BIBLE QNS&ANS

What is the Bible?

The Bible is the account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation. The writing of the Bible took place over sixteen centuries and is the work of over forty human authors. It is a quite amazing collection of 66 books with very different styles all containing the message God desired us to have.

This compilation of booklets contains an astonishing variety of literary styles. It provides many stories about the lives of good and bad people, about battles and journeys, about the life of Jesus along with letters written to groups of Christians that met in homes. It comes to us in narratives and dialogues, in proverbs and parables, in songs and allegories, in history and prophecy.

The accounts in the Bible were not generally written down as they occurred. Rather they were told over and over again and handed down through the years before someone finally wrote them down. Yet the same themes may be found throughout the book.

So along with the diversity there is also a remarkable unity. So what is the Bible? Well, in addition to all the above, the Bible is this:

• It is a guide for living life to the full. It gives us a road map for the perilous journey of life. Or to put it another way, on our voyage through life's ocean, we find our anchor right here.
• It is a storehouse of wonderful stories for children and grownups. Remember Noah and the ark? Joseph's coat of many colors? Daniel in the lion's den? Jonah and the fish? The parables of Jesus? In these stories we recognize the triumphs and failures of ordinary people - and we may even see ourselves!
• It is a refuge in trouble. People in pain, in suffering, in prison, in mourning, tell how they turned to the Bible and found strength there in their desperate hours.
• It is a treasury of insight as to who we are. We are not meaningless robots, but we are magnificent creatures of a God who loves us and gives us a purpose and a destiny.
• It is a sourcebook for everyday living. We find standards for our conduct, guidelines for knowing right from wrong, principles to help us in a confused society where so often "anything goes."

Who Wrote the Bible?

Many people contributed to the writing of the Bible. Actually the Bible is a collection of writings from about forty contributors, thirty in the Old Testament and ten in the New Testament. For example, the Psalms are a collection of the works of several authors, of whom David, the "sweet singer of Israel", is the best known. But psalms were also written by Moses, by Asaph, by a man named Ethan, and by the sons of Korah.

The accounts which have been preserved in the Old Testament date from the earliest times and were both written down and transmitted orally. As time passed they were collected together and received by the Hebrews as coming to them by God's mandate. The prophets transmit God's message to humans, while many of the Psalms articulate cries of people to God. Yet these psalms are also preserved in the Bible as part of God's message to mankind.

The New Testament stories and teachings were widely circulated among the early Christian churches. The letters of Paul to the Christians in several cities were likely the earliest writings now found in the New Testament. But many other letters and epistles were circulated as well. Gradually it became clear to the early churches which writings were truly inspired and which were spurious or simply edifying messages from pious authors.

It is truly amazing that all forty of these authors, spread out over 1600 years, have such a unified message in spite of their great diversity in language, culture and time. There is a reason for that! The reason is that these forty or so writers are all secondary authors. There is actually only one primary author, the one who inspired all the human authors, the eternal God.

Christians believe that the Bible came to us from God himself, who used all these human authors to give us his message, through the presence and inspiration of his Spirit. He did not simply give dictation to these authors, because we observe their unique personalities and varying styles of writing shining through. But God's message, God's authorship, is always there, providing in the end through all the years, exactly what he wanted us to have. In this way the Bible is our own ageless treasure.

When was the Bible written?

The Bible was not written in one specific year or in a single location. The Bible is a collection of writings, and the earliest ones were set down nearly 3500 years ago. So let's start at the beginning of this fascinating story.

The first five books of the Bible are attributed to Moses and are commonly called the Pentateuch (literally "five scrolls").

Moses lived between 1500 and 1300 BC, though he recounts events in the first eleven chapters of the Bible that occurred long before his time (such as the creation and the flood).

These earliest accounts were handed on from generation to generation in songs, narratives, and poetry.

In those early societies there was no writing as yet and people passed on these oral accounts with great detail and accuracy.

The earliest writing began when symbols were scratched or pressed on clay tablets. The Egyptians refined this technique and developed an early form of writing known as hieroglyphics. The Bible tells us that Moses was "educated in all the learning of the Egyptians", so he would have been familiar with the major writing systems of his time. We also read that God gave Moses "two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God"(Exodus 31:18). All this leads to the conclusion that the earliest writings in the Bible were set down around 1400 BC.

The writings of the thirty or so other contributors to the Old Testament span a thousand years! They recount the times and messages from Moses' successor, Joshua, to the last of the Old Testament prophets, Malachi, who wrote his little tract around 450 BC.

Then there is a 500-year period when no writings were contributed to the Bible. This is the period between the testaments, when Alexander the Great conquered much of the world and when the Greek language was introduced to the Hebrews. Indeed, they began to use Greek so much that the Hebrew language was replaced by Greek and by another language, Aramaic, which was spoken all over that area of the world at that time.

The New Testament was written during a much shorter period, i.e. during the last half of the first century AD.

• It was the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, which ignited the flame that produced the New Testament, as the new faith swept across the Near East and then westward to Greece and on to Rome.
• Half of the New Testament books were contributed by one man, the Apostle Paul, in the epistles he sent to groups of new Christians and to his assistants Timothy and Titus.
• The Bible closes with a majestic book of visions and dramatic views of the future. It was penned by the aged Apostle John around 95 AD and describes the new heaven and the new earth when God's kingdom will embrace the universe and all rebellion and death will be a thing of the past.

In looking at all these dates, the important thing to remember is that when the Bible was written is not as important as what was written. However, the when is important also as we sense how God's presence persisted through the centuries and gave us "in the fullness of time" the full-orbed revelation of salvation and hope through his son Jesus Christ.

What is the main message of the Bible?

The Bible addresses many basic issues of life and death, of the present and the future, and so it is difficult to select just one theme as the main one. Students of the Bible have generally grouped the leading topics treated in the Bible under two main heads. Let's look briefly at both of them.

The first school suggests that the main message of the Bible is the wonderful presentation of salvation. The good news of salvation in Jesus Christ is the fundamental message of the Scripture. Under this head there are many basic truths:

• God created a majestic universe and crowned it by forming the first man and woman in sinless perfection.
• Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation from Satan, and fell into sin and shame. The consequences of sin are obvious, but people everywhere still love to rebel against God.
• Yet God did not abandon humanity on its course to destruction. He chose one people to demonstrate his special care and from them to provide a Savior for the whole world.
• God sent his own son Jesus Christ to bear the awesome consequences of sin. God does not just blithely disregard sin, but he poured out all the terror of eternal condemnation on his son in those terrible hours of suffering and death on the cross.
• In the resurrection of Jesus, God demonstrates his victory over sin and calls people everywhere to identify with this victory by faith in Jesus Christ.
• In living in this salvation, we know that life is not meaningless, but we live surrounded by God's love, and bound for eternity with him.

