The Kirk's Values
"We Believe the Bible"
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This is the first of our five value statements. These statements help guide us as we make decisions, preach, teach, and live the Gospel.
When we say “we believe the Bible,” it is that we take what it says on face value. There are parts of the Bible that good Christians interpret differently. This is one of the main reasons that there are different Christian denominations. Most of the Bible, though, is very clear and its meaning is only controversial because some people don’t like what it says.
We believe that the best way to study the Bible is simply to read it regularly. We also recommend that serious students of the Bible make careful use of commentaries and Biblical encyclopedias for background information.
All of our pastors have been trained to study the Bible in its original languages. This opens up the opportunity to use a wider range of support material, as well as the ability to evaluate specific translations of the Bible.
Bible Study Basics
The Importance of Studying the Bible
The Bible is the Word of God. God’s promises are in it. It has the history of God’s people, including the history of God keeping His promises. It is the revelation of all that God has given us in order to have salvation and live a life that is pleasing to Him. In order to do the latter, we must know what is in the Bible.
This is a lifelong quest. The Bible is a timeless book containing an inexhaustible store of guidance. It is meant to be read throughout one’s life.
Some people despair of ever really knowing what is in the Bible. They feel that they’ve wasted past time and have little time left to learn God’s Word. There is never a better day than today to start this lifelong journey.
Reading the Bible has immediate rewards. These vary from gleaning basic knowledge to finding life-changing insights. Not every passage will speak profoundly to the reader at any given time, but consistent reading finds the priceless veins within the ore.
One of the values of consistent reading of Scripture is adding knowledge upon knowledge. Knowing anything takes time. You’ll discover, after reading over a period of months and years, that you begin in interrelate passages of Scripture. You’ll get a sense of the “big picture” of Scripture.
Why do we need to know the background of a book of the Bible? Aren’t the Bible’s words alone enough?
I agree that the words of the Bible are sufficient in order to understand the basics of salvation and the ways in which Jesus wants us to live. But the study of the Bible is greatly enriched if you have additional background information.
If you took a trip overseas, you’d probably want to do some planning before you went. Certainly, you could enjoy a trip without doing so, but it would be much more enjoyable and beneficial with the background information, wouldn’t it? So it is with the Bible.
Background information does not add new truth to the Bible, but it gives the reader a context helpful for inter-relating parallel passages, understanding terms in the text (like measures and official titles), and placing books in their cultural context. Learning that certain people are mentioned in other books of the Bible can help you track their missions and careers. Knowing something about the geography can put a lot into better perspective.
Where can I find my own background information?
There are a lot of good sources for background information, and you might have at least one of them already. Study Bibles are called that because they contain some significant background information. This information can be found in footnotes, sidebars, and introductory articles.
Another good source is a good Bible Dictionary or Encyclopedia. These range from economical single-volume editions to very expensive multiple-volume editions. Still another source is a commentary on the particular book of the Bible that you are studying.
Let me add an important caution regarding these sources. All dictionaries, commentaries, encyclopedias, and study Bibles reflect the views of the authors. They are not themselves God’s Word. They contain both the insights and prejudices of their authors. Some commentaries are written by people who do not even believe Jesus was the Son of God, much less that the Bible is the Word of God. Most of them let their particular theological viewpoint dominate their interpretation.
I find it helpful to read commentaries by all kinds of authors. Some are more gifted at interpreting the original languages. Others have deep insights into history. But I read all of them with a critical mind. I constantly remind myself that these resources—as good as they can be—are secondary to Scripture itself.
Finding your way in the Bible
Concordances
A concordance is a record of many (in some cases all) of the words in the Bible. By looking up key words you can find the verses in which they are found. A couple of cautions are in order, though.
First, by necessity, concordances are translation-specific. A concordance for the King James Bible is very different from one for the New International Version. One deals with 17 th century Elizabethan words while the other is a 20 th century product.
