October 9, 2014

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." II Timothy 3:16-17

One of the questions that raises doubts about the veracity of the Bible is some variation of this, "With all the times the Bible has been copied from one language to another, how reliable can it be?"

Yesterday I shared that new Bible translations are not copies of a previous edition of a copy but each new copy of the Bible is translated from original documents.

I showed you how meticulously the Old Testament was copied in the early days and though the methods have changed with modern technology, the integrity with which translation is done has not changed.

This morning you will discover that the documents from which the New Testament is translated are even BETTER than the highly reliable Old Testament originals.

While this gets a bit technical, you will find great encouragement from this morning's facts about how solid the foundation is that supports the New Testament! 

Your faith is only as the truths and principles it is based upon, so knowing the Bible is one of the most reliably documents in all of Human History should be reassuring!

Historians and religious scholars use three criteria to rate the reliability of a historical document:

1) The number of manuscripts available

2) The time interval between the date of the original writing and the date when the new manuscript is copied. The shorter the interval the more reliable the document is deemed to be.

3) The quality of the original manuscript from which the subsequent copies have been made is exceptional.

Here are some facts that meet and surpass the standards of reliability!

Historians have great confidence that Emperor Julius Caesar conquered Gaul because they have in their possession ten ancient manuscripts of Caesar's writing on The Gallic Wars. Likewise, there is a high degree of confidence that Socrates lived, that he taught, and that he was executed by drinking hemlock because there exist seven ancient manuscript of Plato's Tetralogies, in which he documents the death of his beloved teacher and mentor.

With those truths in mind, consider how the New Testament compared these additional highly regarded writings:

AUTHOR              WHEN WRITTEN       EARLIEST COPY       TIME SPAN         COPIES

Caesar                      100-44 BC                     AD 900            1,000 Years                   10

Plato                         27-347 BC                     AD 900              1,200 Years                   7

Tacticus                     AD 100                        AD 1,100            1,000 Years                 20

Thucydides            460-400 BC                    AD 900             1,300 Years                     8

Aristotle                 384-322 BC                    AD 1,100           1,400 Years                   49

Homer (Illiad)             900 BC                         400 BC               500 Years                 643

New Testament       AD 40-100                    AD 125                  25 Years              24,000

Blind faith? I think not!

By their own standards of reliability, the New Testament has far more veracity that other ancient documents they readily consider classic historical literature!

October 8, 2014

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."  Mat. 24:35

One  of  the  most common questions about the veracity of the  Bible  is, "Considering all the times the Bible has been copied from one language to another, how much confidence can we have in what it says?"

My answer would be, "Complete confidence!"

I am a person of faith. I believe I have a strong and growing faith in God. My faith in God has changed my life and continues to do so.

But one thing I don't have is a blind faith. I wouldn't recommend a blind faith to you either! My faith is grounded on and documented by the solid truth of the Bible, God's Word!

In my posts this week I am going to share my reasons for having such confidence in the credibility of the Bible, despite its many translations over the centuries.

The fact is, the Bible is the most accurately translated book of all time! It's transmission from one generation to the next has been accomplished with great attention to detail, careful documentation and serious scholarship. Very often when people learn how meticulously Bible is copied they remark that only God could have done such an excellent job.

Here are some facts you need to know:

(1) The number of translations

Some look at the translation of Scripture much like the child's game of "telephone" where each child whispers into the ear of the next child, and the next to the next until the message is passed from the first child to the last. If the original message was something like, "I bought my dad a new took" becomes "he thought his dad was a fool".

If you are under that impression, allow me to correct your thinking. While the Bible has been translated into every language we are able to translate, those translations are not translated from a previous translation that was translated from a previous translation that had been translated from another translation. Instead, Bible scholars always translate the texts containing the original languages of Hebrew (comprising 10% of the Old Testament), Aramaic (Daniel 2:4-7:28) and Greek (the New Testament), and why they make every effort to ensure the original original Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek text they use is the most reliable ones available.

(2) The Talmudim

The Talmudim (Hebrew word for "students") were responsible for the transmission of the Torah (Old Testament) from A.D. 100-500. They had great reverence for the Scriptures in their care, and as a result their process was very careful and precise.

