Authentic Mission 06

by | Jul 29, 2021 | Authentic | 0 comments

Assess the Reliability and Trustworthiness of the Scriptures as Preserved Over Time.

So far, the evidence looks convincing; but, in your final mission, you’ll have to make sure that the Bible is actually trustworthy and reliable:

Mission 6: Assess the Reliability and Trustworthiness of the Scriptures as Preserved Over Time.

1. Eyewitness Testimony

Debriefing

After thinking through the questions, click the Answers tab to see our thoughts.

⇒ What is eternal life according to Jesus?

⇒ How did God pass down His word in the New Testament?

⇒ According to Jesus, what is God’s word & what does it do?

⇒ What is eternal life according to Jesus?

⇒ Knowing God & believing in Jesus whom He sent (17:3).

⇒ How did God’s pass down His word in the New Testament?

⇒ Receiving it from God, Jesus gave it to the Disciples (17:8). We get it through the Apostles’ message (17:20).

⇒ According to Jesus, what is God’s word & what does it do?

⇒ The truth that makes sinners holy & pure (17:17).

11. Prophecy

Old Testament Prophecy: Isaiah 40:8 (c. 750 B.C.) “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Proverbs 30:5 (c. 960 B.C.) “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” Psalm 119:160 (c. 444 B.C.) “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.” Psalm 19:9b-10a (c. 1015 B.C.) “The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold.”
Debriefing

After thinking through the questions, click the Answers tab to see our thoughts.

⇒ List 5+ claims the Old Testament makes about the Bible?

⇒ List 5+ claims the Old Testament makes about the Bible?

⇒ Endures forever, is flawless, provides protection, equals truth, is righteous, firm, more precious than gold

111. Ancient Non-Christian Historical Accounts

Lucian of Samosata (2nd Century Greek Satirist - He was a classic cynic that wrote parodies about literature, culture, religion, and society in general.) "The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account… You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property." (The Death of Peregrine, 11-13, c. 165AD)
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (1st & 2nd Century Roman Historian - Serving as a court official under emperor Hadrian, his report confirms the Jewish expulsion found in Acts 18:2.) "He exonerated for ever the people of Ilium from the payment of taxes, as being the founders of the Roman race; reciting upon the occasion a letter in Greek, from the senate and people of Rome to king Seleucus, on which they promised him their friendship and alliance, provided that he would grant their kinsmen the Iliensians immunity from all burdens. He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus." (The Deified Claudius 25.4, c. 120AD)
Debriefing

After thinking through the questions, click the Answers tab to see our thoughts.

⇒ Look up Acts 18:2. How does Suetonius help confirm the historical accuracy of an event in the book of Acts?

⇒ How does Lucian verify Christians’ use of the Bible?

⇒ Look up Acts 18:2. How does Suetonius help confirm the historical accuracy of an event in the book of Acts?

⇒ He is the only outside source that describes the same event: “Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome.”

⇒ How does Lucian verify Christians’ use of the Bible?

⇒ He says they worshiped Jesus’ by obeying his “novel rites” and “his laws” on complete faith. The church believed and lived by Jesus’ commands and teachings.

1V. Archeology

Archeological Support: Dead Sea Scrolls (Qumran, Israel) In 1947, teenage shepherds accidentally uncovered ancient jars in caves surrounding the Qumran community. In most places, materials like leather and papyrus decay quickly, but the dry and salty conditions around the Dead Sea provide a unique climate for long-term preservation. Among other ancient writings, the find included fragments from every book of the Old Testament except Esther and an almost entirely intact scroll of Isaiah from the early 1st century B.C. This discovery strengthens our confidence in the preservation of God’s Word and provides proof that that the Messianic prophecies predate their fulfillment by Jesus.
Debriefing

After thinking through the questions, click the Answers tab to see our thoughts.

⇒ How do the Dead Sea Scrolls verify biblical accuracy?

⇒ Why is this specifically true about Isaiah’s prophecies?

⇒ How do the Dead Sea Scrolls verify biblical accuracy?

⇒ They overwhelmingly match our later manuscripts.

⇒ Why is this specifically true about Isaiah’s prophecies?

⇒ It proves they were written before Jesus’ birth.

Deductions: John, who was present at the time, wrote about Jesus’ handing down of God’s word (referred to as “the truth”) to the Disciples, and how Jesus then would be sending them out to preserve and proclaim His message to the rest of the world. The Old Testament passages make this same truth claim as they guarantee the flawless, firm, valuable, and forever enduring nature of God’s word. Lucian’s account shows that this message was passed on to the next generation of Christians as they followed the “novel rites” and “laws” of Jesus by faith. Suetonius writings reveal Christians “making disturbances” for following Jesus instead of Rome while also validating a historical event from the book of Acts. The unearthing of the Dead Sea Scrolls provides B.C. era proof of biblical prophecies and serves as just one of many manuscript discoveries that offer confidence in how the biblical writings have been preserved faithfully over time. Confirmed: Though minor variations exist, the evidence points to a consistently preserved and reliably authoritative Bible that has been passed down as God’s own word over time.
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