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When I mention the manuscript evidence, initially it may not be of any significance to you, but I hope that after this discussion one would appreciate what this adds to the defense of the Bible.
Many people may have a problem with the fact that the Bible was written by man. Some may claim that since man had something to do with it, it must contain error. I must admit that, that is a plausible reason. Yet, a query that comes to mind is that if one believes in a supernatural God, it should be possible that he could write a book to communicate with man, and use man to write it, yet allow it to remain inerrant, or error free, is it not? But, that's delving into the area of the doctrine of Inspiration. I'll try to make it a point to write about that after all is said and done.
But, I digressed from my point and before returning, it is interesting to point out that the way God deals with man, is usually using a man. He used man to speak for him, he used man to write the Bible, he uses a man to preach the gospel so that other men could be saved, and he used a man to save man. Of course, the man that was used to save man, was him, himself, whom we know as Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible teaches that the only mediator, or the only bridge, between God and man, is the God man, Jesus Christ (1 Tim 2:5).
Another point, is that God says that he considers man his fellow workers to accomplish his will (1 Cor 3:9). I believe that understanding this is key in grasping the truth that he used man to write the Bible, who allowed them to express their personalities through their writings, while conserving it's infallibility since it's originally from God.
Alright, now I'll return to my point, the manuscript evidence. So the Bible was written by man and if you are still unsettled with the truth that God wrote the Bible using man and yet it still remained inerrant and infallible, you're just going to have to wait for the post on the Doctrine of Inspiration (or leave a comment and I'll provide you with a reliable link on it).
The manuscript evidence involves the amount of manuscripts that we have. Since we do not possess the originals, dating is usually based upon the content of the writings themselves and on the dating of the earliest manuscript that we occupy.
We shouldn't be troubled by the fact that we do not possess the original documents. It would be practically impossible for them to even last this long. Most of them were written on papyrus leaves. The way they were passed down was by the process of transmission, or the diligent copying of them. Unfortunately, the printing press wasn't invented by Johann Gutenberg until the 1400's, so prior to that the Jewish scribes were committed to replicating the manuscripts.
Beating skeptics to the punch, some would say, "A ha! In that lies the proof that we don't have a reliable Bible today." But, taking further research into the topic, we can discover that the process of transmission was actually a very reliable one. The Scribes considered that what they were copying was actually the word of God and would be terrified in committing any errors. They were extremely ritualistic about the task and if they found any discrepancies in what they copied, they would trash the entire work and partake in a cleansing ritual before they proceeded to start over. The proof of this diligence could be seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) discovery. Included in the DSS was the book of Isaiah and though it was dated to approximately 100 BC, the version of Isaiah that we have in today's Bible is said to be 99.9% accurate to that one, with differences only due to translation.
The strongest point of the manuscript evidence is yet to be discussed and, as stated, includes the massive amount of manuscripts that we have compared to any other work of it's time.
After having recently discussed this with others, I feel the need to delve more into this subject, especially on this blog.
Why is the Bible true?
Many think that people of faith lead a life that is completely unfounded and inconsistent with any facts, but that is not the case (though, I do believe that there are many Christians that do live their faith in complete disregard to facts and find themselves incapable of defending their faith). In fact, I believe that it is most of those that do not believe that the Bible is true that prove to be more ignorant (I don't mean this in a derogatory way, its just that people lack knowledge on this subject). What we are really talking about here is the reliability of the Bible.
This could be broken down into many arguments, but I would quickly like to highlight the prophecy that the Bible contains.
Before we talk about prophecy, I want to stress that this prophecy is not the type of foretelling that we here about from Nostradamus, who wrote extremely vague and who's writings could be used to say whatever one wanted it to. The prophecy of the Bible is very direct and specific. In fact, a prophecy by the book of Daniel prophecies the date of the Christ, precisely! It is so accurate, that some scholars refused to believe that it is prophetic and manipulate their theories on when they believe the document was written because of it.
Let's discuss the study that explains the chance of Christ fulfilling just eight of the prophecies.
Though Jesus fulfilled many more than just eight prophecies, there was a study done by M.I.T. which involved the chances that it would take for any man to fulfill eight of these prophecies. The results were expressed in the scientific notation of 1x10^18. Thats 1 times ten to the eighteenth power, or 10,000,000,000,000,000.
Maybe numbers don't mean that much to you, or maybe it's difficult for you to understand such a massive number. Well, fortunately, I have heard it expressed as this analogy:
Picture the state of Texas entirely filled with quarters stacked two feet high.
Imagine that one of these quarters were painted white and mixed throughout all the rest of the quarters. Now, if you were to be blindfolded and told to walk upon these stacked quarters, but were allowed to bend down and pick up just one, the chances that you would pick up that one quarter painted white is similar to the chances of Christ fulfilling JUST EIGHT prophecies.
In actuality though, he fulfilled much more than that. It seems as though this is highly overlooked.
Keep your heart open to this truth of God and continue to seek him out.
For those of you that are not aware, I write a daily devotion (well, recently it hasn't been very daily). It is title "Scripture Talk" and I just discovered how to post it to a blog from my phone (because it is usually sent out as a picture text message to other cell phones and email addresses). So, I'm here to inform everyone that you could now view them on the web at www.talkscripture.blogspot.com. There is a link to the site in my links section. It is sent to over one hundred people so far (I'm surprise that more people aren't rejecting it than there have been already. I guess there's still time for that, though). If you would like to be added to the list, just shoot me an email. But, beware that you would have to be responsible for any charges that you incur.
