Bible Authenticity

Ancient Flood Stories – Is Genesis One of Many?

February 23, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

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The traditions of ancient peoples throughout the world share in common the inclusion of flood stories. The Mesopotamian accounts have garnered the most discussion since they are culturally closer to the Biblical material than any of the other non-Scriptural narratives. The most famous of the many ancient flood stories is the Mesopotamian flood account, the Babylonian version, found in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (seventh century BCE) as part of the larger Epic of Gilgamesh. read more

Ancient Creation Stories and Narratives

February 23, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

Is the Bible just another one of many ancient creation stories, or is it different?

“Yahweh God, the Almighty . . . created all things”—Revelaat ion 4:8,11 LSB

ANCIENT PAGAN CREATION STORIES

In contrast to the Biblical creation narratives, ancient creation stories from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria-Palestine do far more than try to explain how the physical world came into being. Creation myths often elevated the particular god of a particular shrine to supremacy over all other gods in order to validate the prestige of that deity, that shrine or the city in which the shrine was located. read more

Who Were the Nephilim?

February 23, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

There are only two Biblical references to the “Nephilm” (Genesis 6:4 NIV); Numbers 13:33 NIV). In Genesis 6:4, they are the “giants on earth in those days” before the flood, “the mighty men . . . of renown” (Genesis 6:4 NKJV). The Israelite spies’ “bad report about the land” of Canaan used the term “Nephilm” to describe “people . . . of great size” (Numbers 13:32,33 NIV), from whom the Anakites were claimed to have descended. Upon glimpsing these imposing inhabitants of Canaan, ten of the twelve spies became demoralized and terrified. The “Nephilim” the ten spies spoke of at Numbers 13:33 may have been similar in appearance to the Rephaites, a race of strong, tall people with whom the Anakites are compared in Deuteronomy 2:20,21. read more

What is Textual Criticism? Has the Bible Been Changed?

February 23, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

NT canon — Textual Criticism collates and compares the many ancient extant Bible manuscripts for the various Biblical texts to determine the original reading for each scripture?

Is Textual Criticism something that is critical of the Bible’s text, something that shows the Biblical text is unreliable? Or, is Textual Criticism something positive, even favorable, toward authenticating the Bible’s text as being genuine, reliable, and trustworthy?

It is popularly believed today that the Bible has been copied and re-copied so many times over the centuries that is text is unreliable, and no one can be sure of what was in the originals. Is there any truth to this? read more

Should Pseudepigrapha (Books By Fake Authors) Be In the Bible?

February 23, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

Is the Bible reliable? — Should Pseudepigrapha books be in the Bible?

Increasingly claims are being made that many worthy books were omitted from the Bible, and thus raising doubts in people’s minds that “the Scriptures” of the Bible are “the word of God” (John 10:35 NLT). Pseudepigrapha, meaning “false title,” or books by fake authors, refers to Jewish books that falsely claimed to have been written by Moses, Enoch, Abraham or some other ancient hero of the faith, and are supposedly arbitrarily omitted from the Bible.

Most pseudepigrapha, or books by fake authors, were written between 250 BCE and 200 CE. Why aren’t they part of the 66 book Biblical cannon of inspired books/ The Pseudepigrapha books compared with what is genuinely “all Scripture . . . by God” (2 Timothy 3:16 LSB) solves this puzzle. read more

The Ending of Mark

February 23, 2015 BibleAuthenticity


The end of Mark 15 (excluding verse 47), along with Mark 16:1 in Codex Sinaiticus (c. 350 AD) What is the true ending of Mark?

The ending of Mark is controversial with some groups. There are several different endings to the Gospel of Mark found in the various Greek manuscripts. Most Greek texts and several ancient translations conclude with the ending familiar to us as Mark 16:9-20. However, the earliest Greek manuscript with that ending is from the fifth century, although evidence from the church fathers suggests that the longer ending was already in existence during the second century. Many scholars feel, however, that, in addition the manuscript evidence, the vocabulary and themes of the traditional ending are inconsistent with the rest of the Gospel. read more

The Rylands Papyrus 457 Dated to 125-135 CE

February 20, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

The Rylands Papyrus 457 (P52) is the oldest copy yet discovered of any portion of the New Testament, having been paleographically dated back to the first half of the second century CE, about 125-135 CE A tiny fragment of a codex (a leaf-form text, like a modern book, in contrast to a scroll) of the Gospel of John, it contains parts of John 18:31-33 on one side and John 18:37-38 on the other side. It was acquired in Egypt in 1920 and is now in the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England. read more

The Historical Accuracy of Luke-Acts

February 19, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

The historical accuracy of the Luke-Acts two-volume work is frequently challenged. Scholars dispute such issues as the dating of the reign of Quirinius (Luke 1:5; 2:2) and references to Palestinian geography (Luke 4:44; 17:11), and raise additional historical questions regarding the numerous speeches in Acts (e.g., Acts 2:14-36), and the harmonious portrayal of the early church (Acts 4:32-35). The most critical historical objection to Acts concerns the details of Paul’s ministry. Although certain passages suggest that Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10-17; Acts 27:1–Acts 28:6), some scholars deem this tradition untenable on the basis of perceived difficulties in harmonizing the life and perspective of Paul as presented in Acts with details about his life found in his letters.

Many of these perceived difficulties are lessened when we recall the purpose of Luke’s accounts. In composing his volumes, Luke did not intend to record a comprehensive history, but, rather, to provide an accurate historical account to meet the needs of people to develop faith (Luke 1:4). Luke acknowledged his use of sources (Luke 1:2), which he investigated thoroughly in order to compose an orderly account (Luke 1:3). Where it is possible to verify Luke’s use of sources, we find that the Gospel writer followed them meticulously. Furthermore, Luke was precise concerning the titles of officials and municipalities in various towns (Acts 13:12; Acts 17:6; Acts 18:12; Acts 19:31,35), details that reveal the writer’s commitment to accuracy.”—Based on the New International Version Archaeological Study Bible article “The Historical Value of Luke-Acts” read more

The Superior Integrity of the New Testament Text

February 19, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

A folio from Papyrus 46, one of the oldest extant New Testament manuscripts

No other ancient text is substantiated by such a wealth of ancient textual witnesses as is the New Testament text. About 5,800 separate manuscripts are extant and available, variously containing anything from the entire New Testament corpus to a slight fragment of a single verse. There are also hundreds of copies of ancient translations (or versions) in languages other than Koine’ Greek of the New Testament that reveal the form of the text known to their translators, as well as numerous New Testament quotations in the writings of the early church “fathers” that disclose the form of the particular texts known to them. read more

Accepted New Testament Books

February 18, 2015 BibleAuthenticity

Where did the accepted New Testament books come from? The process of determining which texts would comprise the Biblical canon (the standard of authoritative and normative teaching for the church) is asserted to have taken place over several centuries. Beginning in the first century CE., Christian communities recognized the authority of texts that they gathered into collections for circulation and use in public worship. Second Peter already suggests a familiarity with the letters of Paul, and goes so far as to place them on par with the Hebrew Scriptures (3:16). Evidence reveals that during public worship Christians in the earliest centuries read from the texts that would become the New Testament, just as they did from the Hebrew Scriptures (Colossians 4:16). read more