Questions about the BIBLE...

What is so special about the Bible ? Christians believe that it is a miracle that the Bible has survived all the attempts to destroy it. Some people have died through their efforts to have one in there own language. Since the invention of the printing press Bibles have multiplied and spread around the world. Modern inventions like radio, TV and the Internet allow the Bible to be shared too

The BIBLE is more than a thick black book Sometimes we Iook at what happens in the world, our country, and even our own lives and wonder if there is any sense to It. The Bible is not just one of the oldest and most published books - It can help us find out why we are here, why the world is in the mess it is and provide an answer. We say God speaks from its pages. Bibles are easily available to us to check out these things. The Bible has survived many attempts to destroy it and prevent ordinary people reading it.

What do we say when people say the Bible is rubbish? Ask them if they have read it ? Remind them it is mostly about Jesus Matthew Mark, Luke and John tell his life story – so we should read them first. The Old Testament promised Jesus would come. The New Testament shows those promises were kept. We can trust someone who keeps their promises!

DEAD SEA SCROLLS

Psalms from Dead Sea Scrolls

1947 ANCIENT SCROLLS FOUND IN CAVE Shepherd boy makes discovery near Dead Sea A fifteen year old youth from the town of Qumran near the Dead Sea made a discovery. This may become the find of the century. Muhammed Adh-Dibh, was searching for a stray goat when he found a cave full of old clay pots. Closer investigation revealed that they contained over four hundred ancient scrolls, which included copies of the books of the Bible.

*A spokesman from the University of Jordan has stated that some of these manuscripts can be dated back to 200 B.C. which is over a thousand years older than the earliest copy of the Bible held in the British Museum. It appears that these books belonged to a religious community at Qumran which hid their library in a cave shortly before the Roman army devastated the area in A.D.68. *The leather scrolls have r e m a i n e d untouched for almost two thousand years.

What did the university experts learn from the Isaiah scroll ? By comparing the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls with our Bible, the researchers have made the following conclusions: 95% of words are exactly the same 4% of words are the same but have a spelling mistake Only 1% of words are different... but these have been replaced with words with the same meaning anyway !

Dr. Chris Forbes Macquarie University History Department

Why should I read the Bible ? It is food for the new spiritual life God gives us when we trust Jesus and follow Him. Hebrews 5 : 12 It tells me about myself and that God knows about me. Psalm 139 Some verses include me ! How cool is that! John 20 : 29 – 31 It provides a map, a guide and a plan for my life. Psalm 119 : 105

Help us find the missing vowels... All scr_pt_re is _nspir_d by G_d and _s us_f_l for teach_ng th_ tr_th. 2 T_m_thy 3 : 16