Where Did We Get the Bible?
The Bible has been around for thousands of years, carefully translated and maintained for the benefit of people today. But where did we get it, and how do we know it's trustworthy?
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The Bible doesn’t have to be intimidating. We encourage you to read the Bible for yourself and put it into practice. That’s why we’re doing this series. The first question that arises is: where did the Bible come from?
The Bible Is Inspired by the Holy Spirit
The Bible is not just a book some religious or philosophical-type humans put together. It comes from God himself.
- 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT) 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.
“Inspired by God” means “God-breathed.” So when you read the Bible, you are reading the Word of God. God is there with you when you read. You will encounter God in the Bible. For example, 2 Timothy tells us some of the ways God speaks to us in the Bible: he teaches us what is true; he opens our eyes to what is wrong in our lives; he corrects us when we are wrong; and he teaches us to not simply know the truth, but to do what is right.
Jesus himself attested that the Bible is inspired by God.
- Mark 12:36 (NLT) “For David himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said…”
Jesus then quoted Psalm 110. He believed that when David wrote that Psalm, he spoke under the Spirit’s inspiration. Note what Jesus told Satan:
- Matthew 4:4 (NLT) “People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
His actions explain what he meant, because that very statement was a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3, and he quoted the Bible two more times to resist Satan’s temptations.
These passages lead us to hold a view called “verbal plenary inspiration”, which means that divine inspiration extends to the very words themselves, and to all parts of the Bible and all subject matters on which the Bible speaks. Thus the Bible (when interpreted according to the intended sense of the author) speaks truly and reliably in all that it affirms. It never leads us astray.
Not only did the Holy Spirit inspire the Bible, the Holy Spirit also illuminates the Bible. He enlightens our hearts and minds as we read it.
The Bible Was Written by Numerous Human Authors
While it is the Word of God, it is also the words of human authors. The two are not mutually exclusive. God spoke through human authors, through their unique personalities, experiences, language, culture and time.
The Bible is a product of divine authorship AND human authorship. Inspiration does not equal some kind of dictation. Authors were not like copyists or transcribers, writing down the words of someone dictating a letter. The Bible authors spoke in their own language and style, using their own words and thoughts, in response to specific situations they were dealing with. Inspiration means that the Holy Spirit superintended the process so that the very words written were exactly what the Spirit intended. They are both the words of the human author AND the words of God himself.
- 2 Peter 1:20-21 (NLT) Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.
This is why we can trust the Bible. It is not just the thoughts of humans, but God speaking to us, through the human authors.
- 1 Corinthians 2:13 (NLT) When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
Consider that the Bible was written by over 40 authors, over a period of 2000 years. They lived in different cultures, in different time periods, and spoke different languages. Yet in spite of this diversity, the Bible tells one unified story: about God, humanity, God’s people, our sin, redemption. How did they write with so much unity over so long a time? Because the Bible comes from God himself. That’s why we can trust it. It’s not just thoughts of humans, but God speaking to us.
The Bible Is Translated into Our Language
The Bible comes to us through translation. It was not originally written in English, but in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. The Bible has been translated into many languages throughout the world, and continues to be. Many translations are available today that are clear, readable, understandable, and true to the original.
We don’t believe that translations are inspired by God. Only the originals are without error, as spoken by God himself through the human author. But even though the original manuscripts are no longer available, God has preserved the biblical text to a remarkable level. We can trust the Bibles we read today.
Since we don’t have the original writings of any Bible author, are our Bibles today reliable? It’s important to understand that the transmission of the Bible to us is trustworthy. Scribes who copied the Bible were scrupulous to follow careful disciplines. We have thousands of copies of the New Testament to compare. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the 1940’s showed that over hundreds of years, coping of the Bible was remarkably reliable.
So this large collection of existing manuscripts shows us what the original must have been. When translators draw on the witness of these existing manuscripts, it creates confidence that the Bible translations we have, have not been tampered with.
English language translations follow two approaches: formal equivalence (word for word) and dynamic equivalence (thought for thought). Word for word translations often fail to capture the meaning of idioms. If you translate an idiom word for word it completely loses its meaning. For example, Matthew 9:15 (NLT) says, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom?” The phrase “wedding guests” is literally: “sons of the wedding hall”. If this was translated word for word, the meaning of the original text would be obscured. Yet thought for thought translations can introduce more of the translator’s interpretation into the text. Interpretation is always a factor in the process of translation from one language to another, no matter which approach is preferred, because no two languages have exact correspondence of vocabulary or grammar. But the translator’s goal is to minimize the interpretations added in the process.
The Takeaway
God has gone to a great effort to get the Bible in your hands. Copyists and translators worked hard to attain accuracy. People have even given up their lives to give us our Bibles today. The Bible you have came at a heavy price. God thought that price was worth it, because the words of the Bible are so powerful. So where did the Bible come from? Came from God. When you read the Bible, you are encountering God himself.
