter, did Paul even write those words, or was 2 Timothy the product of another author writing at a later time? Such questions, believe it or not, are hotly contested in the world of New Testament studies. Not much time will be spent in addressing the second question, since authorship issues (called in Biblical studies "higher criticism", which is concerned with authorship and development of the document itself) is not the focus of today's post. 1

The particular matter of which we are concerned about has to do with the very words of the Bible itself. Establishing whether or not the text of our English Bibles, other translations and ancient copies of the Hebrew and Greek originals are the same as those originals is of huge importance for the Christian. Why? If the Bible from whence I preach and teach and from whence Christians do daily devotions and memorize is not the wording and message that the original documents composed by the Prophets and Apostles, then the whole discussion over the Bible being God's word is a moot point. However, the aim of today's post is to demonstrate that the words originally given by God and in turn written by the prophets and apostles have been preserved in all the copies and translations. This matter deals in the area of the trustworthiness of the Biblical text or the specific area of lower or textual criticism. 

A quick tour of how we got our Bibles from original writing to modern day translations
To avoid getting too bogged down in technical details and to make this post as useable as possible to a wider audience, I will divide the history of how we got our Bibles into three stages.

Stage One: Revelation and inspiration 
The Old Testament books were written in whole or in part by different authors originally in Hebrew and a few chapters in Aramaic over a period of 1,000 years. Moses wrote the Pentateuch (first five books) in 1446-1406 b.c with Malachi penning the last Old Testament book in 396 b.c. Dr. Robert Jeffress, Pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas, mentions the following verses that proclaim the divine revelation and writing down or inspiration of the Bible: Exodus 20:1; Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 1:1-2; Psalm 95:7b-8; Hebrews 3:7; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Matthew 19:4-5; Matthew 24:39; Matthew 22:31-32).2

Stage Two: Transmission (copying) 
The ancient Hebrew in which those documents would had been written may had looked something like the below figure:

Hebrew is a language that reads right to left and as seen in the above example, the text would had been continuous with no breaks in between the words. After the Jews went into exile in Babylon in 586 b.c, they adopted the Babylonian language of Aramaic and its lettering style, which in turn took the ancient Hebrew lettering (called paleo-Hebrew) and made it look more like the below figure with what is called "Aramaic Square Script".
 A fragment from the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, written between the close of the Old Testament Canon (396 b.c) and the coming of Jesus. israelseen.com

Despite the change in font, the Old Testament retained the same wording as it was copied down through the ages. As the Jews kept copying the Hebrew scriptures from the time between the Old and New Testament to what is called the Middle ages (400b.c-1,000 A.D), little "dots" or vowel points were inserted to aid in knowing how to pronounce and read the text. The next picture depicts a portion of Joshua 1:1 from the famous Aleppo Codex, dated in the tenth century A.D or 1,000 years after the Dead Sea Scrolls:




People of course wonder how much the text and wording of the Hebrew Bible had changed during all those transitions and events (there is far more, but for our purposes here we'll just stick to this skeletal outline). 

The Hebrew Bibles we have today, like a page of one pictured below, contain 419, 687 words. 


For a manuscript (which is a hand-copied document) of the Hebrew Bible, like Isaiah, produced in 1,000 A.D compared to the overall Old Testament books found at the caves of the Dead Sea at Qumran (the famous "Dead Sea Scrolls), there was found to be only 5% difference, and that being mostly spelling differences or words like "and". The Old Testament as a collection of books displays this overall figure of over 95% continuity between the older manuscripts and newer ones and translations. The point? The Old Testament text is remarkable in its preservation or transmission of the original words.   

The New Testament books demonstrate an even more remarkable accurate rate of copying when it comes to comparing the manuscripts. The 27 books of the New Testament were composed 45 A.D (book of James) to 95 A.D (Book of Revelation). All of them would had been originally written on an ancient form of paper called "papyrus" and in rolls or "scrolls". Since the chief language of the New Testament era was Greek, every New Testament book would had been composed in that language, particularly the common or "Koine" Greek of the day. Below is an photograph of the famous Bodmer Papyri from the second century A.D. This aids the reader in seeing what the text of the New Testament may had looked like when it was first written.

