BIBLIOLOGY

Watch this space for the Part Number

Course Outline
• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Structure of the Bible
• Part 3: How we got our Bible
• Part 4: Divine origin of the Bible
• Part 5: What the Bible says about itself
• Part 6: Interpreting the Bible
 Part 1: Introduction

Definitions
• Bibliology: Study of the Bible
• Alternate terms for the Bible
– Scripture (Luke 4:21)
– Writings (John 5:47)
– Oracles (Romans 3:2)
 Part 1: Introduction

Etymology
• Bublos: Greek for papyrus plant
• Biblos: Inner bark of papyrus plant
• Biblios: Book (in Greek)
• Bible: English word derived from Biblios
 Part 2: Structure of the Bible

What
is in the Bible?
 Part 2: Structure of the Bible

Old Testament
• 39 books
(written before the birth of Jesus Christ)

New Testament
• 27 books
(written after the birth of Jesus Christ)
= 66 books
(400 years gap between)
 Part 2: Structure of the Bible

Old Testament:
Law 5 books
History 12 books
Poetic 5 books
(nearly one third of Old Testament!)

Prophecy 17 books
(nearly one quarter of entire bible!)

New Testament:
Gospels 4 books
History 1 book
Letters 21 books
Prophecy 1 book
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Original Writings
• Genesis 2:4
• Genesis 5:1
• Genesis 6:9
• Genesis 37:2
• Deuteronomy 31:24
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Over 40 writers from

many walks of life.
Kings, peasants, herdsmen,
politicians, doctor, philosophers,
fishermen, poets, statesmen,
scholars, tax collector…
 Part 3: How we got the Bible
Original languages
OT: Hebrew; some passages are in
Aramaic/Chaldee

NT: Greek
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Writing Materials

Hebrew OT:-

Animal skin
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Writing Materials
Greek NT:-
Papyrus/ Animal skin/Vellum
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Writing Materials

Later manuscripts:-

Paper
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Writing Materials

Modern times:-

Printed paper
Electronic media
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The Canon

Which books constitute the Bible?

 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The OT Canon
• Ezekiel 33:33
• Jeremiah 28:15-16
• Josephus’ Testimony
• Quotes by the Lord Jesus; Luke 11:51
• Debates between the Lord Jesus and the
Pharisees/Sadducees
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

OT Apocrypha
• Inter-testament period: 400 BC – 30 AD
• Jews produced many writings
• Considered important by Greek speaking Jews
in Egypt and elsewhere
• Romans 3:2-3, Matthew 23:1-2
• Jeremiah 43:7, Jeremiah 44:12
• RCC added 7 such books in 1546 AD
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The Book of Tobith

• Story of a man called Tobith
• Lots of historical/geographic errors
• Sorcery; Deuteronomy 18:10-12
• Fake: written in 200 BC, not 800 BC
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The Book of Judith

• Story of brave Jewish girl who killed the
enemy general
• Fictional; has historical/geographical errors
• Morally faulty
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

1 Maccabees
• Genuine
• Tells of historical events (200-100 BC)
• Daniel 11:30-32
• Maccabees – a brave Jewish family
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

2 Maccabees
• Genuine, written in about 124 BC
• Recap of history in 1 Maccabees
• Mentions a hero, Judas, offering money and
prayers for the salvation of the dead
• Hebrews 9:27
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

2 Maccabees
• Introduces dead saints praying for us
• “If it is well written and to the point, I am
pleased; if it is poorly written and
uninteresting, I have still done my best.” – 2
Maccabees 15:38
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Wisdom of Solomon
• Fake
• Claims Solomon as author; composed in Greek
between 200-100 BC
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
• Written 200-175 BC
• Harsh treatment for slaves and women
• Salvation by good works
• Seek popularity, hold on to your rights, God’s
mercy is limited, judge people by their looks
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Baruch
• Fake
• Named after Baruch (Jeremiah 36:8) – 600 BC
• Written in 150-100 BC
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Additions to Daniel
• Prayer of Azariah (Manasseh) 2 Chr 33:11-13
• Song of the three holy children
• Susanna
• Bel and the dragon (debates between Daniel
and Cyrus)
• All are fake
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The NT Canon
• 1 Corinthians 12:10
• 2 Peter 3:15-16
• 1 Timothy 5:18 v/s Luke 10:7
• Scanty evidence about when the full canon
was recognized by believers.
• The consistency condition
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Autographs

Greek/Hebrew manuscripts

Manuscripts in other languages

Greek/Hebrew Printed Editions

Modern language translation

 Part 3: How we got the Bible

OT Manuscripts
• Masoretic tradition
• Strict rules
• Earliest extant Masoretic manuscripts: ~1000
AD
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The Dead Sea Scrolls

