1. Defending the Faith PLANTING THE SEED OF TRUTH AND HOPE IN OTHERS WEEK 10

2. Background of Bible  1600 years old  40 authors  Three languages: Hebrew Aramaic (Daniel 2-7, portions of Ezra, Jeremiah 10:10), Greek  70% of NT are letters  Element of Bible:  OT: Prophets, fire, clouds, glory of light in the temple (Shina Glory)  Hebrew scriptures – Masoretic Text (MT)  Greek translation – Septuagint (Lxx)  NT: Incarnate  Writen in Greek and used Lxx because writing to Greek speaking audience  Progressive writings  NT is the fulfillment

3. Literary Types of the Bible  Law  History  Wisdom  Poetry  Gospel  Epistles  Prophecy  Apocalyptic  Historical literature  Dramatic literature  Legal Documents  Song Lyrics  Short Story  Sermons  Speeches  Proclamations  Parables  Prayers  Metaphors  Allegory

4. Biblical Interpretation  Exegesis (Good) – Draw meaning out of text  Eisegesis (Bad) – Read one’s ideas into the text  Book of Matthew says “Don’t judge”. Speaks of hypercritical judgement; put bias opinions  GODISNOWHERE (example of what scribes had to manage with)  GOD IS NOW HERE – Meaning state of God exists – theism  GOD IS NOWHERE – Meaning state of God does not exist – atheism  Scriptio continua– Scribes had to decipher no spaces  Oldest NT Manuscripts

5. Two views contrasted Neo-evangelicalEvangelical True in whole, but not all partTrue in whole, and in all parts True spiritually, but not always historicallyTrue spiritually and historically True morally, but not always scientificallyTrue morally and scientifically True in intention, but not in all affirmationsTrue in intention and all affirmations Bible is infallible, but not inerrantBible is infallible and inerrant Bible is God’s instrument of revelationBible is intrinsically a revelation Bible is God’s record of revelationBible is God’s revelation God speaks through the words of the BibleGod speaks in the words of the Bible Human language is inadequate to communicate GodHuman language is adequate but not exhaustive Much of higher criticism may be acceptedNone of higher criticism is accepted Faith is opposed to reasonFaith is not opposed to reason

6. Apocrypha  Accepted as scripture by Augustine and Syrian church in 4 th century (later added by Catholic church)  Jews never accepted as Scriptures  Curious timing, 1546 (council of Trent) was added because of “Christina usage” and 29 years after Protestant reformation  No book in group claims to be inspired and some deny it (1 Maccabees 9:27)

7. Gnostic Gospels  Written in 2 nd and 3 rd century with names of apostles even though they didn’t write them (Acts of John, Gospel of Peter, Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas)  Books taught 2 early heresies:  Jesus was only a spirit that looked like a man  His resurrection was a return to spiritual form  Heretical groups created them  No early church fathers accepted these and writings are not consistent with rest of Scriptures

8. Logic flow; The Word of God IncarnateInspired Hidden in God from Eternity (John 1:1) Eternal thoughts of God (Psalm 119:89, Ephesians 3:9) Conceived by Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) Written in common language (1 Corinthians 2:4-10) Perfect; Sinless (John 8:46, Hebrews 4:15) Bore witness to Christ (Luke 24:27) Reveals the Father (John 1:18, Hebrews 1:1-2) Reveals the Son (John 5:39) God can produce both a Person and a Book that is without error

9. Books that were questioned BookRationale HebrewsAuthor unknown JamesConflict with Paul’s faith alone 2 PeterStyle variance from 1 Peter (1 Peter 5:12) 2 and 3 JohnAuthor (Peter) is called “elder” JudeRefers to Book of Enoch and Assumption of Moses RevelationTeaches thousand year reign for Christ (taught by a cult)

