The Bible: 1

The Bible: 1
Brad Reiches
Jun 12 2006 07:00PM

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GodThoughts Wired! 

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

"The Bible"

PART 1

The first of the nine essential components that give us a complete definition of the Bible is: 

1.  Divine Origin (from God).

"All scripture is inspired (God-breathed)..."

2 Timothy 3:16a

That is, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, otherwise known as the "canon," were written by men under the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit (see 2 Peter 1:20-21).  The word "canon" comes from the root word reed.  The reed was used as a measuring stick, eventually coming to mean, "standard."  The third century church father Origen used the term "canon,"

"To denote what we call the 'rule of faith,'

the standard by which we are to measure and evaluate."

As applied to Scripture, canon means "an officially accepted list of books."

How Did We Get the Old Testament?

We discern from church history five guiding principles* that led to the acknowledgement and collection of the thirty-nine Old Testament Books:

1.  Was the book written by a prophet of God?

2.  Was the writer confirmed by acts (miracles) of God?

3.  Did the message tell the truth about God?

4.  Does it come with the power of God? (note the present tense).

5.  Was it accepted by the people of God?

How Did We Get the New Testament?

The test for inclusion of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament was what is referred to as, Apostolic Authority.  This includes writings prepared under the supervision of the Apostles, either by way of authorship or approval.

Indeed, the body of Christ is "Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone" (see Ephesians 2:20).

 "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture

is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy

was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved

by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."

2 Peter 1:20-21

*Geisler, Norman L. and William E. Nix.  A General Introduction to the Bible, pp. 223-231.