Have you ever wondered? What's so great about the Bible?
Here are some facts about the Bible that few people know:
The Bible was not written in English. With one or two minor exceptions, the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, or perhaps Aramaic. With the possible exception of the book of Matthew, the New Testament was written in Greek. To take an English translation of the Bible, and call it infallible, is downright reckless and just plain lazy. This error can be traced to the King James only crowd, who basically worship the 1611 King James version of the Bible. Any reasonably good Christian bookstore has things like the Strong's Concordance, Young's Concordance, and interlinear Hebrew - English Old Testaments, and Greek - English New Testaments.
There are many teachers, who teach things about the Bible that simply aren't true. Some even use their pronouncements as a litmus test to determine whether or not a person is a true christian.
We believe that the original manuscripts were accurate renderings of what God wanted us to know, but over the years, there have been textual critics and translators, who have introduced errors into the various writings. The history of the Bible tells us that the Devil has been working, from the beginning, to destroy the message that God has for us.
Some of these errors are significant, and can lead one to think they are " saved ", when saved is something which happens at death, or at the return of Jesus. A person will be saved if he/she has been born again ( from above ) and is continuing in the faith. See John 3:1-8, and many other scriptures. Jesus said ( Matthew 10:22 )"...he who endures to the end will be saved." If you can't accept that, you aren't following the teaching of Jesus.
The most significant problem, is a tendency of some New Testament texts, to diminish the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was " God in the flesh " and that's what 1 Timothy 3:16 should say. If it says " He " or " Who ", that Bible has been put together, using one or more corrupted manuscripts. In most modern New Testaments, like the NIV, NASB, TEV, RSV, ASV, NRSV, etc., there are between 130 and 160 places where words have been changed, or omitted.
At this point I need to mention a particular " Bible ". THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES is not a reliable Bible. No Bible study should be done using that Bible. It is based upon the most inferior of the Greek texts, the one known as the " Wescott and Hort text ". The " translation " is frequently changed to agree with the beliefs of a particular religion. It differs from legitimate Bibles in many places.
It sounds very religious to say that an English translation of the Bible, like the Old King James, is infallible or inerrant, but those who have read the Bible, and studied it, know that this is simply not true. For an example of this, go to Matthew 27:9 You find there a quote supposedly from Jeremiah. Jeremiah never said it. It is found in Zechariah 11:12. In addition, there are one or two poor translations, that occurred when the translators went out of their way to please King James I. These can lead one to come to false conclusions about doctrine.
Having said that, the King James Family of Bibles has fewer omissions, and contains fewer errors, than most of the modern English language Bibles. The old King James Bible is free of most of the omissions, but it is not written in the English of today. Of the popular modern English Bibles, the only reasonably accurate Bible is the New King James Version. But if you really want to get to the bottom of God's truth, you may have to do some research in the original languages.
Translating from Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or Syriac, or Latin, into English, and sorting through thousands of manuscript fragments, is no easy task. But, when a person reads the whole Bible, rather than a handful of verses, it is usually possible to determine the truth concerning any teaching or doctrine, without having to take courses in Greek and Hebrew. Real Bibles contain over 31,000 verses ! Read them all !
Unlike most books, the Bible has about 40 different God inspired authors, each originally writing in his own language. Each writing is usually called a book. In the Bible, there are 66 different writings ( books ) that were written over a period of about 2000 years. It is only in the last few centuries that they have been bound together into what looks like a regular book. Before that time, the writings existed as collections of pieces of paper, or scrolls or inscribed leather, or clay tablets or in some other form.
The 66 writings, commonly called " books ", were broken down into 1189 chapters by a 13th century monk, known as St. Bernard. Later, in the 15th or 16th century, a man known as Robert Stephens, or Stephanus, broke down those 1189 chapters into 31,173 verses. It is obvious, to people who read the Bible regularly, that the division, into chapters and verses, was in a few cases, not the way it should have been. Both St. Bernard and Stephanus were sincere men, and the division into chapters and verses is certainly useful, but few scholars today claim that the breakup into chapters and verses was inspired by God. A prime example of a problem break, is the break between 1st Thessalonians chapter 4, and 1st Thessalonians 5. The thought is continued from chapter 4 to 5. The break shouldn't be there. Thoughts don't begin with but!
The Bible answers dozens of questions, about who we are, where we came from, why we are alive, how we should live, who God is, and what He is like, how the universe came into being, etc. While other books have come and gone, the Bible is such an automatic best seller, that it no longer appears on the best seller lists.
I have yet to meet a person, no matter what the background, who has read the Bible from cover to cover a few times, and says he doesn't believe it.
The Bible says that there is an eternity, and that we will spend it, either with Him in heaven, or in the lake of fire with Satan. Isn't that enough reason to want to read it?
The author of this website has read the Bible straight through over 20 times, and has an understanding of the Bible, which few have attained. He and his family would like to help you understand the Bible, and make your peace with God.
Would you like to know more about the return of Jesus Christ? Check out this page: Jesus Is Coming Soon!
If you have questions, or comments, feel free to contact us. Use the link below and send us an e-mail.
Our Sunday AM services are being held at the Mexico Beach Civic Center. In accordance with federal laws, we have permission to use this heated, and air conditioned, facility on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM central time. We begin with a short time of greeting and fellowship, and then TJ leads us in worship. After the service we have holy communion, a time when people can request prayer, especially for healing, and sometimes, a pot luck luncheon.
The Mexico Beach Civic Center is located at 105 N. 31st Street. It is the white building with the dark green roof, which is just behind that new Mexico Beach restaurant, Mango Marley's. It is behind Parker Realty, and is on the northeast side of Rte 98. It is about 7/10 mile south of the Mexico Beach Welcome Center. For a map showing the location of the Mexico Beach Civic Center, click below the photo:
Mexico Beach Civic Center
Have a wonderful week. May God bless you, and your family!
