T e e n s C o n f e r e n c e 2 0 0 9

Sumair MirzaMarch 2009

What we really need, after all, is not to defend the Bible but to understand it.

-Millar Burrows

Validity of the Bible

T e e n s C o n f e r e n c e 2 0 0 9

Sumair MirzaMarch 2009

What we really need, after all, is not to defend the Bible but to understand it.

-Millar Burrows

How can I trust what the Bible

says?

How do I know that it is from God?

Why do Christians follow it?

What does all this mean to you?

1600 years old

40 authors

Three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic (e.g. Daniel 2-7, portions of

Ezra, Jeremiah 10:10, etc.), Greek

70% of NT are letters

OT: Prophets, fire, clouds, glory of light in the temple

• Hebrew scriptures = Masorectic Text (MT)

• Greek translation = Septuagint (Lxx)

NT: Incarnate

• Written in Greek + used Lxx because writing to Greek speaking

audience

God seems to yell louder as the Bible progresses

Exegesis (Good): Draw meaning out of textEisegesis (Bad): Read one‘s ideas into the text

GODISNOWHERE (example of what scribes had to manage with)• GOD IS NOW HERE = Meaning #1 = state God exists theism

• GOD IS NOWHERE = Meaning #2 = state God does not exist atheism

• Scribes had to decipher no spaces (continuo scripto) Oldest NT manuscripts

Nehemiah 8:8: even prophets show

interest in correct biblical understanding

John 6:30-33: Jesus corrects wrong

scriptural understanding

Galatians 3:16: Paul careful interpreter (seed = one person = Jesus Christ)

Scriptures were tailored to audience as any good presenter would do…

In New Guinea the pig is sacred and liver is the centre of emotions

Imagine…• Behold Jesus comes, the piglet of God….?!

• My son Shechem has his liver set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife….?!

1. God exists

2. NT is historically reliable

3. Miracles are possible

4. Miracles confirm Jesus‘ claim to be God

5. Whatever God teaches is true

6. Jesus (= God) taught that the Bible is the Word of God by confirming the OT and promising the NT.

7. Therefore, the Bible is the Word of God.

1. Authority – Matt. 22:43

2. Reliability – Matt. 26:54

3. Finality – Matt. 4:4, 7, 10

4. Sufficiency – Luke 16:31

5. Indestructibility – Matt 5:17-18

6. Unity – Luke 24:27, 44

7. Clarity – Luke 24:27

8. Historicity – Matt. 12:40

9. Facticity (scientifically) – Matt 19:2-5

10.Inerrancy – Matt. 22:29; John 3:12, 17:17

11.Infallibility – John 10:35

Neo-evangelical Evangelical

True in whole, but not all parts True in whole, and in all parts

True spiritually, but not always historically True spiritually and historically

True morally, but not always scientifically True morally and scientifically

True in intention, but not in all affirmations True in intention and all affirmations

Bible is infallible, but not inerrant Bible is infallible and inerrant

Bible is God‘s instrument of revelation Bible is intrinsically a revelation

Bible is God‘s record of revelation Bible is God‘s revelation

God speaks through the words of the Bible God speaks in the words of the Bible

Human language is inadequate to

communicate God

Human language is adequate but not

exhaustive

Much of higher criticism may be accepted None of higher criticism is accepted

Faith is opposed to reason Faith is not opposed to reason

Argument Response

Science is right about science and

Bible is right about spiritual matters

Jesus states ―I told you earthly things

and you do not believe, how shall you

believe if I tell you heavenly things?‖ (John 3:12)

Criticism around certain passages Jesus clearly affirms these passages:

Creation (Luke 11:51), Adam and Eve (Matt.

19:4-5), Noah and the Flood (Matt. 24:37-39),

Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 10:12), Jonah

and the great fish (Matt. 12:39-41), Moses

wrote Law (Mark 7:10; John 7:19)

Not all of the Bible is the Word of God God said = Scripture said & Bible said

= God said (Gen. 12:3 – Gal. 3:8, Ex. 9:6 – Rom.