10. Basis for Trust  Third-Party Verification – a plethora of external sources and facts outside the Bible corroborate what is found in the Bible  Historical Reliability – The Bible’s message is a sharp contrast to the pagan fertility religions and philosophies of the ancient world as revealed through history  Fulfilled Prophecy – Events Demonstrate that the Biblical prophets accurately predicted events hundreds of years before they occurred  Archaeological Evidence – Demonstrates the historical and cultural accuracy of the Bible

11. Third-Party Verification

12.  The Sumerian King List  List kings who reigned for long periods of time  Then a great flood came  Following the flood, Sumerian kings ruled for much shorter periods of time  Men had long life spans before the flood and shorter life spans after the flood  Non-Christian, Non-Jewish archeological find

14. Sumerian Tablets  Record the confusion of language as we have in the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)  There was a golden age when all mankind spoke the same language  Babylonians had a similar account in which the gods destroyed a temple tower and “scattered them abroad and made strange their speech.”

17. Other Examples of Extra-Biblical Confirmation of Biblical Events  Campaign into Israel by Pharaoh Shishakl (1 Kings 14:25-26), recorded on the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt  Revolt of Moab against Israel (2 Kings 1:1, 3:4-27), recorded on the Mesha Inscription  Fall of Samaria (2 Kings 17:3:-6, 24; 18:9-11) to Sargon II, king of Assyria, as recorded on his palace walls  Defeat of Ashdod by Sargon II (Isaiah 20:1(, as recorded on his palace walls  Campaign of the Assyrian King Sennecherib against Judeah (2Kings 18:13- 1), as recorded on the Taylor Prism  Siege of Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17), as recorded on the Lachish reliefs

18. Other Examples of Extra-Biblical Confirmation of Biblical Events  Fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon  (2 Kings 24:10-14), as recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles  Captivity of Jehoiachin, King of Juda, in Babylon  (2 Kings 24:15-16), as recorded by the Babylonian Ration Records  Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians  (Daniel 5:30-31) as recorded on the Cyrus Cylinder  The existence of Jesus Christ as recorded by Josephus, Suetonius, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, the Talmud, and Lucian  Forcing Jews to leave Rome during the reign of Claudius  A.D. 41-54 (Acts 18:2), as recorded by Suetonius

19. The Cyrus Cylinder, 539-538 BC  Excavated in 1879  Made of baked clay  Dates around 539-538 BC  Declaration of the King of Persia, Cyrus  He just conquered Babylon – During this time, Babylon is ruled by Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar  Cyrus is going to set people free; let people to go home and practice their own religions

21. The Moabite Stone 840 BC  First Mention of the God of Israel  Omri was king of Israel  Mentions Omri’s son, King Ahab (2 Kings 3)  “Omri was the king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab for many days for Kemosh was angry with his land. And his son succeeded him.” (2 Kings 1-3)

23. Merneptah Stele  An Egyptian hieroglyphic slab  7.5 feet of black granite stele from Thebes  Discovered in Pharaoh Merneptah’s funeraly temple

25. Biblical Findings

26. 1994 - House of David Inscription  Only Recently Discovered  Evidence of David’s Reign  Commemorates victory of Aramean king of Israel and Judah  Pieces found linked several kings  2 Kings 8:28-29, 2 Kings 9:21-24, 27

27. Ancient Seal of Jezebel  Found in 1964  Location/Source unknown  Dated to 9 th century BC  1 Kings 21:8 – Queen Jezebel uses Ahab’s seal but is thought to have one of her own

28. Silver Amulet – 7 th Century BC  Discover in a tomb in 1979  Numbers 6:24-26 is inscribed on it  This item was the priestly blessing  The priests would write on, roll it up, and tie it around their neck  They wore it as an amulet It dates back to Jeremiah’s Time

29. Silver Amulet – 7 th Century BC Recently infrared technology discovered almost an entire chapter was written on the back How did they inscribe in such fine detail? Jeremiah 17:1 “The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus; with a diamond point it is engraved upon the table of their heart and on the horns of the alters,” This artifact is actually 400 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls!