The document describes the process by which the Bible came to be, including inspiration/revelation, transmission, translation, and canonization. It discusses how the Bible originated from oral tradition and divine inspiration before being physically written down. Scribes carefully copied manuscripts by hand according to strict rules to ensure accuracy. The Dead Sea Scrolls provided early manuscripts that supported the accuracy of later copies. Eventually manuscripts were bound and stored as codices rather than scrolls. There are various theories regarding how God inspired the human authors of the Bible.

1. How We Got the Bible
Process
Inspiration/Revelation
Transmission
Translation
Canonization
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5. How We Got the Bible
Inspiration: The supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit
upon scripture writers which rendered their writings an
accurate record of the revelation or which resulted in what
they wrote being considered the Word of God.
God

6. History of Writing
Oral tradition: repeating record or
information orally from one generation
to another.
“And God
said…”
l l l l
Creation Noah Abraham Moses
? ? 2000B.C.
(possible writing)
Oral tradition

7. History of Writing
Clay papyrus parchment
(moist tablet) (paper from (animal skins)
papyrus reeds)

8. Manuscript: A handwritten copy of the Bible
in the original language. 1000s of these are
available today but these have been copied
many times.

9. Masoretic Scribes

10. Masoretic rules for copying the Old
Testament
• the whole scroll must be carefully ruled before a
word is written
• the ink must be black, made from soot, charcoal
and honey
• each line is to contain 30 letters exactly
• each column is to contain an even number of
lines, the same number throughout the scroll

11. • no letter or word is to be written from memory
• each word must be studied in the original
manuscript and spoken aloud before being copied
• the document is to be carefully checked using
word and letter counts
• the entire scroll is to be checked by a supervisor
Masoretic rules for copying the Old
Testament

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17. Dead Sea Scrolls: In 1947 manuscripts of the Old
Testament were found in a cave by a Bedouin
shepherd in Qumran near the Dead Sea. They
date back to 100-200B.C. and are 1,000 years
older than the oldest manuscript discovered prior
to this time.

18. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain:
•Portions of all the OT books
except Esther
•The complete scroll of Isaiah
•Evidence of the accuracy of the
scribes

19. Codex: During the 2nd
century parchment scrolls
were folded and fastened
at one side with a cover.
These were forerunners to
books.

20. Theories of Inspiration
Neo-orthodox: the Bible is a witness to the word of God.
Because man is finite, reports may contain errors. As a person
experiences God afresh through these accounts it becomes the
word of God.
Limited Inspiration theory: God inspired the thoughts of the
biblical writer but not necessarily the words they chose. It may
contain errors but the Holy Spirit protected doctrinal portions from
error.
Dictation theory: God dictated the Bible to human scribes. He
gave them the words he wanted them to write.
Plenary Verbal Inspiration theory: The Holy Spirit interacted
with human writers to produce the Bible. Plenary means
complete. All scripture is inspired even the words but some
freedom is noted for the style and personalities of the authors but
the end product faithfully reflects the message God intended

21. Good Day! April 15 2015
• Open schoology.com
• Open the file 4/15 and the document.
• Once complete copy this into your Evernote for
today