THE TRUSTWORTHY WORD

SUMMER QUARTER COUPLES/FAMILY CLASS - 2011

THE THIRD QUESTION

Are you sure no one ever changed the Bible? Every word of God proves true... Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar (Proverbs 30:5-6 ESV).
In three places the Scriptures specifically warn us not to add or take anything away from the Scriptures (Deut 4:2, 12:32; Prov 30:5-6; Rev 22:18-19). In essence God has commanded that his word remain unaltered. But, has it? Weve already seen that scribal errors dont amount to any significant change in the text, so we do have a Bible that has been faithfully passed down from ancient times until now. However, there are some who claim that the Bible was at least selectively assembled by someone like Constantine in the 4th Century. (Well examine that claim with question 4.) There are others who claim it was changed, maybe even fabricated during the late 1st Century (before the date of our oldest existing manuscripts) by the Christian community. Getting to the truth is a matter of faith and a little critical thinking. The faith issue has to do with what we understand about the nature, power & purposes of God with regard to Scripture. What would be the use of God sending his Son to save the world, inspire apostles & prophets to write about it, and then just let liars so corrupt it as to leave us with no testimony? Does that seem to you to be consistent with Gods nature? He allows men free will, & abusing it, some blatantly produced perversions of Scripture. But, his providence saw that we have so many witnesses to the true text that weve never been without it from the 1st Century until now. Is not such basic providence what faith ought to expect from God? The critical thinking has to do with what the Bible says compared to what its critics say about it. Is there substance to their claims? Do the claims of Scripture seem like what people would just make up? Are there passages that contradict one another, as would certainly be the case if someone had tampered with sections of it? Where is the evidence that the Bible has ever been changed in any lasting, far reaching way?

ARE YOU SURE?

Are you sure no one has ever

changed the Bible?

The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years by some 40 men in three languages. It contains three or four distinct types or genres of literature in two sections divided (in Christian Bibles) into sixty-six individual books. In spite of all this complexity, it is a masterpiece of literary unity. No other book can compare! What does that say about its trustworthiness? The unity of the Bible, its authentic historical details, & its unbiased presentation of the lives of its greatest characters, working together make a strong case against any considerable changes of its text.

WE AFFIRM GOD HAS PROVIDENTIALLY HAD SUFFICIENT WITNESS TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE BIBLE PRESERVED UNTIL OUR TIME SO THAT WE KNOW WE HAVE THE

ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC
WORD OF GOD.

Are you sure?

July 24, 2011 Part 5