...while Christianity has the Bible. The essay will explore the structure of each sacred text, what type of literature is in each canon, authorship of the text and how it is used in practice. Structure of each canon Christians believe the Bible is their sacred text. The Bible is a library of 66 books and is made of two parts, Old Testament (39 books) and New Testament (27 books). The Old Testament...
Words: 1107 - Pages: 5
...Essence of the New Testament: A Survey (2012), and the New Testament documents. Chapter 1: How We Got the New Testament 1. How many documents does the New Testament consist (1)? 27 2. The New Testament was written approximately between AD ¬¬¬_45___ and _100___ (1). 3. What materials were the New Testament documents written upon (1)? Leather and paper scrolls 4. What are the original New Testament document called (1, 2)? autograph 5. What is a codex in reference to the early New Testament writings (2)? Modern day books 6. What is the name of the Latin codex collection (2)? Ta Bibla 7. In the study of the New Testament, to what does the term canon refer (2)? Authoritive books 8. What three languages did God choose as the media for his self-revelation (2)? Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek 9. The Old Testament was primarily written in ____Hebrew__ (2). 10. Parts of the Old Testament were written in __Aramaic____ (2). 11. The New Testament was written in __Greek____ ______(2). 12. New greek______ ______was the language of the common people during the first century AD (2). 13. Why do you think God allowed the autographs to vanish (3)? To avoid biliolatry 14. In spite of the absence of the autographs, approximately 5,000 Greek manuscripts and an additional 13,000 fragments of the New Testament documents exist, providing significant manuscript evidence for New Testament scholars (3). compared to early writings 15. Motivators for canonizing the New Testament include the heretic...
Words: 1404 - Pages: 6
...literally means “little books,” meaning the bible is a collection of many individual books. The word bible is translated from the Greek word biblia. The definition expresses that it is a book that consists of diverse compositions, ranging from poetry, narrative to law, and prophecy. 2. Explain the relationship of the Christian Old Testament to the Hebrew Bible; define the term Tanakh, and name and describe the three main sections into which it is divided. In what way to Protestant editions of the Old Testament resemble the contents of the Tanakh? How do Catholic and Orthodox editions of the Old Testament differ from the Tanakh in content? Define the terms canon, Apocrypha, and deuterocanon. The Christian Old Testament and the Hebrew Bible are looked upon as the same even though there are significant differences between them. The most important of these variations is a change to the order of the books: the Hebrew Bible ends with the Book of Chronicles, which describes Israel restored to the Promised Land, and the Temple restored in Jerusalem; in the Hebrew Bible God's purpose is thus fulfilled and the divine history is at an end. In the Christian Old Testament the Book of Malachi is placed last, so that a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah leads into the birth of the Christ in the Gospel of Matthew. Tanakh is the modern name for the Hebrew Bible. It is an acronym consisting of three consonants that represent the three major divisions of the Bible; the Torah (law), the Nevi’im...
Words: 1181 - Pages: 5
...The Apocrypha: Why do Biblical Christians and Churches Reject Them? There has been a long standing debate as to the legitimacy of The Apocryphal books, and, why the Biblical Christians and their churches have rejected them as part of the original 60 books of the Old and New Testaments. The fifteen Apocryphal books which the Roman Catholics have included in their Bibles come from a collection of about eighteen or more books written during the Inter-testamental period. This period of four hundred years began with God giving the last book of the Old Testament which was Malachi. The Inter-testamental period ended with the coming of Christ and the writing of the New Testament. During this four hundred years God sent no prophets to Israel and was silent giving no written revelation. The word "apocrypha" means "of questionable authenticity (cai.org)". These are called non canonical books because when the canon of Scriptures were accepted by the early Christians they recognized that these books contained artificial material and therefore were not inspired of God. These books are also called "pseudepigraphal", meaning "false writings" to designate them as spurious and unauthentic books of the late centuries B. C. and early centuries A. D. These books contain religious folklore and have never been considered inspired of God by biblical Christians from the earliest times of churches (cai.org). Some have referred to these books as the missing books of the Bible...
