more Mainstream Apologetics ...

Evidence ID: RESOURCE-Biblical-Literacy-Notes

Evidence: Biblical Literacy Notes

************* DRAFT ***************

Summary:

Description: Overview:

• It’s important to not only understand the process of how we got our Bible, but why it’s important to read it. The Bible is one of the primary ways we get to know God. It’s not just a process of taking in information. Knowing facts about the Bible isn’t the same thing as letting those facts make the journey from our head to our heart, letting them inform the way you live your life. What we know in our heads is coupled with what we trust in our heart. Both our head and our heart are engaged. That moves us forward to grow in Christ. • Our interest is not only what’s in the Bible, but Who’s behind it…who the author is that is communicating with us. The Bible is one interconnected, continuous, progressive big story of God’s relationship with and love for humanity. When we give it authority in our lives, we not only trust what it says, but we trust the one who is the author. Because the Bible is God speaking, our listening and obeying are part of the process of our transformation. • No church, person, or tradition gives the Bible its authority. The Bible has authority, is without error, and free from falsehood or mistakes because of its author, God himself. Because of that, it has the right to command our belief and actions. • From the time the actual writing began, some thirty-five centuries ago, until now, God has miraculously used imperfect people to give the world the most important book ever written. God used fallible people to give us His infallible written Word. More on that in the Inspiration section. • Framework for understanding what was involved in the whole process of the Bible coming to us: Providence, Reverence, and Care. o Divine Providence (God’s Part): Through the centuries, God’s hand worked invisibly and powerfully behind the scenes to give us his Word. God was at work to give us exactly what he intended. He was involved. He orchestrated the process so that the very message he wanted to give us would be recorded so that we would have redemption, life and hope. He was the power guiding sustaining and protecting that process in bringing his Word to us. Providence: from providere: pro-go before, forethought; videre…to see. Providence: to see beforehand. This is God’s part: divine guidance or care; making provision for the future. o Holy Reverence (man’s part): Those who worked with the text revered it and respected its divine origin. Revere: deep respect and honor. God’s people knew that this was divine in origin. These weren’t texts that were already in existence and somehow had an upgrade or change in status. Human authors received from God exactly what he wanted written. They knew the texts they were working with were not just any text. They were holy because they had their origination in God himself. He was the source. o Scholarly Care: The texts were handles professionally, with many safeguards to ensure accuracy. The task of copying the Bible was handled in a very meticulous fashion to ensure the original words from God were preserved. It was a skill that was learned and passed down from generation to generation of professional scribes who maintained scrupulous rules for copying Holy Scripture.

How did we get our Bible? Revelation—the unveiling of truth Inspiration—the reception of truth Inscripturation—the recording of truth

REVELATION God makes Himself Known When you reveal something, you disclose or make known what is already in existence. God is invisible and cannot be seen. Revelation is how God makes himself known to us. He is revealing what is true about himself. In revealing himself, God takes the initiative. We do not "discover" God, as if He is hiding and somehow we find him. God is continually disclosing (uncovering) himself in a variety of ways. Sometimes, people aren’t even looking for God, and He shows himself. Other times, People are hungry to know about Him, and He comes to them. Even our seeking is in response to a work He does to help us see our need or awaken our disinterested hearts. Blaise Pascal said that there is enough evidence for the heart that really desires God to come to know him, but there is not so much that the heart that doesn’t desire to find God is forced or compelled to come to know him and worship him.

Blaise Pascal, "To those who wish to see, God gives them sufficient light. To those who does not wish to see, God gives them sufficient darkness." (Blaise Pascal, Pensees)

Two kinds of Revelation: General Revelation and Special Revelation

General Revelation: God showing himself generally, to everyone. It is ongoing, sustained disclosure about Himself or His attributes to all people at all times. General revelation is general in two ways: it is general in its scope (subject matter) and general in its content.

Two ways that General Revelation Comes to Us: External (outside us) and internal (inside us).

External General Revelation Creation (God reveals to all people at all times the power of Creation.) Analogy: a broadcast radio tower

Romans 1:20 "For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."

Psalm 19:1-4: "The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world."

Even where there is no Bible or knowledge of Jesus or any other specifics about God and Christianity, God is showing his glory through creation, so every human can know He is the creator. Nature is a grand theatre and every human being is in the audience. There is no one who does not have access to it. John Calvin (Commentary on the Psalms-Vol. 5) saw the world as God’s theatre where his glory is always on display, "The whole world is a theatre for the display for the divine goodness, wisdom, justice, and power."

On reflection: What can we learn about God from General Revelation? God is. He exists. We can learn of his attributes and character: He is creative, orderly, expressive, artistic, powerful, majestic, transcendent (above and beyond us). He is the author of beauty, pattern, structure, growth. The giver and creator of life. His eternal power is seen through the created order. His "otherness," his transcendence is above us, outside of us, greater than us. The visible world carries to us the knowledge of a transcendent God.

The information we receive in general revelation is general information about God. From General Revelation we cannot get information about the cross, the atonement, or salvation through Jesus. That is information that special revelation gives. Romans 1:18-21 tells us, however, that this general information (the visible world) reveals to us attributes and the character of the invisible God. He is revealing himself to us through what is seen in our created world. It is not exhaustive knowledge about God, but it is sufficient to condemn us if we reject it.

Even in our fallen condition, we can respond to general revelation. God hasn’t hidden clues about himself. It is clear and plain for everyone to see. If a person pays attention to God’s general revelation of himself and his character, that also gives him, at the same time, knowledge of himself. We can see ourselves and know because of our conscience, that we are not God. We can know that we have not created the world.

Romans 1:19-21 tells us that knowledge of God given to us in general revelation is not adequate for redemption, but it is adequate for condemnation if the person rejects the general knowledge that God has revealed to him. Paul is talking about the excuse people make that God hasn’t made himself clear; that there isn’t enough proof; that we can’t know for sure. People will be held accountable for their rejection of the knowledge of God as he has revealed himself in general revelation and through our conscience. We can know by looking at creation that we have not created it, we are not God.

Internal General Revelation Conscience

Romans 2:14-15 "Even Gentiles, who did not have God’s written law, show that they know His law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heart it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right."

• Everyone has a conscience. Though many have never heard of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), all people have a basic sense of right and wrong. • The fact that all people on earth have a conscience is a powerful testimony that the law is "written in their hearts" just as Paul said. • Even though we do wrong-because we are all sinners-we all have a sense of the "wrongness of wrong" and acknowledge we should do right. • There is a duality within our hearts. Our conscience is a messenger from God, continuously relaying His truth about right and wrong. • It is interesting to note how secular culture deals with the innate sense of right and wrong. Often it is attributed to a person’s (supposed) basic, inherrant "goodness" which is not found in Scripture. Their conscience is where they get that innate sense of right and wrong, yet many are unwilling to attribute it to a God to whom they are accountable.

Special Revelation God revealing Himself by special means to specific people. Analogy, the difference between a broadcast tower (broadcasting to everyone), and a set of ear buds (specific to the person using them).

• Audible and visible o Cloud and Pillar (Exodus 13:21); Glory of God (1 Kings 8:10-12); Angel of the Lord (Genesis 16:7-13); Visions (Ezekiel 40:1-4); Trance (Acts 10:9-17); Dreams (Matthew 1:20); Incarnation (Jesus) (John 1:1, 14, 18) • Audible only o God speaks (Exodus 19:3-7); Prophet speaks (1 Kings 13) • Objects o Urim/Thummin (Exodus 28:15-20); Casting lots (1 Chronicles 24:1-19); Fleece (Judges 6:36-40) • Written: o The Bible. The Bible is God’s special revelation in human words. The most important and accessible example of special revelation for us today is the Bible itself. Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Romans 2; 3:1-2; Timothy 3:14-17 • Jesus o Jesus is God’s special revelation in human form. Jesus is a physical man who is recorded in history. Through Jesus, God came to people in time and space. He was special revelation. "The Word because flesh and made His dwelling among us." John 1:14.

What can we learn about God from Special Revelation? What is the content of Special Revelation? • The content of special revelation is specific knowledge of God as redeemer in the person of Jesus Christ. • Special Revelation gives us specific information that we could never glean from nature. It tells us about Jesus, redemption, our state. It reveals our need of Christ. • It reveals to us what cannot be understood from general revelation. It is the further unveiling of God. There is more specific content containing specific truths. Special revelation reveals specific knowledge of God as redeemer in the person of Jesus Christ.

Summary: General Revelation give us knowledge of God as creator. Special Revelation gives us knowledge of God as redeemer.

For further reflection Learning that God wants to have a relationship with you is life-changing. He wants to know you, he wants to speak to you. Knowing that He has taken the initiative to reveal himself to us. He has moved toward us in ways that we can comprehend and experience. He has made himself known in creation and our consciences. It’s not just theology that belongs in the classroom. He wants to do something in me as I understand these truths because what I do flows of what I believe.

INSPIRATION God not only wants to reveal himself to everyone through His created world, he wants to speak to us in words that we can understand. Inspiration definition: God makes Himself known in human words. Spirit-moved men wrote God-breathed words.

In the process of inspiration, God doesn’t just act and humans respond with their own insight and judgment. God is working by the Holy Spirit to superintend (oversee, watch, direct). When we use the word "inspiration" in theology, we carefully define it. It is the process of God speaking and humans receiving and writing down what he said. God wants to speak to us in human words that we can understand. Both the writings and writers were inspired.

Old Testament inspiration claims The general claim for inspiration in the Old Testament is based on the fact that it presented itself to and was received by the people of God as a prophetic utterance (2 Peter 1:20-21). Books written by God’s prophets were preserved in a holy place. Moses placed the law in the ark of God (Deuteronomy 10:2). Later it was preserved in the tabernacle for teaching future generations. Each prophet after Moses added his inspired writing to this collection.

The key to the inspiration of the Old Testament is the prophetic function of its writers. A prophet was the mouthpiece of God. He was chosen by God. He was called a man of God, revealing that he was chosen of God. His occupation was a messenger of the Lord (Isaiah 42:19).

All of the Old Testament writers were prophets. All the traditional authors of the Old Testament were designated prophet by either title or function. About a dozen times, the New Testament indicates that all the inspired writings from Moses to Jesus are considered to be the imperishable word of God (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:16). Jesus speakes of the Law and Prophets being "all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27).

New Testament inspiration claims The inspiration of the New Testament is based on the promise of Christ that his disciples would be directed by the Spirit in their teachings about Him. His disciples claimed this promise, and there is clear indication that the writers of the New Testament themselves, as well as their contemporaries, recognized it as accomplished. Jesus did not write any books. He commended the authority of the Old Testament and promised to inspire the New Testament. He promised divine authority for the apostolic witness about Himself.

He commissioned the twelve apostles and promised them the direction of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 10:7). The apostles claimed for their teaching precisely what Jesus promised, the authority of God. They made specific claimes in their writings for divine authority. Luke claims to give an accurate account of what "Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1). He implies that Acts records what Jesus continued to do and teach through the apostles. The first church is said to have been characterized by devotion to "the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42).

Even the teachings of Paul were subjected to apostolic approval (Acts 15). The New Testament church itself is said to be "built on the foundation of the apostles and New Testament prophets" (Ephesians 2:20. 3:5).

The qualification that a member of the twelve apostles must be an eyewitness or an assistant or an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry and resurrection eliminates any succession of apostles beyond the first century. There is no apostolic teaching that is not found in the 27 books of the New Testament. The 66 books alone are considered inspired or divinely authoritative because only these have been found to be truly apostolic or prophetic.

Summary The Bible claims verbal inspiration for itself. Second Timothy 3:16 says that it is the grapha or writings that are inspired. (All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.) The explicit reference in 2 Timothy 3:16 is to the Old Testament. The New Testament is also considered Scripture. Peter includes the epistles of Paul along with the "other scriptures" of the Old Testament (2 Peter 3:16). First Timothy 5:18 quotes the gospel of Luke (Luke 10:7) and refers to it as "Scripture."

If "all Scripture is God breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV), and the New Testament is considered to be Scripture, then the New Testament is considered to be on an equal level of authority and inspiration with the Old Testament. Second Peter 1:20-21 states that all prophetic writings are inspired or God-given and the New Testament is the writings of God’s prophets.

The Writings were God-breathed. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The Writers were carried along. 2 Peter 1:20-21

The Writings 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

When the New Testament describes itself as "inspired" it uses a Greek word, theopneustos, which means God-breathed (Greek theos means God; Greek pneuma means spirit, wind, breath).

In the Old Testament, we find a Hebrew word ruach, which is the word for breath and spirit. Genesis 2:7 tells us, "God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being." It wasn’t until God breathed the breath of life into Adam that he became a living being.

God’s activity in giving us the Bible—it comes right from the breath of God. God’s activity in creating human beings—they come from the breath of God into the dust of the earth!

Big idea: just as God breathed into Adam’s body and he became a living being, God also breathed His Spirit into certain people to make their words into his living Word.

The Writers 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 origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

Paul is saying here that the human writers of Scripture were "carried along" (Greek: pheronemoi) by the Holy Spirit. What this means is that God inspired the writer’s choice of words and the whole of Scripture, not just parts. God, through the Holy Spirit, guided the writers thoughts and word choices while preserving their personalities so that the meaning and intent of their writing reflected His meaning and intentions. God’s ideas and writer’s words are in perfect alignment. God didn’t override the author’s natural writing style, but used it to bring the text into being. God maintained the integrity of his words given to human authors so that exactly what he wanted to say was communicated. The very words are God’s and all of the words are God’s, but the human author’s style of writing comes through. God chose to use human authors who communicated God’s message in human words so that His communication to us, then and now, would be recorded. He was telling us about himself, revealing himself in ways we can understand.

Luke uses this same word in Acts 27:13-15 (NIV) where he describes how their ship was "driven along" (pheronemoi) by the wind and the storm at sea. The word is an ancient Greek nautical term that means "carried along." In 2 Peter 1:20-21, Peter is describing the human authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit, just as a sailing vessel is carried along by the wind. Just as the boat has an intended destination, the "destination" of the writers of Scripture is the text of the Bible. Their end result of their God-led journey is the content of Scripture.

For further reflection Remember that God is the Prime Mover. The fundamental factor in Inspiration is that the ultimate source and original cause of biblical truth is God. God is the "who." This means that the Bible has authority because it is God speaking. Inspiration is the "how." God is the one who has made himself known through the words of Scripture. All of the Christian Bible is God-inspired, God-breathed. God, through the Holy Spirit, breathed into the human authors as he communicated his authoritative message to them. Inspiration is the way God spoke through the prophets to others. Spirit-moved men wrote God-breathed words which are divinely authoritative for Christian faith and practice. Inspiration gives authority because of its source and origin. It comes from God.

In the bigger picture, the human writers were part of the process of inspiration, but they themselves were not inherently inspired, i.e., everything they did in their normal life was not inspired. So, the process of inspiration results in a final product, the Scriptures, that are divinely inspired forever. They are the product of inspiration and the writings retain the divine authority. The writers have died, the writings live on. The authority didn’t die with the writers. The process of inspiration resulted in a product that is always and forever inspired.

Inscripturation God causes his word to be written: God revealing himself in human words.

The Bible is written in three different languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Two true things about Scripture: Inspiration of Scripture (God-breathed) implies that the Scriptures are inerrant. Inspiration implies inerrancy. Whatever God utters is the truth without error.

It is inerrant (without error). Inerrancy is the assertion that the Bible is free from error. There are no error of truth; no deceit; no fraud; no lies; no intention to deceive. Another way to define inerrancy is simply that the Bible tells the truth. (Psalms 12:6; 119:89; Proverbs 30:5-6; John 17:17; Matthew 4:4) It is infallible (it cannot err). This is a stronger word than inerrant. You and I can be inerrant in a moment in time. (We can get 100% on a spelling test, but we will eventually fail at something.) Infallibility is the doctrine that the Bible cannot fail in accomplishing its purpose. (Isaiah 55:11)

The Bible is always a true representation of reality. What it records is a true representation of events. It sometimes records comments and dialogue that are not God’s truth. It records what people said even though they might not be aligned with God’s truth, i.e., "there is no God" (Psalm 14:1); "all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

Transmission and Textual Criticism Scholars use the term "autographs" to describe original manuscripts of a work of literature—and the books of the Bible. We do not have any autographs—any original manuscript—of any book of the Bible. That may seem like a problem because if we don’t have the originals, how can we be sure the copies haven’t been changed?

