P15 Why the Bible has 66 books - the question of the canon

Proverbs 30:6 "Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar."

Revelation 22:18 "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book."

Introduction:

In this series we have entitled: "Why the Bible", the attempt has been made to introduce the reader to virtually every major subject and question raised about the Bible. In this series we have explored why the Bible is authoritative and trustworthy, as well as why the Bible is inspired and inerrant. In this series we have considered why the Bible is the basis for preaching and most recently, why the Bible alone is worthy of the title: "Word of God". 

Today's post considers a subject that is vital in any discussion about the Bible - namely the issue of canonicity. When we talk about the "canon of scripture", we're not talking about armaments used in physical warfare (however one could say the Biblical books are God's "canon" so-to-speak in fighting the Christian's spiritual warfare, see 2 Corinthians 10:3-4). Strictly speaking, the term "canon" comes from a word meaning "standard", "measuring rod" or "measuring stick". To say that the Bible is composed of "canonical writings" simply means that the 66 books, and no other set, constitute the "standard" or "measuring rod" of God's truth. The 66 books that are in our English Bibles (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament) are considered as a collection the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God. 

People who tried to "add" to God's Word or replace it

Throughout the history of the church there have been groups inside the church, as well as outside, who attempted to "add" to these 66. One group, called the "Gnostics", lived and taught in the 2nd and 3rd centuries (100-200 years after Jesus and the Apostles). We won't go into all the details surrounding what the Gnostics taught, but suffice it to say, they combined elements of pagan thought, Jewish mysticism, a smattering of Greek philosophy and vestiages of Christianity in their worldview. Awareness of the Gnostics' attempts to attack early Christianity and the scriptures is an important piece to the fascinating story behind the canon of scripture. To spread their heresies, the Gnostics devised the clever strategy of attaching names of apostles or prophets to their writings and thus passing them off as genuine writings. More will be said about the Gnostics in a little bit. 

The question about canonicity aids in understanding whether or not there were so-called "lost books" of the Bible

Were there extra books or "lost books" that didn't "make the cut" so-to-speak? Before we go any further to address that question, the first matter of importance is to understand the true history behind how the Old and New Testament books came to be regarded as God's Divine collection of books and thus, the Bible.  By understanding the story behind how the books of the Bible ended up being the Bible books, the reader will be better informed in discerning what is often said about the Bible's history.

So why does the Bible only have 66 books? A quick history about the canon of scripture

1. The truth about the development of the New Testament Canon

So did the early church wait nearly 300 years to pick its own books for the New Testament to the exclusion of the Gnostic gospels? When we read history and the Bible, we discover that canonicity was not something that the church decided to make up to suit its own political interests. Norman Geisler, an evangelical scholar writes in his book (co-edited with William Nix, A General Introduction to the Bible):

Inspiration determines canonicity. If a book was authoritative, it was so because God breathed it and made it so. How a book receives authority, then, is determined by God. How men recognize that authority is another matter altogether (see discussion in chap.13 ). As J. I. Packer notes, “The Church no more gave us the New Testament canon than Sir Isaac Newton gave us the force of gravity. God gave us gravity, by His work of creation, and similarly He gave us the New Testament canon, by inspiring the individual books that make it up.” [1]

Since the New Testament books were immediately recognized by God’s people within or shortly after the apostolic age, then from a historical standpoint, the early church was already using many of the Books of the Bible even before the apostles died out. 

2. The earliest records that bear witness to the development of the New Testament Canon
Church historian Everett Harrison cites the letters of Paul, Peter and John as the first immediate evidence of the early church’s recognition of the inspired texts of those apostles.[2]
With all of these New Testament texts dated between 50-90 A.D by even the most hardened critics, we can safely acknowledge that recognition of what constituted inspired text was a first act of the apostolic church.

In fact the churches established by the apostles constituted the criteria by which the church recognized the number of books and the type of books as authoritative witnesses of the words of God. Harrison notes three tests used by the early church in determining which books were canonical:[3]

a). Was it of apostolic origin or authority?

b). Was it received by the earliest churches and in use?

c). Was it consistent with the teaching of the already established norm of the Old Testament?”

3. Questions surrounding the exact numbers of the books

With the early church already acknowledging each of the New Testament books as individually inspired, the next step would involve recognizing the gospels and epistles in their respective groupings as canonical, with the end result being the entirety of our 27 book N.T. Many within the world of liberal, critical scholarship claim that the N.T Canon was invented or put together in 325 A.D at the Council of Nicaea under the watchful eye of Emperor Constantine. Yet testimony from the early church fathers and early lists of New Testament books state otherwise.

a). Papias was a student of Polycarp, who in turn had been a student of the apostle John. Eusebias, the first church historian, notes that Papias acknowledged the authority of the four gospels as early as 135 A.D, only 40 years after the apostolic age.[4]

b). As already mentioned, Polycarp, Papias mentor, had been himself a student of the apostle John. Polycarp in his book entitled “First Apology” asserts the authority of the four gospels and Pauline epistles while sharply distinguishing them from the then popular but apocryphal books of “The Shepherd of Hermas” and “Apocalypse of Peter”.[5]  Polycarp is dated 115 A.D, some 25 years after the close of the apostolic age.

c). Ireneus, Bishop of Lyons, wrote his work “Against Heresies” to record and critique the growing Gnostic threat that was attempting to undermine the orthodox, Bible believing church of his day. Irenaeus not only mentions almost all of the 27 books of the New Testament, but effectively denounces all of the Gnostic gospels. Iranaeus wrote his work in 180 A.D, some 85 years after the apostolic age.

d). The Muratorian Fragment, the earliest list we have of the New Testament books outside the apostolic era, can be dated to 170 A.D. In it we have almost a complete record of all the New Testament books except two. This canonical list represents a good portion of the early church’s opinion of what constituted the New Testament.

