General Session

1.      Review - Lesson Three – What is Truth?

a.       Truth is essential to life and makes sense out of living…..www.thetruth.org

b.      All religions are essentially the same.

c.       I am the way, the truth, and the life…or…I am whatever you want me to be.

2.      What is the Bible?

a.       66 separate books compiled into a single two volume set;

b.      The Old Testament was written between 1,500 BC and 400 BC;

c.       The New Testament was written between 40 AD and 85 AD;

3.      Old Testament considerations…

a.       Joseph’s coins.

b.      Daniel’s prophecy.

4.      New Testament considerations…

a.       When was the New Testament text written?  Wasn’t it written in the Second and Third centuries?

                                                        i.            Biblical critics assert that the New Testament Scriptures were written late in the second century AD.  The text was formed from myths and legends that had developed during the interval between the lifetime of Jesus and the time of these were written.

                                                      ii.            However, early papyri manuscripts [John Rylands manuscript, AD 130; the Chester Beatty Papyri, AD 155; and the Bodmer Papyri II, AD 200] bridged the gap between the time of Christ and existing manuscripts from later dates. [64]. 

                                                    iii.            “There is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about AD 80, two full generations before the date between 130 and 150 given by New Testament critics today.” William F. Albright[65]

b.      Is the New Testament that we read today the original?  Wasn’t it corrupted over time?

                                                              i.       The bibliographical test is an examination of the textual transmission by which ancient documents reached us from the past.  Since we do not have the original manuscripts, we have to ask the questions, ‘How reliable are the copies we have?  How many manuscripts have survived?’  Consider several accepted historical documents and gap between the date of the original and the earliest copy.

1.      Aristotle wrote his poetics around 343 BC and yet the earliest copy we have is dated AD 1100, which is a gap of 1,400 years and only 49 manuscripts exist.

2.      Caesar composed his history of the Gallic Wars between 58 and 50 BC, and its manuscript authority rest on nine or ten copies dating one thousand years after his death. [72]

3.      For the first-century historian Josephus, there are nine Greek manuscripts of his work The Jewish War, and these copies were written in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. [72]

4.      The Iliad, which is second to the New Testament in manuscript authority has only 643 manuscripts in existence.[74]

                                                            ii.      In contrast, more than twenty thousand copies of the New Testament manuscripts are in existence as of 2009.  “The interval then between the dates of the original composition and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed.”  - Sir Frederic Kenyon [former director and principal librarian at the British Museum] [74].

                                                          iii.      When it comes to the manuscript authority of the New Testament, the abundance of material is truly remarkable in contrast to the manuscript availability of other classic texts.  Consequently, the New Testament has more manuscript authority than any other piece of literature from antiquity. [75]

c.       Were the Gospels simply propaganda and rhetoric by a small group to sway and influence people toward a new religion?

                                                              i.            The New Testament accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus were recorded by men who had either been eyewitnesses themselves or who were relayed the accounts by eyewitnesses to the actual events or the teaching of Christ.[78]  The close proximity of the writers to the events they recorded should give extremely effective certification to the accuracy of eyewitnesses.  But why were they writing?  What was their message?

                                                            ii.            Events surrounding Christ were public.  The accounts of Jesus Christ’s life and death circulated within the lifetime of his contemporaries.  These people, whose lives overlapped the life of Jesus, could certainly have confirmed or denied the accuracy of the accounts by the apostles.  They would have encountered Jesus in some fashion themselves and any false statements by the apostles could be challenged, especially those who opposed the new religious movement.

                                                          iii.            The apostles’ message could have been easily falsified.  Consider their message – the tomb is empty…Jesus has risen from the dead.  The apostles did not claim that Jesus spiritually rose from the dead while the body lay in the tomb.  They proclaimed that Jesus bodily rose.  This message could have been very easily falsified if the body was found.

2.      Conclusion.

Small Group.

How do people view the Bible today?  If you were engaged in a conversation at work or in the community and you used the Bible as an authoritative voice for a public issue, what might be the reaction?

Considering the Gospel message of the New Testament, would it matter when the New Testament documents were written?  Would it matter if the books were written by those who walked with Christ and were either eye witnesses or had access to eyewitnesses?  Or if the writers lived 100 or 200 years later?

Read Luke 1:1-4.  What impression does Luke give you for why he is writing?  How is Luke setting the stage before the reader enters the text?   Does Luke give any hints at his sources?

Read Luke 24:50-53 and Acts 1:1-3.  What is your impression of Luke’s purpose for writing?  Is he trying to tell a Jewish fairytale for bedtime?  What is he trying to impress upon his readers?

Read Acts 2:22-36.  Peter addresses the crowd in Jerusalem.   How does he argue his points to the crowd?  Is it theological speculation?  Is it some new formula he is trying teach people?  Is it simply rhetoric that is meant to persuade?  Why should people believe him?

Consider the following passages - 2 Peter 1:16; I John 1:3; John 19:35; Acts 4:20.  What do these writers appeal to as their source and authority?  Do the writers appeal to a feeling or to a theory?  Why should we believe them?

Read Acts 26:19-27.  Paul stands before King Agrippa.  Does Paul rely at all on historical events or eyewitness accounts to support his point?

Consider who Jesus picks for His apostles.  Read Matthew 4:18-21 [Peter, Andrew, James, and John]; Matt 9:9-13 [Matthew];  Can you think of any others?  Where did they come from in society?  Why do you think He would pick these folks?  Why not go to the seminaries or the universities at the time?  Why would it matter?

Consider the religious climate at the time and the message that the Apostles were presenting to the Jews.  Did the Gospel message present any personal risk for the Apostles?  What would bring the apostles out of hiding after Jesus’ crucifixion and burial; and empower them to walk into Jerusalem with the message that Jesus Christ was God’s Messiah, who was crucified and rose from the dead?