a; EI~/.£ {1)-0 (J) So.~ suBJEcT Da dB, 71f.- E.F IV CLASSIFICATION: TEXT II Timothy 3:16-17 ----.EXPOSITORY TITLE BIBLIOGRAPHY - THE DOCTRINE OF THE --BIOGRAPHICAL - - TEXTUAL __V_ TOPICAL SCRIPTURE READING•------wDEVOTIONAL

DELIVERIES: Date Hour Place Results and Comments:

F . B . C. 1/2/83 a.m. San Angelo, TX (XXX++++)

Bek tore B. C. 1/9/83 p.m. San Angelo, TX (XXX+++ ) ~ f. f (Y-.'f-_1,. -1-H+) . 8.G, 3/'// 7 A-~ 5A'>1 ~ 1e Iv. -r'f / _gARD I5 ~ 11 -¥ -JJ.. A-wt W/~11--4

BIBLIOGRAPHY ______

,, A- ...... , -r;, ., 'fr- Quon~ t!,t}IJ.,- l HE .ol/JI..I QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK ABOUT THE BIBLE

~~ "f--C6Y\. ~ Scripture: II Timothy 3:16-17

1 INTRO: CONGRESS HAS DECLARED 1983 "THE YEAR OF ~ THE BIBLE." AMERICANS PUBLISH MORE THAN ANY OTHER PEOPLE ON EARTH--AND BUY THEM ALSO. LAST YEAR AMERICANS SPENT $170 MILLION FOR BIBLES AND THE GIDEONS DISTRIBUTED MORE THAN 1 MILlt ~9 N FREE BIBLES. THE ~ BB §TO.BX OF THE DECEMBER 27, 1982 7 EDITION OF NEWSWEEK WAS, "HOW THE BIBLE ~[illE AMERICA." THE SEVEN-PAGE ARTICLE STATES ~ NO OTHER COUNTRY IS AS OBSESSED WITH THE BIBLE AS THE UNITED STATES. THE VAST MAJORITY OF AMERICANS, RECENT GALLUP POLLS REPORT, STILL REGARD THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD, AND MORE THAN ONE AMERICAN IN THREE BELIEVES THAT EVERY SCRIPTURAL WORD IS TRUE. "FOR CENTURIES IT HAS EXERTED AN UNRIVALED INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN CULTURE, POLITICS AND SOCIAL LIFE. 1 NOW HISTORIANS ARE DISCOVERING THAT THE BIBLE, PERHAPS EVEN MORE THAN THE CONSTITUTION, IS OUR FOUNDING DOCUMENT. # THERE WERE TIMES WHEN BIBLE STUDY WAS THE CORE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION AND NEARLY EVERY LITERATE FAMILY NOT ONLY OWNED A BIBLE BUT READ IT REGULARLY AND REVERENTLY. BECAUSE OF THIS PERVASIVE BIBLICAL IN­ FLUENCE, THE UNITED STATES SEEMED TO EUROPEANS ~TO BE ONE VAST PUBLIC CONGREGATION - A NATION, / AS G.K. CHESTERTON SAID, 'WITH THE SOUL OF A CHURCH. I "DURING HIS SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE, RONALD REAGAN POINTED TO A BIBLE AND SAID, INDEED, IT IS AN ,:IflPJ5f'Vi A.Bl-£ FACT THAT ALL THE COMPLEX AND HORRENDOUS QUES­ TIONS CONFRONTING US AT HOME AND WORLDWIDE HAVE THEIR ANSWER IN THAT SINGLE BOOK.'" l BUT THIS IS AN AGE OF SKEPTICISM. IT IS FASHIONABLE TO DOUBT AND QUESTION ANYTHING OLD, OR TRADITIONAL, OR HISTORICAL. OFTEN WHEN SHARING CHRIST WITH OTHERS, I HEAR THE OBJECTION, "YOU KEEP SAYING, 'THE BIBLE SAYS ... ' BUT CAN WE TRUST THE BIBLE?" THIS INQUIRY RAIS S THREE O HER QUESTIONS. TJ.,1c_ ~ ~ ' \ ~ ~It./~ J!_-n,,.3:1'-11 I. HOW DID WE GET OUR BIBLE? /($~~~ --,II Timothy 3:16a "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." --II Peter 1:21 "For the prophecy cmne not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." --NO~E: The Bible is compose d of 66 books, 39 in the and 27 in the . These 66 books were written by at least 38 different authors from all walks of life over a period of 1,500 years in three different languages. The books are made up of , law, poetry, philosophy, doctrine and prophecy. How did all of these various books come together to form the one book we call the Bible? How did we get our Bible? 1. --NEW TESTAMENT ( 1) ~ tt(;,.1Bible --NOTE: We can start with the printed Bible of today and it is obviously easy to show that they correspond to the printed Bibles of the 16th century-when printing was invented. (2) 16th Century - Printed Bibles (3) Through English and Latin Versions, r;.,,.,,,J,-n 5 ,,,.,,,f- we can go back to: 0 ,~- iJ ' · 1 5 ( 4) 4th Century - G~eat Manuscripts'~ l

