Biblical Understanding & 19th
The stories which the Bible relates were considered to be historically accurate and entirely unique until the mid-19th century CE when archaeologists discovered the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Bible, in fact, was considered the oldest book in the world until much older literature was discovered which told the same stories, in an earlier form, than those found in the Bible. Scholars had long known that the Bible was a compilation which had been gathered from earlier works and authorized under the Bishops of Rome but no one seemed to be aware that those works were drawn from even earlier pieces. No one could read Egyptianhieroglyphics until Jean Jacques Champollion deciphered them and the literature of Sumer was completely unknown to the modern world.
In the mid-19th century CE museums and publications sent archaeologists from the west to the region of Mesopotamia to find physical evidence that would substantiate biblical narratives. The 19th century CE was an interesting period for religion in the west, especially Christianity, in that people became more vocal in their criticism of the faith and new ideas and philosophies provided for acceptable alternatives to religious belief. Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection was published in 1859 CE and challenged the traditionally held belief in the creation of humanity by an all-powerful God.
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What Is A Paraphrase Bible
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A biblical paraphrase is a literary work which has as its goal, not the translation of the Bible, but rather, the rendering of the Bible into a work that retells all or part of the Bible in a manner that accords with a particular set of theological or political doctrines.
Is the Living Bible the same as the New Living Translation?
The New Living Translation is a translation of the Bible into modern English. Originally starting out as an effort to revise The Living Bible, the project evolved into a new English translation from Hebrew and Greek texts.
| New Living Translation |
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| 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 |
Is the NIV a paraphrase?
The core translation group consisted of fifteen Biblical scholars using Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts whose goal was to produce a more modern English language text than the King James Version. The NIV is a balance between word-for-word and thought-for-thought or literal and phrase-by-phrase translations.
What is a dynamic equivalence translation of the Bible?
According to Eugene Nida, dynamic equivalence, the term as he originally coined, is the quality of a translation in which the message of the original text has been so transported into the receptor language that the response of the receptor is essentially like that of the original receptors. The desire is that the
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Timeline Of Bible Translation History
1,400 BC: The first written Word of God: The Ten Commandments delivered to Moses.
500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament.
200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books.
1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27 Books of the New Testament.
315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture.
382 AD: Jeromes Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books .
500 AD: Scriptures have been Translated into Over 500 Languages.
600 AD: LATIN was the Only Language Allowed for Scripture.
995 AD: Anglo-Saxon Translations of The New Testament Produced.
1384 AD: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a manuscript Copy of the Complete Bible All 80 Books.
1455 AD: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press Books May Now be mass-Produced Instead of Individually Hand-Written. The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenbergs Bible in Latin.
1516 AD: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament.
1522 AD: Martin Luthers German New Testament.
Formation Of The Old Testament
What Christians refer to as the Old Testament is essentially an ancient compilation of the Jewish Sacred Scriptures, the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible. These holy texts developed over time and were at first handed over orally from one generation to the next until they were finally written down and preserved.
About 200 years before the birth of Jesus, there arose a Greek translation of the Hebrew texts that became widely accepted as a legitimate translation. Tradition relates how King Ptolemy II of Egypt ordered a translation and invited Jewish elders from Jerusalem to prepare the Greek text. Seventy-two elders, six from each of the 12 tribes, arrived in Egypt to fulfill the request. Another tradition recounts how the translators were all put in separate rooms and told to produce their own separate text. When the task was completed the translators compared them all and it was discovered that each one was miraculously identical to the others.
The result became known as the and was especially popular among Greek-speaking Jews. This led to the Septuagint becoming a primary source for the Gospel writers and many other early Christians, who wrote their own works in Greek.
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Books Of The Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew canon contains 24 books, one for each of the scrolls on which these works were written in ancient times. The Hebrew Bible is organized into three main sections: the Torah, or Teaching, also called the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses the Neviim, or Prophets and the Ketuvim, or Writings. It is often referred to as the Tanakh, a word combining the first letter from the names of each of the three main divisions. Each of the three main groupings of texts is further subdivided. The Torah contains narratives combined with rules and instructions in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The books of the Neviim are categorized among either the Former Prophetswhich contain anecdotes about major Hebrew persons and include Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kingsor the Latter Prophetswhich exhort Israel to return to God and are named for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 Minor Prophets . The last of the three divisions, the Ketuvim, contains poetry , theology, and drama in Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.
The Argument That The Bible Has Changed Has To Go In The Garbage Instantly
When local shepherds discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel in 1946, archaeologists began investigations and confirmed that these ancient scrolls of paper were Bible manuscripts.
are documents of the OT that had been hidden in jars in the desert, where its dry, where theyre preserved, for two thousand years, Metaxas said. We dont have to guess whether the monks changed it or not, lets just read it. Its letter for letter the same as it is today.
The argument that the Bible has changed has to go in the garbage, instantly. 100 years ago people could make arguments, but now we have archaeological evidence that keeps coming up. They had no evidence that 3,000 years ago there actually was a king in Israel named David now they have archaeological evidence, he said, referring to the discovery of King Davids palace in 2005.
These manuscripts contain material now considered to be part of the Hebrew Bible. Every book is represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls, except the book of Esther. These are the oldest known copies of biblical works, according to The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library.
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Storyline Of The Old Testament
In the first five books of the Bible, Moses tells of the creation of the world, the corruption that begins wreaking havoc on it and the promises God makes to set it all right. Gods plan is to choose a people through whom He will bring restoration and blessing to all of creation.
In the historical books, Gods people enter the promised land of Canaan, but their peace is short-lived as they begin worshipping the false gods of the pagan nations. After years of patiently urging His people to return to Him, God eventually sends them into exile. A glimmer of hope shines forth as a remnant of Gods people return to their land and begin rebuilding their ruined city.
When you come to the poetical books, we receive poetic commentary with foreshadowings of future things, both good and bad.
The final sections of the Major and Minor Prophets continue to call the people back to following God. They speak with hope and conviction about Gods promise and plan to rescue the world through His Son, the promised Savior.
Storyline Of The New Testament
Whereas the Old Testament prepares us for the arrival of Gods Son through prophetic glimpses, the New Testament shows Him to us plainly.
The Gospels explicitly reveal Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited and promised Savior. They focus particularly on His crucifixion and resurrection through which He works to rescue humanity from the problems of sin and death. The Book of Acts recounts the founding of the early church and the spread of the gospel to various nations. The remainder of the New Testament includes various letters written to teach, encourage and correct wrong beliefs and behaviors . It closes by revealing things that will happen when Jesus returns.
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Many Early Church Fathers Did Not Consider Them Canonical
The earliest Christian list of Old Testament books that exists today is by Melito, bishop of Sardis, writing about A.D. 170:
When I came to the east and reached the place where these things were preached and done, and learnt accurately the books of the Old Testament, I set down the facts and sent them to you. These are their names: five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Joshua the son of Nun, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kingdoms, two books of Chronicles, the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon and his Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Twelve in a single book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra.
Melito names none of the books of the Apocrypha, but he includes all of our present Old Testament books except Esther. Eusebius also quotes Origen as affirming most of the books of our present Old Testament canon , but no book of the Apocrypha is affirmed as canonical, and the books of Maccabees are explicitly said to be outside of these
Other early church leaders did
The History Of The English Bible
One way to think about the history of the English Bible is to consider prominent movements and individuals who led to putting the Bible in the hands of the people. The history of the English Bible begins in, where else England. Dr. John Wycliffe was the priest at Saint Marys at Oxford. The very epitome of a pastor-scholar, Wycliffe not only wanted the Bible translated into the vernacular of the people he served but desired to see the Word of God preached in English throughout the Realm. So, Wycliffe published dozens of copies of the Bible in English. These Bibles were taken by his band of preachers, called Lollards, and they exposited the truths of the Word of God. This was the beginning of the English Reformation and was the precursor to John Hus and, then, Martin Luther.
The story of how the Bible was written cannot be recalled without the most important fact of all: why the Bible was written. As always, the Word of God attests to its own purpose:
But these things are written that ye might believe, that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that in believing ye might have life through his Name. .
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What About The Apocryphal Books
The Apocrypha was never accepted by the Jews as Scripture, but the early church was divided on whether those books should be part of Scripture or not. The earliest Christian evidence is decidedly against viewing the Apocrypha as Scripture, but the use of the Apocrypha gradually increased in parts of the church until the time of the Reformation.
The fact that these books were included by Jerome in his Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible gave support to their inclusion, even though Jerome himself said they were not books of the canon but merely books of the church that were helpful and useful for believers. The wide use of the Latin Vulgate in subsequent centuries guaranteed their continued accessibility, but many people rejected or were suspicious of these books for three reasons:
Who Was King David
The first wave of scribes may, its been suggested, have started work during the reign of King David . Whether thats true or not, David is a monumental figure in the biblical story the slayer of Goliath, the conqueror of Jerusalem. David is also a hugely important figure in the quest to establish links between the Bible and historical fact, for he appears to be the earliest biblical figure to be confirmed by archaeology.
I killed king of the house of David. So boasts the Tel Dan Stele, an inscribed stone dating from 870750 BC and discovered in northern Israel in the 1990s. Like the Merneptah Stele before it, it documents a warlords victory over the Israelites . But it at least indicates that David was a historical figure.
The Tel Dan Stele also suggests that,no matter how capable their rulers, the people of Israel continued to be menaced by powerful, belligerent neighbours. And, in 586 BC, one of those neighbours, the Babylonians, would inflict on the Jews one of the most devastating defeats in their history: ransacking the sacred city of Jerusalem, butchering its residents, and dragging many more back to Babylonia.
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The New Testament Began With The Apostles
In John 14:26, Jesus promised his disciples that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to remember his words and teachings:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Jesus also promised further revelation from the Holy Spirit when he told his disciples, When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you .
In these verses the disciples are promised amazing gifts to enable them to write Scripture: the Holy Spirit would teach them all things, would cause them to remember all that Jesus had said, and would guide them into all the truth.
The English Bible Timeline
1384: Wycliffe produces a hand-written English translation of the complete Bible All 80 Books his translation was from the Latin Vulgate and not from Greek or Hebrew.1455: Gutenberg invents the printing press Books may now be mass-produced instead of individually hand-written. The first book ever printed is Gutenberg’s Bible in Latin.1525: William Tyndale’s New Testament translated from the Greek MSS This is the first New Testament to be printed in the English language on the printing press. Tyndale did not finish translating the Old Testament.1535: Myles Coverdale’s Bible The first complete Bible to be printed in the English Language .1537: Matthews Bible The second complete Bible to be printed in English. Done by John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers .
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The New Testament Era And Christian Age
The New Testament era begins with the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Savior of the world. Through Him, God opens His plan of salvation to the Gentiles. The Christian church is established and the GospelGod’s Good News of salvation in Jesusbegins to spread throughout the Roman Empire and eventually into all the world.
Examples Of Old Testament Contradictions
The contradictions start in the opening chapters of the Bible, where inconsistent creation stories are told. Genesis chapter 1 says the first man and woman were made at the same time, and after the animals. But Genesis chapter 2 gives a different order of creation: man, then the animals, and then woman.
Genesis chapter 1 lists six days of creation, whereas chapter 2 refers to the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Genesis 1:2-3 claims that God created light and divided it from darkness on the first day but Genesis 1:14-19 tells us the sun, moon, and stars werent made until the fourth day.
Chapter 1 reports that the fruit trees were created before the man, while chapter 2 indicates they were made after him. Genesis 1:20 says the fowl were created out of the waters Genesis 2:19 alleges they were formed from the ground.
Contradictions are also seen in the biblical story of a worldwide flood. According to Genesis 6:19-22, God ordered Noah to bring of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort . . . into the ark. Nevertheless, Genesis 7:2-3 relates that the Lord ordered Noah to take into the ark the clean beasts and the birds by sevens, and only the unclean beasts by twos.
Genesis 8:4 reports that, as the waters of the flood receded, Noahs ark rested on the mountains of Ararat in the seventh month. The very next verse, however, says the mountaintops could not be seen until the tenth month.
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