But for comparison, we do not have any original of any work from antiquity. So, the Bible is no different from any other religious text or work from antiquity—they all come to us from copies, not originals. The problem of transmission is an issue for any information that comes to us from antiquity, secular or religious. The question really ought to be: How does the Bible—specifically the New Testament—compare to other ancient writings in terms of number of copies, and how early—and carefully—those copies were made? The writings of Homer, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero and ancient historians like Tacitus Seutonius and Pliny all come to us from copies, not originals. No one questions that they are still, for the most part, reliable and close to the originals—even though that is true. We do not even have any originals of Shakespeare’s plays and he wrote them only 400 years ago.

Furthermore, every major world religion had its texts compiled after the founder died: Muhammed, Buddha, and Confucius. Those other documents are reasonably reliable sources—and we know their transmission history. Is the New Testament better, worse or about the same as these? As you’ll see, the answer to this question is: The New Testament is better.

Because we know there are many manuscripts from the first few centuries, and we know that scribes did their work skillfully—with reverence and care—we can trust that God, through His providence, made sure the text was transmitted from originals to us accurately.

New Testament

Over 24,000 separate copies of parts of the New Testament exist from the first few centuries after it was written. • Within about 50 years of the New Testament writings, there are fragments. • Within about 100 years, there are whole books. • Within 250 years the whole New Testament is represented. • The variant readings in the New Testament amount to a single page of text –about 400 words. • The New Testament contains about 20,000 lines of text, and about 40 are in question. • We have a 99.8% textual certainty. • To put it another way, a mere one-fifth of one percent of the text—one word out of every 500—has any significant variation. • No major doctrine is affected by a variant text.

Homer’s Iliad • The next most-copied book of the ancient world is Homer’s Iliad. • It has around 600 known copies. • It was composed 400 years after the events it describes. • Earliest copies are from at least 500 years after that. • The Iliad contains about 15,600 lines of which 764 lines are in doubt. • This means the Iliad manuscripts contain five percent textual corruption or uncertainty.

First, we look at the issue of the copies we have. To reconstruct an ancient text accurately, scholars need lots of copies, and early (very old) copies. This has been developed into a science, called "textual criticism." The key is to keep going back to the earliest known copies.

Scholars also study the variations within the manuscripts to decide whether those differences represent words left out or words added.

No other literature or work of history from the ancient world has as many copies– or as early copies – as the New Testament. The amount of material here is astounding—nearly 4000% more! The oldest fragment of the New Testament is a tiny piece of the gospel of John, dating from around 125 AD, copied just three decades after John’s original composition. It is called the John Ryland’s papyrus (named after the museum in England where it is stored). "Papyrus" (puh-pie-russ) is a kind of paper used in the ancient near east. It is made by laying out thin-cut strips of papyrus reed side-by-side and cross-wise, then hammering the strips so they become a single sheet of writing material. Our word "paper" comes from this word. When you have a stack of papyrus leaves, they are called collectively papyri (puh-pie-ree, the plural form of the word). Other ancient portions of the NT include the Bodmer papyri (200 AD) and the Chester Beatty papyri (250 AD). These papyri also contain some OT books and fragments, as well as other literature. The oldest complete (or nearly complete) copies of the New Testament are the Codex (coe-decks) Vaticanus (vat-ti-can-us) and Codex Sinaiticus (sigh-nigh-ti-cuss), both from around 350 AD. The word "codex" means a bound book; that is, individual leaves of papyrus or vellum (leather) sewn on one edge to create one larger manuscript with multiple pages (as distinct from either a stack of unbound leaves, or a scroll).

Summary: Homer’s Iliad Why compare the text of the Bible with Homer’s Iliad? It has much in common with the New Testament. It is the next most-copied book of the ancient world is Homer’s Iliad. It has more extant manuscripts that any other book besides the New Testament. It was considered sacred, was written in Greek, and underwent textual changes and criticism.

• It has around 600 known copies. • It was composed 400 years after the events it describes. • Copies are from at least 500 years after that. • The Iliad contains about 15,600 lines of which 764 lines are in doubt. • The New Testament has about 20,000 lines of which 40 lines are in doubt. • This means the Iliad manuscripts contain five percent textual corruption or uncertainty (1000 times as much as the New Testament) Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, From God to Us (Moody Publishers, Chicago, 2012), pp. 246-248.

"The interval between the dates of original composition and the earliest extant evidence become so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established." Sir Frederick Kenyon, The Bible and Archeology (New York: Harper, 1940), p. 288

Regarding textual criticism, Norman Geisler says that, "Textual criticism is both a science and an art. Not only is the Bible the most well-preserved book to survive from the ancient world, it’s variant readings amount to less than one-half of one percent, none of which affect any basic Christian doctrine. In addition, the textual critic has at his disposal a series of canons that for all practical purposes enables him to completely restore the exact text of the Hebrew and Greek autographs of the Scriptures—not only line for line, but in most cases, word for word. Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, From God to Us (Moody Publishers, Chicago, 2012), pp. 246-248.

How many early copies of the New Testament are there so we can make sure we are close to the originals?

There are approximately 24,000 early copies or fragments of the New Testament from within the first few centuries after it was written. There is only about .2% textual variation. By comparison, there are only about 600 copies of Homer’s Iliad all from at least 500 years after it was written. There is about 5% textual variation.

How Did God preserve and protect the texts of the New Testament? How can we be sure that the content of the New Testament hasn’t been changed over the years of copying? Mostly monks and church leaders copied the New Testament texts. Some of the oldest copies date back to 130 AD. Much of the New Testament was written on rolls and books made of papyri, probably between 50-100 AD. Not until the 1500’s were printed copies of the Bible available. Even with the many copies that we have in existence, scholars say that the variants that are considered true variants (variations in the text) that have been found as so small that they amount to only about five verses. You can find these as footnotes in some Bibles (Mark 16:9-20; Luke 22:20, 43-44; 23:34; John 7:53-8:11). What are variants? They are misspelling, updated spelling, punctuation, things that have no effect on the actual content or theology.

