St Mark’s Preservants’ course

Bible claims it’s Divinely Inspired  “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”  (2 Timothy 3:16)  “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21)

The unity of the Bible attests to its Divine Authorship  The Bible was penned on 3 continents  written in 3 languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic)  its composition and compilation extended through the slow progress of 16 centuries.

Unity of the Bible  the Bible is one Book, behind its many parts there is an unmistakable organic unity.  It contains:  one system of doctrine,  one code of ethics,  one plan of salvation  one rule of faith

 66 books by 40 authors of all different walks of life (all inspired by ONE author – Holy Spirit

The Completeness of the Bible Demonstrates its Divine Perfection  The Bible needs no addendum. There is more than sufficient in God’s Word to meet the temporal and spiritual needs of all mankind.  the Bible is still “up-to-date,” and answers every vital question which concerns the soul of man in our day.  Book of Job written 3000 yrs before Columbus discovered America- but applies to every culture and every type of thought

The Indestructibility of the Bible Is a Proof that its Author Is Divine  Not only has the Bible been the most intensely loved Book in all the world, but it has also been the most bitterly hated.  first three centuries of the Christian era the Roman Emperors sought to destroy God’s Word.  Diocletian had slain so many Christians and destroyed so many Bibles, that when the lovers of the Bible remained quiet for a season and kept in hiding, he imagined that he had made an end of the Scriptures. “The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods restored.”

Unique on its Influence upon literature  Could collect the whole bible if we recollect by putting together quotations from different books  They say from the writings of the Fathers of the church you could recover the whole NT

Bible Not Only Validated by Science, but Proceeded Science  “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,” Isaiah 40:22  The earliest discovery is 300 BC by some philosophers which is still 450 years after Isaiah.  Job 26:7 talks about gravity before Newton discovered it “He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.”

Famous quotes  Sir Isaac Newton: “We account the scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever.”  Albert Einstein: As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene.... No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.

 In various passages, the Bible describes a hydrologic cycle, the process by which clouds are formed, rain is produced and ground water is replenished. Science made the same discovery in the 1600s, long after the Bible passages were written.  "He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight" (Job 26:8, NIV).  "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind" (Job 36:27-28, NIV).

The Missing link  “ And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7

Dead Sea Scrolls  has been hailed as the most important archeological discovery of the twentieth century  two copies of Isaiah were found  These books were thousands of years older than the oldest dated manuscripts previously known  they proved to be word for word identical to the standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95% of the text

The New Testament Manuscripts:  24,000 manuscript copies of portions of the NT  The earliest Gospel was written in 60AD  If the stories in it were not true, would have been refuted by all the witnesses

Early Testimonies  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. (1 Corinthians 15:6)  For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. (2 Peter 1:16)

The Types of Christ in the OT  The events recorded in the Old Testament were actual occurrences, yet they were also typical prefigurations Isaac Joseph Moses David

 No two of them represent Him from exactly the same viewpoint.  Each one contributes a line or two to the picture, but all are needed to give a complete explanation.