TITLE: Why the Bible still helps us know the truth.

2. TITLE: Why the Bible still helps us know the truth. TEXT: I John 1:1-3, John 20:30-31, Luke 1:1-4 THEME: The New Testament was written to support and convince you of the claims of Jesus.

4. Anthony Flew “I will follow the evidence wherever it leads me.”

6. I. The Premise: The Bible has been corrupted over the years by overzealous believer’s intent on promoting their agenda.

7. I. The Premise: The Bible has been corrupted over the years by overzealous believer’s intent on promoting their agenda. A. The gap between the events and the written record makes the NT questionable.

8. I. The Premise: The Bible has been corrupted over the years by overzealous believer’s intent on promoting their agenda. A. The gap between the events and the written record makes the NT questionable. B. There are other books that give conflicting views of Christ.

9. Brock and Wallace, “Dethroning Jesus” “There is “an ideology advanced in universities and in the media which depicts Jesus of Nazareth as a first-century political radical, an advocated for social justice, and a prophet of mystic wisdom. It explicitly denies any historical basis to the Jesus of the faith and the creeds... it reduces Jesus to nothing more than a mythic legend or a mere man.”

10. I. The Premise: The Bible has been corrupted over the years by overzealous believer’s intent on promoting their agenda. A. The gap between the events and the written record makes the NT questionable. B. There are other books that give conflicting views of Christ. C. The church has selected books of the Bible to fit their version of history

11. I. The Premise: The Bible has been corrupted over the years by overzealous believer’s intent on promoting their agenda. A. The gap between the events and the written record makes the NT questionable. B. There are other books that give conflicting views of Christ. C. The church has selected books of the Bible to fit their version of history D. The original documents have been changed or corrupted.

12. I. The Premise: The Bible has been corrupted over the years by overzealous believer’s intent on promoting their agenda. A. The gap between the events and the written record makes the NT questionable. B. There are other books that give conflicting views of Christ. C. The church has selected books of the Bible to fit their version of history D. The original documents have been changed or corrupted. E. The manuscripts are too old for us to rely on.

13. Joe Zias “It's an old story that's been recycled. The story first broke in 1996 by the BBC. It burst in a couple of days." The fact that the inscriptions on the ossuaries date to the beginning of the first century and Jesus and the others died much later, makes it extremely unlikely that "Jeshua" from the "Jesus Tomb" is really Jesus Christ.”

15. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation.

16. The Bible is Unique The Bible was written over a 1,500 year period by people 40 different authors from all walks of life, on three continents yet speaks with complete unity on hundreds of controversial issues.

17. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history.

18. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts.

20. Philip W. Comfort "Finally, it must be said that, although there are certainly differences in many of the New Testament manuscripts, not one fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith rests on a disputed reading. “

21. Philip W. Comfort "Frederic Kenyon, a renowned paleographer and textual critic, affirmed this when he said, 'The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true Word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries.”

22. Bart Ehrman “The original texts certainly spoke at great length about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. The issues involved in the “corruption” of the text usually entail nuances of interpretation. These are important nuances; but most of the New Testament can be reconstructed by scholars with reasonable certainty -- as much certainty as we can reconstruct *any* book of the ancient world.”

23. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts. C. The gap between the events and the written record is insignificant.

24. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts. C. The gap between the events and the written record is insignificant. • If the crucifixion was around 35 AD and the book of Corinth was written around 54 AD we have a gap of 19 years.

25. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts. C. The gap between the events and the written record is insignificant. • If the crucifixion was around 35 AD and the book of Corinth was written around 54 AD we have a gap of 19 years. • The first “canon” was the Muratorian Canon, which was compiled in A.D. 170. The Muratorian Canon included all of the New Testament books except Hebrews, James, and 3 John.

26. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts. C. The gap between the events and the written record is insignificant. D. The church fathers had stringent criteria for canonical books based on inspiration.

27. The Church Councils Guiding Principle Is the New Testament book was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit.

28. The Church Councils Guiding Principle Is the New Testament book was truly inspired by the Holy Spirit. 1) Was the author an apostle or have a close connection with an apostle? 2) Is the book being accepted by the body of Christ at large? 3) Did the book contain consistency of doctrine and orthodox teaching? 4) Did the book bear evidence of high moral and spiritual values that would reflect a work of the Holy Spirit?

29. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts. C. The gap between the events and the written record is insignificant. D. The church fathers had stringent criteria for canonical books based on inspiration. E. The resurrection of Jesus is the most well documented event of ancient history.

30. II. The Problem: The Bible is a unique book in its origin and its preservation. A. It has better manuscript support than any other book of ancient history. B. TextualCriticism is a field of study to compare NT manuscripts. C. The gap between the events and the written record is insignificant. D. The church fathers had stringent criteria for canonical books based on inspiration. E. The resurrection of Jesus is the most well documented event of ancient history F. We could recreate the NT with quotes from the early church fathers.

31. Eusebius, Bishop of Hierapolis, "The Elder (John) used to say this also: “So then Mark made no mistake, writing down in this way some things as he (Peter) mentioned them; for he paid attention to this one thing, not to omit anything that he had heard, not to include any false statement among them."

32. Apostle John (100 AD)Papias (130 AD)Eusebius (339 AD)

33. Irenaeus quotesPolycarp, a disciple of the Apostle John: "So firm is the ground upon which these Gospels rest, that the very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, starting from these, each one of them endeavors to establish his own particular doctrine."

34. Apostle John (100 AD)Polycarp (156 AD)Irenaeus (180 AD)

35. The Dead Sea scrolls assure us we have the OT cannon used by Christ.

36. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory.

37. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory. • All spaces were carefully regulated.

38. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory. • All spaces were carefully regulated. • When they came upon the name of God they changed quills.

39. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory. • All spaces were carefully regulated. • When they came upon the name of God they changed quills. • Only copy letter by letter.

40. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory. • All spaces were carefully regulated. • When they came upon the name of God they changed quills. • Only copy letter by letter. • Count the number of times each letter was used in each book.

41. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory. • All spaces were carefully regulated. • When they came upon the name of God they changed quills. • Only copy letter by letter. • Count the number of times each letter was used in each book. • Calculate the middle letter- each person count from each end- must come up with exact number.

42. The Criteria for Jewish Scribes • Nothing could be copied from memory • All spaces were carefully regulated. • When they came upon the name of God they changed quills. • Only copy letter by letter • Count the number of times each letter was used in each book. • Calculate the middle letter- each person count from each end- must come up with exact number. • More than three mistakes required the manuscripts to be destroyed.

43. The Dead Sea Scrolls

45. III. The Biblical Response: The Gospels are written to convince us of Jesus’ claims (John 20:30-12, Luke 1:1-4).

46. John 20:30-31 “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

47. III. The Biblical Response: The Gospels are written to convince us of Jesus’ claims (John 20:30-12, Luke 1:1-4). A. The gospels are written by eyewitnesses or those (Luke) who interviewed them.

48. John 1:1-3 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”

49. Luke 1:1-4 “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word”

50. Luke 1:1-4 “3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”