The Strand Study Bible

How We Got THE Bible (God’s Word)

T he Apostle Paul said in II Timothy 3:16:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

This term ( inspiration of God ) comes from the Greek word θ ε ο πνευ στ ος ( theopneustos ), and means, “ God ( θ ε ο ς) breathed (πνεω).” There are three products of God’s creative breath: (1) the universe (Psa 33:6); (2) man (Gen 2:7 and Job 32:8); and (3) the Scriptures (II Tim 3:16, II Pet 1:17-21 and Jn 10:35). Concerning the inspiration of the Scriptures , Charles Ryrie in The Ryrie Study Bible notes: Inspiration is God’s superintending of human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error in the words of the original autographs His revelation to man. 1 Meaning: Every word (verbal inspiration) was chosen by God, and not one word was omitted (plenary inspiration). The inspiration of the Scriptures was a supernatural influence of the SPIRIT OF GOD upon divinely chosen human representatives in which their writings became God-authored. The Bible says that God “breathed out” the Scriptures. It does not say that He “breathed” into the human authors. The authors were not inspired; the Scriptures were inspired. Only through the influence of the HOLY SPIRIT did the human writers of the Bible actualize the divine initiative. Henrietta C. Mears in What the Bible Is All About notes : According to Paul the writers of the Bible were “borne along” ( moved ) by the HOLY SPIRIT . Thus the Scriptures were not a product of the human authors and did not depend upon human initiative for its origin. According to our SAVIOR , every letter of every word within the Sacred Scriptures, including the diacritical marks, is God-breathed ( Mt 5: 17- 18 ). Thus the Bible came to us supernaturally ( holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ), with minimal interference by man. Comprised of sixty-six books, written over a period of some 1,500 years, by approximately forty different authors, the Bible marched relentlessly down through history, with such orderly progression and ease, that it is tough to argue with its claim of divine inspiration. Hebrews 1:1-2 says: While divine, it is human. The thought is divine, the revelation is divine, the expression of the communication is human. Holy men [human element] of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost [divine element]. 2 F or the first 2,600 years of human history (from c. 4000 – 1400 BC) there was no Written Word . There was only The Spoken Word . Up until the time of Moses (c. 1568-1448 BC) the Word of God was not etched on paper; it was etched upon men’s hearts and passed down from one generation to the next. In fact, not one person in the book of Genesis (from Adam – Joseph) or the book of Job had a written copy of the Word of God. The only Word they had was what was written in their hearts and passed down to them by word of mouth ( Job 22:22 & 23:12 ). Long before The Written Word was ever written down there existed unwritten laws that God had “spoken” upon men’s hearts ( Rom 2: 12- 15 ). Called the “laws before the Law,” these twenty-one laws appeared to be the most meaningful of all the laws to God. Even heathen kings, such as King Ur-Nammu (the Code of King Ur-Nammu - c. 2060 BC) and King Hammurabi (the Code of Hammurabi - c. 1728-1686 BC) appeared to be aware of these laws ( Gen 12:14-20 & 26:5 -11). The Written Word T he oldest book in The Written Word is the book of Job , dated c. 1625 BC. Although we are not sure as to who wrote the book of Job, some think it might have been Moses (c. 1568-1448 BC). Whoever wrote Job penned it in Hebrew, and left it to us as Scripture. Both Ezekiel (Ezk 14:14,20) and James (Jms 5:10-11) considered Job to be a historical person. The second oldest books in The Written Word are the five books of Moses ( Genesis – Deuteronomy ). Also penned in Hebrew, these books were probably written over a forty-year period, sometime between 1487 and 1448 BC. Outside of a few isolated passages that were written in Aramaic (Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Daniel 2:4-7:28; Jere 10:11), the entire Old Testament was penned in Hebrew, a pictorial, personal language, appealing more to the heart than to the mind. According to Luke 11: 50- 51 , Jesus fixed the limits on the extent of the “canonized” books of the Old Testament at the 39 books we have today ( Genesis – Malachi ). In the case of the New Testament all 27 books ( Matthew – Revelation ) were penned in Greek, the universal language of that day, which appealed more to the mind than to the heart. The New Testament was collected and “canonized” by the Council of Carthage in AD 397. The Living Word A ccording to Hebrews 1:2, God saved His best “Word” for last. His last best word to the human race was JESUS, The Living Word (Jn 1:1,14). God will not speak to us again until CHRIST returns at the Second Coming. Until then, we have The Spoken Word etched on our hearts, The Written Word engraved on our minds, and The Living Word embossed on our will. 1 Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible , Chicago, ILL, Moody Press, 1978. Print. 2 Mears, Henrietta C. What the Bible Is All About , Glendale, CA, Regal Books, 1953. Print. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets (via the spoken and/or written Word) , Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son (the Living Word - Jn 1:1,14) , whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; According to Hebrews 1:1-2, God passed down His inspired Word to us via three vehicles: The Spoken Word

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