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    The Bible a Revelation

    From the Dake Interactive CD, Used by Permission

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  Christianity is a revealed religion, the record being contained in the sacred Scriptures. See Revelation; the source of revelation, §Matthew 16:17, note; and Six New Revelations.

    Much of the Bible is a revelation. Man could never have known about ages of eternal past, the pre-Adamite world, Lucifer's past, the creation of the spirit and material worlds, the future eternal ages, and many other things related to God's plan for man except by direct revelation of these things through the Holy Spirit (Romans 16:25; Ephes. 3:3; Col. 1:26; Col. 2:3; Rev. 1:1). The many hundreds of prophecies are a direct revelation of things to come, which God alone could give (Acts 15:18; Ephes. 2:7; Ephes. 3:9-10; Rev. 1:1).

    Revelation discovers new truth while inspiration superintends the communication and recording of it. Revelation guarantees that what God has revealed is truth; inspiration guarantees that not only all revelation, but all other records of Scripture are truth-that what is recorded actually happened, as recorded. All the Bible is inspired whether each passage is a revelation or not (2 Tim. 3:15-17). Furthermore, inspiration records with equal accuracy the language of God, Satan, angels, demons, and men; but it does not place all that is said on the same level. For example, when Satan, evil spirits, or men are recorded as speaking lies to deceive, inspiration only records what was actually said; it does not affirm what was said was truth. No lie can be truth, but inspiration can faithfully record both. The ignorance of man regarding his origin, past, and eternal future; his lack of knowledge concerning the will of God; and the fact that all philosophers have failed to construct a complete, coherent, and adequate religion-these things make revelation absolutely necessary.

    Genuineness and Authenticity of the Bible

    Genuineness defined. By genuineness we mean that the books of the Bible were actually written by the men whose names they bear, or that there is sufficient proof of their authorship, and that they were written at the time claimed.

    Authenticity defined. By this we mean that the Bible relates truthfully the matters it deals with, and the contents are as originally written.

    Six Proofs Bible Genuine and Authentic:

    1. Claims of the Bible Itself:

        (1) The prophets of the O.T. claimed they were sent by God and that their messages were given to them by God (Luke 1:70; Acts 3:31; 2 Peter 1:21). Over 2,500 times the prophets claimed that God spoke by them (Isaiah 8:5; Jeremiah 2:2; Ezekiel 2:4; etc.).

        (2) The whole Bible centers around the person and work of Jesus Christ. In the O.T. we have hundreds of predictions, and in the N.T. we have the fulfillment and continuation of His life and ministry. He Himself claimed to have been sent by God (John 8:42; John 7:16; John 17:8). He performed miracles to confirm His mission (Acts 10:38); what He foretold came to pass and will yet come to pass. He put His seal upon the genuineness and authenticity of the O.T. (Matthew 5:17-18; Matthew 8:17; Matthew 12:40-42; Luke 24:44; John 5:39).

        (3) The Bible also represents the commission of the apostles as divine. God confirmed their ministry by signs and wonders (Mark 16:15-20; Acts 2:41-46; Acts 5:1-15; Hebrews 2:1-4). In all their writings they confirmed the teachings of Christ, and their declaration thereof was by supernatural powers.

        (4) The testimony of the N.T. to the genuineness and authenticity of the O.T. is plain to see. The O.T. is quoted about 250 times in the N.T., and alluded to about 850 times. All O.T. books are either quoted or alluded to except Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.

    2. Testimony of Secular History:

The events of Bible history were well known among all nations. Happenings of the N.T., having come to the knowledge of the then known world, were referred to by various secular authors of the first 4 centuries of the Christian era. Jerome, in A.D. 392, mentioned about 50 other authors as making quotations about and referring to N.T. events. They belonged to all parts of the world, but they agreed on one thing-that the Jewish scriptures were genuine and authentic, referring to them as a distinct volume universally received as such. No event in ancient history can produce more than a fraction of the evidence by which the Bible in its entirety is sustained as genuine and authentic.     3. Ancient Manuscripts: No original MS can be produced due to the perishable material written on, such as paper and vellum (skins of animals). However, because of the dry climate of Egypt and Palestine, many thousands of copies-whole books or parts thereof-have been preserved for us. It is not necessary to produce original MSS to prove the genuineness and authenticity of the Bible any more than it would be necessary to produce the original Declaration of Independence to prove the many copies we have contain the statements of the original. Scholars are willing to admit the genuineness and authenticity of other writings if there are as many as 10 copies of the originals to be found. On this basis the Bible can be proved genuine and authentic thousands of times. Number of Manuscripts:

        (1) Uncial Manuscripts. All letters of uncial copies are 1 in. high; they are the oldest MSS before the 9th century A.D.

