Bible Study Outline
The purpose of this compilation of facts is to provoke thought, not provide answers or promote any religion or specific concept. The answers and specific concepts will come from your thought. Start with an open mind and let the facts and your thought speak to you.
2nd Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. ---Paul writing to Timothy
WHICH SCRIPTURES?
At the time of Paul, 35 AD, the Septuagint existed and a few peripheral, scholarly scrolls. The New Testament writings did not exist. He, and others were writing them. Was Paul talking about literally taking every word in the Septuagint at face value and ignoring anything written after that? Or, did he indicate we should read and evaluate all of what was and will be written by scholars, prophets and clergy for guidelines to live by?
How many different versions of the Bible are there? Scripture-Comparison-Chart.pdf (newbookinc.com)
This does not include the many recent versions of English translations and paraphrased Bibles. It does not include the Gnostic Gospels or the Nag Hamadi Scrolls.
Are they all correct?
Some have more or less scriptures. Do we throw away the ones
not approved by other people? Do we throw away the ones we don’t understand? Do
we throw away the ones that are not part of our group?
All of the above was done by the Catholic Church, including killing the people
who supported them. The scriptures were burned many years ago and only recently
rediscovered in the 1940’s.
What is the Torah? What is the Pentateuch? Torah - Wikipedia
The Torah (/ˈtɔːrə, ˈtoʊrə/; Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה Tōrā, "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.] The Torah is known as the Pentateuch (/ˈpɛntətjuːk/) or the Five Books of Moses by Christians. It is also known as the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv) in Rabbinical Jewish tradition. If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll (Hebrew: ספר תורה Sefer Torah). If in bound book form, it is called Chumash, and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (perushim).
In rabbinic literature, the word Torah denotes both the five books (תורה שבכתב "Torah that is written") and the Oral Torah (תורה שבעל פה, "Torah that is spoken"). It has also been used, however, to designate the entire Hebrew Bible. The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. Rabbinic tradition's understanding is that all of the teachings found in the Torah (both written and oral) were given by God through the prophet Moses, some at Mount Sinai and others at the Tabernacle, and all the teachings were written down by Moses, which resulted in the Torah that exists today. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and was used as the blueprint for Creation. Though hotly debated, the general trend in biblical scholarship is to recognize the final form of the Torah as a literary and ideological unity, based on earlier sources, largely complete by the Persian period, with possibly some later additions during the Hellenistic period.
Note that some of Genesis existed over 2,000 years before Moses in Sumer tablets.
What is the Septuagint? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint
The Septuagint (/ˈsɛptjuədʒɪnt/ SEP-tew-ə-jint), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (Ancient Greek: Ἡ μετάφρασις τῶν Ἑβδομήκοντα, romanized: Hē metáphrasis tôn Hebdomḗkonta), and often abbreviated as LXX,[2] is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Hebrew. The full Greek title derives from the story recorded in the Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates that "the laws of the Jews" were translated into the Greek language at the request of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–247 BCE) by seventy-two Hebrew translators—six from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
What is the Old Testament? Torah - Wikipedia
Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible as interpreted among the various branches of Christianity. In Judaism the Hebrew Bible is not only the primary text of instruction for a moral life but also the historical record of God’s promise, first articulated in his covenant with Abraham, to consider the Jews his chosen people. Christians, on the other hand, view it as the prophecy of the advent of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the redeemer of humanity, in fulfillment of that promise. Thus, Christian tradition employs the Hebrew Scriptures to legitimize the gospel of Jesus in the New Testament as the natural extension of the Abrahamic covenant.
What is the New Testament? New Testament - Wikipedia
The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events relating to first-century Christianity.
What is the Apocrypha? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocrypha
Apocrypha are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture. While some might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity, in Christianity, the word apocryphal (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were to be read privately rather than in the public context of church services. Apocrypha were edifying Christian works that were not considered canonical scripture. It was not until well after the Protestant Reformation that the word apocrypha was used by some ecclesiastics to mean "false," "spurious," "bad," or "heretical."
From a Protestant point of view, biblical apocrypha are a set of texts included in the Septuagint (the Hebrew Bible in Greek), used for several hundred years by Jews and by early Christians, and still by Eastern Orthodoxy. In the centuries after the fall of Jerusalem, Jewish scholarship compiled the Masoretic Text in Hebrew, which remains the standard text used by Jews. Some books which were included in the Septuagint were not regarded as canonical, from the original Hebrew Bible, and were set apart and remained in Greek. Later, when Jerome translated the Canon of Scripture and produced the Latin Vulgate, he labelled those books as Apocrypha. Catholic and Orthodox Churches consider them to be deuterocanonical, whereas some Protestants consider them apocryphal, that is, non-canonical books that are useful for instruction. Luther's Bible placed them in a separate section in between the Old Testament and New Testament called the Apocrypha, a convention followed by subsequent Protestant Bibles. Some non-canonical apocryphal texts are called pseudepigrapha, a term that means "false attribution".
The adjective "apocryphal", meaning of doubtful authenticity, mythical, fictional, is recorded from the late 16th century.