9:17, Isa. 55:3 – Acts 13:34, etc.)

What about books that were left out? No category of books initially accepted

and later thrown out.

2 groups of books some say should be

included (Apocrypha, Gnostic)

Accepted as scripture by Augustine and Syrian

church in 4th century (later added by Catholic church)

Jews never accepted as Scriptures

Curious timing,1546 (council of Trent) was added

because of ―Christian usage‖ and 29 years after

Protestant reformation

No book in group claims to be inspired, and

some deny it (1 Maccabees 9:27)

Written in 2nd and 3rd century with names of

apostles even though they didn‘t write them (e.g.

Acts of John, Gospel of Peter)

Books taught 2 early heresies: (1) Jesus was

only a spirit that looked like a man and (2) His

resurrection was a return to spiritual form

Heretical groups created them

No early church fathers accepted these and

writings are not consistent with rest of Scriptures

Evangelicals do not try to prove that the

Bible has no mistakes so that they can be

sure the Bible is the Word of God.

Christians hold the Bible to the Word of

God (and inerrant) because they are

convinced that Jesus believed it and

taught it

Incarnate Inspired

Hidden in God from eternity(John 1:1)

Eternal thoughts of God(Ps. 119:89, Eph. 3:9)

Conceived by Holy Spirit(Luke 1:35)

Inspired by Holy Spirit(2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21)

Born a common man(Phil. 2:7)

Written in common language(1 Cor. 2:4-10)

Perfect; sinless(John 8:46, Heb. 4:15)

Perfect; inerrant(John 17:17, Ps. 19:8)

Bore witness to Scriptures(Matt. 5:17-18)

Bore witness to Christ(Luke 24:27)

Reveals the Father(John 1:18, Heb. 1:1-2)

Reveals the Son(John 5:39)

God can produce both a Person and a Book that are without error.

Book Rationale

Hebrews Author unknown.

James Conflict with Paul‘s faith alone

2 Peter Style variance from 1 Peter

2 and 3 John Author (Peter) is called ―elder‖

Jude Refers to Book of Enoch and

Assumption of Moses

Revelation Teaches thousand year reign for Christ (taught by a cult)

Third-Party Verification - a plethora of external sources and facts

outside the Bible corroborate what is found in the Bible.

Historical Reliability - The Bible's message is a sharp contrast to

the pagan fertility religions and philosophies of the ancient world as

revealed through history.

Fulfilled Prophecy - Events demonstrate that the Biblical prophets

accurately predicted events hundreds of years before they occurred.

Archaeological Evidence - Archaeological evidence demonstrates

the historical and cultural accuracy of the Bible.

The Sumerian King List, lists kings who reigned for long periods of time.

Then a great flood came. Following the flood, Sumerian kings ruled for much shorter periods of time.

Men had long life spans before the flood and shorter life spans after the flood.

Sumerian tablets record the confusion of language as we have in the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).

There was a golden age when all mankind spoke the same language.

Babylonians had a similar account in which the gods destroyed a temple tower and "scattered them abroad and made strange their speech.‖

1. Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishak (1 Kings 14:25-26), recorded on

the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.

2. Revolt of Moab against Israel (2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27), recorded on the

Mesha Inscription.

3. Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:3-6, 24; 18:9-11) to Sargon II, king of

Assyria, as recorded on his palace walls.

4. Defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1), as recorded on his palace

walls.

5. Campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib against Judah (2 Kings

18:13-16), as recorded on the Taylor Prism.

6. Siege of Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17), as recorded on the

Lachish reliefs.

7. Assassination of Sennacherib by his own sons (2 Kings 19:37), as

recorded in the annals of his son Esarhaddon.

