What’s inside…? :What’s inside…? Week 1: Introduction and Background


Introducing your presenters: :Introducing your presenters: Dr Steve DeWilde Profession: GP Residence: Kingston Contact: stephen.dewilde@ntlworld.com Andrew Palmer Profession: IT Residence: Shepherd’s Bush Contact: andrew.palmer@brunel.ac.uk Jon Otter Profession: Scientist Residence: Raynes Park Contact: jon_the_otter@hotmail.com


Course objectives :Course objectives Despite the fact that the Bible is the all-time best-selling book, very few of us have actually read it! What’s inside…the Bible? Structure of the Bible: how to find your way around Tips on effective Bible reading so that you can learn for yourself Use of Bible aids, such as concordances Introduction of major themes in the Bible What’s inside…your heart? Learning about what’s inside the Bible is all well and good, but is this important for us?


Course structure :Week 1 (Thu 10 May): What’s inside…the Bible? Week 2 (Thu 17 May): Righteousness and Sin Week 3 (Thu 24 May): The Old and New Testaments Whitsun break (Thu 31 May) Week 4 (Thu 7 June): Introducing Jesus Christ Week 5 (Thu 14 June): The Kingdom of God Week 6 (Thu 21 June): What does God want from us? Course structure


Week 1: What’s inside…the Bible? :Week 1: What’s inside…the Bible? Background What is the Bible? Navigating the Bible Books of the Bible and historical context Reason to believe the Bible Israel: a case study in fulfilled prophecy Why the Bible matters to us The Bible makes bold claims that, if true, have big implications Explains where we’ve come from and where we’re going Provides hope for the future Challenges us!


Week 2: Righteousness and Sin :Week 2: Righteousness and Sin Tips on reading the Bible Different versions Righteousness and Sin Defining righteousness and sin Who or what is the Devil? Am I a sinner? Responsibility and consequences The Bible interprets itself Understanding the Bible can be difficult: don’t be deterred! Look for interpretation in the same and surrounding chapters Interpret the Bible in its proper historical context


Week 3: The Old and New Testaments :Week 3: The Old and New Testaments Tips on reading the Bible (2) Study tools (concordances, cross-references) The Old and New Testaments Why two testaments? The Promises of God The Law of Moses – it’s purpose The Prophets The Gospel in the Old Testament Do I need “saving”? Defining “saved” and “salvation” Recap: Am I a sinner? How can I please God?


Week 4: Introducing Jesus Christ :Week 4: Introducing Jesus Christ Jesus in the Old Testament Why did Jesus have to die? The seed of the serpent Eden The Law of Moses Jesus: the Lamb of God Death crucified Baptism – a parable of death and resurrection Living sacrifices


Week 5: The Kingdom of God :Week 5: The Kingdom of God What happens when we die? The Kingdom of God When? Where? Who is the King? How long for? How can I be part of it? Worship What is worship? Does God need worship? Forms of worship The Holy Spirit and worship


Week 6: What does God want from us? :Week 6: What does God want from us? Prayer What is prayer? Who do we pray to? (God? Jesus? Mary?) What should we pray about and does it work? What does God want from us? Recap: Why did Jesus have to die?; baptism Grace and works – why live a Christian life? What is “Christian” living? And finally… Course summary Next steps…the way ahead! Questions


What’s inside...the bible? :What’s inside...the bible?


What’s inside…the Bible? :What’s inside…the Bible? >4000 years of history 66 books 40 writers 2 testaments 1 consistent message A mini-library


What does the Bible say about itself? :What does the Bible say about itself? “The Bible was not sent by facsimile from heaven…The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions.” Sir Leigh Teabing (Fictional character in Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’) Although not directly written by God Himself, the Bible claims to be written by men who were inspired directly by God: ‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.’ (2Tim3:16-17).


Finding your way around :Finding your way around Turn to the contents page! Your Bible is split into two sections Old Testament New Testament Search the contents page for the name of the book that you’re looking for and go by page number!


In the beginning… :In the beginning… Turn to Genesis 1:1 ‘If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely breakdown’ Charles Darwin, ‘The Origin of the Species’ (1859) ‘Highly sophisticated molecular machines control every cellular process. This complexity in life’s foundations has dumbfounded evolutionists’ Michael J. Behe (Professor of Biochemistry) ‘Darwin’s Black Box’ (1996)


Bible Timeline :Bible Timeline


Overview of the Old Testament :Overview of the Old Testament 39 books covering creation to 400 BC The Law (5 books) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy Historical books (9 books) Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ruth The Prophets (16 books) Major (3): Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel Minor (13): Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi Poetical (6 books): Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes


Bible Timeline :Bible Timeline


Overview of the New Testament :Overview of the New Testament 27 books covering 0-100 AD The Gospels (4 books, covering the life of Jesus) Matthew, Mark, Luke, John Acts Covering the spread of the Good News (‘Gospel’) about Jesus The Letters (15 letters) Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, Peter, 1-3 John, Jude Revelation A personal letter from Jesus Christ to his church