The second school of thought views the main message of the Bible from a much different perspective. These readers agree that salvation is certainly very important, but it is only part of a much greater message. That bigger message goes far beyond the man-centered focus of salvation to embrace the purpose of all time and space. We may call this message the revelation of God's plan and purpose for the universe. Under this head there are also many basic truths:

• God in his dynamic and creative essence resolved to create the universe and delight in it.
• However, God is not the sole transcendent being. There is a rebellious and fallen being named Satan who opposes God and his plan. He deceives and undermines God's purpose everywhere.
• This conflict marks all history and results in two kingdoms. Satan foments disorder and all that is bizarre and sinister. Quarreling and dissension among God's people is often his most horrid device.
• In sending his son Jesus Christ, God established the decisive hour in this conflict. In his servanthood, Jesus was the opposite of all the pomp, pride, greed and egoism that Satan promotes.
• In Christ's death, Satan declared victory over God, but the resurrection turned that seeming victory into actual defeat.
• Satan still prowls the world, but he realizes he cannot win. God's people are now heralds of his present and coming kingdom. Gradually the contours of the final conflict emerge across the world.
• Eventually evil so captivates and enslaves humanity that the climactic end time of history arrives. Finally, Christ returns to earth as the victor and God's kingdom is established for all eternity. The purpose of God's creation and universal plan is achieved.

Both these majestic messages are found in the Bible. They are simply two perspectives on one majestic theme: God's Plan For His People And His Cosmic Kingdom. What is your heart's response to his message?

Is the Bible inspired?

Is the Bible inspired? And what does that mean? Christians do believe that the Bible is inspired, but not nearly everyone is clear as to what that means. The Bible itself says in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."(NIV) Did you catch that word "God-breathed"? That's the biblical term to describe what is meant by the inspiration of God's Word. But how did God "breathe", that is, just how did he give the writers of the Bible his message?

Some Christians believe that God dictated the Bible word for word in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and that the writers were simply secretaries who recorded those words. But there are two big problems with this view.

First of all, as we look at the writing styles of the various human authors, it is clear that their personalities are very much in evidence in what they write. There is no mechanical word-for-word dictation going on here.

• For example, the apostle Paul wrote with long, complicated sentences, and our English translations generally put them into shorter sentences so we can more clearly understand them. However, Mark wrote his Gospel using short, action-packed sentences that race along in a much different way.
• While the Gospel of John also covers the life of Jesus, his description of Jesus' life, words, and deeds comes from a much different point of view than Luke. Yet both were transmitting the inspired message which God gave them.

That is why most Christians conclude that God provided the precise thought to the human author, and he then wrote it down in terms of his own vocabulary, culture, education, and writing style. So we have here no wooden, single-colored document, but a many-faceted and dynamic book.

The second problem with the word-for-word view of inspiration is that many of the Psalms (and other passages) are the cries of imperfect, suffering people, who are voicing their own complaints or praises to God. They are words and thoughts emanating directly from the hearts of God's people, which he in turn allowed to be placed in the Bible so we could identify with these complaining, suffering or rejoicing people who are so much like us. God used their words and thoughts.

For those reasons many Christians believe that inspiration should be described as thought-for-thought rather than word-for-word. The human writers provide God's message in terms of their own personalities and historical circumstances, and yet they transmit the message fully and exactly as God desired. So we can call this view of inspiration "dynamic", as well as "verbal" (extending to the very words of the writer) and "plenary" (meaning that the Bible is fully and totally inspired.)

There's a third view of inspiration, too. This view asserts that the writers of the Bible were indeed inspired, but so were many great artists, musicians, and authors. Some superhuman, transcendent, divine aura possessed them and they produced works of sheer genius.

This is not what most Christians mean when they refer to inspiration.

• Rather, Christians believe that the message God gave us in the Bible is unique, and in fact, infallible.
• It is the work of the Holy Spirit who so guided the writers of the Scripture that they gave us, in their unique manner, exactly the message God intended.

So we can say that the Bible is a very human book, for we see in it both elegance and lack of polish, both finesse and struggle. But it is a divine book as well, for it is the only book in all the world that is truly "God-breathed". It is humanity's precious gift from God. Is it your guide for time and eternity?

Is the Bible true?

If so, how can I know it is true?

You might expect us at International Bible Society to say, "Yes, the Bible is true." Who could blame you for being a bit skeptical; I can hear you say, "Of course, they claim it's true! It's their main product!" Yes, that's so, but we'll do our best to bring you to our heartfelt conviction: the Bible is the truth! In the end, of course, only God himself can lead you to confess, as Jesus did in John 17:17, "Your word is truth."

Many brilliant people deny that the Bible is true, so obviously sheer intelligence is not the key to faith in the Bible. Jesus gives us an insight when he said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32, NIV) That sense of freedom in your soul which Jesus mentions is one way to gauge the truth of the Bible. That is, you'll be free from the horrible compulsion that you have to earn God's approval. You'll be free from fear about your eternal destiny, and free from the grip of slavery to your pride. In other words, the results in your life will demonstrate the truth of your faith! Mere intelligence alone can never give that freedom.

But let's look at what we mean by "truth" in talking about the Bible. Some scholars have a field day describing how archaic and out of date the Bible is. Here are some typical examples of what these scholars claim the Bible teaches:

• the sun revolves around the earth,
• historical data and many statistics are inaccurate,
• polygamy, slavery, and anti-Semitism are condoned,
• women are demeaned,
• pillaging the environment is of minimal concern.

Notice that these issues are of two kinds. First, there is the matter offactual accuracy. While this does bother some scholars of a scientific bent, we need to remember that the Bible's intention is not to instruct about scientific data, but rather about God's plan and the salvation of people. So, for example, we do not expect that the Bible will tell us if the days of creation were exactly 24 hours long or covered much longer periods (the Hebrew word for day, "yom", permits either reading). Such matters are outside the intent of what the authors (and the Holy Spirit who inspired them) wanted to communicate. It is unreasonable to expect that authors writing three thousand years ago would write in the terminology and categories of the 21st century.

The other kinds of issues aremoral ones, such as slavery, which is not specifically condemned in the Bible. However, the moral tone of the Bible is such that slavery would fade away as the standards of love and justice proclaimed by Christ are upheld. The place of women, aliens, prisoners, and the disabled, is elevated in Scripture. The worship of one God in a world of many deities stands out as a call to people to turn away from idols and temple prostitution to purity and a consecrated life.

So indeed there are factual difficulties in the Bible - as we remember that it was begun over three thousand years ago and took sixteen centuries to complete. What is truly amazing is that there is a deeper unity of purpose and message throughout the entire book! God's plan for his people and the universe is clearly spelled out. His love and purpose are unmistakable. On the very deepest level this is ageless truth. We are called upon to confess with John, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17 NIV) This is the truth that answers our heart's cry. And how can you know it's true?

Again this answer is on two levels.