8. Fall of Nineveh as predicted by the prophets Nahum and Zephaniah

(2:13-15), recorded on the Tablet of Nabopolasar.

9. Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-

14), as recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles.

10. Captivity of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, in Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16), as

recorded on the Babylonian Ration Records.

11. Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:30-31), as recorded

on the Cyrus Cylinder.

12. Freeing of captives in Babylon by Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-4), as

recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder.

13. The existence of Jesus Christ as recorded by

Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, the Talmud, and Lucian.

14. Forcing Jews to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 41-54)

(Acts 18:2), as recorded by Suetonius.

Jews buried flawed and worn-out copies

Only have a few OT manuscripts

All manuscripts agreed to a great extent

even with Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls,

writings in Qumran caves.

Nothing was to be written by memory

Any copy with one mistake was destroyed

95% word-for-word identical

5,600+ manuscripts available

Most textual difficulties are slight (e.g. Word order)

Some say 200,000 ―errors‖ in Bible but

only 10,000 variants

< 40 places where original is not 100%

known

Have 100% of NT and are certain about

99.5%

* Source: Evidence that demands a verdict, Josh McDowell

The name "Canaan" was in use in Ebla, a name

critics once said was not used at that time and

was used incorrectly in the early chapters of the

Bible.

The word "tehom" ("the deep") in Genesis 1:2 was

said to be a late word demonstrating the late

writing of the creation story. "Tehom" was part of

the vocabulary at Ebla, in use some 800 years

before Moses.

Many thought Solomon's wealth was greatly

exaggerated. Recovered records show that

wealth in antiquity was concentrated and

Solomon's prosperity was entirely feasible.

Claimed there was no Assyrian king named

Sargon (Isaiah 20:1). Then, Sargon's palace was

discovered in Khorsabad, Iraq. The very event,

his capture of Ashdod, was recorded on the

palace walls.

Selected Important Old Testament Archaeological Finds

Selected Important New Testament Archaeological Finds

The OT foretells His place of birth as Bethlehem —Numbers 24:17, 19, Micah 5:2

His lineage from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David —Gen: 12:3, 21:12, 2 Samuel 7:13

His forerunner, John the Baptist — Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1

His vicarious suffering and death — Isaiah 53

His crucifixion, before crucifixion was a mode of

execution — Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10

His execution with common criminals — Isaiah 53:9, 12

His divinity — Isaiah 9:6, Jeremiah 23:6, Micah 5:2

1. He will be betrayed by a friend (Psalm 41:9; Matthew 26:49)

2. The price of his betrayal will be thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew

26:15)

3. His betrayal money will be cast to the floor of my temple (Zechariah 11:13;

Matthew 27:5)

4. His betrayal money will be used to buy the potter‘s field (Zechariah 11:13;

Matthew 27:7)

5. He will be forsaken and deserted by his disciples (Zechariah 13:7; Mark 14:50)

6. He will be accused by false witnesses (Psalm 35:11; Matthew 26:59-60)

7. He will be silent before his accusers (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:12)

8. He will be wounded and bruised (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 27:26)

9. He will be hated without a cause (Psalm 69:4; John 15:25)

10. He will be struck and spit on (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 26:67)

11. He will be mocked, ridiculed, and rejected (Isaiah 53:3; Matthew 27:27-31; and

John 7:5, 48)

12. He will collapse from weakness (Psalm 109:24-25; Luke 23:26)

13. He will be taunted with specific words (Psalm 22:6-8; Matthew 27:39-43)

14. People will shake their heads at him (Psalm 109:25; Matthew 27:39)

15. People will stare at him (Psalm 22:17; Luke 23:35)

16. He will be executed among ―sinners‖ (Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 27:38)

17. His hands and feet will be pierced (Psalm 22:16; Luke 23:33)

18. He will pray for his persecutors (Isaiah 53:12; Luke 23:34)

19. His friends and family will stand afar off and watch (Psalm 38:11; Luke 23:49)

20. His garments will be divided and won by the casting of lots (Psalm 22:18; John

19:23-24)

