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An Extraordinary Book Called The Bible (Section)
The Bible does not glow in the dark, levitate, or otherwise exhibit any physical qualities that could be seen as supernatural, Se how can we know beyond a shadow of doubt that it is divinely inspired and God’s only word to mankind. Is it possible to determine the validity and the authenticity of the claims made by these Scriptures.
One of the many factors that support the Bible’s claim to be the word of God is that it replete with statements that demonstrate scientific knowledge that predates - often by many hundred of years - corresponding discoveries made by the modern scientific world. Given that Bible writers were not scientists and given that the scientific information at their disposal was both sparse and generally misleading, the accuracy of the Bible can only be attributed to Divine inspiration.
Prophecy And Typology (Section)
The one test that we can and should apply to all ‘sacred writings’ - the test of prophecy or the foretelling of future events. This because neither men nor false gods can infallibly and accurately predict the future in detail. Only the Supreme Being can do so and it is a relatively simple matter to ascertain whether such prophecies have been fulfilled or not. The Bible is unique in that it makes literally hundreds of predictions of future events, some of which were general - others were so specific that they gave places and dates.
Reading And Understanding Your Bible (Section)
Read The Bible For Yourself: Do not let anyone, even your religious leaders, tell you that you cannot understand the Bible without their interpreting it for you. You may be persuaded that you cannot understand the Scriptures because you are not a Hebrew or Greek scholar or do not hold any philosophical or theological degrees. First, it is not necessary to know everything; we learn by degrees. Second, if the Bible really is the Word of God, then it is only reasonable to believe that God will give understanding to anyone who unselfishly seeks the truth. This is His reason for giving the Holy Spirit: (What Do You Believe? Al Dager. Media Spotlight)
Also See
The “Lost” Books Of The Bible
When it comes to the Scriptures there are only two choices - either the Bible is Divinely inspired or it is not.
If the former it is impossible to believe that God managed to lose track of the contents of His own book. On the other hand, if the Bible is simply a product of the church then the leaders of the church had the right to determine which books accurately reflected their beliefs and include them in the canon. Any book they chose not to include is by definition not a part of the Bible. And, as said by Grek Koukl "It might be a lost book of antiquity, a great archaeological find, a wonderful piece of literature, but a lost book of the Bible? No".
In other words there is no such thing as a "lost book" of the Bible.
The Canon of Scripture and The Apocrypha
The Canon of Scripture: Because there were literally dozens of spiritual books that were written in the same time period as the books of the Bible many people believe church councils weeded those ones out because they were unfairly prejudiced against the teachings in those books. Thus they believe that many books that should have been included in the Bible were not.
This brings up a very important matter. Christianity is rooted in and inseparable from the Scriptures. Everything a Christian knows about God, everything he believes and practices, is based not on human knowledge, insight, or experiences but rests solely on God's Word to man as recorded in the Scriptures. However, if we can't identify the content and extent of Scripture there is no possible way we can distinguish theological truth from error.
The question then is how can we trust that the 66 books of the Bible that we so rely on today is exactly what the Father intended to be the complete canon - nothing to be added and nothing to be subtracted. In summary is it as Paul wrote enough to completely equip the man of God?
The Apocrypha: The apocryphal books were sometimes highly regarded or cited for their antiquity or for their historical, moral, or literary value, but there is a huge difference between "valuable" and "divinely inspired". Why are certain books accepted into the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Bibles but not included in Protestant Bibles?
The Septuagint
is often called the LXX for the 72 Jewish scholars who were supposedly commissioned to carry out the task of translating the Hebrew Bible into Koine, or common Greek. The story is based on an ancient document called the Letter of Aristeas that is riddled with improbabilities and historical errors. After taking all factors into consideration it seems reasonably clear that the story of the seventy elders is a work of fiction. And if there never were 72 translators commissioned by king Ptolemy then it follows that they did not individually and miraculously come up with the same wording and there is absolutely no grounds on which to base the claim that the Septuagint is an inspired version.
It is far more likely that the first five books of Moses were translated into Greek by Hellenistic Jews living in Alexandria, Egypt during the time of the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. They were losing touch with Hebrew and needed the Law in Greek - a language they probably used on a daily basis. Other books were added later. This goes a long way in explaining why some of the Old Testament books in the Septuagint show obvious signs of incompetent translation. In many cases the translators showed an "insufficient knowledge of Hebrew or a failure to grasp the sense of the context".
The Gnostic Gospels
Part I - Gnosticism and The Gnostic Jesus
Arguably, Elaine Pagels's book The Gnostic Gospels did more than any other effort to ingratiate the Gnostics with modern Americans. She made them accessible and even likable. Her scholarly expertise coupled with her ability to relate an ancient religion to contemporary concerns made for a compelling combination in the minds of many. Her central thesis was simple: Gnosticism should be considered at least as legitimate as orthodox Christianity because the "heresy" was simply a competing strain of early Christianity. Yet, we find that the Nag Hammadi texts present a Jesus at extreme odds with the one found in the Gospels.
Part II - The Gnostic Gospels: Are They Authentic?
Although much excitement has been generated by the Nag Hammadi discoveries not a little misunderstanding has been mixed with the enthusiasm.
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