• The first is the reliability of the underlying documents. On this level the evidence is utterly astonishing. No other volume in the world has even a small percentage of ancient manuscripts, parchments, papyri, and other documents which antedate the printing press. They number over five thousand! In the terrible days of persecution by the Roman emperors, many of the precious copies of the Scriptures were destroyed by imperial edict. Yet several were kept in secret and so God's Word was preserved throughout the centuries. It is also remarkable that the thousands of underlying documents agree to such a surprising extent. We may be sure that even today we have the authentic Bible.
• But there is another level of our acceptance of the truth of the Bible. This is a faith issue, and it is interwoven with all of God's work in our lives. There is a way in which God's call on our lives nudges us toward faith and life. We can resist and object. We can listen to the dozens of doubts and objections the Enemy puts before us. As Dr. Bill Bright has said, for those who do not believe the Bible, it is not because they are unable to believe, rather they are unwilling to believe. But as we are open to God's voice, we hear his mandate growing more clear as he calls, "Believe!" This is a level beyond mere factual analysis. It is the level of faith where we finally respond, "I believe! Help my unbelief!"

So as we promised, we would try to tell you about the truth of the Bible, even though we are believers. But we haven't trivialized the issue for you, either. We've told you the truth. Now the ball is in your court. How will you respond to God and his Word? In it you will find the truth - for time and eternity!

How were the books of the Bible chosen?

The 39 books of the Old Testament form the Bible of Judaism, while the Christian Bible includes those books and also the 27 books of the New Testament. This list of books included in the Bible is known as the canon. That is, the canon refers to the books regarded as inspired by God and authoritative for faith and life. No church created the canon, but the churches and councils gradually accepted the list of books recognized by believers everywhere as inspired.

It was actually not until 367 AD that the church father Athanasius first provided the complete listing of the 66 books belonging to the canon.

• He distinguished those from other books that were widely circulated and he noted that those 66 books were the ones, and the only ones, universally accepted.
• The point is that the formation of the canon did not come all at once like a thunderbolt, but was the product of centuries of reflection.

Let's look first at the Old Testament. Obviously the first five books (sometimes called the Torah or the Pentateuch) were the first to be accepted as canonical. We're not sure when this occurred, but it was probably during the fifth century before Christ. Of course, the Hebrews had the "Law" for many centuries already, but they certainly did not pay very good attention to it. It was probably the work of the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah that restored it to general use and fixed it once for all as authoritative.

How about the rest of the Old Testament? The prophets' writings were also not brought together in a single form until about 200 BC. The remaining Old Testament books were adopted as canonical even later. The Old Testament list was probably not finally fixed much before the birth of Christ. The Jewish people were widely scattered by this time and they really needed to know which books were the authoritative Word of God because so many other writings claiming divine authority were floating around. With the fixing of the canon they became a people of one Book, and this Book kept them together.

Nor is there a single date when we can say that the canon of the New Testament was decided. In the first and second centuries after Christ, many, many writings and epistles were circulating among the Christians. Some of the churches were using books and letters in their services that were definitely spurious. Gradually the need to have a definite list of the inspired Scriptures became apparent. Heretical movements were rising, each one choosing its own selected Scriptures, including such documents as the Gospel of Thomas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Apocalypse of Peter, and the Epistle of Barnabas.

Gradually it became clear which works were truly genuine and which mixed truth with fantasy. By the end of the fourth century the canon was definitively settled and accepted. In this process Christians recognize the providence of God in providing us with his written revelation of himself and his purpose with the universe.

Questions still arise now and then about the canon. Some wonder why just these 66 booklets were chosen. Why not 65 or 67? Why was the sometimes puzzling booklet of Jude included to the exclusion of other edifying scriptures? To these questions we reply that these books are the ones that God himself has chosen to preserve for us, and he has not told us exactly why. Together they form an immeasurable treasure, and in them we find God's matchless gift to his people. Here we are moved simply to trust in his providence as he led his people through the years and gave us the most honored and powerful and comforting volume in the history of humanity, the book known as the Bible.

And in his providence he has provided this treasure for you as well. Take up its ancient words and mandates and live by them! As you steep yourself in its pages, your heart will find peace at last.

Why do some Bibles have a section called the Apocrypha?

During the period between the completion of the Old Testament and the first writings included in the New Testament (i.e. the period between 450 BC and 50 AD), many essays, psalms and historical accounts circulated throughout the synagogues and early churches. Some of these documents gradually came to be regarded by certain of the believers as actually inspired and deserving of a place in the canon.

We usually date the first definite listing of the accepted books of the Bible as occurring around 367 AD. However, a second set of booklets had been assembled through the years, and these were given the name Apocrypha (meaning "hidden"). Though they are all from the time before the birth of Christ, they were never included in the Hebrew Bible. However, many Christians regarded them as valuable for reading and edification, and in some editions of the Bible they were interspersed among the Old Testament books.

Then Martin Luther, in his Bible translation of 1534, extracted the apocryphal books from their usual places in the Old Testament, and had them printed at the end of the Old Testament. He stated that they "are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures and yet are useful and good for reading." After that, many Protestant Bibles omitted them completely. However, in 1546 the Roman Catholic Council of Trent specifically listed the apocryphal books approved by the Roman Catholic Church as inspired and they are always included in Roman Catholic Bibles and are usually interspersed among the books of the Old Testament.

The Apocrypha generally consists of 14 booklets of which 1 and 2 Maccabees and 1 Esdras are the main documents and form the bulk of the apocryphal writings. First Maccabees is an historical account of the struggle of the Maccabee family and their followers for Jewish independence from 167 to 134 BC. Second Maccabees covers the same ground but dramatizes the accounts and makes moral and doctrinal observations. Other books are Tobit, Judith, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus, and The Wisdom of Solomon.

Since neither Jesus nor the apostles make any reference to the apocryphal books, most Christians have regarded their authority as secondary to that of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Yet within these apocryphal books are passages of great piety and historical information. We should therefore approach the Apocrypha with a discerning mind and heart, and carefully discriminate between that which is in harmony with the essentials of the Christian faith and that which deviates from what is taught in the 66 books of the canon. We have the Lord's promise that he will lead us into the truth, and we live by that promise in everything we read.

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Why so much war in the Old Testament?

In the Old Testament there is so much war and violence sanctioned by Yahweh. Is this the same loving God portrayed in the New Testament?

In the Old Testament there is so much war and violence sanctioned by Yahweh. Is this the same loving God portrayed in the New Testament? Let's take this seriously by quoting a few verses that seem repugnant to us. For example, Deuteronomy 20 contains Yahweh's instructions about war. If a city does not accept Israel's offer of peace and open its gates, then "when the Lord your God delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the men in it" (verse13). With regard to other cities, the command is (verse 16), "Do not leave anything that breathes."

You probably also recall that the walls of Jericho came tumbling down, and then the Israelites "destroyed with the sword every living thing in it - men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys" (Joshua 6:21). This certainly seems brutal and vindictive, doesn't it? Or consider Joshua 11:20, "For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses." From our twenty-first century point of view, we ask, "What good was accomplished by all this annihilation?"

Yet there is clearly another side to Yahweh as well. While the prophet Ezekiel does not spare the wicked in his denunciations, he also records Yahweh's words of grace: "If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?" (Ezekiel 18:21, 23). And he goes on in verse 32, "For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!" And there is this compelling verse recorded in 2 Chronicles 16:9, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."