            Gospels
            101

            Acts; General Epistles
            22

            Pauline Epistles
            27

            Apocalypse (Revelation)
            9
            _____

            Total
            156

        (2) Cursive Manuscripts. Cursive copies are those in running handwriting as introduced about the 9th century A.D. and used in Bible-making up to the invention of the printing press in A.D. 1456.

            Gospels
            1,420

            Acts; General Epistles
            450

            Pauline Epistles
            520

            Apocalypse (Revelation)
            195
            _______

            Total
            2,585

    Since the catalog of these MSS was made there have been many new discoveries of whole books and portions of the Bible-the Dead Sea scrolls of Isaiah and other ancient writings, for instance. Some Bible texts have been found which are at least 100-200 years earlier than the above. Besides these Greek MSS there are many in Syriac, Coptic, Latin, and other languages, of both testaments, some dating back to the 3rd century, B.C. In 1897 literally tons of papyri were found in the Nile valley about 120 mi. south of Cairo, thousands of pieces being written in the language of the N.T. In another discovery there were at least 1,000,000 papyri; of these many thousands have never been edited. Other collections have also been located, some dating back to A.D. 100-600, and new discoveries are being made all the time. A recent report says that there are about 5,000 Greek MSS of the N.T. in all, and from 20,000 to 30,000 in other languages besides 100,000 to 200,000 quotations in the writings of the early church fathers. See Patristic Quotations, point 5, below.

Uncial Manuscripts:

        (1) Sinaiticus or Codex Aleph, dating back to the 4th century. It was discovered by Dr. Tischendorf in the St. Catherine convent on Mt. Sinai in 1859. It contains the whole Bible besides the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, in part.

        (2) Alexandrinus or Codex A, dating back to the 5th century. It contains the whole Bible, except for parts of Genesis, 1 Kings, Psalms, Matthew, John, and 2 Corinthians.

        (3) Vaticanus or Codex B, dating back to the 4th century. It contains almost all of the O.T., and the N.T. down to Hebrews 9:14.

        (4) Ephraem or Codex C, dating back to the 5th century. It contains part of the O.T. and all the N.T. books except 2 Thessalonians and 2 John.

        (5) Bezae or Codex D, dating back to the 6th century. It is written in Greek and Latin parallel columns and contains most of the gospels, Acts, and the epistles.

        (6) Claromontanus or Codex D, also in Greek and Latin like the Codex Bezae, and dating back to the 6th century. It contains most all the epistles.

Besides these there are many more dating back from the 6th to the 10th centuries which space will not permit the listing of.

    4. Lectionaries: These are collections of the gospels and epistles for reading in churches, some dating back from the 7th to the 10th centuries. They help in determining the exact text. Of these there are more than 1,000 of the gospels and 300 of the Acts and epistles.

    5. Patristic Quotations: These are quotations of the Bible by early Christian writers-those of the first 3 centuries. They help in determining the exact text, filling the gap between the time of the apostles and the earliest MSS of the 4th century. If the N.T. were destroyed it could be practically reproduced from these quotations of the early fathers alone. See The Ante-Nicene Fathers volumes.

    6. Ancient Versions: The many ancient versions of Scripture in many languages, dating from the 3rd century B.C. to the 12th century A.D., add much to the proof of the genuineness and authenticity of the Bible.

        (1) Septuagint in Greek, 3rd century B.C.

        (2) Chaldee targum, paraphrases of portions of the O.T., 8th-11th centuries A.D.

        (3) Samaritan Pentateuch, 1st or 2nd century A.D.

        (4) Version of Aquila, Greek of the O.T. about A.D. 160

        (5) Version of Theodotian, O.T. in Greek, 2nd century A.D.

        (6) Version of Symachus, O.T. in Greek, 2nd century A.D.

        (7) Peshitta Syriac version, 2nd century A.D.

        (8) Arabic version, 8-12th century A.D.

        (9) Armenian version, 5th century A.D.

        (10) Egyptian version, 4th century A.D.

        (11) Ethiopic version, 4th century A.D.

        (12) Gothic version, 4th century A.D.

        (13) Georgian version, 6th century A.D.

        (14) Latin version, 4th century A.D.

        (15) Persian version, 2nd century A.D.

    The Bible text as we now have it is the same as that passed down through all these sources from the earliest times, so there should be no question in the mind of anyone regarding the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures.