• Discovered in 1947
• Date to about 100 BC
• Almost all the OT books
• Virtually identical with the Masoretic Text
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Deviant OT manuscripts
• Septuagint (Greek translation of OT, ~170 BC)
• Samaritan Pentateuch
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

NT Manuscripts
• ~5000 Greek Manuscripts extant today
• All don’t agree with each other
• About 90% are virtually identical
• These make up the Byzantine family
• Remaining 10%: Alexandrian family (differ
among each other and with the Byzantine)
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

John Rylands Papyrus (P52)

John 18:31-33, 37-38

Earliest known NT manuscript. 125 AD

 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Autographs

Greek/Hebrew manuscripts

Manuscripts in other languages

Greek/Hebrew Printed Editions

Modern language translation

 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Printed Hebrew OT
Daniel Bomberg/Jacob
ben Chayyim printed a
Hebrew OT based on the
MT in 1524
(Second Rabbinical Bible)
Primary source for the KJV
Illegitimate child of a Roman Catholic priest Part 3: How we got the Bible

“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is

left I buy food and clothes.”
“A spiritual temple must be raised in desolate
Christendom. The mighty of this world will contribute
Towards it their marble, ivory and gold. I who am poor
And humble offer the foundation stone”

Erasmus produced the

FIRST PRINTED GREEK NEW TESTAMENT

Desiderius Erasmus
Born: October 28, 1466,
Rotterdam (Holland)
Died: July 12, 1536
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Printed Greek NT
• Erasmus printed Greek NT based on Byzantine
manuscripts, starting 1516 AD
• Later: Stephens, Beza, Elzevir
• This printed text came to be known as the
Textus Receptus (Received Text)
• Primary source for KJV
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

For God louede so the world that he yaf his oon bigetun sone,
that ech man that beliueth in him perische not, but haue
euerlastynge lijf.
John 3:16, Wycliffe Bible, 1382.

John Wycliffe, Catholic priest

He had access only to the

Latin Vulgate (Catholic Bible)
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

William Tyndale
• Tried unsuccessfully in England
• Went to Germany, met Martin Luther
• Translated Bible in Germany
• Smuggled copies to England
• Strangled & Burnt at the stake
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

The English Bible

• Several Bibles produced after Tyndale
• King James Version came in 1611
• It went through several editions
• What we use is the 1769 edition
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Bible in other languages

Luther's German Bible (1522)
Tyndale's English Bible (1525)
the Zurich (Swiss) Version (1529),
LeFevre's (French) Bible (1534),
the Olivetan (French) Bible (1535),
Laurentius (Swedish) Bible (1541),
the Christian (Danish) Bible (1550),
Biestken's (Dutch) Bible (1558),
de Reyna's (Spanish) Bible (1569),
the Czech Version (1602) and
Diodati's (Italian) Bible (1607).
King James Bible (1611)
 Part 3: How we got the Bible

Bible in other languages

• Tamil: Bartholomew Ziegenbalg & Benjamin
Schultze, completed 1728.
• Telegu: Benjamin Schultze (manuscript only,
1732); LMS published in 1860
• Hindi: Serampore missionaries, 1811
• Malayalam: CMS, Madras Auxiliary Bible
Society, 1841
• Bengali: William Carey, 1809
 Part 4: Divine origin of the Bible

Divine origin of the Bible

• The Bible is not merely a human product
• It is the Word of God: Evidence?
• Two ways to classify the evidence
– Internal/external
– Man could not/Man would not
 Part 4: Divine origin of the Bible

Internal Evidence
• Evidence that is seen just by reading the Bible
• Unity
 Part 4: Divine origin of the Bible

External Evidence
• Evidence that needs outside information to be
observed
• Fulfilled prophecy
 Part 4: Divine origin of the Bible

Man Would Never

• Unsavory details
• Death penalty for mistakes: Deuteronomy
18:20-22
 Part 4: Divine origin of the Bible

Man could never

• Bible: single most loved book in history
• The most influential book
 Part 5: What the Bible says about itself

What the Bible says about itself

• Inspired by God (God-breathed) 2 Tim 3:16
– Verbal (Psalm 12:6-7)
– Plenary (Psalm 119:128)
• Sufficient (2 Peter 1:3)
• Complete(Jude 1:3f, Proverbs 30:6, Rev 22:18)
• Necessary (Matthew 4:4)
• Perspicuous (Psalm 119:105, Deut 30:14)
• Integral (Mark 10:6)
 Part 6: Interpreting the Bible

Context
• Deuteronomy 28:1, 28:11
 Part 6: Interpreting the Bible

Literal v/s Figurative

• “David was on cloud 9 when he found that he
had obtained 90% in his exam”
• Genesis 1:1-5
• John 6:56
• John 6:63