Bibliology: What is the Bible? The Four Wonders
The Four (4) Wonders of the Bible
There are internal as well as external evidences that the Bible is exactly what it claims to be the Word of God, for that reason it is authoritative, thus it can and should be trusted. I will speak about four wonders of the Bible that provide illustrations that are right on target to make this point clear. The four wonders are its formation, preservation, subject matter, and influence. I hope these serve to answer our question, “What is the Bible?”
Diversity in Unity
The first wonder of the Bible is formation. Formation illustrates diversity in unity. The first time I heard some of these and realized they were true I was struck with awe, because in my mind how else could this happen if the Bible were not of God. It also caused me to love and appreciate my Lord and His Word even more.
There are 66 books of the Bible that were written over a span of 1,600 years. The Bible was written by about 40 human authors (not listed here, in 3 different languages; Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. It was written in at least 3 different places; Israel, Babylon, Egypt.
The writers were of at least 11 various occupations, these are:
1 Kings
2 Soldiers
3 Fishermen
4 Tent makers
5 Priests
6 Statesmen
7 A tax collector
8 Farmers
9 Prophets
10 Shepherds
11 And at least one Medical Doctor
The Bible was written in eight (8) literary forms, this can be important to keep in mind when it comes to hermeneutics or interpretation, we will touch on this later. The eight literary forms are:
1 Narration
2 Biographies
3 Poetries
4 Proverbs
5 Dramas
6 Sermons
7 Letters or Epistles
8 Psalms
These aspects of the formation of the Bible that we have just covered constitute a wonder because it demonstrates vast diversity and yet maintains unity with harmony and not one contradicts the other. No other so called "holy book" can demonstrate this vast diversity and still maintain the unity of its contense.
Preservation
The second of the four wonders of the Bible is preservation. Although we do not have any of the autographa (original autographs), that which were written by Mosses, David, Paul, etc. We do have hand written copies of those originals called manuscripts. What is so very unique about the Bible is how God has preserved these manuscripts.
The Old Testament; before the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls the oldest Hebrew manuscripts we had was the Masoretic Texts dated at 1000 AD. 2500 years have passed since the writings of Mosses. The question is, “How can we be sure of the accuracy of those writings?” Of course by faith, but many times God also let’s us see with our eyes and touch with our hands. In 1947, 48 more Hebrew texts were found, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written between 100 BC and 100 AD
“...so there is a gap of 1000 years between the two manuscripts and as the Archeologists and Textual Critics began to compare... The few differences were minute and never changed the meaning of a verse. For example, "He went to Jerusalem" compared to, "He went unto Jerusalem". (Fructenbaum)
Unless you have an obviously corrupted Bible for example The New World Translation the disparity from one version to another is infinitesimal (minute), my favorite so far is the KJV.
The New Testament; We have so many Greek texts available that by comparing we come very close to the original autographa. At this point we could discuss the transmission of our modern translations but let's not get bogged down here. If one would wish to get deeper into this topic please e-mail me and I will load you down with links galore.
For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you (1Pet. 1:24-25 NIV).
The Bible is indestructible. God promised that He would preserve His Word from destruction. These are four of my favorite historical facts; they are examples to prove that the Bible is indestructible;
Fact 1: The Roman Emperor Maximian said, "...in his day Christianity is [will be] destroyed and worship of the gods is [will be] restored..."
10 years later Constantine declared Christianity the state religion.
Fact 2: French enlightenment philosopher François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire wrote, “50 years from now the world will here no more about the Bible."
50 years later The Geneva Bible Society bought the very printing press Voltaire used to spread his teaching against the Bible.
Fact 3: Tyndale’s English Bibles were destroyed by “the church" until there was only one copy left.
Today there are more English Bibles than any other!
Fact 4: In the time of the American Revolution Thomas Payne said, "When I get through there will not be five Bibles left in America."
