“The Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is God’s inspired Word. Inerrant in its original writing, the Bible is the only authoritative and infallible rule of faith and conduct for humanity.”
First off we must understand that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” II Tim 3:16-17. Both the Old and New Testaments are sanctioned as God’s word in the Bible. Acts 28:23 Paul preached the Kingdom of God both out of the law and the prophets (Ole Testament). Peter wrote in II Pet. 3:16 about “Paul’s epistles”. Peter and Paul were both murdered by the hand of Caesar Nero in 68 A.D. By 68 A.D. the Old Testament was complete and the New Testament was well on its way to completion and was actually completed in writing by 100 A.D. just not yet canonized.
The words and text and message of the Bible gives us what we need to know for our salvation. While the Bible is about 1/3 prophecy, 1/3 history and 1/3 writings it does not give us every single detail of history, it gives us what we need to know of the plan of God that leads to His coming Kingdom and worldwide offer of salvation to mankind.
How do we know of the validity of the Bible? History and prophecy show us why the Bible is valid. Prophecies have been fulfilled multiple times and history has shown the light of God in two ways. One, history has shown the prophecies did indeed come true and two, the entire history of the writing and completion of the Bible is in plain sight for all to see. The Old Testament originally written it what we now called “old Hebrew” was preserved from the time of Moses and then translated into Greek by order of the King of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Known as the Septuagint (codex LXX) for 70 as it was translated by 70 Jewish Scribes to be put into the library of Alexandria. The New Testament was originally written in Greek with some Aramaic verses. In the late 300’s A.D. Jerome translated the Greek Old and New Testaments into Latin, this version is called the Latin Vulgate and was the standard for over 1,000 years. Erasmus made a New Greek translation in the 15th century and it was this translation that was used to create the King James Bible (KJV) of 1603. The KJV is still viewed as the standard of English Bible’s today even though there have been many new versions and translations. The New King James Bible is updated to modern English (American) and the New International Version is a newer translation. It must be noted that each version have several minor inaccuracies resulting from translation and colloquial verbiage yet none take away the meaning or depth of God’s word. Throughout history the Jews have been preservers of the Old Testament as stated by Paul in Rom 3:2 and the Greeks were used and still keep the original writings of the New Testament.
Concerning the accuracy of the scripture let us note the following facts: Since the completion of the writing of the New Testament (the last book of the Bible was most likely the Epistle of John written in the late 90’s A.D.) the following historical evidence supports the ancient integrity of the Holy Scripture. The Dead Sea Scrolls discovered between 1949 and 1951 have all or portions of 17 Old Testament books dating back to about 500 B.C. Including an entire book of Isaiah. There are over 4,500 early Greek manuscripts extant and 5,000 total manuscripts from the early years of the Church. No other historical record (Socrates, Plato etc.) even comes close to this authenticity and volume of documents which includes originals from the early 100’s A.D. Finally in the late 300’s A.D. the 36 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament were universally accepted and recognized as comprising the entire Bible. The canonization of the Bible did not happen overnight but by centuries of common usage and for all practical purposes was in place by about 100 A.D. It was just formerly recognized at the end of the 300’s A.D.
Some may ask about the Apocrypha which is held by the Catholic Church to be a part of the Bible. The Apocrypha was written as history, prophecy and is often found to be spurious and does not always coincide with the rest of the canon. While it can be used for some history studies (Maccabees I is terrific for this) it was never included in the Bible by the ancient Jews nor quoted by the Apostles (Except for maybe Jude 14-15). Therefore, the Protestants and most churches outside of Catholicism do not view the Apocrypha as a part of the canon.
We can be assured that today we have the complete Bible as transmitted by God for our benefit and usage as we live the Christian life based on God’s written authority. The Bible is God’s written revelation of His creation and plan for all of mankind. It is truly a Holy Book.
