Faith Foundations Discipleship

Gwyn breaks down what the Canon of Scripture means, the criteria for books in the Bible to be included, and the timeline for how the Bible was put together in today's episode.

-------------------------------------

⁠www.faithfoundationsdiscipleship.com⁠

-------------------------------------

Find us on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠

Sign up for our newsletter ⁠here⁠

Send us a message to [email protected]

⁠--------------------------------------

The Bible is a collection or Canon of 66 books

The Books of the Bible were collected and arranged and recognized as inspired sacred Authority by councils of Rabbis and Councils of early church leaders based on careful guidelines.

The following is the criteria for a written work to be canonized by the church:

-Apostolic Authority: the book must be written or co-authored by the Holy Spirit. This can

means they must be written by one of the 12 disciples or under the authority or

guidance of one of the disciples. (Because of this Paul counts as a disciple because he

was appointed by the resurrected Jesus, and Mark although he is not a disciple he is

considered Peter’s secretary and side-kick.). Must be close to source.

-Antiquity: must be old enough to be apostolic.

-Orthodoxy: Must teach the right thing. Does the writing match up to the apostle? To test

it must hold true to the teachings of the church the apostle started.

-Catholicity: Universal. Must be universally recognized by all churches.

It should be an incoherent and disorganized mess.  But it has a unified message from start to finish!

The Bible was written in the common language of each generation - OT Hebrew and Aramaic and the NT Greek(Koine’).  God intended it to be accessible to every person regardless of their background and social status.

Timeline

-500BC Old Testament was gathered by Ezra(450BC)Nehemiah 8:1

-450-325BC: The Greeks(Koine’): When Alexander the Great marched through Asia on his way to India, he and his men passed on a hick version of common language.

-200-100 BC: The Septuagint: Greek translations of the old testament by Jewish Scholars in Alexandria, Egypt.

-200- Books arranged by subject.

-90BC Jewish Scholars remove the Apocrypha. and affirm the 39 OT books

-0-35AD life of Jesus. Jesus affirms the authority of the Old testament by quoting from it.

-100BC-450AD: The Romans had continued efforts to unify territories by building elaborate systems of roads, buildings, walls and canals. These Roads and the sea routes that were established became the routes that Christians used to carry the gospel to every corner of the known world.

All of us have at least heard of the game of Telephone, where a message is passed down the line and the end message is compared with the original one.  The results are always vastly changed and often hilariously bizarre.   This game displays clearly what some call "Human Error" or human tendency to make mistakes. So what about the Bible?  How much human error is there?   Is what I read what was originally written?  Can I be confident?  This podcast is the continuation of the discussion of the survival of scripture through the meticulous care of scribes. 

-------------------------------------

⁠www.faithfoundationsdiscipleship.com⁠

-------------------------------------

Find us on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠

Sign up for our newsletter ⁠here⁠

Send us a message to ⁠[email protected]⁠

--------------------------------------

By comparing what we have now with the oldest copies and fragments found, we can verify the accuracy of the copy process.  The older copies are closer to those original documents we talked about earlier called Autographs. The Bible has an overwhelming amount of manuscripts and fragments compared to other books of Antiquity. Dead sea scrolls gave us full manuscripts of all of the old testament except Esther, and in some cases multiple copies (Deuteronomy 25).  These manuscripts were 1000 years older than the oldest we had and provide overwhelming evidence in support of the faithfulness of the Jewish scribes.  When the dead sea scrolls were compared to their 1,000 year older counterparts there were no significant differences. The oldest NT manuscripts we have are within 25 years of the last Autographs, with 24,000 copies and 99% accuracy.  Compare that with Homer’s Iliad with a 500 year time span, 643 copies, and 95% accuracy. See charts of the Bible compared to other books of antiquity here and here  

--------------------------------------

References and Resources

⁠www.answersingenesis.org⁠

⁠The Cannon of Scripture⁠ by F.F. Bruce

⁠The Indestructible Book: The Bible, Its Translators, and Their Sacrifices⁠ by Kenneth Connolly

⁠The Complete Guide to Bible Versions⁠ by Philip Wesley Comfort

Join Gwyn for a discussion of what makes the Bible more than just another book. You may have heard that scripture is God-breathed, but what does that mean? How did more than 40 men with such diverse lives, over that 1500 year span, manage to put together such a diverse yet seamless book with a perfectly harmonized message? Furthermore, how did it survive? This episode dives into it all.

-------------------------------------

⁠www.faithfoundationsdiscipleship.com⁠

-------------------------------------

Find us on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠

Sign up for our newsletter ⁠here⁠

Send us a message to ⁠[email protected]⁠

--------------------------------------

Inspiration

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is God Breathed or “Inspired by God” and profitable for...

All scripture is viewed to have come from God to be his words. God moved in the heart of men, telling them what he wanted recorded and those men wrote it down.

Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to our forefathers, through the prophets at many times and in various ways, prophets in the Bible spoke the messages that God had for the people. 

2 Peter 1:20-21 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origins in the human will but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The term “carried along” is used in Mark 2:3 of a paralyzed man being carried along by 4 men.  The writers were carried along much like a paralyzed man was without using his own initiative. It was God’s message from the beginning when he told Moses to start recording things. One book called it Dual Authorship. The idea is that the character and background of the man penning the book, lends an accent but the message is God’s alone.

Scribes and Copying Accuracy

The prophets originally wrote on Papyrus paper glued together into long scrolls. These originals are called Autographs and had very short life spans. Therefore, copies needed to be made. The Jewish Scribes copying the text recognized it as God’s Word and had dedicated their lives to full time copying of the scriptures meticulously.  Transcribing them was a hallowed duty and an awesome responsibility that they carried out with meticulous care. They used every conceivable safeguard to ensure the most accurate copy.

In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was looted and then destroyed by fire.

The Jews were exiled.

About 70 years later, the Jewish captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. According to the Bible, Ezra recovered a copy of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and read it aloud to the whole nation.

From then on, the Jewish scribes solidified the following process for creating copies of the Torah and eventually other books in the Old Testament.

- They could only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and even to bind manuscripts.

- Each column of writing could have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines.

- The ink must be black, and of a special recipe.

- They must verbalize each word aloud while they were writing.

- They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing the word “Jehovah” every time they wrote it.

- There must be a review within thirty days, and if as many as three pages required corrections, the entire manuscript had to be redone.

- The letters, words, and paragraphs had to be counted, and the document became invalid if two letters touched each other.

- The documents could be stored only in sacred places

- No copies of God's Word could be destroyed and were stored in synagogues or cemeteries.

Series 100: Why We Can Trust the Bible 

This series is an introduction to the Bible. It is designed to give an overview of how the Bible came to be; how it was assembled, copied and translated throughout history. This is not just for new believers! No matter what your background is with the Bible, take a listen and let this information inspire awe at the length God has gone to speak into the lives of his people and preserve that message tangibly. Sit in awe of the Word of God. Its creation is miraculous! Its preservation is astounding and its message is breathtaking!

-------------------------------------

⁠www.faithfoundationsdiscipleship.com⁠

-------------------------------------

Find us on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠

Sign up for our newsletter ⁠here⁠

Send us a message to [email protected]

Do you know on average how many Christians actually read the Bible for themselves?  How many believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife?  The reality of how many professing Christians don’t know and aren’t in the Word is startling, and so Gwyn breaks down some of the ways we’ve gotten to this point and how crucial it is for everyone to be confident in their knowledge of these faith foundations.  Today’s episode will cover what to expect from these upcoming Faith Foundations and how they’ll be beneficial to you, whether you’re a new believer and don’t know where to start, whether it’s been a while since you’ve studied these topics, or whether you’re a mentor looking for a good discipleship resource.

-------------------------------------

⁠www.faithfoundationsdiscipleship.com⁠

-------------------------------------

Find us on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠

Sign up for our newsletter ⁠here⁠

Send us a message to ⁠[email protected]⁠

--------------------------------------

Scriptures Mentioned:

2 TImothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God[⁠⁠a⁠⁠] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Joshua 1:8

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Resources Mentioned:

Albert Mohler Jr’s article on Biblical Illiteracy

⁠⁠https://answersingenesis.org/christianity/scandal-biblical-illiteracy/⁠⁠

Inductive Bible Study

⁠⁠https://www.navigators.org/resource/inductive-bible-study⁠⁠

Today we meet Gwyn and introduce Faith Foundations!  Faith Foundations will be different series going through some deeper understandings of the Bible, such as why we can trust it, the structure of the Bible, looking at the Old Testament and the New Testament, and even delving into topics like the Trinity or Christianity compared to other religions.

Gwyn shares her story on today's podcast, how she came to faith and grew in her love for Jesus and a love for the Bible.  You don't want to miss this episode!

-------------------------------------

⁠www.faithfoundationsdiscipleship.com⁠

-------------------------------------

Find us on ⁠Facebook⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠

Sign up for our newsletter ⁠here⁠

Send us a message to ⁠[email protected]⁠

--------------------------------------

At Forty...something, Gwyn McCaslin has been on the adventure of a lifetime that began when she surrendered her life to Jesus as a young girl. She discovered the joy of God's Word in her teens and decided to follow Jesus anywhere, at any time, with or without anyone.  At every turn, she has seen God's provision in extraordinary ways, beyond what she could ask or imagine!

She has been blessed to have served 2 years as a full time missionary with the Navigators EDGE Corps, counseled for more than a decade as a Christian Marriage and Family Therapist, and assisted as a Radio Host for over 6 years.  The adventure changed a bit when Gwyn chose to embrace instant-motherhood, as a single woman, through foster care and eventually the adoption of her children.  In all of this, she considers it a sacred privilege to be allowed to enter into a person's deepest pain and join them as they seek God in their brokenness.  No matter where God leads, she will probably be teaching scripture and loving on people, leading them to Jesus' feet to learn and grow and heal!

Christians have been known as "people of the Book" for generations.  Judges 2:10 says, " After that generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel." The research is out.  Rising is a generation of "Christians" who need someone to inspire and encourage them to Open the Word and discover all that God's Word is.  The heart behind Wednesday's Faith Foundations is to awaken respect and confidence in the Bible and inspire future generations to learn how to read and study the scriptures. 

What's the Faith Foundations Discipleship Podcast all about?

Gwyn McCaslin, your host, is a conference and retreat speaker and workshop facilitator. She served as a full time missionary for 2 years with the Navigators. Graduated from Richmont Graduate University in Atlanta Georgia with a M.A in Marriage and Family Therapy. She served the local community for 11 years, as a Christian Marriage and Family Therapist. She also co-hosted the Circle of Friends Ministry’s radio program on the Light 95.9 for 6 years and the Circle of Friend Open the Word podcast for 3 years. Her heartbeat is to come alongside women and give them a passion and understanding for how to study the Word of God.

Faith Foundations Discipleship will take you through how the Bible came to be, why we can trust it, an overview of each book of the Bible and more. It can be used as a resource for yourself or in a small group setting to help you deepen in your faith and knowledge of the Word of God.