All these descriptions of God depict him as unwavering in retribution on evil, though he takes no delight in it, and also unwavering in love and encouragement toward those hearts are turned toward him. God's obvious desire is that sinners should repent and live. But there comes a point where evil is finally intolerable and wiped from off the earth.

We must see these terrible retributions in their historical setting. The spread of wickedness was so pervasive that immorality, degradation, and barbarity invaded every facet of life. Children were sacrificed to pagan gods. Male and female prostitution took place right in the temple as part of the religious rites. Idol worship was rife and the society wholly contaminated. This evil was contagious and God's people were in danger of being infected as well. God's awesome judgement was finally unleashed.

Today we have lost that black and white distinction between good and evil. Tolerance is presented as the great religious value. Indeed, tolerance of diversity is a high Christian value, but often today tolerance is taken to mean the virtue of accepting nearly every behavior under the sun. Anything goes - in the name of tolerance! A sweeping moral relativism is the result, and children grow up with fewer and fewer moral absolutes to guide them. We seldom hear the term sin anymore, but instead a dozen much milder words are employed. Surely the Lord will not tolerate this abomination to his holiness forever.

Nor do we like to accept the fact that when evil spreads, the innocent as well as the guilty are hurt. When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the city died, both the innocent and the guilty. A few days later, as a direct result, the war came to an end. It was a terrible end, but it was the end, and greater carnage was avoided. Let's be clear about this stricter and more communal view of justice in the Bible. The Canaanite pagan communities would surely intermarry with the Israelites, and God's people were in danger of succumbing to their sexual perversions and religious degradation. Finally, the danger became just too much

The entire Bible from beginning to end never deviates from this standard of justice as well as grace. Jesus is crystal clear about the punishment of evildoers, for on the day of judgement God will say to the evildoers, "Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). Our society does not much care to hear about pain and punishment, and prefers the meek and mild Jesus of some contemporary writers. But the God of the New Testament is the changeless God of the ages.

And in that affirmation lies our only hope. Clearly we have all missed the mark. Each of us stumbles, and wounds, and sins. Even the most godly affirm that over and over. In God's enduring justice, he never simply blinks casually at sin. But that is not the end of the story, nor even the overriding theme of the Bible. For as humanity spirals deeper into self-gratification, God intervenes. Indeed, the Old Testament is a record of God's intervening in the human situation with a new promise of hope. The New Testament is the record of grace applied to people lost in sin and rebellion. There was no compulsion placed on God to undertake this rescue operation. But the plan was and is indescribably marvelous. God did not forget about guilt and justice. Rather, Jesus Christ, the God-man, took on himself the punishment and so satisfied the grisly sentence. This is what Christians call grace. The Bible is mainly a record of grace, set against a backdrop of horror and misery.

This is an ageless and eternal story, persisting into this new millennium. The evil surrounding us seems to be growing and moral apathy seeps in everywhere. But still God's grace shines through. His love persists. He calls and calls until the very last moment. Have you discovered his grace? It's there - available for you to live in every day.

Is the Bible still relevant today?

Sure, the Bible was relevant once upon a time, in that long-ago era of shepherds and scribes. That story of how the Hebrew people emerged from their centuries of slavery in Egypt is a gripping account, but does it have any connection to my world of lightning fast e-mails and jet travel? The problems of a fish swallowing a disobedient prophet named Jonah and how to get Daniel out of a den of lions seem pretty far removed from fixing my transmission or resurrecting my crashed hard drive. For a soccer mom racing to get her kids to the dentist, is there any relevance to the story of how Elijah saw to the killing of 400 prophets of the god Baal? Can we relate at all to such strange and mystifying events today?

Little wonder then that the French philosopher Voltaire said that in a hundred years from his day the Bible would have passed into the mists of history as people became more liberated and enlightened. And today a group of people known as the Jesus Seminar tell us that huge sections of the New Testament are not genuine but were concocted by writers who weaseled their own thoughts into the canon. Others have attacked the names and dates and events and numbers in the Bible, and proclaim that the book is riddled with errors. People who accept human evolution out of some primordial soup ridicule the very idea of creation as a throwback to an age of barbarians and illiterates. And, of course, priests and preachers will keep their jobs as long as they can continue to make you believe in the Bible!

Such attacks on the reliability and relevance of the Bible can be very persuasive. Yet as far as reliability is concerned, it's only fair to note that the Bible contains the best documented text of any volume in human history. Perhaps the most amazing support comes from the Dead Sea scrolls which were discovered in 1947 after lying in the Qumran caves for nearly 2000 years. Here were literally thousands of pieces from the Old Testament, and some were nearly a thousand years older than anything we had before. And yet there is a 98% similarity to the texts that are in common use. Both Christians and Jews were confirmed in their faith in the trustworthiness of the text handed down through the centuries. The attempts to tamper with the text have basically failed, and our treasure of God's revelation has come down to us intact.

But is the ancient book really relevant to the issues of our frenetic, post-modern world of microscopes and satellites? This is a question asked by those who are racing through life with little time for reflection on their destiny or why they are here. But for those who are unexpectedly slammed onto a hospital bed, life takes on a much different quality! Suddenly in the long, agonizing hours punctuated only by the clicking of a heart monitor, there is time to reflect on a new set of questions, timeless questions which have not changed much through the centuries. Does anyone really love me? How did those stars a billion miles away get there? Is there any hope for me? How do I get in touch with God right now?

It is then that these questions about the relevance of the Bible tend to fade away. The comfort and the hope embodied in the Bible suddenly become totally relevant. Its diversity touches every age, every situation. There are wonderful stories for children, deeply emotional psalms and confessions, discourses to engage the deepest philosophical questions, and the sayings of Jesus confronting the issues of life and death and the eternity ahead.

For some, there is a terrifying sense of guilt gnawing at the bone. It's time to deal with it, to recognize how you have slapped God in the face and hurt others. But the Bible does not just leave you there, sitting in your remorse! The very heart of the Bible is that there is a way out. God does not, however, just wink at your failures and let justice slide. In fact (and this is what the coming of Jesus Christ is all about), he did stand in my place to take the punishment due to me and to millions like me. He did suffer in my stead, he did hang on that cross at the center of history on my behalf, and finally he did die my death. Then on that first Easter he stood up from the grave as God gave that divine stamp of approval on all that he had done.

Christians do find that relevant! For us, life is not simply an empty journey, a trip to acquire more toys until eventually it's all over. From the pages of the Bible we read about our role in God's design and kingdom, and how our lives are touched with purpose and meaning. And at the end there is more than a gloomy extinction at the conclusion of a hectic life, but a great reunion where I plan to meet Jesus face to face.

Along the miles of concrete I traverse every day, I have a guide, a beacon. It's not in the form of a dead book, but it's a living guide for the journey. By the way, Voltaire is dead now, but the book he derided is today more widely read and pondered than ever. The house in which Voltaire lived later became a distribution center - for Bibles.