The New Testament books came to be used and copied, first in Greek, and then in other languages. From the first century until the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in the 1450's, over 6,000 hand-copied Greek manuscripts were produced, with an additional 20,000 ancient translations from those copies. Below is an example of a beautifully produced Greek manuscript from the fourth century, the Codex Siniaticus: 


As the New Testament was being copied, the papyrus roll gave away to what was called the "codex" (as seen in the above picture), the forerunner to modern day books. According to Greek Scholar Dr. William Mounce, The New Testament as a collection of books contains 138,162 words. As inevitable differences can occur in scribes copying the New Testament documents, the consistent testimony of conservative and liberal critics alike maintain that there is 99.5% agreement between all of those manuscripts. 

In general, much like the Old Testament text, the overwhelming majority of those differences (or variants as they are called) are minute spelling differences, use or absence of the words "the", "and" and "an". Moreover, whether talking about the Old or New Testament text, consistently and without controversy it has been shown that not one major doctrine, historical recording or scientific fact in our translations and ancient copies differs in any fashion from the production of the original manuscripts. 

Stage Three: Translation and our English Bibles
The translation of the Bible books from Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek into other languages is about as old as the transmission and copying of those texts itself. We have established that the original documents were conceived and composed by the Biblical authors as the Holy Spirit revealed and inspired their writing of them. We next established in broadbrush fashion the reliability of the copying of those manuscripts (i.e hand-written documents). But now what about translation? Is anything lost in translation? When Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:15, he was writing to a man who would had heard the Old Testament taught to him from the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, translated in stages from 250 b.c - right before the coming of Jesus. Moreover, Jesus and the Apostles, who would had spoken in Aramaic, undoubtedly would had used either the Aramaic translation of the Hebrew scriptures (Targums) and would had been very familiar with the Greek translation. None of the Apostles nor Jesus had issue with referring to the translations and copies of their day as "God's Holy, inerrant, infallible Word". 

According to Bible scholar Dr. Donald Brake in his book: "A Visual History of the English Bible", page 16, there have been nearly 40 major English translations produced from the first (Wycliffe's 1384) to the latest (NET Bible 2005).3 This of course does not include the numerous versions and lesser known English translations and versions of the Bible not listed by him. In having studied the original languages of the Bible for 20 years and having been a regular user of English translations for an even longer period of time, this blogger can say with confidence that nothing is lost in translation. The Bible from whence I preach, read and that hopefully every Christian memorizes and lives out is the same Word of God as those inerrant words originally given by the Spirit to the Prophets and Apostles. 

Closing thoughts:
Today's post was all about introducing the reader to the subject of the trustworthiness of the words in the Biblical text. We considered this issue in three parts or stages: 1). The revelation and inspiration of the Bible. 2). The transmission or copying of the Bible 3). Translation and our English Bible. Clearly this is an enormous subject which can be either covered in too much detail or not enough. My prayer is that this particular post has proven useful to the reader. To God be the glory.

Endnotes:
1. To be brief, there are some clues that would indicate that Paul is undoubtedly the author of 2 Timothy (clues which may seem obvious to the readers of this blog, including this blogger, but for technical reasons proposed by critics, are not obvious). First of all, Paul identifies himself as the author of 2 Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:1 "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ", just as he does in his other letters that are not question by the critics. Secondly, Paul makes reference to people that we see appear in his other letters, such as Timothy (2 Tim 1:2), Onesiphus (2 Timothy 1:6, who is the same one  in his letter to Philemon and in Colossians 4:9) and the Ephesian Christians and church itself. Thirdly, the testimony of the first three centuries of church history ascribe Pauline authorship to this letter. Thus issues such as these establish in brief the authorship of 2 Timothy.

Why be concerned over who wrote 2 Timothy? Moreover, why be concerned over the matter of words period? Because authorship is important when discussing the issue of Biblical authority, since in all cases, the book in question needed to be demonstrated as having been written by an apostle or an associate of one (as with Mark and Luke). 

2. Dr. Robert Jeffress is pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas and preached a series entitled "How can I know". The specific message consulted here can be found on the church's website: www.firstdallas.com. The reader can find the series and then the message in the website's search engine. Its well worth the listen!

3. Donald L. Brake. "A Visual History of the Bible". Baker Books. 2008. Page 16