How We Got the Bible

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How We Got the Bible

• Part One From Moses to the Canon
• Part Two From Jerome toWycliffe
• Part Three From Erasmus to Tyndale,
• and Onward

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Part I From Moses to the Canon

• Moses begins writing the Old Testament ca.
• 1400 B.C.
• Paul begins writing the New Testament ca.
• A.D. 49
• The Canon is complete by A. D. 100

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O.T. Hebrew
Stone, Clay, Papyrus, Leather
Hebrew Text
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Preserving the Hebrew Scriptures
The Massoretes, ca. A.D. 500, sought ways and
methods by which to eliminate scribal slips of
addition or omission. this they achieved through
intricate procedures of count- ing (Neal
Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 2003, p.
132). Pre-Massoretes, Talmud regulations reflect
infinite care in the preservation and
transmission of the text of the Hebrew
Scriptures. Evidence from the Cairo Genizah,
discovered late 19th century, indicated damaged
or inferior manuscripts taken out of circulation
-- later buried.
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The Dead Sea
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Qumran Community
Miqveh (Baptistry)
Scriptorium
Dining Area
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Dead Sea Scrolls, ca. 250 BC
Cave 4
Isaiah Scroll
Shrine of the Book
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On the Nile Delta
Antiochus IV, r. 175-64 BC
Rosetta Stone ca. 196 BC
Septuagint Version, ca.250 BC
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Antiochus IV, Epiphanesr. 175-164 B.C.
Attempted to destroy the Hebrew Scriptures
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Alexandria, Egypt
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The Septuagint (LXX) Versionca. 250 B.C.
O.T. in Greek translation produced in Alexandria,
Egypt.
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Rosetta Stone, ca. 196 B.C.
Alexander the Great sowed Greek language
throughout the classical world -- the koine
(common) dialect was the lingua franca of the
Roman Empire by New Testament times.
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New Testament, Koine Greek
Papyrus P 52, Oldest N.T. portion, A.D. 110-130
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Preserving the Greek N. T.
Of CAESARS GALLIC WARS from A.D. 900 10
Copies Of THUCYDIDES (History) from
A.D. 900 8 Copies Of HERODOTUS (History)
from A.D. 900 8 Copies Of ARISTOTLE
(Philosophy) from A.D. 1100 5 Copies Of NEW
TESTAMENT from A.D. 110-30 onward, over
5000 portions or com- plete copies.
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Preserving the Greek N. T.
To be skeptical of the resultant text of the New
Testament books is to allow all of classical
antiquity to slip into obscurity, for no
documents of the ancient period are as well
attested bibliographically as The New
Testament. J.W. Montgomery, Barrister/Scholar

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Do We Have the Bible?
It is reassuring at the end to find that the
general result of all these discoveries and all
this study is to strengthen the proof of the
authenticity of the Scriptures, and our
conviction that we have in our hands, in
substantial integrity, the veritable Word of
God. Sir Frederick Kenyon, Dir. British
Museum, dec.
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About Textual Variants
We possess so many MSS., and we are aided by so
many versions, that we are never left to the need
of conjecture as the means of removing errata.
S. P. Tragelles, Greek New Testament, Prolegomena
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O.T. Canon Finalized, Council ofJamnia, A.D. 90?
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N.T. Canon Finalized, Council of Carthage, A.D.
397?
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The Indestructible Word of God
Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words
shall not pass away. Matthew 2435