What is the Cepher Bible? Uncovering The Mysteries Of The Cepher Bible And Other Hidden Religious Texts (2024) (thewitness.org)
The Cepher Bible is a relatively new translation of the Holy Scriptures, but it draws from ancient texts and manuscripts that are thought to be divinely inspired. It includes all of the books of the Hebrew Bible, along with a number of other apocryphal writings and forgotten books that did not make it into the traditional Biblical canon.
What is the Rest of the Bible? Who wrote the Bible? When was the Bible formed and how? THE REST OF THE BIBLE (newbookinc.com)
Most people take what they have been told all their life that the Bible is the spiritually inspired word of God. A quick look at the origins of the Bible from 4000BC through approximately 350AD provides information about who actually wrote down what was finally translated in 1611AD as the King James version. The Creation story, the Flood and the story of Abraham are all contained in the Sumerian tablets dating to 4,000 to 2,000BC and found in Nineveh, Iraq. Moses lived around 1450BC. The actual Hebrew inscription of the Pentateuch did not start until around 500BC. The Septuagint (Torah) was formed by 70 or 72 rabbis around 200BC. Most of the New Testament was written between 30 and 100AD and circulated as letters among the different congregations for over 200 years. Constantine (the roman emperor) created "The Church" in 325AD by the First Council of Nicaea. Within 25 years, the Septuagint and letters were canonized (voted) into the Bible. ( Personal opinion - I don't think we can trust any congress of politicians or bishops approved by Constantine to help control the people, that would leave the Book of Enoch out of the Bible. Jesus and the apostles studied and quoted it many times.) The Bible, written in Sanskrit, Hebrew, Coptic and Greek was translated into English by a group of 31 picked by King James in 1611. The rest of the Bible was discovered in 1948.
When were these written? THE REST OF THE BIBLE (newbookinc.com)
Pentateuch à~1200 – 500 BC
Torah à Old Testament à Torah - Wikipedia
The Old Testament, a name coined by Melito of Sardis in the 2nd century CE, is longer than the Hebrew Bible, in part because Christian editors divided particular works into two sections but also because different Christian groups consider as canonical some texts not found in the Hebrew Bible. For example, although the Hebrew canon consists of 24 books, the Old Testament of Roman Catholics comprises 46 books and that of most Protestant churches has 39. For further discussion of both Jewish and Christian attitudes toward the Hebrew Scriptures, see Hebrew Bible.
For the first 300 years AD the church was groups meeting in houses and then larger buildings. Information and scriptures were shared along with ideas and concepts. The letters and writings forming the New Testament had been gathering into a list since about 140AD. Lists for the Old Testament had been gathering since about 500BC. The first known attempt to create a list, 3rd century BC, is known as the Septuagint. It is from the Latin word septuaginta (meaning seventy), is a translation of the Hebrew Bible and some related texts into Koine Greek. As the primary Greek translation of the Old Testament, it is also called the Greek Old Testament. This translation is quoted in the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles, and also by the Apostolic Fathers and later Greek Church Fathers. The title and its Roman numeral acronym LXX refer to legendary seventy Jewish scholars (or 72) who solely translated the Five Books of Moses as early as the late 2nd century BCE. This translation is not extant, except as rare fragments. By the early 3rd century, Christian theologians like Origen of Alexandria may have been using—or at least were familiar with—the same 27 books found in modern New Testament editions, though there were still disputes over the canonicity of some of the writings (see also Antilegomena). Likewise by 200, the Muratorian fragment shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 3rd century.
The Bible à325 to 1546 AD by committee
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AD |
The New Testament books are written. |
|
140 |
Marcion, a businessman in Rome, taught that there were two Gods: Yahweh, the cruel God of the Old Testament, and Abba, the kind father of the New Testament. Marcion eliminated the Old Testament as scriptures and, since he was anti-Semitic, kept from the New Testament only 10 letters of Paul and 2/3 of Luke's gospel (he deleted references to Jesus' Jewishness). Marcion's "New Testament", the first to be compiled, forced the mainstream Church to decide on a core canon: the four Gospels and Letters of Paul. |
|
200 |
The periphery of the canon is not yet determined. According to one list, compiled at Rome c. AD 200 (the Muratorian Canon), the NT consists of the 4 gospels; Acts; 13 letters of Paul (Hebrews is not included); 3 of the 7 General Epistles (1-2 John and Jude); and also the Apocalypse of Peter. Each "city-church" (region) has its own Canon, which is a list of books approved for reading at Mass (Liturgy) |
|
367 |
The earliest extant list of the books of the NT, in exactly the number and order in which we presently have them, is written by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in his Festal letter # 39 of 367 A.D. (Arianism starts introducing spurious books) |
|
382 |
Council of Rome (whereby Pope Damasus started the ball rolling for the defining of a universal canon for all city-churches). Listed the New Testament books in their present number and order. |
|
393 |
The Council of Hippo, which began "arguing it out." Canon proposed by Bishop Athanasius. |
|
397 |
The Council of Carthage, which refined the canon for the Western Church, sending it back to Pope Innocent for ratification. In the East, the canonical process was hampered by a number of schisms (esp. within the Church of Antioch). However, this changed by ... |
|
AD 405 |
Innocent sends a response to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse Qui vero libri recipiantur in canone sanctarum scripturarum brevis annexus ostendit. Haec sunt ergo quae desiderata moneri voluisti: Moysi libri quinque, id est Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numeri, Deuteronomium, necnon et Jesu Nave, et Judicum, et Regnorum libri quatuor simul et Ruth, prophetarum libri sexdecim, Salomonis libri quinque, Psalterium. Item historiarum Job liber unus, Tobiae unus, Hester unus, Judith unus, Machabeorum duo, Esdrae duo, Paralipomenon duo. Item Novi Testamenti: Evangeliorum libri iiii, Pauli Apostoli Epistolae xiiii: Epistolae Iohannis tres: Epistolae Petri duae: Epistola Judae: Epistola Jacobi: Actus Apostolorum: Apocalypsis Johannis. Caetera autem quae vel sub nomine Matthiae, sive Jacobi minoris, vel sub nomine Petri et Johannis, quae a quodam Leucio scripta sunt, vel sub nomine Andreae, quae a Nexocharide, et Leonida philosophis, vel sub nomine Thomae, et si qua sunt talia, non solum repudianda verum etiam noveris esse damnanda. Which books really are received in the canon, this brief addition shows. These therefore are the things of which you desired to be informed. Five books of Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, and Joshua the son of Nun, and Judges, and the four books of Kings 2 together with Ruth, sixteen books of the Prophets, five books of Solomon, 3 and the Psalms. Also of the historical books, one book of Job, one of Tobit, one of Esther, one of Judith, two of Maccabees, two of Ezra, 4 two of Chronicles. And of the New Testament: of the Gospels four. Epistles of the apostle Paul fourteen. 5 Epistles of John three. Epistles of Peter two. Epistle of Jude. Epistle of James. Acts of the Apostles. John's Apocalypse. But the rest of the books, which appear under the name of Matthias or of James the Less, or under the name of Peter and John (which were written by a certain Leucius), or under the name of Andrew (which were written by the philosophers Xenocharides and Leonidas), or under the name of Thomas, and whatever others there may be, you should know they are not only to be rejected but also condemned.
http://www.bible-researcher.com/innocent.html |
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AD787 |
The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea II, which adopted the canon of Carthage. At this point, both the Latin West and the Greek / Byzantine East had the same canon. However, ... The non-Greek, Monophysite and Nestorian Churches of the East (the Copts, the Ethiopians, the Syrians, the Armenians, the Syro-Malankars, the Chaldeans, and the Malabars) were still left out. But these Churches came together in agreement, in 1442A.D., in Florence. |
|
1442 |
AD : At the Council of Florence, the entire Church recognized the 27 books. This council confirmed the Roman Catholic Canon of the Bible which Pope Damasus I had published a thousand years earlier. So, by 1439, all orthodox branches of the Church were legally bound to the same canon. This is 100 years before the Reformation. |
|
1536 |
In his translation of the Bible from Greek into German, Luther removed 4 N.T. books (Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation) and placed them in an appendix saying they were less than canonical. |
|
1546 |
At the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church reaffirmed once and for all the full list of 27 books. The council also confirmed the inclusion of the Deuterocanonical books which had been a part of the Bible canon since the early Church and was confirmed at the councils of 393 AD, 373, 787 and 1442 AD. At Trent Rome actually dogmatized the canon, making it more than a matter of canon law, which had been the case up to that point, closing it for good. |
Which book did God write?
THIS IS A COMPLETE LIST OF THE BOOKS GOD WROTE DOWN.
The Ten Commandments
Which books did he dictate?
Indirectly àprophecies
Revelation à by Jesus
How many times were they translated?
Many of the original letters were written in Hebrew, Coptic, Greek, and Aramaic.
Ignoring the multitude of geographical languages, the most significant translations are:
Pentateuch àSeptuagint, Hebrew to Greek ~200 BC
What is the King James Translation? 1611 AD
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of King James VI and I. The 80 books of the King James Version include 39 books of the Old Testament, 14 books of Apocrypha, and the 27 books of the New Testament.
Noted for its "majesty of style", the King James Version has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world. The King James Version remains the preferred translation of many Christian fundamentalists and religious movements, and it is considered one of the important literary accomplishments of early modern England.
The KJV was the third translation into English approved by the English Church authorities: The first had been the Great Bible (1535), and the second had been the Bishops' Bible (1568).[5] In Switzerland the first generation of Protestant Reformers had produced the Geneva Bible which was published in 1560 having referred to the original Hebrew and Greek scriptures, which was influential in the writing of the Authorized King James Version.
What is the difference between the Old and New Testament?
Old Testament is about God’s relationship to man. New Testament is about Jesus’ relationship to man. Two different personalities are the main character. One is jealous, demanding and vengeful. The other is healing, hopeful and loving.
What is the difference between the messages of the Old Testament and New?
The Old Testament is about history with some future predictions. The New Testament is about what we should do, what is happening now and in the future.
Additional References
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE? By Richard Elliott Friedman Summit Books New York ISBN 0-671-63161-6