Last week, we touched on the question, “What is the Bible?” Hopefully, that was a little bit helpful. But, it begs another question, “Where does the Bible come from?”
At the outset, I’d like to make a disclaimer… I cannot begin to scrape the surface of this question in 500 words. But, I’ll give it my best shot.
I mentioned last week that the Bible was compiled over the course of 1,000+ years from around 40 authors and many different genres. Critical scholars would suggest that this authorship is purely human. Men who believe the myth wanted to write down good stuff to help us live better lives.
Respectfully, I disagree. I believe (and Christian tradition suggests) that the authorship of the Bible is a partnership between God and humanity. The Holy Spirit influences men and women and works through surrendered hearts to accomplish God’s purposes in the World. When it comes to Bible, this partnership is completed in a particularly unique way.
But, all questions of authorship aside for the time being, I’d like to focus a bit on how the Bible came to be in its present form. No Christian group from the first century onwards (with the exception of some Gnostics and Marcionites – ask me sometime if you’d like more info about these guys), questioned that the Hebrew Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) was a part of their scripture.
The model for most of Israel’s history was that the Law and the Prophets (as they knew it) would be kept on scrolls in the Temple. Copies would, of course, be kept in other places. But the temple was the primary place of worship. When the Temple was destroyed in 586 BC and Kingdom of Judah was carted off to Babylon, the custom necessarily changed. After some of the exiles returned under the guidance of Nehemiah, Ezra, and Zerubbabel, synagogues began to play an important role in the life of religiously observant Jews. The Synagogue was, literally, a place of studying the Word of God. So, while order and names of the various books have changed over the years, the text itself has remained pretty well set since around the 300’s BC when the synagogue became an entrenched aspect of religious life.
As for the New Testament, early followers of Jesus saw in him (as Israel’s Messiah and long-awaited King) the fulfillment and interpretation of all the writings in the Hebrew Bible. From the earliest days, Jesus’ Apostles sought to pass down the story of his life, teaching, and Kingdom. As the church grew and expanded, certain of these documents gained general recognition as being inspired by the Holy Spirit and worthy of consideration as Scripture. By the end of the 1st Century, what we know of as the New Testament was written and in use throughout the Roman Empire.
What the early church wisely sought to do was to incorporate as much as possible from as many different sources as possible that all attested to the truth of who Jesus was and what he taught. The arbiters for this were, of course, the Apostles themselves, commissioned by Jesus to make disciples and shepherd his community.
Ok, if you’ve hung with me this far, I’ll give you this one remarkable fact. There was never any kind of formal council, dictate, or decree that said, “This is the Bible.” In fact, by the start of the 3rd century, there was consensus among the churches that a series of 27 biographies, letters, and revelations comprised the canon of specifically Christian Scripture. If you’ve been in church more than a minute, you know how hard it can be for church folk to agree. And yet, without a council or vote, in a season of intense persecution, the church agreed that, “Yeah, these books represent the teaching of Jesus.”
I could go on…but I think that’s enough. If you’ve read this far, you’re a saint and I hope this has increased your faith in one way or another. I also hope that, in some small way, this helps you to look at your Bible a little bit differently. We stand, today, in a long line of faithful men and women devoted to the teaching of the Apostles that stretches back thousands of years.
In my book, that’s pretty cool. Hope y’all have a great rest of your week. Looking forward to being with you on Sunday.
Praying for you today,
Pastor Steve