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I don t believe anything

. Is the Bible reliable, accurate, and inspired?. . Bible Attests Itself as Authority. The source is true: Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18Scripture cannot be broken: John 10:35All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training and equipping us for every good work: 2

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I don t believe anything

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    3. Is the Bible reliable, accurate, and inspired?

    4. Bible Attests Itself as Authority The source is true: Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18 Scripture cannot be broken: John 10:35 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, training and equipping us for every good work: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Jesus’ view of scripture: central divisions, individual books, events, letters & parts of letters had authority.

    5. History of Ancient Writing Bible is not the oldest book in the world. OT prepared on animal skins (leather) NT prepared on papyrus rolls, then into papyrus codex form. Copied onto vellum (calves and antelope) or parchments (sheep and goats) which were more durable.

    7. N.T. Bible Text Our NT is a reconstructed text. Misconception of linear transmission Aunt Sally’s recipe example “If all other sources of our knowledge of the text of the NT were destroyed, the early church fathers’ quotations would be sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire NT.” “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.”

    8. O.T. Bible Text Text data not as vast nor dates back as far Why the gap of available copies from originals? Importance of Massoretes Meticulous transcription process of early Jews Other materials that shed light on OT: Talmud, Aramaic Targums, fragments from Origen’s OT, Septuagint Dead Sea Scrolls

    9. Science of Textual Criticism All ancient documents critiqued this way. Bible is a history book; if it is accurate, perhaps it is accurate concerning nature of God. If not accurate historically, no hope of accuracy with regard to God. Document must pass three tests. If it does, it is considered a reliable historical work. Bibliographic Test Internal Test External Test

    10. Bibliographic Test Determines whether the translations & copies say what the original document said. Do we have today essentially the same as the originals? Quantity of manuscripts: OT has fewer number due to ceremonial burials, but can be supplemented with other sources NT unparalleled with other ancient literature Quality of manuscripts: Time span of manuscripts:

    11. Quality of Manuscripts

    13. The New Testament is 99.5% textually pure. In the entire text of 20,000 lines, only 40 lines are in doubt (about 400 words), and none affect any significant doctrine. “A General Introduction to the Bible” By Norman Geisler & William Nix

    14. Time Span of Documents Earliest of entire OT by Massoretes is 895 AD, but Dead Sea Scrolls date it closer to 200 BC- 68AD. NT time span is incredible, being completed within the first century.

    15. “The interval, then between the dates of the original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the NT may be regarded as finally established.” Sir Frederic Kenyon

    16. Ancient Document Tests Bibliographic Quantity Quality Time Span Internal External

    17. Internal Test To pass this test, the different books must be consistent with one another, no claims of contradictions within books, and form a unified whole. 66 books, 40 different authors, different backgrounds Great account of eyewitness testimony (Jn. 19:35, 21:24; 1 Jn. 1:1; 2 Peter 1:16; Acts 2:22; 1 Peter 5:1; Luke 1:1-4) William Burr in Self Contradictions of the Bible claim 144 times the Bible contradicts itself Historians follow “Aristotle’s dictum” with bible difficulties

    18. External Test Do other histories of the time existing contradict or are they consistent with the document? Does archaeological discoveries validate the document? Difficulties in using this test with the Bible… SO, archaeology is key in testing the validity of Bible. “There can be no doubt that arch. has confirmed the substantial historicity of the OT” (William F. Albright) “It may be legitimate to say that arch. has confirmed the NT record” (F.F. Bruce) “The digestion of the data uncovered is overwhelming even for professional archaeologists, not to mention scholars of related subjects” (Amihai Mazar) “There are a number of striking cases where specific passages have been doubted…and have [later] been confirmed.” (Edwin Yamauchi)

    19. Archaeology Examples Genesis 14 ? Two kings mentioned Genesis 37 ? Joseph’s slave price John 19:13 ? The Pavement “It has been shown that Luke was a historian of the 1st rank” (Sir William Ramsey)

    21. “After trying to shatter the historicity and validity of Scripture, I came to the conclusion that it is historically trustworthy. If one discards the Bible as being unreliable, then he must discard almost all literature of antiquity. One problem I constantly face is the desire on the part of many to apply one standard or test to secular literature and another to the Bible. One needs to apply the same test, whether the literature under investigation is secular or religious.” Josh McDowell

    23. Uniqueness of the Bible In production In Preservation In Proclamation In Popularity In Influence In its central character of Jesus

    24. Unique in its Knowledge Circumcision Sanitation Quarantining Dietary laws

    25. Inspiration Inspiration defined: God breathed….but how? If all lines of evidence consistently validate the Bible, the Bible’s self testimony of divine inspiration must be taken seriously. Fulfilled prophecy makes a strong case for supernatural. Bible’s unique prophetic ability Objections to fulfilled prophecy by skeptics Example of city of Tyre

    26. City of Tyre Ezekiel 26:3-21 Details: City by name Mentions nations will attack 1st nation of Babylon Debris thrown into ocean Not rebuilt Place for fishermen’s nets

    27. Fulfilled prophecies of Jesus 332 distinct prophecies of OT fulfilled perfectly in Jesus Did the NT writers concoct details of Jesus’ life to assure fulfilled prophecies? Ignores the NT being historically valid document. Ignores the fact that most NT writers were uneducated. Many OT passages weren’t recognized as messianic at the time; only understood after they were fulfilled. NT books were written in same area that Christ lived & preached. The embarrassment factor. Many prophecies out of Jesus’ control.

    28. Incredible for someone to fulfill just eight prophecies.

    30. Quantity and quality of manuscripts as well as minimal time span make Bible in superior rank among its contemporaries. Reliability of manuscripts, accuracy of historical events and fulfilled prophecy help us to feel confident in the Bible.

    31. Cite Work How We Got the Bible by Neil R. Lightfoot 20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists by Kenneth Boa & Robert Bowman Jr. Know why you believe by Paul E. Little When Skeptics Ask by Norman L. Geisler Reasonable Faith: The Scientific Case for Christianity by Dr. Jay Wile I’m Glad you Asked by Boa & Moody The Art of Apologetics by Karen Kovaka The Case for Christ (chapter 3) by Lee Strobel “Is the NT text reliable?” by Gregory Koukl

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