He was right there are NOT five Bibles left in America. Today America is the largest producer of Bibles in the world.
The influence the Bible has had both on individuals and on the course and history of nations is undeniable.
Subject Matter
The Third wonder of the Bible is the subject matter. The Bible deals with a great number of subjects in a most unique way, some examples are listed below.
1. The Personality, Unity, and Tri-unity of God.
2. The origin and fall of man, human depravity, the problem of sin.
3. The God/Man, Jesus Christ.
4. Provision of salvation, becoming a child of God.
5. Prophecy, the culmination of history.
No other so called "Holy Book" deals with these subjects. Some deal with similar, but only the Bible deals with this type of subject matter. For example the Koran speaks about sin, but offers no real, permanent solution for it. Some have made predictions about future events, but they are usually obscure or vague and never 100% accurate, like the Bible. Some books speak of eternal bliss but none like the Bible speak about the reality of heaven and hell. Some books may raise man to the heights of being a good servant of God, but the Bible shows us that we can become the children of God. This makes the subject mater of the Bible a wonder indeed.
Influence
The fourth wonder is that its influence both on individuals and on the course and history of nations is undeniable.
The next post will bring us to our conclusion of answering the question "What is the Bible?" We will discover the supernatural origin of the Bible and I will end with a doctinal statement. There will still be two questions left, "Where did we get the Bible?" and "How can I understand the Bible?"
There are internal as well as external evidences that the Bible is exactly what it claims to be the Word of God, for that reason it is authoritative, thus it can and should be trusted. I will speak about four wonders of the Bible that provide illustrations that are right on target to make this point clear. The four wonders are its formation, preservation, subject matter, and influence. I hope these serve to answer our question, “What is the Bible?”
Diversity in Unity
The first wonder of the Bible is formation. Formation illustrates diversity in unity. The first time I heard some of these and realized they were true I was struck with awe, because in my mind how else could this happen if the Bible were not of God. It also caused me to love and appreciate my Lord and His Word even more.
There are 66 books of the Bible that were written over a span of 1,600 years. The Bible was written by about 40 human authors (not listed here, in 3 different languages; Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. It was written in at least 3 different places; Israel, Babylon, Egypt.
The writers were of at least 11 various occupations, these are:
1 Kings
2 Soldiers
3 Fishermen
4 Tent makers
5 Priests
6 Statesmen
7 A tax collector
8 Farmers
9 Prophets
10 Shepherds
11 And at least one Medical Doctor
The Bible was written in eight (8) literary forms, this can be important to keep in mind when it comes to hermeneutics or interpretation, we will touch on this later. The eight literary forms are:
1 Narration
2 Biographies
3 Poetries
4 Proverbs
5 Dramas
6 Sermons
7 Letters or Epistles
8 Psalms
These aspects of the formation of the Bible that we have just covered constitute a wonder because it demonstrates vast diversity and yet maintains unity with harmony and not one contradicts the other. No other so called "holy book" can demonstrate this vast diversity and still maintain the unity of its contense.
Preservation
The second of the four wonders of the Bible is preservation. Although we do not have any of the autographa (original autographs), that which were written by Mosses, David, Paul, etc. We do have hand written copies of those originals called manuscripts. What is so very unique about the Bible is how God has preserved these manuscripts.
The Old Testament; before the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls the oldest Hebrew manuscripts we had was the Masoretic Texts dated at 1000 AD. 2500 years have passed since the writings of Mosses. The question is, “How can we be sure of the accuracy of those writings?” Of course by faith, but many times God also let’s us see with our eyes and touch with our hands. In 1947, 48 more Hebrew texts were found, The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written between 100 BC and 100 AD
“...so there is a gap of 1000 years between the two manuscripts and as the Archeologists and Textual Critics began to compare... The few differences were minute and never changed the meaning of a verse. For example, "He went to Jerusalem" compared to, "He went unto Jerusalem". (Fructenbaum)
Unless you have an obviously corrupted Bible for example The New World Translation the disparity from one version to another is infinitesimal (minute), my favorite so far is the KJV.
