Can I Trust the Bible? CTK Adult Ed July 20, 2014

Scripture’s View of Itself

What Is the Bible For? God speaking… Christ at the center Not an disinterested narrative Communication for communion

Covenant Witness What kind of book? Concerned with bearing witness to God’s work of redemption!!! Everything flows out from there A book that interprets us

A Hermeneutic of Love Against a “hermeneutic of suspicion” Reading how God calls us to read Self-authentication

Warning!!! There is a difference between (1) trusting that the Bible is God’s Word, and (2) trusting in the Bible as God’s Word

Types of Challenges 1.Ideological 2.Historical 3.Textual

Ideological Challenges

Culture of Scholarship

Suspicion of Authority Language Ethics Creativity Anachronisms

Recognizing Cultural Critiques Conservative –Bare biblicism –Nationalistic theologies –Moralism Liberal –Marxism –Post-colonialism –Feminism –Pluralism

Personal Incentives

Historical Challenges

OT Formation No known arguments Apocrypha & pseudepigrapha Documentary hypotheses of the 19 th & 20 th century

OT Reliability Some unambiguous facts Archaeological evidence –Direct evidence –Indirect evidence

NT Formation Early church fathers Controversy (Marcion & Gnosticism) Canonization as recognition

NT Reliability Mostly positive relationship with archaeological data Historical proximity

Textual Challenges

OT Texts Masoretic Text –Aleppo Codex –Leningrad Codex Samaritan Pentateuch Dead Sea Scrolls Ancient versions –Septuagint

NT Textual Variants 1.Meaningless variants 2.Meaningful, but not viable 3.Meaningful and viable (<1% of variants)

Two Notorious Changes in NT Text Mark 16:9-20 –Earliest manuscript evidence from 5 th -C –Church fathers make reference as early as 2 nd -C –Seems to be summary of details from other gospels & Acts John 7:53 – 8:11 –Not present in ancient texts –Not apparently known in early church fathers’ commentaries –Sometimes found after John 7:44; 7:36; or 21:25 – even after Luke 21:38

Questions?

Archaeological Appendix Ebla tablets (3 rd millenium BC) Code of Hammurabi (c 1750 BC) Nuzi Tablets (c 1500 BC)

Archaeological Appendix Merneptah Stele (c 1230 BC) Tel Dan Stele (c 9 th century BC)

Archaeological Appendix Baruch ben Neriah’s Bulla (seal) Verification of other Babylonian officials Belshazzar & the Nabonidus Cylinder

Archaeological Appendix Pontius Pilate inscription Erastus inscription