2 (5) 3rd Century - Writings of the Church Fathers and on to: (6) 2nd Century - when versions in several languages are found. A short step to the: (7) 1st Century - when the New Testa­ ment writings were actually written. --NOTE: Through all these steps we find no change in the books we now have in our New Testament. --OLD TESTAMENT ( 1} . . - ~; Bible - Nb! E: Our Old Testament is identi­ cal with the Bible of the Jews today. ( 2) 1st Century --NOTE: The Jews have always used the same Bible (as our Old Testament) back to the time of Christ. (3) 200 B.C. --NOTE: The was translate d into Greek about 2 centuries before Christ, and this translation is essentially the same as our Old Testament. --- -~NOTE: But what about the additional books found in the Greek Old Testament called the "Apocrypha?" They were NEVER a part of the Jewish scriptures and were N ER regarded as Scripture by Hebrew scholars. They were NOT WRITTEN IN HEBREW an d were not included in Scripture by any group of Christians until December 4, 1563 when the Council of Trent arbit­ rarily decided to include them because they supported certain doctrines not found in the New Testament . .. 3 The Apocrypha contains inaccuracies in history and doctrine which make it impossible for it t o be re arde~f.s ·e,,,, d part of the Bible . l3~fr o/ f)KM~;~'i:J,ttt 2. Canonici ty of the Bible ~i T£Jtf-'~i It was not the A::cfloi'T,A(llc.-£ of the people that caused the Canonicity, but the /x Canonicity that caused the acceptance by the people. --NEW TESTAMENT - T ese either by apostles or their asso ciates. ---7~ The Bible is not an authorized collection of books, but a collection of authorized books. ---~?~ Canonicity did not raise a book to the position of Scripture, but recognized that it was already Scripture. A@THEB DETER-"1-:VV::Z.l"tr FAcrof(; I T.5 A-Gf

5 d. The way Christ and the apostles treat the Old Testament --E.G., Matt. 8:16-11 and John 10:35 e. The expression, "It is written" ~, Matt. 4:7; Luke 4:10; Gal. 3:10; Heb. 10:7 ... f. Unity of S cripture. )S-HJ~Y - ~ R_,.1/ , g. Accuracy of Scripture. --E.G., order of creation in accord with science - Genesis 1 ( 2) External a. Fulf ille d prophecy.~, Birth of Christ. b. Spread of the . V~~ c. Preservation of the Bib e . . n N d. Existence of the church. -:S!s~.s, ljeJ • t';:,fJ r e. Archaelogica l findings. f. Testimony of Christian experience --"Oh taste and see that j;;he _Lord is good" (Psalm 34: 8) .

