The Bible for Dummies Although documented canonization of the New Testament is not known, the most likely
Part I – A Proper Introduction theory holds that the apostles Paul, Peter and John were the final canonizers of the New
Ben Terry November 25, 2007
“One of the greatest tragedies today is that, although the Bible is an available,
open book, it is a closed book to millions – either because they leave it unread
or because they read it without applying its teaching to themselves. No greater
tragedy can befall a person or a nation than that of paying lip service to a Bible
left unread or to a way of life not followed.”
Dr. Billy Graham
The Bible for Dummies - A Proper Introduction
I. Why Does The Bible Matter?
1. The Bible is historically & universally regarded as the ______________source for
all Christian beliefs & practice.
2. The Bible has provided the foundational guidance for acceptable ____________
_____________________________for thousands of years.
3. The Bible instructs mankind how to relate to and _________________________..
II. What Is The Bible?
1. The Bible is a canonization of _________________________________________
____________________________________history and letters to the church.
2. The Old Testament begins with the creation account and tells the story of the
Jewish people up to the time of Christ. It consists of ____ books:
17_____________ books, 5 ____________ books and 17_______________
books written by 28 authors over the span of 1,500 years.
3. The New Testament is the record of the birth of Jesus, His life & ministry and
the subsequent ministry of His disciples after His resurrection. It consists
of____ books written by ____ different authors over the span of less than _____
years.
III. How Did The Bible Come Into Existence?
Canonization - to attribute authoritative sanction or approval to; to treat as illustrious,
preeminent, or sacred.
Why was canonization of scripture necessary?
1. The spread of______________________ - The very existence of the church was
seriously threatened by gnosticism.
2. The development of _________________________ - A major motivation for the canon
was pseudepigrapha, false writings. These came out of a desire to know more about the
childhood of Jesus and to have more information about New Testament personalities.
3. Intense________________ - In A.D. 303, the Edict of Diocletian declared that all
Christian books must be destroyed. This forced the Church to determine which books
were of real value and which books could be cast into the fire.
Over the 1,500 years during which it was written, the Old Testament underwent at least
five periods of canonization. Ezra, a priest and scribe, apparently was the one
responsible for the final collection and arrangement of the books of the Hebrew Bible
(what we call the Old Testament) around 450 B.C. With his canonization, the Old
Testament was essentially complete. In A.D. 90 Jewish elders and authorities met at the
Council of Jamnia, where the canon of the Hebrew Bible was confirmed as authoritative
and complete, as it had evidently been considered to be long before this.
Testament, and that John, with help from other believers, was able to finish and
distribute copies of the entire 27 books to the churches in Asia Minor and the Holy Land.
We do know that in A.D. 397 the Synod of Carthage confirmed as canonical the 27 books
of what is now our New Testament. But it really only recognized that these 27 books
already had been in use and read in the churches for some three centuries.
In the book, Evidence
Evidence That
That Demands a Verdict,
Verdict Josh McDowell lists five principles used to
determine whether a New Testament book was included in the Bible:
1. Is it __________________—did it originate from God Himself? References to the
Bible's inspiration include Acts 3:21; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 1:1.
2. Is it __________________—was it written by a man of God? References include
Ephesians 3:3-5 and Colossians 1:26.
3. Is it __________________—did it stand up to scrutiny? Acts 17:11.
4. Is it __________________—did it convey the life of God to the reader? Hebrews
4:12; 2 Peter 1:20-21.
5. Was it _________________________________—was it accepted by the people of
God? An example of this can be seen in 2 Peter 3:16, with Peter recommending
Paul's writings to the believer's on the same level as the rest of scriptures.
IV. Can The Accuracy Of The Bible Be Trusted?
1. Acceptance of ancient literature is not based on ____________________
manuscripts, because none exists.
2. The trustworthiness of ancient documents is based on how much time has
_______________ between the original writings and the earliest copy.
3. The average gap for most ancient literature is ____________ years. Aristotle
lived & wrote from 364 to 322 BC. 5 copies of his work exist, the earliest dating
to 1100 AD. Next to the Bible, Homer’s Iliad holds the record with almost 650
copies.
4. For most of our contemporary history, we were working with copies of the Old
Testament dating to 900 AD with the final writing around 400 BC, __________
______________________,.
5. In 1947, a shepherd made a discovery of Old Testament copies in a cave, now
known as the __________________________. All of the books were
represented except for the book of Esther and these scrolls date back to 150
BC, more than a 1000 years earlier than those already known.
6. Scholars compared the 150 BC Dead Sea Scrolls to the 900 AD copies and
found that ______% of the Old Testament was word-for-word identical. The
remaining 5 percent consisted almost entirely of spelling variations or updates
of archaic words or grammar. No significant alterations were found.
Recommended Series Resources:
1. 30 Days to Understanding the Bible
(great download at www.thomasnelson.com/30days)
2. What The Bible Is All About – Henrietta C. Mears
3. Opening Up God’s Word – John Balchin
4. Understanding The Bible – Stan Campbell
5. The Bible for Dummies - Jeffrey C. Geoghegan & Michael M. Homan
6. Personal Bible Study Methods – Rick Warren
7. Evidence That Demands A Verdict – Josh McDowell