Our Holy Scriptures: The Bible "A mere translation of a translation of an interpretation of an oral tradition" Translations are derived from existing copies of ancient manuscripts such as the Hebrew Masoretic Text (Old Testament) and the Greek Textus Receptus (New Testament), The primary differences between today's Bible translations are related to how translators interpret a word or sentence from the original language of the text source (Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek).

The origin of the Bible: Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) There are more than 14,000 existing Old Testament manuscripts and fragments copied throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean and European regions that agree dramatically with each other. In addition, these texts agree with the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, which was translated from Hebrew to Greek some time during the 3rd century BC. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in Israel in the 1940's and 50's, also provide phenomenal evidence for the reliability of the ancient transmission of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) before the arrival of Jesus Christ.

New Testament (Christian Scriptures) The manuscript evidence for the New Testament is also dramatic, with over 5,300 known copies and fragments in the original Greek, nearly 800 of which were copied before 1000 AD. Some manuscript texts date to the early second and third centuries, with the time between the original autographs and our earliest existing copies being a remarkably short 60 years.

Dead Sea Scrolls:What are they? The Dead Sea Scrolls have been called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times. They were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. This is an arid region 13 miles east of Jerusalem and 1,300 feet below sea level. The Dead Sea Scrolls are comprised of the remains of approximately 825 to 870 separate scrolls, represented by tens of thousands of fragments. The texts are most commonly made of animal skins, but also papyrus and one of copper. They are written with a carbon-based ink, from right to left, using no punctuation except for an occasional paragraph indentation.

The Septuagint At first the Scriptures were read by the rabbis in Hebrew and then translated orally into Greek. Eventually, the five books of Moses were translated into Greek, probably between 250 and 150 B.C.. According to legend, 72 Jewish elders were brought to Alexandria to do the translation, which they were supposed to have completed in 72 days. The complete Greek Old Testament that was produced came to be known in later centuries as the Septuagint because "septuaginta" is Latin for seventy.

The Pentateuch was followed by Law/Historical books, Early/Later Prophets and Poetical/Wisdom books. The formal acceptance of the 27 books of the New Testament was finally completed in the 4th century. When Constantine became Roman emperor in 306 A.D., he made the Christian historian Eusebius ( AD.) his religious advisor. Eusebius conducted research to determine the general consensus of which books should be included in the New Testament. The New Testament he produced included exactly our 27 books, though Eusebius himself had questions about Revelation.

What is in the Bible? Church leaders began to provide lists of the books they regarded as inspired New Testament Scriptures. Please note that the New Testament Canon is not something which was decided 300 years after Christ's resurrection. It was rather an eventual formal recognition of an already existing common consensus. 66 Books Total: 39 Old Testament 27 New Testament

The Apocrypha The term "apocrypha" was coined by the fifth-century biblical scholar St. Jerome and refers to the biblical books included as part of the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament), but not included in the Hebrew Bible. Several works ranging from the fourth century B.C.E. to New Testament times are considered apocryphal--including Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, Tobit, Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, First and Second Maccabees, the two Books of Esdras, various additions to the Book of Esther (10:4-10), the Book of Daniel (3:24-90;13;14), and the Prayer of Manasseh. The apocrypha have been variously included and omitted from bibles over the course of the centuries. Protestant churches generally exclude the apocrypha (though the King James version of 1611 included them). The Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches include all of the apocrypha (except for the books of Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh). Other examples: Gospel of Thomas, Philip, Mary. The word pseudepigrapha, meaning "books with false titles," refers to books similar in type to those of the Bible whose authors gave them the names of persons of a much earlier period in order to enhance their authority. Example: The Life of Adam and Eve

Non-canonical texts (Nag Hammadi texts) The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles Allogenes The Apocalypse of Adam The (First) Apocalypse of James The (Second) Apocalypse of James The Apocalypse of Paul The Apocalypse of Peter The Apocryphon of JamesThe Apocryphon of James: The Apocryphon of John Asclepius Authoritative Teaching The Book of Thomas the Contender The Concept of Our Great Power The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth Eugnostos the Blessed The Exegesis on the Soul The Gospel of the EgyptiansThe Gospel of the Egyptians* The Gospel of Philip The Gospel of ThomasThe Gospel of Thomas: (Patterson & Meyer translation) (Lambdin translation) (Grondin interlinear translation) The Gospel of TruthThe Gospel of Truth: (Grant translation) (Attridge & MacRae translation) The Hypostasis of the Archons Hypsiphrone The Interpretation of Knowledge The Letter of Peter to Philip Marsanes Melchizedek On the Anointing On the Baptism A On the Baptism B On the Eucharist A On the Eucharist B On the Origin of the World Plato, Republic 588A-589B The Prayer of the Apostle Paul The Prayer of Thanksgiving The Second Treatise of the Great Seth The Sentences of Sextus The Sophia of Jesus Christ The Teachings of Silvanus The Testimony of Truth The Thought of Norea The Three Steles of Seth The Thunder, Perfect Mind The Treatise on the Resurrection Trimorphic Protennoia The Tripartite Tractate A Valentinian Exposition

The Uses of the Bible Revelation of God/Jesus History of the people of God Guide Book for Faith and Life Nurture Spirituality -Meditation - Comfort

How do you use the Bible?