In what language was the Bible first written?

The first human author to write down the biblical record was Moses. He was commanded by God to take on this task, for Exodus 34:27 records God's words to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." And what language did he use? He wrote in his native language, called Hebrew.

Hebrew is one of a group of languages known as the Semitic languages which were spoken throughout that part of the world, then called Mesopotamia, located today mainly in Iraq. Their alphabet consisted of 22 letters, all consonants. (Imagine having an alphabet with no vowels! Much later they did add vowels.)

Almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew during the thousand years of its composition. But a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah were written in a language called Aramaic. This language became very popular in the ancient world and actually displaced many other languages. Aramaic even became the common language spoken in Israel in Jesus' time, and it was likely the language He spoke day by day. Some Aramaic words were even used by the Gospel writers in the New Testament.

The New Testament, however, was written in Greek. This seems strange, since you might think it would be either Hebrew or Aramaic. However, Greek was the language of scholarship during the years of the composition of the New Testament from 50 to 100 AD. The fact is that many Jews could not even read Hebrew anymore, and this disturbed the Jewish leaders a lot! So, around 300 BC a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek was undertaken, and it was completed around 200 BC. Gradually this Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, was widely accepted and was even used in many synagogues. It also became a wonderful missionary tool for the early Christians, for now the Greeks could read God's Word in their own tongue.

So the New Testament authors wrote in Greek. They did not, however, use really high-class or classical Greek, but a very common and everyday type of Greek. For many years some scholars ridiculed the Greek of the New Testament because many of its words were strange to those who read the writings of the great Greek classical authors such as Plato and Aristotle. But later many records were uncovered of ordinary people, and amazingly there were the same common terms used in everyday speech! The ridicule dried up accordingly.

The earliest copies of parts of the Hebrew Old Testament were discovered in 1947. They are part of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls and actually date back to the first century BC. Even though they are at least 900 years older than any parts of the Bible we had before this, they are not the originals. They are copies. The originals have all been lost or destroyed. But we are not at all doubtful that we may not have the original text. Copying by scribes was done with great care in those days and because the text was regarded as sacred, the copyists were extremely painstaking. Today some 5000 hand-copied documents exist of all or part of the Bible, and they agree in 98% of the text! No other ancient writing has this amount of underlying support with such amazing agreement as to the text.

Yes, we do have what God wanted us to have! By way of translation, we now have His revelation in our own language and in 2300 other languages, too. Today we have the very Bible that comes to us from the three languages used in the original. Truly we can say, "God speaks my language, too!"

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Are new parts of the Bible still coming to light? How is this possible?

In 1947 in an obscure cave west of the Dead Sea, Bedouin shepherds discovered some scrolls carefully placed in ten tall jars. They did not know what they had come upon, but they sold the scrolls to a nearby dealer. This was the opening chapter to an astonishing archeological find; eventually some 800 different manuscripts would be found in eleven caves near the valley called Wadi Qumran. In all, some 60,000 fragments, portions, or complete scrolls of these 800 manuscripts were retrieved, covering many subjects.

Many of the documents contained biblical texts. Either fragments or complete copies were found of every book in the Old Testament except Esther. They had been placed in these caves around the middle of the first century AD, and the amazing fact is that they had lain there undisturbed for 1900 years! But why are these Dead Sea Scrolls so important for us? The reason is that before this discovery the earliest manuscripts of biblical texts dated from the ninth century after Christ. They were copies of earlier copies which were long lost.

But now, for example, we have a scroll of the complete book of Isaiah dating from the second century before Christ. It is a thousand years older than any previous Hebrew Scripture document that we had before 1947.

So as these scrolls were painstakingly unrolled and translated, biblical scholars and Christians everywhere wondered what the results would be. Would the new finds provide contradictory texts, quite different from the text of our Bibles? Would the Bible have to be altered or expanded?

Even though not all of the scrolls are unrolled and translated more than half a century later, the answers are coming clear. The texts are amazingly similar to the documents we already have. The variations are less than two percent, and not a single teaching or doctrine of the Bible we have is altered. Rather than posing a threat to the Christian faith, the Dead Sea Scrolls have, in fact, provided convincing support for the genuineness of God's revelation as given to us in the Bible.

Nevertheless, Bible scholars are having intense debates about some of the texts. For example, some new Bible translations have added approximately 70 words to the end of 1 Samuel 10. The passage tells us that a certain king Nahash gouged out the eyes of the Israelites. While the text itself is of little consequence, it raises some very basic questions. Are new parts of the Bible still coming to light? Don't we have God's complete revelation? How is this possible?

Such questions need a forthright answer, and that answer is to trust in God's provision. This trust embraces our faith in His plan for the universe, and in His sending of His son to our needy world. Therefore, it also certainly embraces our trust in His revelation. If we trust Him with our destiny, we can trust His provision of exactly what we need to know and receive from Him.

The Dead Sea Scrolls have provided enormous light for Bible translators. The Scripture text we have today is clearly reliable and substantiated from these ancient scrolls. The challenge we face in responding to this marvelous find is to place our faith in God's Word and in His provision of light on our path for time and eternity.

Why are there so many versions English?

Would you believe that there are literally hundreds of different translations of the Bible into English? For many people this huge variety is totally confusing and they just don't know which Bible to choose. How did we get into this situation anyway?

At the heart of the problem are two views as to what a translation should be. On one side are those who feel a translation should stick just as closely as possible to every word of the original Hebrew and Greek. They want the translation to be a literal transfer, word for word, of the original words into English. They feel this will provide the greatest accuracy possible and, after all, this is the aim, isn't it?

Unfortunately, that approach encounters real problems. Some words simply don't have an exact equivalent in English. The word order and the entire sentence structure just don't match from one language to another. So these word-for-word translations are wooden and unnatural. They may be used for close study, but they often fail in terms of comprehension and readability. On the other side are those who feel a translation should transfer the message, that is, the exact thought and emotion of the original text. To do this, it should use as many words as are necessary to reproduce the idea precisely in English. You don't really obtain accuracy, they contend, by a word-for-word translation, but you do when you convey the concept, the message, of the original, so that the reader understands it. In the end, they say, a thought-for-thought translation is actually more accurate as well as more understandable. They invite us to compare Job 36:33 in a literal translation (the venerable King James Version) and a thought-for-thought translation (the New International Version):

King James Version	New International Version
The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapor.	His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.

Of course, since the KJV dates from 1611, it contains some archaic language, but the message of the KJV in this verse is also very difficult to decipher. In the NIV in this case the thought comes through with more clarity.

Translations also differ as to the reading level of the reader. They vary from a third grade to a twelfth grade reading level. The lower reading level translations have shorter sentences, draw from a smaller English word pool, and avoid all uncommon words. Some employ a vocabulary limited to 1000 words.

Let's review several of the best-known translations. We cited two translations in the passage just quoted, and they are the two most widely used of all English translations:

·         The King James Version is loved for the majesty of its language and for the way God has used it in ministering to millions down through the centuries. Some Christians feel that no other translation can possibly replace it.

