|
1
|
- A theological seminar presented on behalf of the Training and Recording
Committee of Wilmington Yearly Meeting
- By David Goff
- April 17, 2004
|
|
2
|
|
|
3
|
- The Bible consists of 66 books, written over a period of about 1400
years (1300 b.c. to 100 a.d.) by about 40 authors, not to mention
unnamed editors and compilers, in at least three different languages
(Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).
- The Bible is composed of various types of literature including law,
historical narratives, poetry, drama, songs, proverbs, philosophical
discourses, prophecies, and letters.
|
|
4
|
- STUDY to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, accurately dividing the Word of Truth.
- 2 Tim. 2:15
- Though the Bible may be read devotionally to let the Spirit speak to a
person’s individual experience, serious study is required for accurate
interpretation, teaching, and preaching. This study requires
interpreting the Scriptures in terms of their literary format and
historical context, and must also carefully consider relevant linguistic
issues (for example, the four Greek words for our one English word,
love).
|
|
5
|
- The Jews categorized the Scriptures as the Law, the Prophets, and the
Writings.
- The Law was recognized as Scripture very early, perhaps as early as the
time of David.
- The Prophets are the major portion of our Old Testament, composed of
everything from Joshua to Malachi, with the exception of the Writings.
These were accepted as Scripture by the Pharisees, but rejected by the
Saducees.
- The Writings are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of
Solomon. They also were accepted by the Pharisees , but rejected by the
Saducees.
|
|
6
|
- The earliest writings are in the first five books, commonly known as the
Law, the Torah, or the Pentateuch. These writings are traditionally
ascribed to Moses, though they themselves do not identify their
author(s). Moses was raised in Pharoah’s court and was therefore
probably well-educated for his day. He is described as writing the Book
of the Covenant, but it is not clear whether this describes some portion
of the Torah, or whether it is a book that has been lost.
|
|
7
|
- The collection referred to as “The Prophets” are of widely disputed
authorship. They generally do not give any hint as to who the author
might have been or when they might have been written. Most scholars tend
to think that they were written down by priestly scribes during the
period following the Babylonian captivity.
|
|
8
|
- Psalms is a collection of ancient songs or hymns and probably covers the
entire Old Testament time period. There are numerous authors identified,
the most famous of whom are Moses and David, but it is clearly a
compilation that collects the worship literature of Israel into a single
volume. Scholars suggest that it existed in the oral tradition until the
post-exilic period and was recorded by priestly scribes at that time.
|
|
9
|
- Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Proverbs are generally attributed to
the reign of Solomon, who is purported to be the author of the first two
and a contributor to the third. Some or all of these may have originally
existed in the oral tradition and been written down at some later date,
possibly as late as the post-exilic period.
|
|
10
|
- Job is of unknown authorship and origin, taking the form of a drama or a
narrative poem, with portions of sermonic monologues and songs
interspersed. In literary form it probably is somewhat similar to our
modern dramatic musicals. It is set during the patriarchal period, but
was probably written down during the post-exilic period.
|
|
11
|
- “Canon” means a measuring stick or rod when used by Biblical scholars
and historians.
- There are two “canons” for the Old Testament: The Alexandrian Canon and
the Hebrew Canon. The Alexandrian Canon is accepted by today’s roman
Catholic Church, while most Protestant churches use the Hebrew Canon.
|
|
12
|
- The “Alexandrian Canon” dates from the translation of the Old Testament
into Greek (the Septuagint) in 250 B.C. It included approximately 15
“Apocryphal” books that were
later rejected by Palestinian Jews. It has been suggested from the wording of
some of the quotes in the New Testament that this may have been the
version used by Jesus and his disciples.
|
|
13
|
- The “Hebrew Canon” dates from the Council of Jamnia in Palestine in
approximately 90 A.D., following the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Romans under Titus in 70 A.D.
- Two tests:
- Time and Usage—The books had stood the tests of time, met the needs of
the people, and were judged to be of Divine origin.
- Inspiration ceased with Ezra—nothing written more recently judged to be
canonical.
|
|
14
|
- Reasons for Old Testament Canonization:
- Rise of Hellenistic Influences
- Rise of heretical teachings and extremist practices of apocalptic
groups
- Persecution by Hellenistic Syrian and later by Roman oppressors
- Rise of Christianity
|
|
15
|
- The New Testament consists of two primary types of literary materials.
- Apostolic Testimonies (The Gospels and Acts).
- Apostolic Writings (Letters) .
|
|
16
|
- Apostolic Testimonies
- The “Synoptic” Gospels—Present eyewitness accounts of the life and
teachings of Jesus, and are mostly in harmony with one another.
- (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
|
|
17
|
- Apostolic Testimonies
- The Gospel of John– Presents new material, both events and teachings,
not covered in the Synoptics. It is attributed to one of Jesus’ closest
disciples, John bar Zebedee.
|
|
18
|
- Apostolic Testimonies
- The Acts of the Apostles — a continuation of Luke’s Gospel, this is the
story of the birth of the Church and of some of Paul’s missionary
journeys by one of Paul’s companions.
|
|
19
|
- Apostolic Writings (Letters or Epistles)
- Christian Church Epistles
- Pastoral Epistles
- A Personal Epistle
- Hebrew-Christian Epistles
- The Revelation
|
|
20
|
- Christian Church Epistles: letters from Paul to various local churches
addressing issues related to theological, moral, and other issues of
importance to Christians living in a secular society.