This segment has been adopted from my myspace page. Visit www.myspace.com/committedtotheacts.
If you knew jesus manuel, then know that I am no longer. My body remains, but I was chosen to carry what you see pictured. As you may be aware, that is an instrument of death. That is what I deserve and the Man who carried it originally didn't deserve it - so we switched places. He resides in me, as I, with His help, continually put myself to death so that He may shine greater through me. He must increase as I decrease (John 3:30). Sometimes I take the driver's seat back and that's when things get screwed up again, so I give control back to Him. I could see much clearer now. Things that were hidden are so obvious now. As I browse some myspace pages, it pains me to know what's actually going on while they are so blind to it. I WAS THERE! I KNOW BY FIRST HAND ACCOUNT. Its not about that! I'll tell you what its not about. Its not about your wife, your kids, your church, your friends, your boyfriend/girlfriend, your status, your wealth, your occupation, your knowledge, your strength, your association, your heritage, your political affiliation, your citizenship, your mom, your pop, your brother, your sister, your possessions, your home, or anything else. It's only about HIM and Him alone! Focus all your attention on Him and what He's about and everything else will fall in place because He will put it there. But, you gotta keep focusing on Him while He's putting everything else together. Holla at me and let me know what you think about what I am spittin'. Also, check committedtotheacts.blogspot.com. Peace!
ust like the Apostles, Christians should remain committed to prayer. I admire the phrase "to saturate the heavens in prayer". Saturate is "to soak completely". That's what I'm talking about! But, by no means do I contribute to this area as I should. I would sorely have to admit that my prayer life could use some work and the first step is my recognition of this debilitating aspect of my walk with God.
First of all, how could someone who has reconciled their relationship with God, through His Son, not invest into that relationship? Imagine being married and not communicating with your spouse. Well, apparently, we are witnesses to this unfortunate tragedy repeatedly in these times, and this is most likely a result of poor communication. And so likewise, a relationship with God will suffer without prayer.
Second of all, how is God suppose to use us to do his work if we don't check in with him. Not only do we need to accomplish his work, but it is through devoted prayer that he gives us the strength to do that work. Oh, sure...we could perform the tasks in our own power, but we must consider that futile. It is futile in its efforts and in what it accomplishes.
So, through these meager examples, we can see that prayer is essential. But, here's the kicker. Many people pray. Many people pray to God. What makes our prayers heard though? Or should I say, WHO makes our prayers heard? This is where the mediator comes. Jesus Christ, the "only mediator between God and man." He is the bridge. He is the only connector. There is no other.
o, the Apostles remained steadfast in doctrine, fellowship, and now we see, in the breaking of bread. Even though it is evident that we can't partake of this physically through this blog, we could still discuss the implications of it.
Being one of the two church ordinances along with baptism, the "breaking of bread" can be closely related with fellowship. In fact, the Greek word used for fellowship sometimes refers to the breaking of bread.
Breaking of bread always involves fellowship and communion. Communion implying "community". The word communion is used interchangeably with the "breaking of bread". We have a community sharing. A community sharing in the same meal, same lifestyle, and same beliefs.
So in order to share in the breaking of bread, you must share in the beliefs. We will stay committed to the breaking of bread in our private lives with fellow believers, but as for this blog, the discussions will remain open to all. Please contribute your thoughts...
he body. The human body. An extremely intricate design that functions cooperatively almost flawlessly. Any in depth study of any biological function should leave any reasoning being without a doubt about the existence of a creator.
This human body is the illustration that the Apostles use to describe the unity that believers in Christ should have. A system of different functions that work together to accomplish a goal. When one function or part is deficient, then the entire body suffers.
As stated earlier, the body is used in Scripture to depict the church, with the head being Jesus. Christ himself, explains that this closeness should resemble the bond that he has with his Father. For those that don't know, this union, is that they are one in the same. Jesus says to his disciples, in response to them asking if they could see the Father, that once they have seen him, they have seen the Father. This is how tight the fellowship of believers should be - one in the same.
The eye must know what the hand is doing so that it can direct it properly to place a sock on the foot. The ears must listen while the eyes read body language so that the mouth may correctly respond audibly. Working cooperatively to bring the message of Christ to those outside of the fellowship should be the focus of his followers. Being "one" with each other can also account for accountability. Believers must hold each other accountable for their words and actions. Those who do not accept biblical correction, may not actually be in the fellowship.
Fellowship is an essential part of walking with Christ. It is a sort of "buffer" system, keeping each other in line, not letting the others slide away. Without fellowship, a believer may slide into different types of sin due to a lack of accountability or fall suspect to a false and deceiving teaching from a lack of correction.
The Bible also teaches that a fool isolates himself and elsewhere to not forsake the assembling of the believers. Christ created us to be one and though this is very difficult, we should not let it hinder us in being obedient to what he knows is best for us.
Being committed to the acts, fellowship is held to high esteem for prayer, support, accountability, correction, and guidance. Obviously, this can only be done on a small scale across this blog, but it is the hope of this post to encourage those followers to examine their fellowship and seek accountability. Though, you are more than welcome to post prayer requests as comments.