III. WHY DO WE NEED THE BIBLE? --II Timothy 3:16b-17 [DO NOT READ HERE] 1. For Authority in Religion \ ·- -II Timothy 3: 16b [READ] -~NOTE: There are three and only three possible sources of authority in the Christian religion - the chur ~h, reason, the Bib~ . --Te Chur~h - This is t he position of the Romari which exalts tradi tion to a plane of equality with the Scriptures and claims the power of special authoritative revelation in addition to the Scriptures, and it has used this power. Such as the dogmas of the ~rnmaculate · of the Virgin an t e i;Q:fwj.b~*i"=l' of the Pope, and, in my lifetime, the p:sumptj ao pi: ~BJ;¥ . But the Bible was before the Church. - ,,. 6 }JL W1l'f___]X) W E,N' EE.]) T HJ: B.:r~L F- f _ /. F cR A VTtttl ~ ry -:r JV ~ e l if ,· tn\..

And the church in human hands can err and has e rred. But our authority in religion must be without change and without flaw. --R a.st>n - The view held is that the Scripture is authoritative only so far as its revelations are agreeable to the conclusions of reaso n or can be rationally demonstrated. But the Bible is higher than man, revealing what he originally was - perfect (sinless); what he is now - a sinner; and what he _sj, all be hereafter - glorified, in Heaven, or damned, in He ll, according as he accepts or rejects the Word of God. Instead of man being the judge of the Scriptures, the Scriptures are the judge o f man: Heb. 4:12-13. Among rationalists, the r e ason means t he un­ aided r e ason but "The natural man receiveth not nor comprehendeth spiritua l things' I Cor. 2:14. --The Bible - This is the position of Baptists. The view held is that the Holy Scriptures are the ultimate authority the Supreme Court, so to speak, whose decisio ns are final in all matters pertaininq to Christian faith and practice . 2 . For Guidance In Life --II Timothy 3: 16 [L.B.] The Bible "is use ful to teach us what ~:::...i~~~ and t o makelives; us itre~,.a~ l(1~· ~z]e~~~~~~~~~~i~~~~r-: us do what is right." --NOTE: The Bible is not our inex haustible catalogue of "do's and don't's." Rather it gives us great unchanging principles f o r d e termining right and wrong.

7 ~' Paul, "If ea ng meat ..• " "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet ... " - ~-APPLY: Life itself proves the wisdom of following tj~ guidance of the Bible. -- NOTE: rf we ant to see the results ---of Biblical Christianity, we should test it by other religions. If we would know what C nfucianism has done, let us look at China; if would know what frudlihism has done, let us look at ..,;t)'(,t~ India; if we would know what I s,lam rras done, let us look at Turkey and Persia. If we would know what Romanism has done, let us look at Italy, Spain, or South America. We do not despise any of these religions. Everything that is good in them comes from God. They are what Tennyson calls "broken lights." But while they are "lights," they are "broken." There is one great difference betwee m and Christianity; in each of these, man is seeking God; in Christ­ ianity, God is seeking man. these re- ligions are human aspirations; Christian­ I ity is a divine revelation. I And so, we conclude that God has spoken; and that His mes sage is in the I Bible or nowhere else. --CONCLUSION: But even the message of God in (the Bible is of no practical value unless it is read , accept ed and practice~. The recent Newsweek article states, . '~I it is ot read and · ntegrated into our daily lives, the Bible becomes merely an icon" - an idol. So, the real question is not, " did we get our Bible?" or "What is inspiration?" or "Wliy do we need the Bible?" The real question is, "What am I doing with the Bible and what am I allowing the Bible to do in my life?" . Have you accepted tbe Cbrj.t of tQe :e ibJ e ? ... 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY - THE DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE ) / 3(Y-- USED: 1 /2 /8 3, First Baptist Church, San Angelc(x}y2++~ '/9/. f.J,,,. /J<;/Af,nt, ,, ,, ,, "f'x.J<.v.u!)' $ i/t9 'I F Be,. , S,t-,, f+rf e/~ 7::%' -AA {Xv.'1-t-H-!) ~ ).o ,._ S~R.P"1S w_,,,,.,.AAY~I~ LL '- >t:""7 Jlf:cx:£ Ill ! 1 / .-r-r--r--'.r" ~, ,33 1 tt: ()6

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