The early church fathers quoted the New Testament so extensively and often that apparently all but eleven New Testament verses are found in quoted writings. In other words, one could put together the entire New Testament just from the quotations from the early church fathers. The New Testament we have today is essentially the same content as the original first-century manuscripts. The original texts have been copies more accurately than any book from the ancient world.

The Old Testament Now we must consider the scribes who did the copying. Before Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1452, books were copied by hand by professional copiers called "scribes." Masoretic scribes were Jewish scholars who worked with the Old Testament text from 600-1000 AD. They were not the only group of scribes, but a very disciplined school that "fixed" the text of the OT (made in permanent, with notes in the margin) so it didn’t vary at all.

The Old Testament was written from about BC 1400-400. They were written in Hebrew and Aramaic and passed down from generation to generation of Jewish people, who from the time of their writing, accepted them as the authentic inspired Word of God. During the time of the Old Testament, the responsibility of copying the texts of the Old Testament were given to scribes. The Jewish scribes knew they weren’t handling just any set of writings. They approached their work with the diligence and passion of an important calling. There were rules for copying the texts of Scripture and they knew they were handling the words of God himself as they were copying. The work of the scribes and the Masoretes who succeeded them ensured that the Old Testament texts were preserved to perfection. The Jewish scribes were some of the best educated and highest paid people. They continued their work up until the time of Jesus and continued even after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. By the time of Jesus’ birth, the collection (canon) of Hebrew scripture was closed.

Between BC 400 and Jesus’ birth, some other books (Apocrypha) made their way into Jewish culture. About 90 AD, the Jewish elders met and affirmed the Hebrew canon and rejected the books of the Apocrypha. Eventually, a group called the Masoretes took over the work of copying and preserving the Old Testament Scriptures. They worked between the 6th and 11th centuries AD. They added even more intricate numbering systems for accuracy and produced what is called the Masoretic text, which is what was the basis for most modern Old Testament translation.

Masoretes • Jewish scribes who preserved the Old Testament text from 600-1000 AD • Numbered the verses, words, and letters of every book • Knew middle word and letter of every book of the Old Testament • Enumerated verses, which contained all the letters of the alphabet, or a certain number • If a mistake was found on a page—even one letter—the page was burned and recopied correctly.

Summary: The veracity of the Old Testament is found in the skillful and meticulous care of the Scribes, Masoretes and Essenes, (verified by the Dead Sea Scrolls). The integrity of the Old Testament was established primarily by the fidelity of the transmission process.

The veracity of the New Testament can be found in the number of copies, the fact that those copies were very close to the time of the original manuscripts, and the low percentage of variants. The fidelity of the New Testament can be seen in the many copies in existence, church father citations and low percentage of variants. The more copies, the better. The farther back the existing documents go, the better.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Why are the Dead Sea Scrolls so important? The Dead Sea Scrolls are powerful evidence of how accurately the Bible was transmitted. The Dead Sea scrolls demonstrate the accuracy of Old Testament copies between 69-980 AD. It demonstrated the accuracy of the scribes who copied the Old Testament before the time of Christ. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest copy of the Old Testament was from about 1000 AD. But that changed in 1947.

In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd boy tending his flock in Qumran, near the Dead Sea, left his sheep and goats to search for a stray. Tucked into the cliffs, he spotted a cave and he picked up a stone and tossed it in the interior. The stone shattered something, so he went inside and found large clay jars, many of which were still intact, their lids still in place. While most of the jars were empty, some contained seven scrolls wrapped in linen that had turned black over the centuries. The seven scrolls, initially thought to be of no value, turned out to be the Dead Sea Scrolls that contained biblical texts. (Note: These scrolls were not Masoretic texts.) This was truly an amazing discovery. Every book of the Old Testament was represented (except Esther), and many non-biblical writings as well. The scribes who copied these manuscripts had been alive when Jesus was alive, and these pieces of paper and parchment were as old as Jesus! The manuscripts were hidden in caves in 69 AD when the Romans were about to attack Jerusalem, and lay undisturbed for almost two thousand years. Suddenly, we could compare our Bibles to OT texts that were not 1000 years old—but 2000 years old! This doubled how much we were traveling back into time, so to speak.

Let’s take Isaiah as an example of a biblical writer: back around BC 700, Isaiah writes his prophecy. About 800 years later, Jesus is crucified. Then, around 1000 AD, the oldest manuscript containing the OT is copied by the Masoretes; that is the oldest piece of paper with OT writing on it in existence. In modern times, people had their Bibles, based on the Masoretic text that is 1000 years old—but that is still 1700 years after Isaiah wrote it.

The obvious question was, "How much had the text changed since Jesus’ day? We could have never known the answer before the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, but now we can know! When those copies from the time of Jesus were compared to the copies from 1000 AD, there were no significant alterations – after 1000 years of hand-copying the text! The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the accuracy of the transmission of the Old Testament. The Dead Sea Scrolls dated from around the time of Christ, yet were virtually identical to manuscripts from 1000 years later.

"Even though the two copies of Isaiah discovered in Qumran Cave 1 near the Dead Sea in 1947 were a thousand years earlier than the oldest dated manuscript previously known (980 AD), they proved to be word-for-word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95 percent of the text. The 5 percent variation consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling." Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Zondervan, 1982, 2001)

Three words sum up how the Bible text was transmitted over the centuries: Providence, Reverence, and Care The Bible was transmitted under God’s providence, with spiritual reverence and scholarly care.

