The Validity of the Bible

St. Mary’s Servants Meeting

October 9th, 2011

Fr. David Milad

Pop Quiz!

How many Old Testament Books?

• 39

How many New Testament Books?

• 27

How many Books are in the Bible?

• 66

Pop Quiz

What does the “Testament” mean?

• Covenant / Contract

How many authors are there in the bible?

• Estimated to be over 40 different authors with a variety of occupations

Pop Quiz

Over how many years was the Bible written over?

• Over 1500 years

• From ~1400 B.C. to ~100 A.D.

What languages was the bible written in?

• Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek

Things to consider

• What where the manuscripts written on and the impact that had

• Languages, translations, punctuations etc.

• The different types and number of manuscripts

• Historical context

• How to process all these in a critical way

Scribes

Because of the challenges of writing on the various materials a scribe was commonly used.

A scribe had to have gone through schooling and training before becoming a literary scribe. Therefore there is variability in they way things were recorded.

Masoretes Scribes focused on maintaining the true text of

the OT from 400 B.C. to about 200 A.D.

The Masoretes were Jewish Scholars that continue where the scribes left off from 500-950 A.D.

They worked to preserver the text of the OT handed to them and the Oral traditions (Masora) of the Bible into writing.

Masoretes

Their preservation of the OT text, from the work of the scribes, was copied until the time the Bible was actually printed in the 15th century.

Other OT Sources

Pentateuch ~ First 5 books of Moses

Samaritan Pentateuch

• Version of the First 5 books of Moses

• Written in the rounded form of Hebrew

Other OT Sources

The Septuagint (LXX)

• The oldest Greek translation of the OT

• Was translated by 70 scholars hence LXX

• Was translated in Egypt

• Completed sometime in the 3rd century B.C.

Sources

Autographs• The original pieces• We don’t have any from the Bible

Primary Sources• Manuscripts (hand written copies)

Secondary Sources• Translations into other languages

Manuscripts

How many manuscripts do you think there are for the NT Bible?

• 88 papyri• 274 Uncials (animal skin in capitol letters)• 2,795 minuscules (animal skin in cursive)• 2,209 lectionaries (material arranged for

reading according to the sequences of liturgical calendar)

• Grand Total: 5,366 sources

Vulgate

• Pope Damasus I in 382 commissioned a revision of all the Latin translations

• St. Jerome lead this task

• Vulgate is credited to be the first translation of the OT into Latin directly from Hebrew

Canonization

What do you envision having taken place during the canonization of the Bible?

Approach is everything

Canonicity is determined or established authoritatively by God; it is merely discovered by man

There is a distinction between God’s determination and man’s discover

Authority

The authority of the scripture cannot be based on the authority of the church to choose the scripture

The church must find its authority in the authority of the scripture

Method to the Madness

How did man discover what God had done?

How did the church fathers know when they had come upon a canonical book?

What were the signs of inspiration that guided the fathers in recognition and collection of inspired books?

Propheticity

Was the book written by a prophet of God?

• What was the book about? Is it prophetic?– “and the word of the Lord came to the

prophet…”– “The Lord said unto…”– “God spoke”

Propheticity

“8 A lion has roared!       Who will not fear?       The Lord GOD has spoken!       Who can but prophesy?”

~Amos 3:8

Confirmation by God

Distinguishing between true and false prophets

“15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

~Matthew 7:15

Divine Confirmation

Elijah triumphed over Baal through the supernatural act in 1 Kings 18

St. Paul gave testimony of his apostleship

"12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.”

~2 Corinthians 12:12

Truth in the Message

Did the message tell the truth about God?

Is the message told in the book consistent with what is known about God from previous revelations?

Truth in the Message

Does the prophecy come true?

“21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

Deuteronomy 18:21-22

Power of God

Does the book come with the power of God?

What is the edifying effect of a book?