Words: 1379 - Pages: 6
...Content Summary I was taught very early on from Godly men in my life that hermeneutics were essential tools in interpreting the Word of God. However, as I traveled through the various stages of life in regard to hermeneutics that ranged from pride, frustration, ignorance, and now a desire to learn these tools. Stuart and Lee set out to offer guidelines for just that, hermeneutics - the art and science of the interpretation of literature and more specifically, the Bible The primary goal of their book seems to be to provide the interpreter with a variety of tools to assist in properly interpreting scripture. From the beginning Stuart and Fee provide reasons for the need of accurately interpreting scripture. For example, the letters and writing of the Bible were written in various times, in various cultures, and in different languages. All of these factors must be taken into account when discerning the original meaning of the text. In addition, I specifically appreciate the fact that Stuart and Fee from very beginning of their book explained that a temptation in exegeting scripture is the motivation of pride. I completely agree that the learning of and teaching of God’s Word should be done in confident humility. In regards to the Old Testament, for example, Stuart and Fee give great caution to properly understanding the nuances of the Old Testament narratives. The Old Testament narratives are primarily, thought not solely, there to gives us a better understand of who...
Words: 1388 - Pages: 6
...individual books of the New Testament, but another questions remains unanswered. We can ask ourselves, how did the New Testament itself come into being? Who collected the writings and on what ideology? What conditions led to the creations of a canon, of trustworthy books? Throughout history Christian’s belief is that the Holy Spirit, who controlled the writing of the individual books, also controlled their selection and compilation, thus continuing to fulfill our Lord’s promise that He would guide his disciples into all reality. This however, is something that is to be discerned by spiritual insight, and not by historical research. The object is to find out what historical research reveals about the origin of the New Testament canon. We have people tell us that we receive the twenty seven books of the New Testament on the mandate of the Church; but even if we do, we have to look at how the Church came to recognize these twenty-seven books as worthy of being placed on a level of encouragement and authority with the Old Testament. It took over a century of the proliferation of numerous writings before anyone was even concerned. They started to pick and choose and it was largely a cumulative, individual and accidental event, guided by chance and prejudice more than objective and scholarly research, until priests and academics began declaring what was authoritative and holy, and even they were not unanimous. Churches had their own books, because there was no clearly defined orthodoxy...
Words: 2267 - Pages: 10
...the holy bible. It was written over 1500 years ago and translated into three different languages. There were 40 different people who wrote different parts of the bible. Each of these people came from all walks of life. The holy bible is the Word of God which is divided into two parts which is the Old Testament and the New Testament. Since it is divided into the two parts it is easier to find the chapters and verses throughout the Bible. The Old Testament refers to the history and the New Testament refers to the life and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that the bible can teach and guide them which is why reading this daily is so important. It is read at home as well as at church. The Bible is the most popular book in the world. It is an instructional manual for Christians to live their life. It is a guide to how God wants Christians to live their lives. The Bible has bee translated into numerous languages so it can read by different people all over the world. Even though the bible has been around for many years it has been ridiculed and criticized for the content information which is inside of it. It is still read by millions of people, regardless of the criticism that it has received. The purpose of the bible is to help others create a better walk of life. There are a total of 66 books in the bible which includes the Old and New Testament. It is 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. The New Testament began with the four...