Synagogue scrolls had to be written on specially prepared skins of clean animals and fastened with strings taken from the clean animals. Each skin had to contain an exact number of columns. Each column had to have between 48 and 60 lines and be 30 letters wide. The spaces between consonants, sections, and books was precise, measured by hairs or threads. The ink had to be black and prepared from a specific recipe. Any scribe who copied from one text to the new text did so under strict orders not to deviate from the original in ANY manner. Each scribe was prohibited from writing any words from memory. The scribe was required to wash his entire body before beginning to copy the text and had to be in full Jewish dress. Each time a scribe came to the word for "God" he had to stop and reverently wipe his pen prior to writing that holy word and before he could write the word "Yahweh", the covenant name for God, each scribe was again required to wash his entire body before copying those sacred letters.

(3) The Massoretes

The Massoretes, who oversaw the Torah from A.D. 500-900, adopted an even more elaborate means of ensuring accuracy from text to text. They numbered the verses, words and letters of each book and calculated the midpoint of each one. When a scroll was complete, independent sources counted the number of words and syllables forward, then backward, then from the middle of the text in each direction, to make sure that the exact number had been preserved!  Proofreading and revision of a completed manuscript had tole be done within thirty days. Up to two mistakes on a page could be corrected. Three mistakes on a page condemned the whole manuscript.

Transcribers treated the sacred texts so reverently that the older manuscripts were destroyed to keep them from being misread. Prior to 1947, the oldest existing Hebrew manuscript was from the ninth century. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls enabled the scholars to check the accuracy or the current texts with the ancient ones dating back to 100 B.C. When the current text was compared with the ancient manuscript (a 1,000 year gap), they found an amazing 95% of the texts were identical with only minor variations! 

So, if you were one of those who were troubled about the perversion or distortion of truth from translation to translation to translation let me put your mind at rest!

The same Holy Spirit Who inspired righteous men to put His Word to parchment also inspired each scribe who reverently copied translations from the existing text!

You can stake your life and your eternity on the Word of God! 

As Jesus promised, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

October 7, 2014

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Let's face it, I have given you five compelling reasons to seriously consider believing in the existence of God. But some people seem to possess a strong desire to believe that life has a purpose, the universe has order and life does not end at death. Others seem to have an equally strong desire to disbelieve in God. The thought of an all-powerful moral Being who created us and Who will demand an accounting from us cramps their style. Dismissing that notion is easier for them than measuring up to it.

When I play golf and go onto a golf course, I subject myself not only to the rules of golf but also to the dictates of that golf club. It is their property and they make the rules of conduct for that course. The USGA makes the rules of golf and I am bound by them. If I want to play by my rules and if I want to conduct myself anyway I wish, then I need to create my own game and my own course.

I know a lot of golfers and have played on a number of courses and I have yet to hear one of them complain it is unfair to follow the rules of golf or that the course expects compliance with their rules.

But some of those same guys will object to being ruled by God and consider God's Word to be irrelevant to them.

Does that seem a bit inconsistent to you? It does to me.

Perhaps it is why some of them enjoy golf but are struggling in life.

If they took God and His Word as seriously are they take golf and the rules of golf they could experience an amazing life transformation!

For those who don't want to believe, these convincing proofs of the existence of God will have little impact. But for those who are seeking truth and open to considering facts, there five reasons to believe in God could be quite convincing.

Are you willing to believe?

Are you ready to be honest to God?

October 6, 2014

"For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved." Romans 10:13

This brings us to the fifth reason to believe in the existence of God:  transformed lives!

These radical transformations of scores of individual lives began with the proclamation of the Resurrection of Jesus and multiplied on the Day of Pentecost.

"When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:37-41

Wow! 3,000 lives transformed in one day!

That's amazing! That's unprecedented in previous history!

But that was just the beginning!

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:42-47

Church historians record that the Early Church grew to as many as 500,000 believers. The rapid  spiritual transformation of so many citizens of Jerusalem panicked the religious and political leaders to the extent that they began to stem the growth through persecutions.

Despite 21 centuries of intense opposition and savage persecutions of Christians, the rates of conversion to Christianity continues to increase world-wide.

My life has been transformed by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It continues to be transformed by the power of a Resurrected Savior! And God works through my life to bring life transformation to others!

It is hard to argue with a life completely changed by faith in Jesus Christ! 

A person who lived in bondage to drugs places his faith in Jesus Christ and experiences a 180 degree transformation as he is delivered from addiction to drugs by Christ!

You know people who have had dramatic transformation because they "got religion" and you have a hard time denying their faith, don't you?