    How We Got Our English Bible

    Our English Bible is the result of 1200 years of work by all kinds of learned men. Portions were translated from the Vulgate, the Latin version, beginning as far back as A.D. 700 when Aldhelm translated the Psalms into Saxon. Egbert translated the 4 gospels sometime later. In A.D. 735 Bede translated parts of the Scriptures into Saxon. King Alfred undertook a translation of the Psalms but died in A.D. 900 before it was finished. Elfric translated the Pentateuch and some of the historical books in the 10th century. Nothing else was done about translation from then to the time of John Wycliffe, who made the first complete English Bible from the Vulgate in A.D. 1380. The next was a N.T. by William Tyndale in 1535 and the Pentateuch in 1530. In 1535 Miles Coverdale made the first complete printed English Bible. Then came the Geneva Bible in 1560, followed by Bishop's Bible in 1563 and revised in 1568. The Roman church came out with Douay version of the N.T. in 1582 and the whole Bible in 1609 which has been used by that church up until now. In 1604 King James authorized 47 men to make a complete translation of the Bible from the original languages. It was finished in 1611 after 7-8 years of diligent work. It has been the most popular and accepted version of the English speaking world from that day until now. There have been several revised versions since then, and a number of Bibles in modern English, but none have been as well accepted and as lasting as the King James version and perhaps never will be.

    Bible Chronology

    The length of certain periods is definitely stated in Scripture which, added to the years of doubtful dates given in the most widely accepted encyclopedias, give a total of 6,198 years between the creation of Adam and 1997, as follows:

            Adam to the flood of Noah (Genesis 5)
            1,656

            Flood to call of Abraham at 75 yrs. age (Genesis 11:10-12:5)
            427

            Abraham to exodus (Exodus 12:40; Galatians 3:17; note, §Genesis 15:15)
            430

            Exodus to Christ's ministry (see Dispensation of Law)
            1,718

            From Christ's ministry (about A.D. 30) to 1997
            1,967
            _______

            Total-Adam to 1997
            6,198

    How to Interpret the Bible

    See Ten Classes Who Find the Bible Hard to Understand; Seven Reasons Why the Bible Is Simple; and Seven Reasons Why the Bible Is Not Understood. For hints on understanding the Bible, see note, §Mark 10:49; note, §Mark 11:17; note, §Mark 14:21; and note, §Mark 15:28. That the Bible is easy to understand, see notes, §Hebrews 5:11-6:1; note, §2 Peter 3:16; and note, §Matthew 15:10. The law of interpretation is stated in note on §2 Cor. 13:1; Twelve Rules of Interpretation; and the secret of understanding in note on §Mark 4:24. The Bible is to be taken literally as other books (see note, §Mark 9:10). See also Rightly Dividing Truth.

    How to Read the Bible

        1. Frequently, daily (Joshua 1:8)

        2. Not for controversy, but for profit (Proverbs 3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)

        3. Meditatively (Psalm 1:3)

        4. In love (Psalm 119:97-104)

        5. With consciousness of need (Matthew 5:6; John 7:37-39; 2 Peter 1:1-10; 2 Peter 3:18)

        6. In faith (Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:6)

        7. Searchingly (John 5:39)

        8. Openness to all of it (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; Jude 3)

        9. By comparing scripture with scripture (2 Cor. 2:13)

        10. In the Spirit (John 14:16-17; John 15:26; Galatians 5:16,26)

        11. Through, and over and over again (Matthew 5:18)

        12. In obedience (Romans 1:5; Romans 16:26).

    Bible Statistics

    1. The Bible as a whole:

        (1) Number of books-66

        (2) Chapters-1,189

        (3) Verses-31,101

        (4) Words-783,133

        (5) Letters-3,566,480

        (6) Promises-1,260

        (7) Commands-6,468

        (8) Predictions-over 8,000

        (9) 3,268 verses of fulfilled prophecy

        (10) 3,140 verses of unfulfilled prophecy

        (11) Questions-3,296

        (12) Longest name-18 letters (Isaiah 8:1)

        (13) Longest verse-Esther 8:9

        (14) Shortest verse-John 11:35

        (15) Middle books-Michah and Nahum

        (16) Middle verses-Psalm 103:1,2

        (17) Middle and shortest chapter-Psalm 117

        (18) Largest book-Psalms

        (19) Smallest book-3 John (counting words)