Providence: God’s hand has worked invisibly but powerfully behind the scenes to get the Bible to us today Reverence: Those who worked with the text had a sense of its divine origin and treated it with the utmost respect Care: Scribes were professionals and had many safeguards to maintain accuracy. To say it in one sentence:

The Bible’s concern for accuracy Throughout history, we find many people committing what is called "pious fraud". This is when well-intentioned people exaggerate events or even make up stories that they think will "help God out" or promote their religious agenda. Many sectarian groups from later centuries (the Gnostics, for example) left behind writings that show just such motivation, making up stories that supposedly happened to Jesus or his followers and passing them off as history. The "Gospel of Judas" or "Gospel of Thomas" are examples of much later works (2nd to 4th century) that have gotten the attention of the mainstream media and are sometimes referred to as "lost gospels". When we examine the New Testament, we do not see evidence that its authors created stories to fit a preconceived belief. Instead, we find writers who have a deep concern for truth and accuracy, and a willingness to tell a story "as it is" even when it makes the people in it look bad or contradicts popular opinion.

These writers knew the difference between exaggeration (myth) and reality, and they wrote first-hand accounts, based on first-hand experience. The stories in the Bible are incredible – but believable – because of the authors’ careful work recounting only what they could substantiate. The scribes who copied these texts carried on this practice. They left behind a legacy of detailed work and saw to it God’s Word was accurately transmitted down through the ages to us. Additional resources for textual criticism study

From God to Us, Geisler & Nix, Moody Press, Chicago, 1974

Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell, Authentic Lifestyle Pub., 2004

A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell, Thomas Nelson Pub., 1992

Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig, Crossway Books, 1984 (especially chapter 6 "The Historical Reliability of the New Testament")

The Canon of Scripture, F. F. Bruce, InterVarsity Press, 1988

Questions regarding ages of manuscripts http://www.inerrancy.org/ntmss.htm http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/features/new_testament_manuscripts.htm

Questions regarding languages in the world and availability of the Bible http://www.wycliffe.org/About/Statistics.aspx http://www.theworldview.org/index.php?getpage=home

Additional Resources in general

From God to Us, Geisler & Nix, Moody Press, Chicago, 1974 What’s In the Bible, R.C. Sproul, Rbt Wolgemuth The Complete Book of Bible Literacy, Mark Taylor, Tyndale Pub., 1992

One of the criteria to be an apostle was that you must have been an eye-witness of Jesus’ ministry and resurrection. Acts 1:21-22. This eliminates the possibility of a succession of apostles beyond the first century. The continual succession from the Old Testament prophets through the New Testament apostles is seen in Hebrews 1:2 and 2:3. The New Testament apostles were those speaking for God just as the Old Testaments prophets spoke for God.

How the 66 books of the Bible were recognized—Tracing the history of the recognition of the canon.

1st Century  All 27 books of the NT were written and copied.  Last half of the 1st c= process of selecting and sorting, circulating, collecting of apostolic literature. They began to be distributed among the churches before the close of 1st c.  Original eyewitnesses of the life and resurrection of Christ were alive. Everything was able to be subjected to the authority of the oral teaching or tradition of the apostles. Every alleged word about Christ was subjected to authoritative apostolic teaching. If it could not be verified by those who were eyewitnesses or had interviewed eyewitnesses, it was rejected. They were the final court of appeal. The living "canon" of eyewitnesses became the criterion for acceptance in this period. God Himself bore witness to the apostles (Heb 2:3-4).

2nd century First half of 2nd c=apostolic writings became more widely known and circulated. By this time, almost every book of NT was cited as Scripture. Second half of 2nd c=writings widely recognized as Scripture. Period of missionary activity, Scriptures translated into other languages.

3rd century NT books collected into a single group of recognized books. These were distinguished as separate from other Christian literature. Apocryphal and pseudepigraphal literature emerged. The increase in this type of literature prompted the sorting and sifting tests for all religious literature.

4th century NT canon fully settled and acknowledged. Council of Carthage ad 397

The accuracy of the manuscript evidence of the New Testament

The Canon The Canon is a collection of books recognized by the Church as authoritative. The 66 books of the Bible were recognized as authoritative, not made authoritative. This is an important distinction. Canonicity is determined by God and discovered by man. The word canon means rule or measuring rod and is derived from a word that means cane or reed (Greek, kanon; Hebrew, qaneh). In the ancient world, cane was used as a measuring stick. When applied to the books of the Bible, it means that they "measure up" to the standard of being divinely inspired. The canon becomes the "yardstick" for measuring spiritual truth from all other sources. It is our standard for measuring truth. Recognized, Not Made An analogy: When John the Baptist saw Jesus at his baptism, he declared, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). John the Baptist didn’t make Jesus the Lamb of God, he merely acknowledged and recognized and bore witness to that fact. John just pointed out who he was. In the same way, no church or council "made" the canon or gave the books of the Bible their authority. They just acknowledged and gave witness to the authority the books intrinsically contained. They received it as God’s Holy Word, they didn’t create it. It’s more accurate to speak of discovering the canon rather than determining the canon.

So, why did the early church need a canon? Four reasons: 1. Use in public worship • The church needed to know which books should be read in public worship. In the Synagogue, it was customary to read from the Old Testament and now in the New Testament, the Apostles were instructing the church to read the contents of their letters. Other documents were present besides the biblical books, and without a recognized list of books, the church would not know which books to read in public and use as authoritative; what to use as their final authority for faith and practice. • "I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters." (1 Thessalonians 5:27) • "After this letter has been read by you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea." (Colossians 4:16)

2. What to quote as truth • The early church needed to know what to teach from to instruct the body of believers. "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). Since all scripture was profitable to teach doctrine, it became increasingly necessary to define the authoritative Scriptures. • A group of Old Testament-era books, the Apocrypha, and others were present during this time and the church needed to know whether or not they should be used for teaching. A book does not have to be wrong or evil to be left out of the canon. There are many good books to read, then and now. However, only a canonical book should have the final authority in matters of faith and practice. Then, just as now, we need to know which books are divinely inspired that have reliable teaching from God.