Words: 368 - Pages: 2
...There has been a long standing debate as to the legitimacy of The Apocryphal books, and, why the Biblical Christians and their churches have rejected them as part of the original 60 books of the Old and New Testaments. The fifteen Apocryphal books which the Roman Catholics have included in their Bibles come from a collection of about eighteen or more books written during the Inter-testamental period. This period of four hundred years began with God giving the last book of the Old Testament which was Malachi. The Inter-testamental period ended with the coming of Christ and the writing of the New Testament. During this four hundred years God sent no prophets to Israel and was silent giving no written revelation. The word "apocrypha" means "of questionable authenticity (cai.org)". These are called non canonical books because when the canon of Scriptures were accepted by the early Christians they recognized that these books contained artificial material and therefore were not inspired of God. These books are also called "pseudepigraphal", meaning "false writings" to designate them as spurious and unauthentic books of the late centuries B. C. and early centuries A. D. These books contain religious folklore and have never been considered inspired of God by biblical Christians from the earliest times of churches (cai.org). Some have referred to these books as the missing books of the Bible and conclude they are new discovers which are part of God's revelation...
Words: 318 - Pages: 2
...IS THE BIBLE REALLY FROM GOD? HOW CAN WE BE CERTAIN? We must first remember in discussing the claims of the Bible with anyone, that the Bible is not a single, autonomous work. Rather, it is a collection of 66 different books written over a vast time span in three languages on three continents with authors from every station in life. These ancient works cover every major topic dealing with the human condition including: love, hate, death, sin, marriage, civil laws, and relationships with each other as well as with God. Although these works were written independently, they show an amazing congruency and they never contradict each other! When Paul writes "All scriptures is inspired by God (II Tim 3:16)", his primary reference is the Old Testament, which was completed 400 years previously. This is not to say that the verse doesn't apply to the New Testament as well, but Paul's subject matter was the Scriptures Timothy was taught as a child. Paul believes the Scriptures are "God-breathed"; that is they hold the same authority as if God were to come down and speak to you directly. Every word recorded in the original documents is considered to be chosen by God. So, our first point is that the testimony of Paul establishes a point of view that holds the Scriptures very highly. We know that the early church believed the Scriptures were inspired, we must now find out how to demonstrate that fact. Before going too far, I would ask your friend what type of evidence...
Words: 4207 - Pages: 17
...Date: October 18th 2014 Old Testament Bible Dictionary Project Genesis: The book of genesis is the first book of the Hebrew bible known as the Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament. It is not clear who actually wrote the book of genesis. But it has been noted that there are different styles of writing in Genesis and therefore, there are several different authors. Mark 12:26 says, “…have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spoke unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”. It is noted many places in the new testament that most of the book of genesis was edited by Moses. But, Moses is traditionally recognized as the author of Genesis which he simply had to compile the book of Genesis from the records kept by Adam and his descendants. Thus Genesis can be read as eyewitness accounts.The first chapter was probably written by god himself because it tells of the beginning and there is no way of knowing what is written. Although it can be said that it was inspired by divine inspiration. The continuation of the book was written by others. The book of genesis tells the story of the beginning and the creation of the world and all there is. It uniquely tells the story of the successes and failures of people like Adam and Eve and shows it’s heroes as they really were giving a look of human’s nature in an ancient world (Hindson and Towns, 2013). Genesis teaches the theological truth of whom, why, when and how creation comes...
Words: 943 - Pages: 4
...blood and who had become followers of Jesus Christ. “To the Hebrews”, the title of great rhetorical power and force, written to caution faithful pilgrimages under Christ’s leadership was written as early as the second century. The letter to the Hebrews was attached in Greek manuscripts to the collection of letters by Paul. There is a reference to some of the community's leaders who were martyred in past times. “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” The present community had not yet suffered persecution and death since the author states: "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.” The Letter points, however, to the risk of persecution about to come. Throughout the letters no author is mentioned, and there is no address to author. In Hebrew 13:23 there is a reference to Timothy that suggests that the writing links to Paul. “ I must let you know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes...