The New Testament; We have so many Greek texts available that by comparing we come very close to the original autographa. At this point we could discuss the transmission of our modern translations but let's not get bogged down here. If one would wish to get deeper into this topic please e-mail me and I will load you down with links galore.
For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you (1Pet. 1:24-25 NIV).
The Bible is indestructible. God promised that He would preserve His Word from destruction. These are four of my favorite historical facts; they are examples to prove that the Bible is indestructible;
Fact 1: The Roman Emperor Maximian said, "...in his day Christianity is [will be] destroyed and worship of the gods is [will be] restored..."
10 years later Constantine declared Christianity the state religion.
Fact 2: French enlightenment philosopher François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire wrote, “50 years from now the world will here no more about the Bible."
50 years later The Geneva Bible Society bought the very printing press Voltaire used to spread his teaching against the Bible.
Fact 3: Tyndale’s English Bibles were destroyed by “the church" until there was only one copy left.
Today there are more English Bibles than any other!
Fact 4: In the time of the American Revolution Thomas Payne said, "When I get through there will not be five Bibles left in America."
He was right there are NOT five Bibles left in America. Today America is the largest producer of Bibles in the world.
The influence the Bible has had both on individuals and on the course and history of nations is undeniable.
Subject Matter
The Third wonder of the Bible is the subject matter. The Bible deals with a great number of subjects in a most unique way, some examples are listed below.
1. The Personality, Unity, and Tri-unity of God.
2. The origin and fall of man, human depravity, the problem of sin.
3. The God/Man, Jesus Christ.
4. Provision of salvation, becoming a child of God.
5. Prophecy, the culmination of history.
No other so called "Holy Book" deals with these subjects. Some deal with similar, but only the Bible deals with this type of subject matter. For example the Koran speaks about sin, but offers no real, permanent solution for it. Some have made predictions about future events, but they are usually obscure or vague and never 100% accurate, like the Bible. Some books speak of eternal bliss but none like the Bible speak about the reality of heaven and hell. Some books may raise man to the heights of being a good servant of God, but the Bible shows us that we can become the children of God. This makes the subject mater of the Bible a wonder indeed.
Influence
The fourth wonder is that its influence both on individuals and on the course and history of nations is undeniable.
The next post will bring us to our conclusion of answering the question "What is the Bible?" We will discover the supernatural origin of the Bible and I will end with a doctinal statement. There will still be two questions left, "Where did we get the Bible?" and "How can I understand the Bible?"
posted by J. Wendell at 7:10 AM
5 Comments:
The Bible is pretty incredible.
By
Matthew Celestine, at 16/8/06 12:35 PM
Yes, indeed!
By
J. Wendell, at 17/8/06 6:11 AM
Great Article.
Hey, where are you getting most of your information for these articles?
Antonio
By
Antonio, at 17/8/06 6:42 PM
Yes I have been to all of those KJV or manuscript sites where everyone on each side is warning the other person that he is reading a heretical text and that he is Balaam's Donkey warning the masses.
Personally I am Byzantinne understanding some value in the Alexandrian. I guess that eclectic view by one of the Dallas guys seems compeling, although I still I still keep an eye out along with the gazillion other sites you mention that set everyone strait.
Good post by the way and I agree wtih Matthew here. The Bible is incredible.
By
Bhedr, at 17/8/06 7:59 PM
Antonio,
Thanks for your visit.
Some of this information I use can be found in Josh McDowell’s books. I will double check my sources and get back to you if you want me to be more specific.
Brian,
Thanks for your comment.
I do not find hitting the donkey over the head edifying. Although there is a site that I do find intellectually stimulating here, of course I am partial to anyone from CBTS (see my sidebar).
By
J. Wendell, at 18/8/06 6:58 AM
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