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What sets the Bible apart from other “scriptures?” One thing is how they were put together, namely, under the authority of multiple eyewitnesses. Jesus was not some “mythical figure” who was made-up, he was a historical figure (here is a delightfully snarky post on the so-called “mythical Jesus”)

If you’ve ever been in court or had the misfortune to be involved in a car accident, you will know the importance of firsthand testimony. That testimony becomes more valuable when there are multiple sources, and they all agree. That’s essentially what we have the the NT.

I came across a great post by Timothy Paul Jones just the other day. I read it after I had already posted mine about how the NT was formed, but I think they complement each other well. You’d definitely benefit by going back to read both.

One of the main reasons that we can trust the NT is Continue reading →

Many of you will know that I’m a NT major, so I have spent more time with the NT than the OT, however, one cannot understand either alone. The NT is filled with allusions from and built upon the foundation of the OT, and conversely, studying the OT alone will get you where the 1st century Jews got, namely: missing Jesus. The OT is a different kind of literature than the NT. It was written primarily in Hebrew. Then about 300 years before Jesus’ ministry there was a consented effort to accurately translate the Hebrew OT into Greek. This translation (or better, “these translations”) are known as the Septuagint (LXX). It’s from these Greek translations that the NT most often quotes from. You can read my post from Tuesday on the formation of the NT canon.

Ancient Hebrews, in a lot of ways, were very different than most people today. They were part of an oral culture. There would have been very few written copies of the Bible (what we call the OT) in the beginning. Many Hebrews had huge sections from the OT memorized by heart (there were no chapters or verse indicators for quick reference). Many knew huge sections word-for-word. Yep, word for word. We can’t imagine this today, but it was their way of life.

As God spoke to His people, many times He did so through

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On this day 68 years ago Ernest Melvin Morrison (“Mel” to his family, “Ernie” to his mom) jumped out of a plane and parachuted into France, it was D-Day. Continue reading →

So how did the Bible come to be?

I will frequently hear people mention the New Testament as though the books that are included were written hundreds of years after Jesus (as if to say, they are not really true and more likely made-up) and a select few just arbitrarily picked the books that “made it in.”

Saying that Constantine picked the “winners” and “losers” makes a great story for those wishing to discredit the Bible, but it’s simply not the case. The NT was written very close to the time of Jesus’ ministry and there was broad and almost unanimous consensus on almost all of the 27 NT books.

[Fragment of Matthew from the 4th century]

Let me give you a few markers that don’t jive with the narrative to discredit the NT Continue reading →

Here’s the “bullet points” from a great post by Ron Edmondson on how you can be a blessing (not a cure) to your Sr. Pastor.

• Have a Kingdom perspective.
• Know yourself.
• Support the pastor.
• Realize you are in the second (or third) chair.
• Don’t pray for, wish or try to make your pastor something he is not.
• Add value to the pastor and the organization.
• Be a friend.
• Brand yourself in and out of the organization.
• Compliment the pastor.
• Pick your battles.
• Learn all you can.
• Leave when it’s time.