![]() What Is the Bible?
This Website is Still a Work In Progess! So, how do we answer this thought provoking question? There are two primary avenues of inquiry to seek out the proper responses to this question. First, what does the Bible claim about itself? And secondly, what do it's readers believe it to be? The first question is fairly simple to answer because we can search its pages and read its claims. The second, however, is not so easy because there are hundreds, if not 1000's, of opinions.
The Bible Speaks for Itself!
God Promises to PRESERVE His Words.
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”(Psalm 12:6-7)
“Every word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”(Proverbs 30:5-6)
“Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”(Mark 13:31)
“Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”(Deuteronomy 4:1-2)
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”(Revelation 22:18-19)
“... the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.”(Psalm 117:2)
“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”(Psalm 119:89)
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”(Isaiah 40:8)
“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”(Matthew 4:4) How can we live by EVERY word if the words have been changed?
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”(Matthew 5:18)
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”(Matthew 24:35)
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever.”(1 Peter 1:23)
“But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”(1 Peter 1:25)
“This doesn't sound like God inspired only the "concepts" in Scripture. He clearly directed every word and will not tolerate man's meddling with it. He calls them "His Words.” (quoted from chick.com)
“If your Bible is a King James Bible, it preserves God's words because it was translated using "formal equivalence." All other Bibles were translated using "dynamic equivalence," in which the translator is free to change words as long as he conveys the "idea."” (quoted from chick.com) However, very often even the "idea" of the changed words gets flawed!
chick.com
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forever written
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unchanging
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every word
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Inerrant
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Internal Evidence the Bible is what it claims to be
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External Evidence the Bible what is what it claims to be.
The Christian can rely on the Holy Spirit to guide and convince of the Bible's precision and truthfulness.
But the non-believer must begin with the external proofs to bring them to a logical conclusion, based on the external facts. And what are these facts? There are many!
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Where Do Our Bibles Come From?
Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start!
1Written By God Through the Apostles.
First and foremost, the Apostle Peter tells us, “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”(2 Peter 1:21)
This indicates to us the fact that no human initiated what was written. Each writer was carried along by the Holy Spirit to write only as God directed!
The Bible claims to have come straight from the mind of God Himself and therefore should be accepted as His writings to us. God wrote the 10 Commandments with His very finger! He wrote the Bible using the hands of annointed men!
Exodus 31:18
Deuteronomy 9:10
2Given By God to Give to the Churches.
The New Testament writings were sent from the Apostles to the churches to be read in their meetings, copied and shared.
Most were in the form of 'letters' to the churchs (also known as epistles). So the earliest churches had texts written by Apostles who were taught personally by Jesus and were eye-witnesses of His
life and miracles.(1 John 1-4)
And in some cases, after thoroughly investigating the validity, the Apostles wrote of other peoples' eye-witness accounts.(Luke 1:1-3)
Acts 10 39-42
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3God Promises to Preserve His Words.
Further, not only were the letters recordings of eye-witness accounts, but God promised to perserve them throughout the ages!
“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
(Psalms 12:6-7)
And then this fearful warning: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
(Revelation 22:18-19)
chick.com
4The History of Its Preservation.
You see, there are two streams of Bibles, not just one. Each stream of Bibles has its own history. The Northern Stream originated in Antioch of Syria, where "the disciples were called Christians first"
(Acts 11:26).
These believers faithfully copied and accurately translated the Bible. Why? Because they believed God's promise to preserve His words
And they didn't want to sin by adding to or taking away from God's holy Bible.
The Bible-believers in Antioch took God at His word. So God preserved His words through Antioch. One of the translations made there was the Old Latin, which spread across the Roman empire, all the way to England, before 200 AD!
(The above paragraph is taken from Chick.com) This perfectly preserved Bible was (1)dictated by God (2)through His Apostles (3)to the first century churches, (4)even to the believers at Antioch, (5)who carefully safeguarded it for Christians to read and share. Then in 1611, by decree of King James I, the King James Version was translated by greatmen of Godwho desired to give us an acurate copy of the Bibles in English. These Apostolic "autographs" are called the "Textus Receptus" and sometimes the "Majority Texts." We can trace the KJV directly back to the original, preserved, unaltered writings of the Apostles as delivered to the Saints at Antioch! The KJV was declared by King James I, and the English speaking churches of that day, to be the "Authorized Version" of the Bible in English. Men like John Wiclif, William Tyndale, John Rogers, Myles Coverdale and others were tortured and killed by the Catholic "church" for the work they did in helping to translate from the original writings.
Two Historical Streams
About King James
The Translators
400th Year Anniversary
5The Bible Perversions.
Perversion may seem a very harsh word to use, BUT God's preserved words have been changed for, what I consider to be, perverted reasons. These reasons include:
(1)to validate non-Biblical, denominational doctrines and beliefs,
(2)many "scholars" believe they can improve on what God "meant" to say,
(3)to be accomodating of everyone's way of life, which moves the Church towards the End Time initiative of Ecumenism,
(4)to make the Bible "easier" to understand, or
(5)to make MONEY off the marketing and sales of new "versions".
It boils down to this truth. There is no need for over 200 different English versions of the Bible if the Bible is truely unchanging!
Criticize Denominations?
NIV Bible Test
448 Reasons
What Do People Think of the Bible
In reality, what people think of the Bible has no bearing at all on the authenticity, integrity or truthfulness of the Bible!
It IS what it claims to be or it IS NOT!
Those who seriously investigate its veracity will discover its genuiness.
How to Select a Translation?
foundational documents (building on shifting sands)
what's changed?
unchanging
what's missing?
David W. Daniels on YouTube
Books On Bible Versions
Are You Crazy?
448 Reasons
Why Is the Bible's Genuiness of Importance to the Christian?
It is the Bible that tells us about Jesus: His death, burial, resurrection and emanant return.
Why Thee and Ye is So Important?
Example: (John 3:4-5) “Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
The understanding of who this verse is addressed to is LOST without the KJV english!
Here is the key: THEE, THINE and THOU are singular. YE, YOU and YOUR are plural. If all of these are changed, as in most modern translations, to the word "YOU", how is the reader able to determine if the word is singular or plural? In John 3:7, was Jesus addressing the individual or everyone when He said, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Who Were Westcott and Hort?
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Examples of Corruptions Found (From av1611.com)
Bible Versions and the Downplaying of the Preeminence of ChristVarious Contradictions and Omissions in Bible Translations Terry Watkins' Bible Versions Comparisons Is Your Bible a Defective Weapon? Unless Otherwise Noted, All Bible Quotes Are From the King James Authorized Version (KJV)
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