Second, you must remember that several different words in Hebrew or Greek (the original Bible languages) may be translated into only one English word. A good example to remember is that the New Testament uses four different Greek words for “love,” while English has just the one word.
Some people prepare topical studies of the Bible, and even sermons, by looking up an English word in the concordances of several different translations. This compounds problems, adding the different translation choices to the problem above. If you want to determine
Good, comprehensive concordances have particular English words listed in separate groups if different Hebrew or Greek words translated into one English word. Also, remember that the concordance found in the back of many Bibles is very incomplete, giving you only the barest landmarks for a word of topic.
Topical Bibles (Chain Reference Bibles)
Topical Bibles have footnotes and/or sidebars and/or endnotes arranged according to various topics. Sometimes these topics have to do with life issues. More often, the topics are subsets of theology or Bible study.
These can be very helpful to personal study of the Bible. The ones based on theological and Bible study topics are particularly helpful preparing lessons or sermons. One very important caveat needs to be kept in mind: the topics themselves, along with whatever might be written about them, reflect the mind of the writer. They are not Scripture, even though they deal with it.
This writer’s perspective is often found in the name of the topical Bible. A favorite of mine is the Thompson (Topical) Bible. This was assembled in the late 19 th and early 20 th century by a preacher, Dr. Frank Thompson. Other popular
Another caveat is that too much reliance on a topical Bible can actually narrow your study, rather than broadening it. This is because its use relies on the writer’s perspective. Your own reading of the Bible may well be more thorough, or your understanding deeper than what a topical study provides.
Some chain references are included as footnotes in the text that lead to a column of references between the text columns. These lead the reader to other verses that the preparer believes amplify the verse you just read. As with all systems like this, the prejudice and limitations of the author must be kept in mind so that the system doesn’t supersede the Scripture itself.
Study Bibles
Study Bibles are often prepared by the Bible publisher. They differ from a simple Bible in that they have footnotes that define terms and, sometimes, even interpret verses. Some well-known Christian leaders, like John MacArthur and Charles Swindoll, have prepared their own study notes for various Bible publishers.
Marking your Bible
The best way to find your way around your Bible is to have one Bible you read, read it regularly, and mark what you read. If you’ve ever done this with a textbook in school, you’ll remember how your marks helped you return to important thoughts and points for your study. The same thing can be true in Bible study.
Some people have complex marking system, with different colors for different topics or issues. I’ve found, though, that marking, by itself, is a great help in relocating favorite and important passages.
You Can Trust the Accuracy of Scripture
The Canon of Scripture
The Bible didn’t “land” on earth complete. It is a compilation of many writings, occurring literally over thousands of years. So how did it come to be the unified book that it is today?
There is a lot of academic speculation about how the books of the Bible were written. There are multiple, complex, even labyrinthine theories of multiple sets of authors, editors, later additions and subtractions to meet later generations’ popular literary theories. Since the Enlightenment (18 th Century), every generation of academics has had novel theories about the origins of Scripture, many of them based upon a skeptical bias.
We believe that the Holy Spirit inspired the content and the process of compiling the Bible. The Holy Spirit always worked through faithful people to make Scripture what it is.
A part of this inspiration was the compiling of what we now call the Bible. We know that the Gospels were circulating in written form toward the end of the Apostles’ lifetimes. We also know that the number and ordering of the four Gospels was also very early.
Old Testament books were included not only because of the Jewish background of Christianity, but because Jesus himself identified them as the Word of God, often quoting from those books. One book, Daniel, has had a shaky status in the Old Testament for some Jews, but we readily include it because Jesus identified Daniel as a prophet.
“The time will come when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about: the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place”—reader, pay attention! (Matthew 24:15)
Other books of the New Testament were made a part of the Bible because of their connection with the Apostles, along with the fact that they were frequently quoted as Scripture in early sermons by people like Clement I of Rome. Some of these sermons have survived and come down to us today.