Words: 1115 - Pages: 5
...trustworthy and that what was written did happen. This essay outlines some convincing evidence to prove that this is the case. I will summarize and discuss bibliographical, external and internal evidence which confirms the reliability and authenticity of the bible. One of the first pieces of evidence lies in the uniformity of the message of the Bible. It is a collection of sixty-six books written over a period of approximately fifteen hundred years in three languages on three continents by forty authors. Kings, peasants, educated men, a doctor, a prime minister, a tax collector a rabbi, a fisherman are among the authors (McDowell, 1973). While it discusses numerous issues, and each book has different purposes, the overall themes of creation, the fall of man and redemption are clear throughout (Williams, 2002). Military historian Chauncy Sanders mentions three criteria scholars use in historiography (Williams, 2002). When applied to test whether the scriptures we have are the same as the original documents, that is to test their accuracy, these are manuscript evidence (textual), Biblical evidence (internal) and historical evidence (external) (Zuckeran 2003). First we need to examine the number of manuscripts available. The more ancient texts there are to support a particular wording or fact, the greater chance of accuracy. There are over 53,000 documented Greek manuscripts and thousands of Latin Vulgate and other versions or fragments of New Testament manuscripts...
Words: 2327 - Pages: 10
...The Bible The Bible is the key document in the Christian Religion. It is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament beginning around 1450 BC. (“Who is God?” n.d.) It is a collection of 66 books written over a period of some 1400 to 1800 years by various prophets, kings, disciples, and men that were inspired by the Holy Spirit (which is the third part of the trinity –{God, the Father},{ Jesus, the son},{the Holy Spirit}). The Old Testament contains the history, songs, literary wisdom, ceremonies, stories about various characters, and laws that were written before Jesus came to earth. The Jews still follow many of the laws, celebrations, and traditions found there, whereas, although Christians believe the whole Bible, they are not obligated to follow every rule and tradition because of the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The main philosophy of...
Words: 510 - Pages: 3
...No one has ever fulfilled every prophesy, yet there has been claims: Bar Cochba, Shabbati Tvi and Jesus (www. Aish.com) 2.2) Jesus did not have the right qualifications Jews believe the Messiah to be a great prophet, greater even than Moses. Prophecy can only be when the majority of people in Israel are Jews, which has not happened since 300 B.C.E. Jesus came on the scene 350 years later, making Him illegible to be the Messiah ( www. Aish.com). The Messiah shall be a descendent from David (Isa 11:1-9). Jesus was born of a virgin; he had no father, disproving Him to be of the line of David. Jews say the Messiah will have human parents, not be a demi-god (www. Aish.com) 2.3) Wrong translations of versus about Jesus in the bible The Hebrew text reveals many mistranslations in the Christian bible and so versus can only be fully understood with the Hebrew text (www. Aish.com). According to Christians, Isaiah 7:14 is seen as “alma” giving birth. In Hebrew “alma” means young woman. Theologians later changed the meaning to “virgin”. This view is the same as the pagan belief that gods can make mortals pregnant (www. Aish....
Words: 1161 - Pages: 5
...his statement he expresses the truth behind the fact that the Christian faith resides on the fact that the Bible is inerrant. Interesting enough the Bible of today with its 66 books, 39 Old Testament, and 27 New Testament are very similar to the bible of the early church. In the words of Herman Ridderbos, "the history of the Canon is the process of the growing consciousness of the Church concerning its ecumenical foundation.” People have often wonder why certain books made into the Bible, but others did not. In this paper will look how we got the Bible we have today and what movements, people, and doctrines effected. Old Testament Canon The Old Testament known to Christians in the Bible is what is known to Jews as the Tanakh. This is made of the writings of the Laws, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus Christ stated in Luke 24:44 “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Initially the Jewish Canon was closed by Judas Maccabaeus in 164 BC. That was some 250 years prior to the Synod of Jamnia. The Old Testament Canon was officially finalized at the Synod of Jamnia in AD 90 by a council of Jewish rabbi’s. Much of the dispute laid with the Apocryphal and Pseudepigrapha Books (unknown authored apocalyptic letters). While this council was decided upon by...
Words: 2229 - Pages: 9