·         The New International Version is today the most widely distributed and utilized translation in the world. It is a thought-for-thought translation, but employs a moderately traditional tone that makes it appropriate for both public worship and personal reading.

·         A recent translation that is gaining widespread acceptance and uses contemporary terminology is the New Living Translation. It is both accurate and very readable.

·         Another widely used translation is the New American Standard Bible, which is a more literal rendition.

·         The New Revised Standard Version, is a contemporary thought-for-thought translation.

·         Many Roman Catholic readers prefer the New Jerusalem Bible.

So which is the best translation?

As you can see, there are many audiences and many different kinds of readers. You should decide what kind of reader you are and estimate your reading level. Are you seeking a literal translation or one that provides a thought-for-thought presentation? Do you prefer the historic dignity of the King James Version, the widely accepted and respected New International Version, or the very readable and contemporary New Living Translation? Consult a knowledgeable Christian and then immerse yourself in God's Word!

Each translation has the power to transform your life. Though the cadence and the terminology may differ, the voice of God can speak to you through each one. Then the question remains: how will you respond to God's voice as He speaks to you from the pages of this life-changing book?

Do Jews and Christians basically have the same religion?

Since Jews and Christians both claim to have God's Word, do they basically have the same religion?

The faith of most religious Jews is called Judaism. It is the oldest of the world's three great monotheistic religions (that is, religions serving one God). Judaism is the parent of both Christianity and Islam. It proclaims that there is only one God, whose name is Yahweh, and He is the creator and ruler of the universe. He revealed His law, the Torah, to the Jewish people (who were known as Hebrews at that time) and He chose them to be a light for all humanity. The Torah contains some 613 commands which are summed up in the Ten Commandments.

A very important concept in Judaism is that of the Messiah. Originally the Jews believed that God would send a powerful messenger (the Messiah) who would deliver Israel from her oppressors and usher in a reign of peace and prosperity. Today many Jews no longer hold to a personal messiah, but hope for a messianic age of justice and truth. For the Jews the coming of the Messiah or the messianic age still lies in the future.

The sacred Scriptures of Judaism consist of three groups of documents: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (such as Psalms and Proverbs). These Scriptures also form the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Judaism does not accept the inspiration of the New Testament or its account of the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies.

There are many areas of agreement between the two faiths, for Christians also accept the Old Testament and all its teachings as inspired. Among the basic truths accepted by both faiths are the perfect creation of the world out of nothing by an infinite God, the entrance of sin into this world via the temptation of another transcendent being called Satan, the judgement of God on sin, and the necessity of atonement for sin. In Judaism this atonement is accomplished through sacrifices, prayer, righteous acts, and God's mercy.

Judaism, however, does not accept the central Christian teaching that Jesus Christ is the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament. This watershed point is made throughout the New Testament and forcefully stated in Galatians 3:13-14, "But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' Through the work of Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham�" (New Living Translation).

All the differences in ceremonies, Kosher food, dress, festivals and worship are not as basic as the messianic expectation and its fulfillment in Christ. Christianity has received from Judaism its basic understanding of God, his covenant relationship with His people, and assembling together for worship. There is a divine plan for history and it is moving toward a wonderful goal when Yahweh will be the King not only of the Jews but of all the earth. Separation from the corrupting influences of the pagan world is important, but Judaism is not a religion that focuses on a spiritual world somewhere down the road. Its focus is on this present world, where life is meant to be rich and full.

Some Jews who have become Christians refer to themselves as "completed Jews." In fact, the Old Testament is filled with hope, and the fulfillment of this hope is wonderfully described in the New Testament. Text after text relates how Jesus Christ fulfills all that the prophets foretold. In Him the great promises of the Old Testament become the inheritance of all who accept His salvation. The stream of God's favor broadens now to embrace believers from every tribe and nation.

We all owe a tremendous debt to the Jews. We have inherited so much from them, and from them came God's own Son, the Messiah. Faith in Him, that is, in His once-for-all death and resurrection is the key to peace of heart now and hope for the future. We can now not only look back on a marvelous history, but forward to the day when His kingdom enfolds people from every land. Is this Messiah also your very own Savior for time and eternity?

Is the Bible we have today in English the same as the original Bible?

In order to answer these questions, let's first decide what we mean by "the original Bible." That phrase refers to the revelation that came from God to the human authors. They wrote down exactly what was revealed to them, using their own vocabulary and writing style. These messages from God came to some forty different people over the span of 1600 years! The concluding one, the book of Revelation, was given 2000 years ago around 100 AD.

Unfortunately, none of these original manuscripts exist today. Well over 3000 years have passed since Moses first penned the book of Genesis. None of his own writing has survived, but copies have been made down through the centuries. The scribes who made these copies were extremely careful as they did their work. We know this because there are over 5000 complete or partial copies of the originals, actually copies of the copies. Yet these thousands of copies (which predate the printing press) agree with each other to an amazing extent. There is no major variation in any of them. No other book from ancient times has this much underlying documentary support. So we are sure we have the original text as it came from the mind of God.

Because what we have are copies of so many manuscripts, there is no single location where "the original Bible" is housed. The Bible text most often used by scholars and translators is a composite made from the oldest and most reliable of the ancient manuscripts. These old manuscripts are housed in several museums and other places all over the world.

But what about the translation of this text into English? Does it accurately reproduce the original text - which, after all, was first written down in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek? Since the ancient texts we are using agree to such an remarkable extent, our task is to put this original text into excellent English.

The translation task is not simple. To find the exact meaning in modern English of those ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek terms, phrases, and sentences is very challenging. Sometimes the original words have no exact counterpart in English, so several English words may be required to reproduce the precise meaning. And English is constantly changing, as some of our words take on new meanings. For example, the word "gay" means something quite different today than it meant fifty years ago.

This helps to explain why there is so much variation in the English translations. Ten trained translators looking at the same Greek text would likely come up with ten slightly different renditions, and each would have reasons for his or her choice of particular words and phrases. English is, after all, not a fixed, dead language. It is alive and constantly changing. So don't expect that there will be no further English translations. Translators continue to study the ancient text to find just the right nuance and shade of meaning in today's English to express exactly what God intended to convey.

The real question about the location of God's Word is actually a very personal one. The real question is not in which museum it is housed, but does it find lodging in your heart? If it's located there, then a second question arises. Are you translating its message into the drama of your life day by day?

Is the Bible at odds with science?

The Bible tells us that miracles happen! The birth of Jesus to a virgin, and His resurrection from the grave are cardinal elements in the faith of Christians. The origin of life itself stems from the mind and act of God. Incredibly, some scientists teach that we evolved from single cells, which in turn developed over billions of years from electrical charges. In the face of the amazing complexity of living beings, they still find no evidence of intelligent design in the universe.