4. The length of time it took for the early church to acknowledge the New Testament Canon?

Overall we could quote well over a dozen more church fathers that lived and wrote prior to 200 A.D. The point is that even though the Gnostic gospels had begun to be written by 150 A.D, yet we have ample testimony that some 30 to 40 years previous to their existence, the 27 book New Testament that we have today was in one way or another already established. P.R Ackroyd, a New Testament scholar writes:[6]

“While there was some considerable dispute over some of the N.T books, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 2nd century (150 A.D).”

Thus despite the claims of radical critics of the Bible like Elaine Pagels and Bart Ehrman (two authors who have written material attempting to discredit the Bible and its history), the New Testament canon as we know it was well on its way by 150 A.D. By the time we arrive in the fourth century, various church fathers (like Athanasius of Alexandria) and certain church councils (Hippo in 393 A.D and Carthage in 397 A.D) did nothing more than affirm what was already generally acknowledged by all Christians everywhere – namely the canonicity of the 27 New Testament Books.

5. Constructing a Timeline for history’s account of the story of the N.T canon

With the major evidence for the development of the N.T Canon considered, it is now time to see how all of this evidence lays out in a time line. This timeline gives a three part account of how our New Testament came to be recognized as the canon.

CHURCH HISTORY’S RECKONING OF THE N.T CANON 

 Part 1: Apostles, Post-Apostolic/Pre-Nicaean Church Fathers 

 1 & 2 Peter 3:14-16 & 1 Timothy 5:18 mention the early Christian's recognition of the agood portion of the New Testament books well within the days of the Apostles or about three-quarters of the way through the 1st century. The Muratorian Canon (170 A.D) mentions every New Testament book but three, indicating that the early church within a century after the passing of the Apostle John. By 200 A.D. the Latin church father Tertullian states his refusal to use any other gospels other than the four. This indicates his awareness of the Gnostic Gospels and the early Christians' immediate rejection of them.

50 -----100 A.D-------------------------150 A.D----------------200 A.D------------>>

Epistle of Barnabas (120 A.D), Papias (120 A.D), Irenaeus (180 A.D) quote or refer to almost all the 27 New Testament books.                

Part 2: Nicean and Post-Nicean Church Fathers (Nicaea refers to Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D)

<<-----300A.D-------------------------------------------------400 A.D

Athanasius “Festal Letter” Council of Carthage listing all 27 books 367 A.D recognizes canon

Part Three: Ancient New Testament Translations that testify of the recognition of the 27 N.T Books as being Canonical
Ancient translations Athanasius “Festal Letter” Council of Carthage of Greek originals listing all 27 books 367 A.D recognizes canon N.T writings (Itala, for whole church 397 Syriac, Coptic) verify unanimity of 27 books from 200-300 A.D

200 A.D-----------300 A.D-----------350 A.D------------------------400 A.D

Church is being persecuted. Council of Hippo agrees on 27 books 393 A.D, reaffirming what church generally had believed since shortly after the days of the Apostles.

The above chart gives a realistic picture to the development of the canon. The problem among radical critics of the Bible today is their purposeful disregard of the testimony of history. No greater New Testament scholar than Kurt Aland has commented on this error of judgment among modern New Testament scholarship:

“These insights gained from the history of the canon are fundamental and of vital significance for the history of the text – New Testament textual criticism has traditionally neglected the findings of early church history, but only to its own detriment, because the transmission of the N.T text is certainly an integral part of that history”.[7]

Closing thoughts
Today's post aimed to introduce the issues surrounding the canonicity of the Bible and how the books we have in our Bible's today were immediately recognized for what they were - the Word(s) of God. It must be remembered that the church did not create the Bible, but the scriptures the church. To God be the glory!

Endnotes:

[1] Geisler, N. L., & Nix, W. E. 1996, c1989. A General Introduction to the Bible. Includes a short-title checklist of English translations of the Bible

[2] Harrison, Everett. Introduction to the New Testament.

He cites 1 Thess 5:27, Colossians 4:16; 1 Timothy 4:13; and passages throughout the Book of Revelation as evidence for there being at least a beginning point of a formation of the Canon.

[3] Ibid. 104-106

[4] Bettenson, Henry. Documents of the Christian Church.

[5] McDowell, Josh. Evidence that demands a verdict. Volume One. Page 37.

[6] Ackroyd, P.R and C.F Evans. The Cambridge History of the Bible

[7] Aland, Nestle and Barbara Aland. The Text of the New Testament.