        (20) Longest chapter-Psalm 119

        (21) Word God occurs 3,358 times

        (22) Lord occurs 7,736 times

        (23) Authors-40

        (24) Languages translated in-over 1,100

        (25) First chapter divisions made in A.D. 1227

        (26) First complete English Bible-A.D. 1380

    2. The Old Testament:

        (1) Number of books-39

        (2) Chapters-929

        (3) Verse-23,144

        (4) Words-602,582

        (5) Letters-2,728,100

        (6) Middle book-Proverbs

        (7) Middle chapter-Job 29

        (8) Middle verse-2 Chron. 18:30

        (9) Smallest book-Obadiah

        (10) Shortest verse-1 Chron. 1:25

        (11) Longest verse-Esther 8:9

        (12) Longest chapter-Psalm 119

        (13) Largest book-Psalms

    (14) Passages which are alike or nearly so-2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37; Ezra 2 and Neh. 7; 2 Chron. 36:22-23 and Ezra 1:1-3a; Psalm 14 and Psalm 53; Psalm 60:6-12 and Psalm 108:7-13. Numbers 7 has 12 repeats; Psalm 107 has 4; and Psalm 136 has 26 repeats. Cp. Genesis 36:31-43 with 1 Chron. 1:43-54.

    3. The New Testament:

        (1) Number of books-27

        (2) Chapters-260

        (3) Verses-7,957

        (4) Words-180,551

        (5) Letters-838,380

        (6) Middle book-2 Thessalonians

        (7) Middle chapters-Romans 13, Romans 14

        (8) Middle verse-Acts 7:7

        (9) Smallest book-3 John (counting words)

        (10) Shortest verse-John 11:35

        (11) Longest verse-Rev. 20:4

        (12) Longest chapter-Luke 1

        (13) Largest book-Luke

    Regarding the Apocrypha, the statistics are as follows: books-14; chapters-184; verses-6,031; words-125,185.

    4. Other interesting facts about the Bible:         (1) 5 books have only one chapter-Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

        (2) Esther and Song of Solomon have no name of God in the English text.

        (3) Haggai has only 2 chapters.

        (4) 7 books have but 3 chapters-Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 2 Thessalonians, Titus, and 2 Peter.

        (5) 6 books have only 4 chapters-Ruth, Jonah, Malachi, Colossians, Philippians, and 2 Timothy.

        (6) 5 books have only 5 chapters-Lamentations, 1 Thessalonians, James, 1 Peter, and 1 John.

        (7) Only 10 books have over 1,000 verses-Genesis (1,533), Exodus (1,213), Numbers (1,288), Job (1,070), Psalms (2,461), Isaiah (1,292), Jeremiah (1,273), Matthew (1,071), Luke (1,151), and Acts (1,007).

        (8) A Bible in the Library of the University of Gottingen is written on 2,470 palm leaves.

        (9) The word Lord in the O.T. stands for Jehovah in the majority of places.

        (10) The statements of 4 verses in Numbers 7 are repeated 12 times in the chapter.

        (11) Numbers 33 has 42 verses having the first two words alike.

        (12) Numbers 11:5 is the garden verse of Scripture.

        (13) 12 verses in Deut. 27 begin with the word cursed and end with Amen.

        (14) Exodus 26 has 20 verses having the first three words alike.

        (15) 13 verses in 1 Chron. 20 end alike.

        (16) 23 verses in 1 Chron. 25 end alike.

        (17) 21 verses in Neh. 10 have only 3 words in them.

        (18) 4 verses in Proverbs 30 begin alike.

        (19) Psalm 119 has 22 sections with 8 verses each.

        (20) Jeremiah 51 has one expression in it used 9 times-I will break in pieces.

        (21) In 3 of the 5 chapters of Lamentations the verses are nearly the same length.

        (22) 17 verses in Proverbs begin with My son.

        (23) 4 verses in Jeremiah 4 begin with the phrase I beheld.

        (24) Ezekiel 22:19 may be called the metal verse of Scripture.

        (25) The only verse in Scripture that has boy and girl in it is Joel 3:3.

        (26) 9 verses in Matthew 5 begin with Blessed are.

        (27) 15 verses of Luke 3 begin with Which was.

        (28) Of the 5 chapters in Lamentations, 4 have 22 verses each.

        (29) The longest verse of Scripture (Esther 8:9) contains 89 words and 425 letters.

        (30) There are no words in Scripture more than 6 syllables.

        (31) A number of verses in Scripture contain all the letters of the alphabet except one. Ezra 7:21 contains all but j. Joshua 7:24; 1 Kings 1:9; 1 Chron. 12:40; 2 Chron. 36:10; Ezekiel 28:13; Daniel 4:37; and Haggai 1:1 contain all but q. 2 Kings 16:15 and 1 Chron. 4:10 contain all but z. Galatians 1:14 contains all but k.

        (32) There are 8,674 Hebrew words, 5,624 Greek words, and 12,143 different English words in the Bible