21. He will thirst (Psalm 69:21; John 19:28)

22. He will be given gall and vinegar (Psalm 69:21; Matthew 27:34)

23. He will commit himself to God (Psalm 31:5; Luke 23:46)

24. His bones will be left unbroken (Psalm 34:20; John 19:33)

25. His heart will rupture (Psalm 22:14; John 19:34)

26. His side will be pierced (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34)

27. Darkness will come over the land at midday (Amos 8:9; Matthew 27:45)

28. He will be buried in a rich man‘s tomb (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60)

29. He will die 483 years after the declaration of Artaxerxes to rebuild the

temple in 444 B.C. (Daniel 9:24)

Jesus fulfilled 60 Old Testament

prophecies made 400 years before his

birth

1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 = the

probability of just 8 prophecies being

fulfilled in one person supported by work

from Peter Stoner validated by the

American Scientific Affiliation

To criticize God is the first

step to gag God‘s voice

To doubt God is the first

step to muffle God‘s voice

Remember…

How can I trust what the Bible

says?

How do I know that it is from God?

Why do Christians follow it?

What does all this mean to you?

Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart;

How to read the Bible for all it‘s worth

How to read the Bible Book by Book

William Klein, Bloomberg;

Introduction to Biblical Interpretation

D.A. Carson;

Exegetical fallacies

Norman Geisler;

When critics ask: Popular Handbook of Bible Difficulties

When skeptics ask: A Handbook on Christian Evidences

Jr., Gleason L. Archer;

New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties

If you are interested in apologetics,

please feel free to write down your name

and email address.

―For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.‖

- Paul (2 Timothy 4:3)

Who caused David to take a census of

Israel?

A. God (2 Sam. 24:1) or B. Satan (1 Chron. 21:1)

• Western thinking leads to disjunctive choice (e.g.

A or B) (Aristotelian thinking)

• Eastern Jewish can be both (e.g. A+B)

• God permits Satan to act (Job 1-2) (Satan can‘t do

anything without God‘s consent (Luke 22:31)

Who killed Goliath?• 1 Sam. 17:50 says David OR 2 Sam. 21:19 says

Elhanan?

• Answer: 1 Chron. 20:5

• David, accidental/incidental scribal error resulted

in dropped ―brother‖

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. (Matt. 7:1)

Stop judging by mere appearances, and

make a right judgment." (John 7:24)

What is going on here?• Read Context: It‘s about hypocritical judgment

Psalm 82:6 "I said, 'You are "gods";

you are all sons of the Most High.‗…‖

We are gods?!

Answer: read context… read before and after…

• ―Provide justice‖

• ―Like mere men‖

• Similar theme in Exodus 7:1 with Moses but merely

talks about presiding justice/authority (Exodus 21:6; 22:8)

• God is the real judge (Psalm 50:6)

Muslim‘s say Paul corrupted Christianity... Why?

James 2:20,24 (Jesus‘ bro says works + faith?)

vs. Rom. 3:28, 4:4-5 (Paul seems to say faith

alone?)

• Seemingly contradicts Sola Fide? (Faith Alone)

• Response:

James is talking about works of faith (faith before men)

Paul is talking about works of law (faith before God)

How do we know? (James 2:14 – ―to the brethren‖, ―that faith‖

should result in works (matches Eph. 2:8-10))

• ―…Father is greater than I‖ (John 14:28), how? Is Jesus

saying the Father is better than himself?

• Answer: Does ―greater‖ = ―better‖?

For example, is a parent greater than the child (e.g. Jesus

submitted to Joseph and Mary) or the Prime Minister of Canada

greater than us? (office of authority)

It is a reference to authority (hierarchy exists in the trinity)

Father elects for salvation

Son purchases with blood

Holy Spirit seals them

Days contradiction?• Matt 17:1, Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28

• Answer: Luke is approximate says ―some‖, not

concerned with exact # of days

You may ask me for anything in my

name, and I will do it. (John 14:14)

Ask God and he will give you anything?