The word of God is “living and active” (Heb 4:12

Power of God

“16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

~2 Timothy 3:16-17

Acceptance

Was the book accepted by the people it was addressed to?

“13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.”

~1 Thessalonians 2:13

Canonization of the OT

The Hebrew scripture was canonized in three classification

1.The Law (400 B.C. ~ 5th century B.C.)

2.Prophets (200 B.C. ~ 3rd century B.C.)

3.Writing (100 B.C. ~ 2nd century B.C.)

“Prologue of Ecclesiasticus” ~ “Sirach” gives reference to the complete Hebrew Scriptures (132 B.C.)

Historical Timeline

• 1500 BC – Exodus from Egypt (Pentateuch)

• 1400 BC – Joshua

• 1000 BC – David captures Jerusalem

• 900 BC – Samaria made capital of Northern Kingdom

• 587 BC – Jerusalem Destroyed (Captivity)

• 500/400 BC – Ezra returns to Jerusalem and Nehemiah begins to rebuild the walls

The Great Synagogue

Jewish scholars from the 5th-3rd centuries who came after the time of Ezra formed an assembly that was responsible for the recognition and preservation of the Old Testament Canon

What is the Apocrypha?

Homologoumena – books accepted as canonical by every (one word agreement)

Antilegomena – books disputed by the Fathers (Spoken Against)

Pseudepigrapha – books rejected by all (false writings)

Apocrypha – books accepted by some (hidden, secret)

Apocrypha

There are two traditions of the Old Testament Canon

• Palestine canon – contains 22 books (written in Hebrew) = 39 books in English– Hebrew canon that arose out of Palestine and

recognized by the Jews

• Alexandrian canon – Greek listing of OT books as translated in the Septuagint (LXX) (Hebrew into Greek)

Arguments for the Apocrypha

• NT reflects the thought of the Apocrypha and refers to it

• NT quotes mostly from the Greek OT which includes the Apocrypha

• Accepted by early church fathers. E.g. Ireneaus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria

• Accepted by Greek’s, Syrians, RC• Were found in the dead sea scrolls• Initially included in the Palestine canon

On to the New Testament

Stimulus for Canonization

• Demands of the early church– Theological and ethical demands of early church

to know which books to read and reference

• Heretical Stimulus– Marcion heresy accepted only Luke and 10

pauline epistles

• Missionary Stimulus– Growth of the church needed the word to be

translated

NT Canonization

Selection Procedure

“30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;”

~John 20:30

“25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. ~John 21:25

NT Canonization

Reading procedure

• Repeated lines in several books saying that it should be “read to all the brethren”

• Revelation “read the words of prophecy”…”hear the words of prophecy”

NT Canonization

Circulating Procedure

“write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches”

~Revelation 1:11

“16 Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.”

~Colossians 4:16

NT Canonization

Collecting procedure

• As books were read in church and spread they were then collected

Recognition

Outstanding Fathers of 2nd Century showed acceptance of the popularly used NT books

• Polycarp

• Justin Martyr

• Irenaeus

• Clement of Alexandria

The Old Syriac

It was a translation of the NT that was in circulation in Syria around 400 AD

The text dated back to the end of the 2nd century

Included all the 27 books of the NT

Letter of 367 AD

St. Athanasius during the Easter of 367 AD wrote a letter to the church stating the 27 books of the New Testament

The synods at Hippo (393 AD) and Carthage (397 AD) ratified and canonized the 27 books of the New Testament

Dead Sea Scrolls

Collection of writings that was discovered between 1947 and 1956

972 text were discovered at this time

• Biblical Manuscripts (40%)

• Apocryphal Manuscripts (30%)

• Extra Biblical Manuscripts (30%)

Dead Sea Scrolls

Manuscripts date back to 150 BC

Written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek

One of the most notable find is the complete book of Isaiah dated to at least 150 BC is confirmation that this book of prophecy was written years before Christ dispelling any notion that it was written after