How the Bible came to us :How the Bible came to us “English” has been around for about 1000 years; recorded Bible history begins >3500 years ago! The ‘Pentateuch’ (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) was written in c. 1500BC by Moses When all five books are together, they are called the ‘Torah’ The records were kept on animal skin scrolls written in Hebrew The 39 books of the OT were complete by 500BC The ‘Apocrypha’ (Jewish historical writings) were written in Greek over the next few centauries The Apocryphal books are excluded from modern Bibles The NT was written from 0-100AD The NT was written in Greek on papyrus (the word ‘Bible’ comes from the Greek word ‘pahyrus’)


Ancient manuscripts :Ancient manuscripts The papyrus used to make the NT were bound into a codex (pleural codices) The Codex Alexandrius and the Codex Sinaiticus (in the British Museum Library in London) and the Codex Vaticanus (in the Vatican) date back to 300AD and are the oldest versions of the NT In 382AD, Jerome, an early church leader, produced a Latin translation of the NT, called the Latin Vulgate ‘Vulgate’ means ‘vulgar’ or ‘common’ in Latin By 500AD the Bible had been translated into >500 languages; however, by 600AD, the Latin Vulgate was the only permitted version…on pain of death The Roman Catholic Church had absolute power from 600-1400AD in the Middle or Dark Ages


The Reformation – key players :The Reformation – key players Johann Gutenberg A German who produced the first printing press in the 1450s, allowing Bible to be mass produced Unscrupulous business associates meant that Gutenberg died in poverty Erasmus Produced a Greek-Latin Parallel New Testament in 1516 Erasmus did not use the now corrupt Latin Vulgate, but produced his own faithful Latin version from ancient manuscripts John Wycliffe An Oxford academic who produced the first hand-written English Bibles in the 1380s The Bibles were translated from the Latin Vulgate


The Reformation – key players :The Reformation – key players Martin Luther Nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention (95 issues of heretical theology and crimes of the Roman Catholic Church) into the church door at Wittenberg in 1516 Produced various German Bible’s from the Erasmus text William Tyndale Fluent in 8 languages and regarded as a genius Used the 1516 Erasmus text to produce the first complete English NT in 1525 Tyndale was forced to flee to Germany The Tyndale version spread like wild-fire, despite the best efforts of the Church to burn all the copies! Tyndale was eventually caught up with and burnt at the stake in 1539


The Reformation :The Reformation In 1536 King Henry VIII fell out with the pope (over divorce) and established the Church of England (aka ‘Anglican’) In 1539 Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, prompted the King to produced the Great Bible, to be placed in every church Queen Mary attempted to return England to Catholicism Many reformers sought refuge in Geneva, Switzerland, where they produced the Geneva Bible in 1560 William Shakespeare quotes from this Bible in his plays After Mary’s death, the reformers returned to England and the Bishop’s Bible (a revision of the Great Bible) was introduced In 1611, the Authorised or King James Version was introduced


Modern versions :Modern versions The KJV held sway from 1611 to the late 1800s In 1885 the Revised Version (revised KJV) was introduced The nearly identical American Revised Version was introduced in 1901 Various modern translations are now available, many of which are accurate and helpful: The New American Standard Bible (NASB) (1971) The New International Version (NIV) (1972) The English Standard Version (ESV) (2002)


Evolution of the English language (Jn3:16) :Evolution of the English language (Jn3:16) Anglo-Saxon Proto-English Manuscripts (995 AD): God lufode middan-eard swa, dat he seade his an-cennedan sunu, dat nan ne forweorde de on hine gely ac habbe dat ece lif. Wycliff (1380): for god loued so the world; that he gaf his oon bigetun sone, that eche man that bileueth in him perisch not: but haue euerlastynge liif, Tyndale (1534): For God so loveth the worlde, that he hath geven his only sonne, that none that beleve in him, shuld perisshe: but shuld have everlastinge lyfe. 1st Ed. King James (1611): For God so loued the world, that he gaue his only begotten Sonne: that whosoeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life. NIV (1973): For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.


Why believe the accuracy of the Bible? :Why believe the accuracy of the Bible? www.greatsite.com Dedication and bravery of translators and scribes Many faithful scribes devoted their lives (sometimes literally) to the accurate copying of the Bible through the generations Internal consistency ‘For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.’ (2Pet1:21) Selection of the ‘Canon of Scripture’ Other religious writings circulating in the period of the early Church were examined and rejected at an early stage Dead sea scrolls Discovered in a number of caves between 1947-1956 in caves on the shore of the dead sea Verify the accuracy of the OT that we have today


Who is God? :Who is God? God is introduced as the unparalleled Creator ‘...for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done…’ (Isa46:9-10) God is presented with human attributes ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ (Ex34:6-7) ‘Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear…’ (Isa59:1) ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…’ (Matt6:9)


