How We Got Our Bible
Contents:  

Course Description 3
Introduction to “How We Got the Bible” 4
Revelation: God Has Spoken 5
Inspiration: The God-breathed Scriptures 8
Structure and Divisions of the Bible 11
The Making of the Bible 17
Canonicity: Determining and Discovering the God-inspired Books 20
Development of the Old Testament Canon 23
Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 28
Development of the New Testament Canon 36
New Testament Antilegomena, Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 42
Texts and Manuscripts of the Old Testament 44
Texts and Manuscripts of the New Testament 47
Textual Criticism 51
History of the English Bible 53
Recommended Books 62
Bibliography 63.
 
Course Description
 Purpose: Most Christians understand that the Bible they hold in their hands is the inspired Word of God. Yet very few have a general understanding of the origin of the Bible. The purpose of this class, therefore, is to show the student how the Bible came to be and why it can be accepted as the unerring, authoritative Word of God.
 
Issues covered: 
1) Key terms relating to the Bible (Inspiration, Canonization, Transmission and Translation)
2) What the Bible was written on
3) Time period Bible was written in
4) Languages of the Bible
5) How the books of the Bible came to be recognized as Canon
6) Differences between the Hebrew, Protestant and Roman Catholic Bibles
7) The Apocryphal Books
8) Textual criticism
9) Old Testament manuscripts our Bible is based on
10) New Testament manuscripts our Bible is based on
11) Early translations of the Bible
12) The English Bible to 1611
13) Recent English translations
14) Is the King James Version the only version Christians should use?
 
Introduction to “How We Got the Bible”
 
I. Why a class on how we got our Bible?
 
A. To be informed  If we claim the Bible as the Word of God we should have a basic understanding of how it came to be.
 
B. To give a defense 1 Peter 3:15 states, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” Christians should be able to explain intelligently the basis of the Christian faith. This certainly would include our trust in the Bible.
 
C. To have greater assurance A study of “how we got our Bible” will give you greater assurance that the Bible you hold in your hand is accurate and truly represents what God
originally gave to the prophets.
 
II. The four main links in the revelatory process The study of How We Got Our Bible can be summarized into four main sections—Inspiration, Canonization, Transmission and Translation.
 
A. Inspiration The first link in the chain of revelation is inspiration. Inspiration deals with what God did, namely, breathing out the Scriptures. Inspiration is what gives the Bible its
authority.
 
B. Canonization The second link, canonization, deals with how the inspired books of God came to be recognized as Holy Scripture. Inspiration tells us how the Bible received its
authority; canonization tells us how these books came to be accepted by men.
 
C. Transmission The third link, transmission, deals with how the original autographs of the Bible were copied and whether these copies accurately reflect the original autographs.
 
D. Translation The fourth link, translation, discusses the translation of the Bible into other languages and whether the Bible in our language accurately reflects what the Hebrew and
Greek manuscripts said.
 
Revelation: God Has Spoken
 
I. Definition The word “revelation” comes from the Greek word apokalupsis, which means “disclosure” or “unveiling.” “Revelation has to do with disclosing, uncovering, or unveiling what previously was hidden, making known what had been secret. When used theologically. . . revelation refers to God’s deliberate manifestation of his plans, his character, and himself”
We will pick up the study next week. Thanks for looking. PV