Thus science is often pitted against the Bible, but everything depends on what we mean by science. Science is based on careful observation, on precise description of natural events and phenomena. Scientific conclusions are based solely on reasoning from factual evidence. Every Christian should have great respect for the scientific method and accept its validity. However, some well-meaning Christians take the position that science and the Bible are implacable enemies, and they go through life with a chip on their shoulders. This attitude contributes nothing to anyone's understanding.

Unfortunately, some scientists regard the Bible as an antiquated collection of myths and primitive nonsense. In their worldview there is no place for intelligent design. Once they have dismissed the Bible they look down on believers as people still trapped in their outdated faith systems. The two sides appear to be locked in endless conflict.

Both sides could use a dose of humility. We remember that when Nicolaus Copernicus declared that the Earth was not the center of the universe, he was declared a heretic. Later, Galileo was put on trial for declaring that the sun was the center of our solar system. Church authorities demanded that they recant. (It should be noted that the Bible itself is not the culprit in this conflict.)

Clearly science has made astonishing discoveries and exposed entrenched beliefs as false. Every Christian should support the quest of science as it seeks to uncover and understand the amazing mysteries of the universe. One's sense of wonder at the complexity and enormity of the universe can only be deepened and enriched.

At the same time some scientists fall into the trap of calling theories facts when they are only theories. This actually violates the scientific method. Among these enormous and unproved assumptions are those concerning the origin of life and the denial of the supernatural. For such scientists the conclusion is that we got here by chance and will end up in nothingness. This position is fundamentally unsupport- able, and the Bible provides a wonderful and totally reasonable alternative. It is an alternative that involves faith in the timeless existence of the being the Bible calls God.

There is a very sinister idea making the rounds these days, an idea even taught in the schools as the truth. That idea is that science is grounded only in facts and religion is grounded solely in faith in the Bible. Therefore, the theory goes, when it comes to the origin of life, evolution may be taught in the schools, but not creation. The truth is that both of these views are grounded in a huge leap of faith and both claim to be reasonable. The creationist indeed places her faith in intelligent design, and finds in this faith a reasonable explanation of life and its origin. However, the evolutionist also operates by faith: faith in the inexplicable and wholly random origin of something out of nothing! Make no mistake, this is a leap of faith, an astounding assumption not based on any observable facts. For Christians, faith in intelligent design as explanation for the origin of life is far more reasonable than faith in randomness and blind chance.

When it comes to miracles, it is fair to conclude that they lie outside of science, but are not opposed to science. God can and does intervene in history, so scientists (and all of us) do well to be humble in the face of miracle. But Christians (and everybody else as well) also do well not to call something a miracle just because we don't understand it. When both these positions are understood and accepted, science and the Bible are not at odds. They are both gifts from God.

Let's remember, too, that the Bible is not a scientific textbook. Although Christians accept the Bible as entirely true, it does not use scientific terminology. After all, it was written thousands of years ago! So it uses terms such as "sunrise" and "sunset", even though we know that the sun does not rise or set. The Bible is a casebook of divine love and admonition, as well as the very human response of failure and triumph.

So although the Bible is not a scientific treatise, it is our guidebook for life. It teaches us amazement in the face of life's mysteries. On our sickbed when all the answers of science have been exhausted, we throw ourselves on the hope so wonderfully described in the Bible. We live here by faith and reach for life beyond the grave. In its pages we find the story of our origin and destiny. Has it become your guidebook, too?

In the Bible we read about "the law". What does this mean?

Are we supposed to keep "the law" today?

When "the law" is mentioned in the Bible, it harks back to the days of the Old Testament. There are hundreds of commands given to the Israelite's, but the phrase "the law" refers specifically to the compilation of decrees found in the first five books of the Bible. This whole body of law was given the name Torah.

Obedience to this law was the awesome obligation of God's people as they attempted to merit His favor and blessing. After all, Israel was His special people, and they were bound together in a solemn covenant with Him. So the laws not just some rules laid down by the tribal chief, but they were the laws of the covenant community. When the law was transgressed, the covenant was broken, and so was the relationship with God! That's why the law occupied such a huge place in the life of Israel.

In order to restore the broken relationship, sacrifices were required and penalties were prescribed. Yet all these sacrifices were really inadequate. They tried to lay the culprit's guilt on a sheep or goat which was then killed - as though that scapegoat could really take away the guilt. True, God prescribed all this, but could such pitiful attempts at making amends ever really be adequate? In the Bible God is portrayed as so holy and just, that sin cannot be brushed aside. Actually the Bible presents sin as so horrendous that it merits death. This is the basic human predicament.

That is why the Old Testament looks forward! Isaiah 53 is among the literary treasures of humanity, and its message of the suffering servant of God is incredibly touching. In the Servant's suffering and death, Almighty God will at last find His sacrifice to be full, complete, and totally sufficient. On His back will be laid the sin and guilt of the transgressors and He will pour out His life in the one and only sacrifice that finally finishes it all. At last the penalty of "the law" is paid. That Suffering Servant of Isaiah is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God's Son.

In the New Testament, "the law" refers back to that old situation when people looked at obedience to the commandments as the way of acceptance with God. The apostle Paul often contrasts this with the forgiven state believers now enjoy because of God's grace. Paul loves to make that contrast between the impossible situation of trying to merit forgiveness, and the new situation of forgiveness by sheer mercy because of Christ's sacrifice.

It might seem that the apostle Paul is disparaging the law when he contrasts it with the good news of the Gospel. But he is quick to deny this! We wouldn't even know the difference between good and evil, he says, without the law telling us what to do and what not to do. But above all, Paul wants to make clear the God's love fulfills the law. The law tells us the kind of life that our love for God and our neighbor would require.

So there's no way we should want to continue to sin and flaunt the law, just so we can be the recipients of more grace! So are we still supposed to keep "the law" today? Obviously all those laws about sacrifices are finished in the one and complete sacrifice of Christ. All the dozens of laws about the land, foods, and rituals of Israel don't pertain to us either. Nor can the keeping of any set of laws give us eternal life.

But we don't just toss out God's commands and become a lawless gang. In fact, we have a great motive for obedience to God. That motive stems from the fact that every believer is a new person in Christ. Therefore he or she loves God and his/her neighbor. The timeless law of God is written in our hearts now and obedience is our joyful adventure. Disobedience to God is our rotten failure. This style of conduct, this law of our new life, we still find in the pages of the Bible.

The New Testament book of Hebrews is a gold mine of comparison of the old life under "the law" and the new life we live by God's forgiving grace. Here are some verses from just one chapter (10: 11-12, 16-18): "Under the old covenant, the priest stands before the altar day after day, offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as one sacrifice for sins, good for all time. �'This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts so they will understand them, and I will write them on their minds so they will obey them.' Then he adds, ' I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.'" (New Living Translation)

As God's new creation we actually want to obey His law - not because it gets us anything, but because of our love for Him. We still say with the Psalmist in his ageless words, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart." (Psalm 40:8)

How was the Bible distributed before the printing press was invented in 1455

Before the advent of the printing press, the only way to duplicate a document or book was to copy it by hand. Probably the first copies of writing were made by engraving symbols on a slab of rock. A more temporary copy could be made by using a stylus on beeswax. The ancient invention of ink or dye enabled early scribes to make marks on animal hides, which could be scrubbed and used again.

