Green Street Baptist Church: Audio Podcast

Over these past eight weeks, we have considered how God’s Word was given by revelation. God revealed His Word to man, which means that we didn’t stumble upon the knowledge of God. He chose to reveal Himself. We also considered how His Word was given through inspiration. God moved the authors of Scripture to write as His Spirit directed. We spent some time looking at the subject of canonization, which simply refers to the list of books that make up authoritative Scripture. Beginning last week and concluding tonight, we’ve considered the field of translation. How did the Bible make it from those original manuscripts all the way to me?

There are plenty of synonyms for the word in the English language, words such as happiness, joy, satisfaction, pleasure. Perhaps contentment is the best word because it is descriptive of the state of your heart more than it is the state of your emotions. Our emotions may fluctuate given our circumstances, but our contentment level in life certainly doesn’t have to. Happiness is a universal longing in every human heart, and yet it seems to be so very elusive. Many people spend their entire lives trying to be happy, only to come up short time and time again. That’s why I want to take some time and trace the subject as we find it presented in the Bible. What is contentment, and what is the secret to our possessing it?

I want us to spend the next couple of weeks looking at how the Bible came all the way from manuscript to me, to this nice English translation that I hold in my hand. The processes that we will consider are known as transmission and translation. These words describe the process by which various scribes and copyists were able to reproduce the text of Scripture in a reliable manner. Then, the process involved monks and scholars and Christian leaders who worked hard, many of whom paid with their lives, to translate the Scriptures into the English language.

Over the last two Wednesday nights, we’ve been considering the subject of canonicity which simply refers to how we know that we have the right books. The word ‘canonicity’ means rule or standard of measurement. Over time, the word ‘canon’ also came to mean a catalog or list—used in this case to describe the authoritative list of books that make up the Bible. In our study so far, we’ve considered doctrines such as revelation and inspiration. Well, the doctrine of ‘canonization’ tells us how the Bible received its acceptance as men recognized the authority of God’s inspired writings.

You’re familiar with the phrase ‘rule of faith.’ The rule of faith is the standard of sound doctrine. Over time, ‘canon’ also came to mean a catalog or list—used in this case to describe the authoritative list of books that make up the Bible. In our study thus far, we’ve considered doctrines such as revelation and inspiration. Well, the doctrine of ‘canonization’ tells us how the Bible received its acceptance as men recognized the authority of God’s inspired writings. It is the process by which the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God was recognized as such by men of God and then collected and preserved by the people of God.

In the world of sports, there is debate centered around someone who is often referred to as ‘The G.O.A.T.”—the greatest of all time. God’s definition of greatness is vastly different from the world’s. Enter the life of John the Baptist. Jesus made a powerful statement about his life —“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John.” Anyone that Jesus calls ‘great’ is someone whose life we need to carefully inspect.

What do we even mean when we refer to the ‘canon’ of Scripture? The canon of Scripture is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible, the list of books recognized as those worthy to be included in the Old and New Testaments. The word ‘canon’ comes from the ancient world and basically means a rule or a standard.