The standard was that any book included in the Bible must have been
- written by an apostle (like Paul’s letters),
- dictated by an apostle (like the Gospel of Mark, dictated by Peter),
- or affirmed as Scripture by an apostle (like Hebrews).
Such standards mean not only that the books have an appropriate provenance, but that no books by spurious teachers would be added later. Recent experience shows God’s wisdom in this. Writings claiming to be Gospels have literally been dug up in recent decades. You’ve heard of some of them, like the Gospel of Thomas, or the Gospel of Judas. These were written two to four hundred years after Jesus. Because they teach things that modern society would prefer over the Bible, some academics have been trying to equate them with the four Gospels.
Since Christianity began as an illegal religion, often carrying the death penalty, there was not a lot of public written information about it. This is why there are not a lot of early lists of New Testament collections. Even so, we do have accounts of early collections of the four Gospels and of the letters of Paul, Peter, James, and John.
When Christianity became legal in the early fourth century, one of the first things done was to publish the canon—the list of the legitimate books of the Bible. This list comes down to us today, intact.
Unique in all of ancient literature, the Bible has many extant copies dating almost back to the beginning of its history. Some fragments, and even complete pages of the New Testament, date back to the times of the apostles. In comparison, the oldest copies of the works of Homer date from more than 900 years after his death.
Qumran cave document 7q5 is a fragment of Mark 6:52-53, possibly dated around 50 A.D. which would make it the earliest surviving New Testament manuscript. The shape of the letters, along with the high-quality papyrus upon which they are written, indicate that this fragment was probably part of a copy professionally made for reselling. This is significant, since it would put the circulation of the Gospel of Mark at a very early date.
Above is a Gospel text from a codex. While papyrus documents were often in scrolls, a codex was more like a book. The pages are leather, processed to make the inked letters legible. This copy is more than 1,600 years old.
Above is an example of what is called “miniscule” text—lower case Greek. There are no spaces between the words. The marks above some of the letters are accents that help with understanding the division between words and the parts of grammar. The text in the right margin is a note made by a reader or, possibly, transcribed from an earlier text copied here.
Experts take fragments of ancient Scriptures like those above and can assemble them like a puzzle. In the case of fragments that don’t match others, the same scholars can deduce which Gospels they are from. The data from such fragments are the sources from which an apparatus (below) is made.
The tradition of the Church has been, from early times, that the canon (the books included) of Scripture is complete. While there are ancient texts that were not included in Scripture, and there are wonderful things written even today, none of these match the canonical standard for what is or is not Scripture. Reformed teaching says that Scripture contains “all that is necessary for faith and practice.” This means that what we have in the Bible is complete insofar as God wishes it to be.
Many pastors are trained to read the Bible in its original languages—Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament. I, like so many pastors, have let my Hebrew rust away, but have kept up with the Greek.
The Greek editions of the New Testament contain detailed explanations, called the “apparatus,” which contains every known variant reading found in the tens of thousands of existing ancient New Testament manuscripts like the ones above.
There are a few significant discrepancies between some major ancient manuscripts. For instance, a couple of ancient Bibles do not have the last verses of the Gospel of Mark. Others omit a few verses in the Gospel of John. While these discrepancies are few, they are not hidden. Your own English Bible will probably have footnotes describing them.
On rare occasions, marginal notes by translators or copiers have been accidentally included in the text. All modern translations have removed these. There are yet other variances in ancient copies of Biblical manuscripts.
The vast majority of variants are insignificant. One reading, for instance, might say “our Lord, Jesus Christ,” while another says “our Lord, Christ Jesus.” The Greek reader will find all of these instances in the apparatus:
Electronic editions of the Greek text enable the user to delve more easily into variant readings. They allow multiple English translations on screen, along with commentaries, original language texts and multiple apparati:
In the above example the Greek text is in window #1. Window #2 is an English translation and right next to it, in window #3 are cross references listing every occasion a particular Greek word is used elsewhere in the Bible. Window #4 is the apparatus for each word in the text.