3. What to reject as false • Some books in existence claimed to come from an apostle, or to be important, yet not everything that claims to come from God does. • Some writings claiming to be from an apostle were frauds. Paul warned the Thessalonians that people were making up messages and attributing them to Paul, using his name. "Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us." 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 • Just as we are faced with many books and writings from people who claim to be divinely inspired, we, too need to have a measuring rod for divinely inspired truth.

4. To endure persecution • In the face of persecution, it was important to know for sure you were defending Scripture and not some other piece of literature. For example, in approximately 305 AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian initiated a widespread and brutal persecution against Christian believers. The historian Eusebius recounts this time of persecution: o The emperor commanded that the churches should be razed to the ground, the scriptures destroyed by fire, those who held positions of honor degraded if they persisted in the Christian professions, be deprived of their liberty.  "This was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in Dystrus (which the Romans call March), when the feast of the Savior’s passion was near at hand, and royal edicts were published everywhere, commanding that the churches should be razed to the ground, the scriptures destroyed by fire, those who held positions of honor degraded, and the household servants, if they persisted in the Christian profession, be deprived of their liberty. And such was the first decree against us. But issuing other decrees not long after, the Emperor commanded that all the rulers of the churches in every place should first be put in prison and afterwards compelled by every device to offer sacrifice. Then as the first decrees were followed by others commanding that those in prison should be set free, if they would offer sacrifice, but those who refused should be tormented with countless tortures." Ray C. Petry, A History of Christianity: Readings in the History of the Early and Medieval Church (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1962), 54. o If you are a persecuted believer, you don’t want to surrender your freedom or your life unless what you possess is really God’s Word. You want to know your hope is certain. People don’t die for a lie!

The Tests for Canonicity In the first few centuries, there were many false books and writings claiming to have divine authority and wanting to be considered "scripture." There was not much debate about the canon in the first hundred years after Jesus’ resurrection. It was when a heretic named Marcion came along in the second century (140 AD) and rejected the Hebrew Bible, rejected the God of the Old Testament and propagated the teaching that there was only one God, the God of the New Testament. He rejected anything Jewish, rejected any New Testament book that spoke about the Old Testament and anything Jewish. He saw the god of the Old Testament as mean and angry, a demi-god, a lower being than the true god. He was denounced as a heretic. His and other heretical teachings forced the church fathers to carefully review their collection of authoritative writings. They needed to come up with some basic criteria to test these writings to see if they measured up to being divinely inspired by God.

There were three main tests for canonicity: 1. Apostolic origin (written or endorsed by an apostle) The first issue that kept coming up when Christian communities discussed what books were inspired, was, who wrote the book. All the Old Testament books were written by prophets, servants of God, starting with Moses and ending with Malachi around BC 450. Then there was a period of 400 years when there were no prophets speaking for God. So, who were the new prophets? They included the apostles who knew Jesus when He was alive on earth, and others who came from the relational inner circle of an apostle and reflected clear apostolic teaching. Luke was not an apostle, but traveled extensively with Paul and interviewed eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry. His writing had an indirect "apostolic authority" because of his connection with Paul and his careful research of other apostolic teaching known elsewhere. Mark also was not an apostle, but tradition says that he was Peter’s scribe. Mark’s work has "apostolic authority" because of that connection with Peter. Paul had a dramatic conversion where he met the resurrected Jesus and became one of the most prolific New Testament writers. Because of his missionary journeys, the Gospel was spread to much of the known world because of his preaching and teaching. The other apostles accepted his conversion experience as authentic.

So, to be included in the New Testament canon, a book had to be written by an apostle or a person close to an apostle (an amanuensis, a traveling companion, someone who sat under an apostle’s teaching). 2. Doctrinal soundness The content of the book must be consistent with 1. Jesus’ teaching 2. Other recognized Scriptures, the Old Testament 3. Apostolic teaching

Any book with factual or doctrinal errors could not be inspired by God. God cannot lie, and His Word is true. A book was not automatically considered inspired if it agreed with other apostolic teaching, but if it contradicted the Old Testament or the apostle’s teaching, it was rejected.

In their book, From God to Us, Geisler and Nix state: "Much of the Apocrypha was rejected because of the principle of authenticity. Their historical anomalies and theological heresies made it impossible to accept them as from God despite their authoritative format. They could not be from God and contain error at the same time." (p. 69)

3. Wide acceptance by the church • Did the original people and leaders that the writings were given to recognize them as authoritative writings? Did many leaders accept the writings, not just a few leaders? • Were the writings widely used in many different regions of the church, not just one city? • Did churches keep using them over a long period of time, or was its popularity short-lived?

God determined which books were authoritative, but the people of God used these tests to discover which books were inspired and which were not.

Claims for Canonicity

In a court of law, a person may testify on his own behalf. That is not proof of his claim, but his testimony is part of making his case. The Bible claims it speaks for God. It doesn’t prove it is God’s Word because it says it is, but it does at least show the writers thought God was at work in them as they wrote (or speaking through the other parts of the Bible that they refer to).

What claims are made that the Bible books we have are inspired?

There are two types of claims that have been made that the books of the Bible we have are inspired by God. Internal Claims External Claims

Internal Claims What the Bible says about the divine origin of the Old and New Testaments

Old Testament Internal Claims

The Law: Joshua 1:7-8 "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do."

