THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15
I. The History of the Bible (5 major steps)
A. Inspiration – The secondary authors of the Bible were inspired by God, the primary Author.
1. Verbal Inspiration - each individual word in the original language is inspired
2. Plenary Inspiration - the collection of words in its entirety is without error and contradiction. (Confession of Faith, Art. III)
3. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
4. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21
B. Inscription – the writing down of the Words of God
1. “And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD…” Exodus 24:4
2. “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished…” Deuteronomy 31:24
C. Compilation & Canonization – the collecting together of the Old and New Testament books
1. Louis Gaussen: “[The Church] discerns the canon of the Scriptures, she does not make it; she has recognized their authenticity, she has not given it... The authority of the Scriptures is not founded, then, on the authority of the Church: It is the church that is founded on the authority of the Scriptures.”
2. “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.” (Luke 24:44) This is a reference to the entire O.T. which was divided into three major sections by the Jews: the Torah, Prophets, and the Writings (Psalms was the first and largest book of the Writings).
D. Transmission – refers to the making of exact copies or translations of the originals
1. “And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.” (Joshua 8:32)
2. Manuscripts (MSS) are handwritten copies of originals or copies of copies. Over 5000 Greek manuscripts exist today although some are only fragments.
3. “The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.” (2 Timothy 4:13)
4. Masoretic Text – The Hebrew Old Testament copied with extreme precision by Jewish scribes so that there is little controversy over which Hebrew text to use for translating the Old Testament into a modern language.
E. Translation – the copying of the Bible from one language into a different language so that every person can hear the Word of God in his own language (Note: The Word of God is perfect but man is imperfect and therefore there is no perfect translation.)
1. Septuagint (LXX) – translation of the O.T. from Hebrew into Greek by 70 Jewish elders
2. Vulgate – a rather loose translation of the entire Bible into Latin by Jerome in A.D. 382
3. English Translations
a. John Wycliffe – Wycliffe’s English translation was made using the unreliable, faulty Latin Vulgate. Once translated, it had to be copied and recopied by hand since the printing press was not yet invented.
b. William Tyndale (1524-1537)
i. The Tyndale Bible was an English translation based on the original Hebrew and Greek
ii. Tyndale’s Bible was largely relied on and absorbed into the Geneva Bible and the KJV
iii. Tyndale’s Bible had a huge impact on the cause of the Reformation in England
iv. He knew that he probably would have to pay for the translation with his life
c. Other English Bibles: Coverdale Bible (1535), Matthew’s Bible (1537), The Great Bible (1539) – these Bibles were primarily based off Tyndale’s work
d. Geneva Bible – A Scottish Bible that included Calvinistic notes and annotations
e. King James (Authorized) Version of 1611 (KJV) – This translation was based on the reliable Hebrew Masoretic Text for the O.T. and the reliable Greek Traditional/ Majority Text (Textus Receptus) for the N.T. The KJV translators also relied heavily on the Tyndale and Geneva Bibles.
4. Besides the various English Bibles, there were several other Reformation Bibles including the Luther Bible that was translated into the German language by Martin Luther.
II. The Preservation of the Bible – God has preserved His Word for us today.
1. “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8
2. “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Psalm 12:6-7
3. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35
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Lesson 2 – The History of the Bible