2 Timothy 3:16-17
As Bible believers, we hold that the Bible is the perfect word of God. It contains God’s revelation, the very beginning, and what God will do in the future. The Bible is our source for understanding salvation through the work of Christ. We want to be diligent students of the Bible, following Paul’s instructions in 2 Timothy 2:15 by studying to show ourselves approved unto God.
In order to be good Bible students, we should know the origins of it. How did we get this book? Who was responsible for compiling it? Why do we affirm this to be the holy scriptures? What should we say when someone asks us why we believe this book is the true word of God?
First of all, the Bible did not fall from heaven with a perfectly bound leather cover. The Bible is composed of many scriptures recording the divine revelation of God. Scripture was written on parchment. These were pieces of leather used for documents. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written on parchment.
The earlier scriptures were primarily written in Hebrew. These scriptures are often referred to as the Old Testament. A few portions in Ezra and Daniel are written in Aramaic. This was the Babylonian language and Israel was under the rule of Babylon and Persia during Ezra and Daniel’s time.
Christian and Hebrew scholars usually contribute the first five books of the Bible (the Torah or Pentateuch) to Moses. These books contained the Mosaic Law given by God. However, it is highly likely that Moses did not write the earliest parts of Genesis. What if the guy that was actually there wrote it? God created Adam with intelligence. There is no reason why Adam couldn’t have been created with the ability to read and write. This would mean the book you have in your hands, contains the writings of the very first man who ever lived.
The historical Hebrew books, such as Judges, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, and so on, recorded important events in Israel’s chronology. Other books such as the major and minor prophets, were written by their respective prophets. They would prophecy when the Spirit of the Lord would come upon them, giving them revelation and instruction.
Israel kept the Pentateuch, historical books, and prophets as sacred scripture. They also had their psalms, poetry, and Proverbs. These were all understood to be God’s holy word. At one point, after Manasseh’s disastrous rule, Hilkiah (the high priest) rediscovered the Torah in the temple.
All of the Hebrew scriptures were affirmed and accepted by the days of Christ. Only about 400 years after the writing of Malachi, the prophet's writing was already affirmed as holy scripture as quoted by Jesus in Matthew 11:10.
The later scriptures were primarily written in Greek. These are often referred to as the New Testament. However, there are some phrases that are written in Hebrew, such as Jesus’s words on the cross in Matthew 27:46. The most common language at the time was Greek. At this point, many of the Jews knew Greek just as well as Hebrew.
The four gospels bore witness the life of Christ, affirming his deity, and proclaiming his resurrection. These four gospels were affirmed very early by first and second century Christians.
The book of Acts recorded the events immediately following Christ’s ascension. Peter and the other apostles proclaimed Christ’s identity as the Messiah and Paul began his ministry proclaiming the mystery. After Acts, Romans through Philemon are all of the Pauline letters. Even in Paul’s lifetime, Peter affirmed his letters as holy scripture in 2 Peter 3:15-16.
Hebrews through Revelation are all letters and books written with an emphasis on the nation of Israel. The Bible is actually organized according to dispensations. The books containing the mystery are grouped together. The books addressing Israel are also grouped together.
All of the Greek scriptures were affirmed very early on among Christians. These books were canonized and included with the Hebrew scriptures. We’ll talk more about canonization in a later sermon. The books of the New Testament were carefully copied and distributed throughout the known world. The main locations for transcribing scripture were the Byzantine Empire and Alexandria.
At this point, the copies of scripture were in separate parchments. There was no single Bible. A church could have a copy of Mark’s Gospel, some of Paul’s, and maybe some of Peter’s. It wasn’t until the 4th century when a man by the name of Jerome was commissioned by the Catholic Pope to compile all the scriptures into one book and one language. This became the first Bible, the Vulgate.