Prophets: Jeremiah 1:4-9 ""The Lord gave me this message: "I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." "O Sovereign Lord," I said, "I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!" The Lord replied, "Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!" 9 Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said, "Look, I have put my words in your mouth!"

Psalms: Hebrews 3:7-11 (quoting Psalm 95:7-11) "Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years. So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’ So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’"

New Testament Internal Claims

The Gospels and Acts 1 Timothy 5:18 (Paul quotes Luke 10:7) "For the Scripture says, "You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain." And in another place, "Those who work deserve their pay!"

Epistles 2 Peter 3:16 "Speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture." (Peter grants the status of Scripture to the apostle Paul’s writing.)

2 Timothy 3:16a ("all Scripture is God-breathed") Paul here says that all of Scripture is from the mouth of God. Whatever is deemed Scripture is divinely inspired. The writers of Scripture see themselves as speaking for God through their writings.

1 Thessalonians 2:13 "Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe." Revelation 22:18-19 "And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book."

New Testament as a whole John 16:12-14 "There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me."

Jude 3 "Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people."

One interesting note:

In Matthew 23:35, Jesus may have been alluding to the "start and finish" of the Old Testament. He refers to two stories, one of which happens in Genesis and the other in 2 Chronicles (the first and last books in the Hebrew way of ordering them). That is significant because he is "book-ending" the Old Testament. In effect, Jesus is saying, "From Genesis to 2nd Chronicles (the "Revelation"—last book—of the Hebrew OT), that blood will be on you." Through his statement, he seems to be agreeing with the extent of the Old Testament canon being made up of the 39 books of the Hebrew Old Testament—but not extending any further than that (that is, not including the Apocrypha or any other known works).

"And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar." Matthew 23:35

External Claims Non-biblical evidence for accepting the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament.

Old Testament External Claims

1. Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls contain at least a fragment of all the books of the Old Testament except Esther (38 of 39 books). Because virtually all the Old Testament books were represented there, it supports the idea of their special status. Some biblical books also have scribal "commentaries," further indicating how much they were valued. Several non-biblical books were discovered among the biblical fragments in the Dead Sea Scrolls; but the special status of the biblical texts is not lost by that fact, any more than a bookstore selling books other than the Bible means we don’t believe in the uniqueness of the Bible.

2. Prologue to Ecclesiastus A prologue was inserted into the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus about BC 130 (this is not the same as the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes). The phrase occurs several times: "The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings." Ecclesiasticus was not Scripture, but the prologue recognizes there is a body of writings that is Scripture, with a three-fold division. This same division of sacred text was used by Jesus in Luke 24:44. The point here is that there was a body of material recognized by Jews and Jesus as having special divinely inspired status; it consisted of these main divisions, and these divisions describe the equivalent of our Old Testament today (no more, no less). "He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44

3. Josephus

Early Jewish writers like Philo (40 AD) and Josephus (90 AD) also witness to the three-fold division of the Law, Prophets, and Writings. Josephus accords these writings special divinely inspired status in his book Against Apion, 1:8.

We have not myriads of books, disagreeing and conflicting with one another (like the pagan Greeks have), but only twenty-two (Josephus merged some books to get 22, but we know from elsewhere that these are the 39 we are familiar with) containing the record of all time and justly accredited. Of these, five are the books of Moses, containing the laws and the history handed down from the creation of the human race right to his own death.…From the death of Moses to the time of Artaxerxes, who was king of Persia after Xerxes, the prophets who followed Moses have written down in thirteen books the things that were done in their days. The remaining four books contain hymns to God and principles of life for human beings. From Artaxerxes to our own time a detailed record has been made (the Apocrypha), but this has not been thought worthy of equal credit with the earlier records because there has not been since then the exact succession of prophets. How firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during all the ages, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to them, to take any thing from them, or to make any change in them. It is natural for all Jews immediately from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if occasion arises, to be willing to die for them. Josephus, Against Apion, 1:8 (written about 97 AD) Note: The Jewish nation accepted the Old Testament canon as closed after the prophet Malachi. God was not speaking through any prophet from BC 400 until the time of Christ.

New Testament External Claims Non-biblical evidence for accepting the 27 books of our New Testament

1. Early church leaders Early church leaders quote extensively from the New Testament. This shows their recognition of its divine origin. If all the manuscripts from the first three centuries were destroyed, it would be possible to reconstruct virtually the entire New Testament just from their quotations of it. One scholar, Sir David Dalrymple, believed that by his count, only eleven verses of the New Testament were missing from their writings!

2. Early canons These early canons were lists of books or collections of books that were used. Muratorian Canon (170 AD) Old Syriac Canon (200 AD) Old Latin Canon (200 AD) Athanasius Easter Letter (367 AD)

3. Council of Carthage The Council of Carthage was the first leadership gathering to name the New Testament books.

The Latin Vulgate (400 AD) was the first Bible that had all 66 books in one collection. The Latin Vulgate was the entire Bible translated into Latin from Hebrew and Greek by the scholar Jerome.

The Apocrypha

The Apocrypha is a collection of writings that are part of Jewish history, but not the same as Scripture. All were written in Greek, not Hebrew. They mostly cover the period from between the Testaments (BC 300 to the time of Jesus). They vary widely in terms of type of literature and authorship; some are pseudepigrapha (ex: Prayer of Manasses, Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah). They were actually composed between BC 250 and possibly as late as mid-first-century AD. The word Apocrypha means "hidden." The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches (with slight variations) accept these books as part of the Old Testament canon. Protestants do not accept them, nor are they in any Jewish Bible.