P14 Why the Bible is the Word of God: Are any other religious books the Word of God?

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness".

Introduction:

Yesterday we spent quite a bit of time comparing the Bible to the Book of Mormon and a few other statements made by the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), Joseph Smith. We used three tests to determine whether or not the Book of Mormon could be considered the Word of God as much as the Bible. Those tests were:

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

After scrutinizing the claims of both Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, it was discovered that no claims of revelation nor inspiration can be demonstrated. When the Bible was submitted to the same type of testing, it was found that it was confirmed and bears the marks of revelation and Divine inspiration, thus by default substantiating the reality of the True and Living God that revealed its words. 

With that process done, we now turn to an even more significant question: is the Bible the only book in the entire world worthy of the title "Word of God". Again, the Bible is not the only book in the world claiming this title. Other books of other religions claim some sort of Divine revelation and inspiration. However, just like the Book of Mormon, they too must past the tests above before we can believe their claims. Lets briefly survey some of them and see when compared to the Bible, whether or not they can be called "God's Word".

1. Is the past accurately described. Isaiah 41:21-22a
I won't reproduce Isaiah 41:21-22a here, since we discussed it at length yesterday. Suffice it to say, it states the first test in terms of determining a claim to Divine revelation and inspiration has to do with accuracy about the past. Some of the literature of the world's religions make claims about past events. 

Note: all the samples below are taken from the book: Sacred Texts of World Universal Anthology, Crossroad Publishers. 

To begin, in the texts of Hinduism, we see statements about the creation of the world. In the one volume of Hindu literature, copied from the Rgveda 10:129 , we read "The Gods are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?" The idea of a self-creating eternal universe seems to be in view, and yet in another Hindu narrative called: "Prajapati Creates Agnil Satapatha-Brahmana", we read the following: "Prajapti alone, indeed, existed here in the beginning." What is at stake is of course what does Hinduism have to say about the origin of all things: is the universe self-creating or did it emerge from an assortment of different deities? Hinduism is happy to retain conflicting narratives, and yet this begs the question: what is the nature of the beginning of history as we know it? Hinduism does not possess a unified answer.

When we turn to another religion, Islam, its sole holy book, the Quran, records in its chapter (called Surahs) 4:157 "And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain." According to Islam, the crucifixion of Jesus never took place. However, nearly one dozen independent lines of historic evidence assert the reality of Jesus' crucifixion, not to mention of course the Four Gospels of the New Testament.

These of course are but two examples, and yet they represent two major world religions that both claim to be religions of Divine revelation with texts inspired by their respective deities. Both evidence lack of agreement or lack of accuracy in the recording of the most fundamental and major events of history. The Bible on the other hand records in over 60 places that the universe began to exist, with the cause being the the same God who reveals the words of the Bible. Moreover, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, featured prominently in the New Testament and predicted in the Old Testament, satisfies the voluminous evidence we have for that event. Henceforth the Bible is the Word of God by virtue of its accuracy about the past. What of future events?

2. Is the future accurately predicted. Isaiah 41:22b-23
Whenever we survey the Quran (composed of 6,000 lines of text, slightly longer than the New Testament), the volumes of literature from Hinduism, the philosophy of Confusius, Buddhism, Indian relgions and other world religions, it may shock readers to discover that not one example of verified, fulfilled prophecy can be found. Yet, with the 66 books of the Bible we discover hundred of predictive prophecies, with dozens of them historically verified as fulfilled. The phenomena of fulfilled prophecy cannot be explained purely by appeal to naturalistic processes or mere reason. To accurately predict an event in detail at a later time than the stated prophecy cannot be done repeatedly by chance, coincidence or favorable odds. Unless the very God revealing the prophecy exists, there is no other explanation. Henceforth, as shown in past posts in this series, the Bible repeatedly demonstrates its Divine revelation and inspiration by virtue of repeated fulfilled prophecy.

3. What does the book have to say about God. Deuteronomy 18:18-22
As we have noted already before, if the given book pasts the first two tests, then by default the Deity claiming to reveal the words and message is shown to be real. Christian apologist Dean Hardy in his book: "Stand Your Ground: An Introductory Text for Apologetics Students", page 38, gives this remarkable insight: "(I)s there an actual supernatural deity and if so, who is he? Is there truly a deity that exists? If so, there are only three possibilities:

1. The supernatural deity in one of the supernatural beings expressed in one of the modern world religions

2. God exists, but he is not expressed in any world religion

3. The deity is a mixture of all these different deities that are expressed in all these various religions."

As we have discovered in subjecting the texts of the major world religions to the three tests for Divine inspiration, options #2 & #3 would be ruled out, since no other religious book has demonstrated traits of Divine inspiration. Only one book, featuring One God, has demonstrated itself to reveal and be revealed by the One true and living God - the Bible. 

Closing thoughts
Today's post aimed to briefly survey other relgious books claims of revelation and divine inspiration. It was discovered that no other book in the world can demonstrate its claim as revealed and divinely inspired like the Bible. The Bible alone is the Divinely inspired and revealed Word of God.

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!"