How We Got The Bible

I’m back! Yay! I get to blog again this month and I picked Friday, Yay!
Wanted to start out by saying the bible study with Bro. Josh Davis has been enlightening. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a bible class like this and even though I went to Texas Bible College I still needed this refresher course in Bible study. It makes me open my mind again to more in depth study of scripture and it fascinates me to think about all the stories in the Bible and how it came to us down through the centuries. Think about it! God protected the manuscripts and the translations through all the years so the whole world would hear the Gospel and come to Christ! Amazing!
As all of you know by now, I’m fascinated by history. If you didn’t know it before, you sure know it now. I should’ve been a history major.

Anyway, the other day I came across a pamphlet I had that talked about how we got the Bible. I have no idea where I got this pamphlet or how old it is but I thought you all would enjoy these little tidbits of history.

HOW WE GOT THE BIBLE - Ten Key Points
1. The Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
2. Made up of 66 different books that were written over 1600 years (from approximately 1500 BC to AD 100) by more than 40 kings, prophets, leaders, and followers of Jesus.
3. The Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek.
4. The books of the Bible were collected and arranged and recognized as inspired sacred authority by councils of rabbis and councils of church leaders based on careful guidelines.
5. Before the printing press was invented, the Bible was copied by hand. The Bible was copied very accurately, in many cases by special scribes who developed intricate methods of counting words and letters to insure that no errors had been made.
6. The Bible was the first book ever printed on the printing press with moveable type (Gutenberg Press, 1455, Latin Bible).
7. There is much evidence that the Bible we have today is remarkably true to the original writings. Of the thousands of copies made by hand before AD 1500, more than 5,300 Greek manuscripts from the New Testament alone still exist today. The text of the Bible is better preserved than the writings of Caesar, Plato, or Aristotle.
8. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (in 1947) confirmed the astonishing reliability of some of the copies of the Old Testament made over the years. Some variations exist, most of which involve spelling. No variation affects basic Bible doctrines.
9. As the Bible was carried to other countries, it was translated into the common language of the people by scholars who wanted others to know God’s Word.
10. By AD 200, the Bible was translated into seven languages; by AD 500, 13 languages; by AD 900, 17 languages; by AD 1400, 28 languages; by 1800, 57 languages; by 1900, 537 languages; by 1980, 1,100 languages. (source: The World Christian Encyclopedia)

Isn’t this awesome? I think it is. I hope you enjoyed this (that is, if you read it all…). What an awesome book the Bible is. From the Old Testament manuscripts to the New Testament manuscripts and their translations the Word of God has been preserved for the world!

So, the next question is why? Because the awesome LOVE of God is more powerful than anything man could ever do. Nothing anyone could do through the centuries (persecution, etc.,) could stop the translation of this great Gospel message. The Good News of Christ to the world! More than ever, especially with the way the world is going now, I want to love and appreciate this most precious of books.
Again, I hope you enjoyed this blog. Look for more next week!

Until next time, love you all,
Kimmie