- (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians,
- 1 & 2 Thessalonians).
|
|
21
|
- Pastoral Epistles : letters from Paul to various young Christian
leaders whom Paul had discipled.
These tend to address issues of doctrine, morality and church
order. (1 & 2 Timothy,
Titus).
|
|
22
|
- A Personal Epistle : A letter from Paul to address a personal matter of
long-term social concern. Paul addresses the relationship between his
friend Philemon and Philemon’s runaway slave, Onesimus, whom Paul had
led to faith in Christ.
- (Philemon)
|
|
23
|
- Hebrew-Christian Epistles : Written to all believers, these are
sometimes called the “catholic” or “universal” epistles. They all have
a distinctly Hebrew “flavor” and all except Hebrews (whose author is
unknown) have notably Hebrew-Christian author.
- (Hebrews, James, 1,2, & 3 John, and Jude.)
|
|
24
|
- The Revelation : Written to all believers, the Revelation is unique in
the New Testament as a message of hope to persecuted believers. It is
not primarily a road map of future events, but a revelation of God’s
love for his people, couched in the language of the apocalypse.
|
|
25
|
- The First listing of the New Testament Canon, as we have it now, was in
the Easter Letter of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in 367 A.D. The
Synod of Carthage in 392 A.D. declared the same books to be canonical.
|
|
26
|
- Criteria for Canonization:
- Apostolic authority,
- Acceptance and usage in the churches
- Harmony with other New Testament teachings
|
|
27
|
- Reasons for New Testament Canonization:
- Death of Apostles & other eyewitnesses
- Rise of heretical teachings
- Persecution
|
|
28
|
- The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, while
the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic and Greek.
- There are NO extant texts of the “original” written manuscripts.
- Despite the lack of original texts, discrepancies among existing texts
are few and insignificant.
|
|
29
|
- The earliest extant Bible text is the Peshitta, a Syrian (Aramaic)
version. The Eastern Church claims it to be the original form of the
New Testament , while the Catholic Church claims that it is a
translation from the Greek. It is supposed to have been compiled or
translated ca. 200 A.D. and a copy exists that has been dated to 442
A.D.
|
|
30
|
- Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in 382 A.D. and it was called
the Vulgate. Working from Greek and Hebrew texts, Jerome was the first
to separate the extra books and call them the Apocrypha. The Vulgate
was used almost exclusively by the Church for over 1000 years, and is
still highly respected in the Roman Catholic Church.
|
|
31
|
- John Wyclif(fe) attempted the first complete English translation, ca.
1382. Common English in his day
was Middle English, such as that used by Chaucer. His translation was
burned by the Church after his death. Later his body was exhumed and
burned as that of a heretic. His
translation was based on Jerome’s Latin Vulgate.
|
|
32
|
- William Tyndale attempted an English translation (in an English we
would know) based on the Greek and Hebrew in 1530. He was befriended by Martin Luther
after fleeing London. He was able to complete the New Testament and the
Pentateuch before the Church authorities had him strangled and burned
as a heretic.
|
|
33
|
- Miles Coverdale was the first to print a complete English Bible, in
1535. Based on Latin, German
versions, and Tyndale's work for the Old Testament; and also Greek for
the New Testament.
|
|
34
|
- The Great Bible: Named because
of its size, this new translation by Coverdale, was very influential
from 1539-1568. It was to be prominently displayed in the churches, but
could not beowned by the common people.
|
|
35
|
- The Geneva Bible: Translated in
Geneva by Coverdale and others who had escaped England and the
persecutions of the Roman Catholic Queen, Mary Tudor (nicknamed “Bloody
Mary”). It was completed in 1560, and was very popular among the
people; It was the Bible the Pilgrims brought to America.
|
|
36
|
- The Douai (Douay) Bible: This
English translation of the Vulgate is still used by Catholics today.
|
|
37
|
- The Authorized or King James Bible:
This version was translated by a committee of scholars as
requested by King James I of England in 1611. It was originally
strongly opposed, but has since become the most loved version of the
Bible. Based on: Tyndale,
Coverdale, Latin, Douai, and a Greek source (Textus Receptus).
|
|
38
|
- English Revised Version: This
version was translated between 1881-1885, by a group of English and
American scholars because of advances in the understanding of Biblical
languages, newly discovered manuscripts, and changes in the English language.
|
|
39
|
- American Standard Version: In 1901 the American scholars who had
helped with the English Revised Version did an American version, using
more American terminology and interpreted according to the American
perspective.
|
|
40
|
- Revised Standard Version: Completed in 1952, this translation
was based more closely on the Hebrew and Greek texts than either the
English Revised Version or the American Standard Version were. It is
probably the most popular version among scholars today.
|
|
41
|
- Recent Modern Translations:
- New American Standard: Update of
the American Standard,1960.
- The Amplified Bible: Attempts to express the richness and shades of
meaning in the original languages, 1971. Interesting, but ponderous to
read.
- The Living Bible: The Living BibleA paraphrase, not word-for-word
translation. 1971.
- New International Version: Accurate and very readable translation, 1979.
- New King James: Maintains the style of the King James but updates the
archaic language, 1982.
|
|
42
|
- As you can see, the Bible has a long history, and it is important that
we study it carefully so that we can accurately interpret it and apply
it to our lives…and teach others to do likewise!
|
Notes