The point of all this is for the teacher or preacher to have everything at hand necessary to do the best job of study and preparation. In-depth Bible study is essential for those who present the Word of God, and shortcuts are nothing short of immoral. God’s Word reigns supreme, and our words have to be subservient to it.
Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged by God with greater strictness. (James 3:1)
There is also a responsibility on the part of the student to reject any teacher or teaching that doesn’t match what Scripture clearly says:
If someone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite him into your house or encourage him in any way. (2 John 10)
You Can Trust Current Translations of the Bible
Lest you think that all of this information might disqualify you from reading or teaching the Bible yourself, don’t fear. The reason for confidence is that the translators of all modern editions of the Bible have done a good job. This translation work is almost done by committees of scholars, dedicated to the task of truthful, clear text.
The American Bible Society has published an excellent online resource “A Concise History of the English Bible” which you can access here.
Which Version of the Bible Should I Read?
The different translations available reflect different tastes and philosophies of translation. There are two broad categories of philosophy of Biblical translation. The first is called “dynamic.” Bibles like the New International Version (NIV) or the New Living Translation (NLT) are dynamic translations. As such, their wording reflects the truthful sense of the original language, rather than a literal, word-by-word translation. This makes these Bibles more readable and easier to understand. Almost all translation of documents other than the Bible is done dynamically, because there really is no one-to-one word relationship between languages.
Because we have a deeper concern for what the Bible says, and because most Bible readers cannot use the original languages, there are literal translations available (or as close to literal as possible, since simply stringing the English equivalents of foreign words would make it almost impossible to read). These “more” literal translations include the New American Standard Bible (NASB).
There are also paraphrases of the Bible. A paraphrase is an attempt to edit the Bible into common language, but without the process of dealing with the original languages. The most popular example of this is the Living Bible (not to be confused with its successor, the Living Translation, which is a dynamic translation). The author of the paraphrase rewrote the King James Bible into language that his children could better understand.
What follows is a list (believe it or not, it is not complete) of various English Bibles, organized according to their type of translation. If you click on the name of a particular version, you’ll be connected to a page describing it.
Literal Translation
New American Standard Bible, also here
The Literal Translation of the Bible
Somewhat Dynamic Translation
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Today’s New International Version
International Standard Version
Dynamic Translation
Very Dynamic Translation
Today’s English Version (Good News Translation; Good News Bible)
Paraphrase
New Living Bible (NOT the New Living Translation)
A brief comparison of a number of these versions, along with some information about each, can be found here.
Which Bible do I recommend? I regularly use two versions—the New International Version, which we use as our worship Bible (it’s in the pew racks), and the New Living Translation. I usually study the former and read the latter for enjoyment, as well as a slightly different perspective.
I have a couple of parallel Bibles. These have four to eight versions of the Bible side-by-side for comparison. I also have English/Greek/Hebrew parallel Bibles that put an English Bible alongside the original languages.
Computer Bibles
The computer is a wonderful tool for Bible study. It is possible to purchase every major translation of the Bible in all languages, including the original languages. Almost all major commentaries, topical systems, dictionaries and encyclopedias can be added to these.
The search capacity of computers gives you instant access to any word in the Bible. The programs include customizable Bible study plans. I use one for daily reading, so that I go through the Bible every year in a different translation. During the year I add to that a customized reading plan of the Gospels, Paul’s letters, the Prophets, or the like.
The programs themselves range from very simple to incredibly complex. This also means that the price range can go from free (e-sword), inexpensive (QuickVerse, from $59), to many thousands of dollars if you purchase all the bells-and-whistles. You can purchase computer Bibles for your PDA or Ipod, starting at around$10, from Laridian.
The best comprehensive programs, in my opinion, are Accordance for Macintosh computers, and Logos for PCs. Both have basic systems that start for over $100, and an almost unlimited upper end of additions.
Verse of the Day
