Search the Scriptures (…), they are they which testify of Me (John 5:39)
Apocryphal gospels and acts keep surfacing. Is the word of God complete, and what does it mean that Paul completed the word?
14 parts, from the first to the last.
Every now and then, books are found attributed to apostles or other biblical figures. Examples include the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary (Magdalene), and the Gospel of Philip. There are also alternative writings on the Acts of the Apostles, such as the Acts of Peter and the Acts of Paul. Furthermore, there are … Read more →
The Bible was written over a period of several thousand years. Consider this: Adam was created about 6,000 years ago, and the books of the New Testament were written about 2,000 years ago. Adam was the first to commit a portion to Scripture, but who ultimately concluded the whole and completed the Word of God? … Read more →
The canon of the Bible is the collection of recognized books that make up our Bible. There are 66 of them according to current count, but because the book of Psalms officially contains five books and not just one, we must count a total of 70 books in our Bible. More on that later. Christian … Read more →
The apostles, whom we know as the Twelve, walked with Jesus for years and saw how He healed the sick and performed other miracles. Blind eyes were opened, deaf hearing, lame walking, etc. They were also taught at His feet. We find several of these sermons with which Jesus taught them in Scripture, such as … Read more →
If we want to get a sense of the apostles’ urgency regarding gathering the Scriptures, we need only read their letters, especially their last ones, written at the end of their lives. Where It BeganIn Acts 21:20, we read that there were tens of thousands of Jews in Israel who recognized Jesus as the Messiah. … Read more →
In the previous blog post, we saw how Peter and Jude warned of the degeneration that would occur in the young Christianity. These apostles of the Twelve addressed the Jewish people. Initially, there were many believers there (Acts 21:20), but they would soon be led astray from the truth. But what would happen afterward, among … Read more →
In the first letter to Timothy, Paul warns that in later times some will depart from the faith. Some time later, when Paul writes his second letter to Timothy, his tone about Christianity is even more pessimistic, saying that the time will come when people will no longer endure or tolerate sound doctrine. 2 Timothy … Read more →
In previous blogs, we saw that the apostles knew that Christianity would enter a downward spiral because people would abandon the truth. They were therefore very aware of the importance of gathering the Scriptures and could not leave that to future generations. The last letters of Peter and Paul, namely 2 Peter and 2 Timothy, … Read more →
In 2 Peter 3, Peter predicts that mockers will come and say, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (Greek: parousia, literally: presence). In other words, where is the Lord?In Hosea 6:2, we read that God will “revive Israel after two days” and “raise them up on the third day.” This means that after two … Read more →
In the previous blog post, we saw that Peter knew he would soon die. Paul also knew he would not live much longer. He writes this in his second letter to his coworker and successor Timothy, whom he calls “a true child in the faith” (1 Timothy 1:2). 2 Timothy 46 (…) and the time … Read more →
In previous blogs, we saw how Peter and Paul dedicated themselves to gathering the Scriptures. Peter’s successor was Mark, and Paul’s substitute was Timothy. Paul calls Timothy to come to him, to bring Mark and the books and parchments. The Importance of the ScripturesIf we turn back to the letter to Timothy in 2nd Timothy, … Read more →
There are even more indications that point to Paul’s influence in the creation of our Bible. For example, in his letter to the Galatians (chapter 2), he refers to three of his fellow apostles: James, Cephas (Peter), John 1:42), and John. Two ministriesIn Galatians 1 and 2, Paul speaks of his unique ministry. He had … Read more →
The organization of the Bible as we know it is based on the Vulgate. This is a Latin translation that was created between 390 and 405 AD. However, various manuscripts of the Greek source text, which are older than the Vulgate, maintain a different order. You can see the differences in the image at the … Read more →
Finally, we look at the division of the Hebrew Tanakh, the books we find in the Old Testament. The original division of the Hebrew Scriptures is very different from that of the Old Testament. Tanakh stands for: 1. T for Torah (Law)2. N for Nevi’im (Prophets)3. CH for Ketuvim (Writings) The Law, the Prophets, and … Read more →