A great leap forward took place when the Egyptians began using papyrus. This plant, found along the Nile, was cut into strips, soaked in water, and then pressed into sheets. While the Old Testament was first copied on leather scrolls, the use of papyrus soon became the favorite of Bible copyists. The sheets of papyrus were sewed together and placed between two pieces of wood for covers. This type of book was called a codex. Actually the term Bible comes from the Greek word for "papyrus plant" (biblos). The oldest surviving manuscript of any part of the New Testament is a papyrus fragment containing part of John 18. Scholars estimate that it was written about 125 AD.

Around 320 the codex book form replaced the roll or scroll, and parchment made from the skin of sheep or goats replaced papyrus. Also around this time the Roman emperor Constantine became a Christian and authorized the production of many copies of the Scriptures. Now the making of copies of the Bible began in earnest, but it was still a huge undertaking. Nor was much translation attempted. Probably the first translation of the New Testament was into Latin in 175. By the year 600, the Gospels had been translated into only eight languages.

With this copying and translation activity, a confusing variety of Scriptures began to circulate through the early church. Finally, the Pope commissioned the great scholar Jerome to make a definitive translation into Latin, which was completed in 405. For nearly a thousand years this translation, known as the Vulgate, reigned supreme. While many translations were made, a church council in Toulouse, France, in 1229 forbade anyone who was not a priest from owning a Bible. Nevertheless, "underground" translation and circulation of the Bible continued.

The work of copying the Scriptures was undertaken in earnest in the monasteries in the Middle Ages. Several thousand monasteries were established across Europe, and for many of the monks making copies of the Scriptures was their chief task. They became the true guardians of the text and produced literally thousands of magnificent Bibles. Teams of scribes and artists worked with parchment to produce incredibly beautiful works of art. A scribe taking dictation might use as many as 80 quills a day, and artists embellished the work with intricate designs and illustrations.

By the late Middle Ages, the production of both religious and secular texts passed to professional copyists. Booksellers placed shops near the universities and 2 cathedral schools, and so the book trade mushroomed. Of course, most people in the Middle Ages were illiterate, and so picture Bibles full of wonderful illustrations became popular.

Because of the huge size of complete Bibles, they were divided into several volumes, and each was very costly. Only the rich and the universities could afford them. Into this situation came a great revolutionary named John Wycliffe, whose central doctrine was, "Every Christian ought to study this book because it is the whole truth!" Wycliffe inspired the first complete translation of the Scriptures into English. He also lashed out against the power and riches of the church establishment, and became a very popular leader at Oxford. Inevitably, he was condemned by the archbishop and was fired from Oxford; however, his conviction of the authority of the Bible rather than the Pope stirred great controversy. Despite the church's efforts to suppress the Bibles, the common people were at last able to receive and read God's Word.

Today we are pretty casual about this great treasure, so readily available to us. We do well to stop for a moment to realize that we can actually hold in our hands the precious revelation of God Himself. It costs us less than an hour's wage, rather than a year's salary, as it once did. The temptation now is to treat the ancient word casually as well. But from this ink and paper springs the ageless gospel of hope for this life and the life to come. It is our priceless heritage.

How many different languages has the Bible been translated into?

Statistical Summary provided by UBS World Report, March 2002 A summary, by geographical area and type of publication, of the number of different languages and dialects in which publication of at least one book of the Bible has been registered as of December 31, 2002.
Region	Portions	Testaments	Bibles	Total
Africa	213	279	149	641
Asia	223	228	119	570
Pacific	168	204	33	405
Europe	110	31	62	203
North America	40	26	7	73
Central & South America	127	244	21	392
Constructed Languages	2	0	1	3
Total	883	1,012	392	2,287

Will the Bible of the future be the same as the one we have today?

In some respects the Bible of today differs greatly from the Bible of the past! First of all, the languages differ. The Bible of the past originally appeared in three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Today, complete Bibles exist in 392 languages, and at least some portion of the Bible exists in 2,287 languages.

The earliest translations of the Bible appeared between 200 and 300 AD in Latin, Coptic, and Syriac. The first English Bible was translated from Latin in 1382 and is called the Wycliffe Bible in honor of the Oxford scholar John Wycliffe who did much of the translation. If you were to look at that Bible today, very likely you could barely read it. The spelling, script, and terminology make it very difficult to decipher. So in that regard, our Bible today is quite different from the Bibles of the past.

An even more significant difference is that our Bibles today are more accurate and precise than the Bibles of the past. With the ongoing discovery of ancient manuscripts, we have more exact renderings of the original text than have existed before. For example, today we know that unicorns do not exist, but in the Middle Ages this was commonly believed and the term is found several times in the English Bible of that day.

A third difference is that the meanings of words change all the time. In the past the opening words of Psalm 23 were, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Back then, the word "want' meant "lack", but today it means "desire", so today that verse reads in the New International Version (and many others), "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." This rendition more exactly states the meaning of the Hebrew for our comprehension of its precise intent.

So in these ways the Bible of today differs from the Bible of the past. However, in one respect the Bible of today is the very same as the Bible of the past. The Bible of today transmits as precisely as is humanly possible the original revelation that came from God. That revelation, embodied in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, has not been changed even the slightest bit in translations such as the New International Version. The translators who worked on the NIV all regarded the Word of God as divinely inspired, down to the very words employed, and they consider it infallible. They all signed a statement affirming that faith.

But what about the future? Are new translations going to appear which change God's Word? We can speak only about translations published by International Bible Society, and the answer is: IBS will never publish a translation that alters the message or departs from faithfully presenting God's revelation. This solemn promise is backed by its nearly 200 years of fidelity in translation and publishing God's Word.

Let's be clear: language changes, and the ancient words must be put into language which today expresses the original intent. Once upon a time "all men" meant "all people". Today, children and women may be excluded if that phrase is not used carefully. Therefore, if the original text meant to embrace all people, the translation of the future will not say "all men". If the older translation stated that a woman "was with child", the translation of the future will say the woman "was pregnant". The concern for total accuracy and complete comprehension determine the words the translation will employ.

Therefore the translators' task is never really done. The languages of the world continue to change because they are living and dynamic. Manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls continue to provide insights into the precise nuances of the ancient words and concepts.

But none of this changes the Bible. God's revelation itself is changeless, or in the words of Psalm 119:89, "Your word, O Lord is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens." Our languages may shift as new words appear and existing words change meanings ever so slightly, and so we must be ready to put the ancient and abiding meaning into today's terminology. But the revelation remains as is, and so it is right to say that the Bible of the future will be the very same as the one we have today.

We've come to the close of our series of Questions and Answers About The Bible. We conclude by affirming Christ's testimony,"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" Matthew 24:35. Thanks for spending time in looking into God's Word with us. We hope and pray that the Bible will truly be your beacon on your life's adventure