(John 14:14)• Answer: Tota Scriptura (1 John 5:14-15)

• Paul rejoices in infirmities

• C.S. Lewis ―God whispers to us in our joy but

screams to us in our pain.‖

Jonah was in a fish or whale?

How if whale is not a type of fish?• Jonah 1:17

• Matt. 12:40

• Answer: Dag is Hebrew word for ―fish‖, no word for

―whale‖ exists. Dag used in reference to sea

animals

Deuteronomy 34:5-8• Who wrote about Moses‘ death? Couldn‘t be

Moses (author of Deuteronomy)?

• Answer: Likely Joshua, Moses‘ successor

(Epilogue flows into Joshua 1:1)

• Epilogue doesn‘t take away from authorship of

book (often when an author passes away prior to

completion of book a close friend will write

epilogue, doesn‘t confuse authorship)

Sign above cross (why all say different things?)• Matt. 27:37, Mark 15:26, Luke 23:38, John 19:19• Answer: Sign in different languages (John 19:20 -

Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.)

• Matthew: Hebrew/Aramaic For Jews as their languages

• Mark: Latin (Romans) Romans ruling (usually only charge mentioned)

• Luke: Greek common language• John: Roman form of sign (name of accused +

charge) (probably from Pilate himself)

Gospel Audience FocusHow was it tailored to

audience?

Matthew Jews What did

Jesus say?

• Frequently quotes OT

to show Jesus

fulfillment of the

messianic prophecies

• Quotes reflect the

Hebrew text and the

rest are from the

Greek version

(Septuagint)

Mark Romans What did

Jesus do?

• Power

• “Movie-like”

snapshots (quick)

Luke Greeks Who followed

Jesus?

• Like birth stories

• Wisdom

• Saviour of world

John Believers Who was

Jesus?

• Galilean mission to

Judea*

Prophetic

SymbolMeaning Gospel Reflection

Lion King Matthew* • Messiah King

Ox Servant Mark* • Suffering Servant

Jesus

Man Humanity Luke* • Humanity, grew up 12

years old (b/c bar

mitzvah age)

• He is the perfect and

ideal human who

comes to reconcile

both Jews and Gentiles

to God

• Emphasis on the

Gentile outreach of

Jesus

Eagle Deity John • All about God and God

is all and all is from

him and for him

* Synoptic gospels = ―see through one eye‖

Narratives; mostly literalPoetry; can contain metaphors

(Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, etc.)

• In Hebrew meanings rhyme not the words (e.g. Heavens vs. Firmament – Psalm 19)

Apocalyptic; highly symbolic (Daniel 2-7, some of Joel, some of Isaiah, etc.)

Prophetic; deals with present conditions and also future ones (some of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, some of Daniel, Hosea, Joel, etc.)

• Propheme means ―To speak‖ , not always future‖

Anthropomorphism; applying human like qualities to God (e.g. hands, eyes, nose, arm, etc.)

Zoomorphism; applying animal like qualities to God (e.g. lion (Hos. 13:8, Amos), she bear, wings, feathers, etc.)

Anthropopathism; applying human emotions to God (laughter (Psalms 2:4, 37:13), anger (Exodus 4:14), grieving, etc.)

• Distinct difference is God is not controlled by emotions like us

1. Was it written by a prophet of God?(Deut. 18:18, Heb. 1:1, 2 Peter 1:20-21)

2. Was he confirmed by an act of God?(Heb. 2:3-4)

3. Does it tell the truth about God?(Gal. 1:8, Deut. 18:22)

4. Does it have the power of God?(Heb. 4:12)

5. Was it accepted by the people of God?(1 Thes. 2:13, Deut. 31:24-26, Col. 4:16, 1 Thes. 5:27)