The Bible – not another book like it

Hello! 

Excitement crackled in the air, and it felt like the first day of school, as ladies, old friends and new, (notice, not “old gals and young”, although that’s true too!) gathering for the first day of Women of Passion.¹ All of us wondering, who will be there? What will it be like?  What are we to study this Fall?  Is there room for me, or will I encounter a bunch of tight cliques?  From my front and center position in the large room, I could see all those questions and more, as well as smiles of contentment, expressions of joy as we listened to We Welcome You, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QblruH8wbHY, Cece Winans.  (I always start with a song of worship and adoration to God)

It is good, it is right when people wanting more of God in their lives come together to learn and grow.  As always, we were a varied lot—age, shape, ethnicity, religious background, and current state with God … but that’s how God wants it.  He wants us to learn from the experience and knowledge of the person next to us, and also add something beneficial ourselves to the discussion!  I am blessed and greatly enriched being a member of such a community.

In the last days, I have been building the case for the verifiability of the Word of God—through fulfilled prophecy, (Sixty specific prophecies about Jesus alone, then fulfilled in Jesus Christ) and also archaeology—(more than 25,000 discoveries just within that region known as the Bible lands) . Click to read:  http://pastorwoman.com/ReadArchive.aspx?id=1444 ¹ The archaeology piece is especially fascinating because as more excavation is done, the greater the corroboration of Scripture!  Indeed in the past 150 years, archaeologists have been verifying the exact truthfulness of the Bible’s detailed records of various events, customs, persons, cities, nations and geographical locations.²   

The Bible can also be trusted because it addresses the BIG questions of life, the most controversial questions of life: [How did I get here?  Why am I here?  What happens when I die?  Is there an after life?], and handles them consistently in its 66 different documents, written by 40 different authors in three different languages, and three different continents.³  The Bible is internally consistent.

Then there are the extra-biblical writings—dozens of them—that verify people, places, events and details that are discussed in the Bible.  Thirty nine sources outside of the Bible within 150 years of Jesus’ life that reveal to us more than a hundred facts about Jesus’ life, teachings, death and resurrection.  First century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, is one such source (I just purchased his complete works!); then there is the Jewish Talmud, (Jewish teachings passed down from generation to generation, organized between AD70 and 200).

More evidence for the veracity of Scripture is the manuscript evidence; a manuscript is any surviving hand-written copy of an ancient document that predates the invention of the printing press in 1455.  There are 25,000 partial and complete, ancient handwritten manuscript copies of the New Testament, as well as thousands of copies of the Old Testament--many of them predating the time of Christ.  Many of those recovered Old Testament manuscripts that were written before Jesus were unearthed in the Qumran caves in 1947 … the Dead Sea Scrolls.  [A fascinating, most impressive exhibit that I toured several years ago]

Then there is the ‘realness’ factor of Scripture—it includes the bad, evil and the ugly along with the good, such as good King David, falling to the temptation of adultery, following it up with murder.  How could God’s words then call him a ‘man after his [God’s] own heart’?  The Bible tells it like it was.

Finally, we will conclude our support for the validity of the written Word of God by stating the fact that no other book in the world has transformed the hearts, minds and lives of people as has Scripture.  The writer of Hebrews describes it as living and active⁴; oh yes it is!  Hmmm, I remember this psalm from my youth, set to a simple melody: “The law of the Lord is perfect,
 reviving the soul;
 the testimony of the Lord is sure,
 making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right,
 rejoicing the heart;
 the commandment of the Lord is pure,
 enlightening the eyes;  the fear of the Lord is clean,
 enduring forever; 
the rules of the Lord are true,
 and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than gold,
 even much fine gold;
 sweeter also than honey
 and drippings of the honeycomb.”⁵

I do so love my Bible, and the more I know about it, the more I read and digest its truths, the more I love it.

Onward to the New Testament!

^{1 In South Orange County, California, area?  You are invited to join this unique Bible study, now in its 14th year, on Thursday mornings, 9.30-11.30, at Mariners Ocean Hills Church, 32222 Del Obispo Street, San Juan Capistrano, 92675}

^{2 – www.pastorwoman.com archives hundreds of  Bible studies , written and podcast, that can be accessed}

^{3 – “Evidence for the Bible” – Charlie Campbell DVD, but facts and data may also be found at www.alwaysbeready.com - an excellent resource}

^{4 – Hebrews 4.15; 5 – Psalm 19.7--10}