1. What We Believe About: The Bible a webinar with Pastor Mike Henry New Hope Open Bible

2. What Do We Know? The Bible is old It was written over a 1,500 year period between 1,500 B.C. and A.D. 90 The Bible is not the work of one man It’s a collection of 66 smaller books More than 40 authors

3. What Do We Know? Translations vary depending on whether the translators want to show exact wording or general concepts Exact wording helps us know what God really said Concepts help us grasp what God meant

4. What Do We Know Exact wording can sometimes be confusing because… Ancient figures of speech aren’t always understood by today’s casual reader Paraphrases of the Bible can often miss the richness of the original text because… Translators have to make a decision about what they think God meant

5. How Do We Know Our Translation is Accurate? We need to understand what God means to say We need to understand that God means everything he says Every word, every phrase is rich in meaning If we try to condense the Bible down to one or two single concepts, we miss the peripherals This is why we study the Bible and its historical context After this, we study the Bible and apply it to our own context

6. Who Wrote The Books? Many different authors Old Testament: Mostly Prophets and Leaders Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. New Testament: Eyewitnesses of the lives of Jesus and the first Christians Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter

7. What Are the Books? Old Testament: 39 Books, including: Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, the Prophets New Testament: 27 Books, including: The Gospels, Acts, The Epistles, Revelation

8. What Is the Meta-Narrative? What do the books of the Bible say about themselves? Implied: Account of God’s intervention Implied: History of God’s chosen people But it’s not just about the Jewish people Revelation of God’s heart Prayers, praises or worship Account of actual events Letters of instruction

9. How Do We Know It’s True? We need to be careful not to presume ourselves as judges of ancient Hebrew mystical writings Our understanding is finite; it has its limitations We will fail if we think we can discount the Bible based on our own prejudices Skeptics will find discrepancies even if there aren’t any You can read anything into it, if you try

10. The Importance of the Bible It is the source of our foundations It is the resource that informs our faith It is the most concrete medium through which the Holy Spirit brings revelation to us individually

11. The Importance of the Bible “All scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness so that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17)