Reasons to believe the Bible :Reasons to believe the Bible Prophecy The rise and fall of Tyre, Egypt and the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman empires The history of Israel, including the re-establishment of the nation in 1948 after almost 1900 years in dispersion Creation It takes a great deal of faith to believe in (macro) Evolution The more we discover about science and nature, the more questions we raise Consistency Despite approximately 40 authors writing over a period of 2000 years, the Bible presents a consistent message


Israel: a case study in fulfilled prophecy :Israel: a case study in fulfilled prophecy Jacob (Israel) had 12 sons who form the nation of Israel Israel initially prospers in Egypt, but become slaves God leads his people out of Egypt; the Exodus Israel conquer the promise land – the Kingdom of Israel is established in modern Palestine Captivity in Assyria / Babylon for 70 years Return to the Land Israel dispersed among the nations after AD70/AD135; the Diaspora State of Israel re-established in 1948


Israel: a case study in fulfilled prophecy :Israel: a case study in fulfilled prophecy Jacob (Israel) had 12 sons who form the nation of Israel Israel initially prospers in Egypt, but become slaves God leads his people out of Egypt; the Exodus Israel conquer the promise land – the Kingdom of Israel is established in modern Palestine Captivity in Assyria / Babylon for 70 years Return to the Land Israel dispersed among the nations after AD70/AD135; the Diaspora State of Israel re-established in 1948


Diaspora :Diaspora Israel in the Land for more than 600 years from approximately 500BC to 135AD God prophesied that the Roman’s would destroy Jerusalem and scatter the Jews (Deut28:49, 64-67) AD70 – Roman Emperor Titus destroyed the Temple AD135 – Roman Emperor Hadrian flattened and re-built Jerusalem ‘Diaspora’ (Gk. scattering of seed) began


Resurrection of a dead nation :Resurrection of a dead nation Israel remained in ‘diaspora’ from AD135 until 1948 Re-establishment of Israel prophesied (Eze34:11-16; Eze37:11-14) "The restoration of Israel is most important ...The pre-adventual colonization of Palestine will be on purely political principles, and the Jewish colonists will return in unbelief of the Messiahship of Jesus ... They will emigrate thither as agriculturists and traders." (Elpis Israel, p. 439-441, John Thomas, 1849)


Israel: God’s witnesses (Isa43:10) :Israel: God’s witnesses (Isa43:10) Jacob (Israel) has 12 sons who form the nation of Israel (Gen12:1-3) Israel initially prospers in Egypt, but become slaves (Gen15:13-14) God leads his people out of Egypt; the Exodus (Gen50:24) Israel conquer the promise land – the Kingdom of Israel is established (Ex3:7-8) Captivity in Assyria / Babylon for 70 years (Jer25:11-12) Return to the Land (Jer29:10) Israel dispersed among the nations after AD70/AD135; the Diaspora (Deut28:64-67) State of Israel re-established in 1948 (Eze34:11-13; 37:11-14)


Interim summary :Despite the fact that the Bible is the all-time best-seller, most have read very little of it The Bible is a mini-library covering >4000 years The Bible claims to be a message from God to us There are several good reasons to believe the Bible Interim summary


Why the Bible matters to us :Makes bold claims that, if true, have big implications Explains tricky-to-answer questions Offers hope for the future Challenges us Why the Bible matters to us


Bold claims :Bold claims Claims to be a message from God How the Bible came to us is remarkable, miraculous even? Claims to be able to tell the future The prophecies of the Bible are verified by history Claims to have the “cure” for death ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’ (Rev21:4)


Tricky-to-answer questions :Tricky-to-answer questions Where did we come from? Creation; Adam and Eve Why do bad things happen? Most suffering is human-induced But what about natural disasters? Everything (even bad things) happen for a reason Why didn’t God create us to serve him like robots? He wants us to serve him because we want to What happens when we die? The bad news: ‘…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ (Genesis 3:19) The good news: 1Corinthians 15:53-55


Hope for the future :Hope for the future “What’s the world coming to?” We are in a period of social and moral decline God has promised to put an end to this by sending Jesus Christ back to the earth to establish His Kingdom, which will last forever ‘Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes…And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.’ (Isa35:5-7)


Challenges us :Challenges us Do we need to do more than be a “good person”? How do we define “good”? Where do our personal and our society’s moral standards come from? Are they all valid?


Summary :Summary If the Bible really is God’s message to us, it has important implications: Bold claims Tricky-to-answer questions Hope for the future A personal challenge!


Week 2: Righteousness and Sin :Tips on reading the Bible Different versions Righteousness and Sin Defining righteousness and sin Who or what is the Devil? Am I a sinner? Responsibility and consequences The Bible interprets itself Understanding the Bible can be difficult: don’t be deterred! Look for interpretation in the same and surrounding chapters Interpret the Bible in its proper historical context Week 2: Righteousness and Sin