The Substance of Faith An Evidence and Foundational Christian Curriculum Part 2b

Part 2b: How Has God Revealed Himself?

Introduction God may not merely exist impersonally, but He has the ability to be personal—to even reveal Himself in various forms of communication to His creation. So far we have looked only at the general revelation of God; now we will begin to learn about specific revelation from God.

How God has revealed Himself throughout history? Consider the Biblical view from Hebrews 1:1-4.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:1-4 NKJV)

How God has revealed Himself throughout history? God revealed Himself to all people throughout time (Acts 17:26-31) by the general revelation of the creation (Romans 1:20). God also spoke directly to many of the “fathers” before the written Word existed (Genesis 12:1-3).

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; (Acts 17:26-27 NKJV)

How God has revealed Himself throughout history? Job, one of the most ancient of these “fathers” cried out for a book from God that would provide clarity of God’s will (Job 31:35). It seems that God answered His request (James 5:16).

Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book! (Job 31:35 NKJV)

How God has revealed Himself throughout history? God choose a certain people from the lineage of Abraham, a man of faith. To these people, He first gave the Law (Romans 3:2). Poetic writings—such as those of King David—and prophetic writings were later incorporated into these writings which were called the Scriptures and viewed as the Words of God (Luke 24:27).

And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. (Luke 24:27 NKJV)

Law, prophets, and psalms (Adam Clarke’s Commentary)

How God has revealed Himself throughout history? Lastly, God revealed Himself through His Son, who is the embodiment of His Word.

How does ancient Israel fit into history? Timeline source: Butler, Trent C., ed. Holman Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991.

How were the Old Testament scriptures recorded? The 39 books of the Old Testament were recorded by various authors through a time span of about 900 years. Relatively few copies of the Old Testament manuscripts exist, but the copies that do exist are of complete quality and consist of few errors.

How were the Old Testament scriptures recorded? The Lenigrad Codex (A.D. 1008) is the only complete manuscript of the Hebrew Old Testament, but its accuracy is confirmed with comparison with six other incomplete manuscripts as well as the Septuagint, a Greek translation from the third and second centuries.

How were the Old Testament scriptures recorded? The Dead Sea scrolls further confirm the accuracy of the Old Testament. Carbon dating indicates a date between 168 B.C. and A.D. 233, while ancient writing forms, spelling, and archaeology date some scrolls around 100 B.C. The scrolls contain fragments of most of the Old Testament books.

How were the New Testament scriptures recoded and transmitted? The New Testament documents were written on papyrus scrolls, which decayed quickly. Although no original texts have been recovered, the accuracy of the text is confirmed by the multiplicity of early manuscripts in various locations.

Are the New Testament manuscripts accurate representations of the original? More manuscripts: there are nearly 5,700 Greek manuscripts in addition to more than 9,000 manuscripts in other languages.

Are the New Testament manuscripts accurate representations of the original? Earlier manuscripts: The first undisputed fragment dates from A.D , while some disputed fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls may date from A.D. 50 to 70. The earliest surviving manuscripts of most of the New Testament dates from A.D. 250, and the earliest entire New Testament, the Codex Vaticanus, is from about A.D Moreover, early Christian “fathers” quoted the New Testament so much that the entire New Testament minus 11 verses could be reconstructed just from their writings.

Source: Geisler, Norman and Frank Turek. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, p. 226.

Source: Geisler, Norman and Frank Turek. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, p. 226.

Are the New Testament manuscripts accurate representations of the original? Most variants are spelling and punctuation errors. According to textual scholar Philip Schaff, only 50 of 150,000 variants had significance, and none of these variants affected any core principles of the Christian faith.

Are the New Testament manuscripts accurate representations of the original? The multitude of manuscripts in various parts of the world point back to the original source.

Do the New Testament documents represent historical truth? We can conclusively see that the New Testament documents date to around 30 years or less of the events they record. The New Testament contains eyewitness testimony. The writers claimed to be eyewitnesses, and they frequently cited specific historical details that can be verified.

Do the New Testament documents represent historical truth? There is corroborating evidence from archaeology and other writers, such as Josephus. The enemies of Christianity do not deny the basic details of the New Testament, such as an empty tomb. The New Testament contains details that are embarrassing to the authors, such as Peter’s denial, Paul’s persecution, Thomas’ doubt, etc.

Conclusion If God has declared His existence, it is reasonable to search for God’s revelation to humans. The Bible, consisting of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, shows historical reliability on par or greater than that of other historical events of the time. As such, we should consider the events it records as reliable. The use of the New Testament is essential for our next discussion centered on the life and person of Jesus.