Have you had your life transformed by the power of Jesus Christ?

If not, let me remind you, "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.

October 5, 2014

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."  John 1:1-3

Mohammed and Joseph Smith claimed to be prophets. Buddha and Confucius were silent on the idea of God. Only Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh.

A claim like that needs solid evidence. Consider these historical facts.

On Good Friday, Jesus was flogged 39 times with a cat-o-nine tails. This process injured Him so badly that, by the time it was over, His flesh was in ribbons and His organs were exposed. A crown of thorns were forced onto His head tearing the flesh and His scalp and forehead. Then a crossbeam weighing over 100 pounds was placed upon His shoulders. Following the savage beating He was far too weak to stand up under that weight and He was unable to carrying up the hill to Golgotha, so when He stumbled under the weight a bystander named Simon from Cyrene was drafted to carry the beam instead. After being crucified on that cross He was pronounced dead by a Roman executioner, who verified the pronouncement by piercing the pericardium surrounding His heart with a spear. So, His death was certified by official Roman records.

But it wasn't His death that separates Him from other religious leaders, it is His resurrection that sets Him apart. He arose from the dead on the third day exactly as He had predicted!

Consider these facts verifying His resurrection:

• His disciples were initially skeptical over reports of His resurrection but later died horrible deaths rather than deny it! Something happened to convince them!
• His tomb was officially sealed by the Romans and the penalty for breaking a Roman seal was dead by crucifixion - upside down. Who would mess with that?
• The huge stone that closed His tomb was rolled uphill! Who would have the strength or the numbers to accomplish that?
• The Roman unit guarding the tomb was trained to stand their ground against an entire battalion and fleeing meant execution. Who could could have caused them to abandon their post?
• When Mary, Peter and the others went into the empty tomb they discovered the burial linens lying undisturbed in the form of a body but caved in and empty! How could that happen?
• In addition to the few who examined the empty tomb on the third day, history records that the Resurrected appeared to some 515 eyewitnesses from various stations of life and different levels of belief. Apparently His appearance before them dramatically changed their lives, caused them to proclaim the news to others, and made them willing to die rather than disavow this truth!

If this evidence was introduced into a court of law, the prosecution would have a nearly impossible task of refuting it!

Only God could predict His own death, His own resurrection and then accomplish it exactly as predicted.

So what say you?

Is Jesus a lunatic, a liar or the Lord of Heaven and earth?

October 4, 2014

So far I have presented three arguments for the existence of God:

1) The existence of the universe

2) The evidence of a designer

3) The existence of moral and ethical codes

Former avowed agnostic, C. S. Lewis illustrates the reasoning behind the fourth argument for the existence of God in his classic work "Mere Christianity":

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse."

So, when you contemplate the claims of Christ there are three possibilities:

• He was a lunatic
• He was a liar
• He was the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, as He declare

One of those three statements has to be absolutely true and the other two incorrect.

Here are some of Jesus' claims:

"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? "John 14:6-9

When He was under the pressure of a trial and directly confronted by the Sanhedrin, Jesus boldly proclaimed:

"Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:60-62

What do you think?

Is Jesus a liar?

Is Jesus a lunatic?

Is Jesus your Lord?

How you answer will make an eternal difference!

October 3, 2014

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:18-21

How many times have you started to do something, and an alarm in your head said, "Don't do that!" but you did anyway?

How often have you opened your mouth to say something, and your conscience said, "Don't say that!" but you said it anyway?

You always seem to know what the right thing is, even if you don't always do it.

Where did that sense of "rightness" come from? This is the third evidence for believing in God: we all have a moral standard that is higher than we are.

Leith Samuel writes in HIS magazine, "Many missionaries point out that the heathen know more than we think. They know that there is a God. There are no atheists among heathen tribes. There has never been discovered upon earth a tribe of people, however small or depraved, which has not believed in some kind of god or had some system of worship... the heathen in so-called primitive tribes know that they have sinned. When a Christian comes to them and talks about sin he often finds ready acknowledgement that this is true. The heathen seem to know that their sins must be punished. They seem afraid of punishment, and afraid of death (as are most men everywhere). They know that sin must be atoned for, and they seek ways of appeasing their angry deities."

Moral codes and ethics vary from culture to culture and from person to person, but every human being has an innate moral standard. Where did this moral standard come from?

Since it is impossible to invent something that is greater than we are, there is only one reasonable answer: There is a moral Creator who put this standard in us!