２０２５年６月１日～約１年間かけ、キリスト教入門・神学コースで学んでいきたいと思います。只毎回集いたいのに集えない学びたいけど１年間を通すとなれば～？？？と思う方朗報です！この度HPから見る・学ぶことが可能になりました。数年後あ！こんな話してたよねって振り返えり誰かの力になることもあると思います。

第１２回　    The Inspired Word of God

（第1２回の　  The Inspired Word of Godは英語・日本語に分けてがあります。ですのでダウンロード無しで印刷可能です）

12.  The Inspired Word of God

(BMC Manual Articles of Religion) We believe that the sixty-six canonical books of the Old and New Testaments were given by divine inspiration and are the Word of God.  (II Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ) We believe the Holy Scriptures inerrantly reveal the will of God concerning all things necessary to our salvation so that whatever is not contained therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be enjoined as an article of faith  (II Peter 1:20-21).

Interesting facts about the Bible

•   First book ever printed (by Johann Gutenburg in 1446)  A total of 6+billion have been printed since.

•   New Testament translated into at least 1726 languages.

•   World's bestseller every year. 100 million sold annually. Another 100+ million are given away

•   Most expensive book.  1100 year old Hebrew Bible sold for $38.1 million in 2023.

•   Contains 21 dreams, 185 songs, 6468 commands and 40,000 promises.

The Bible's inspired authorship  II Peter 1:21

The Bible is a unique book in that it has over 40 authors and yet it has one central theme.

Fishermen, shepherds, a doctor, kings, priests, scribes, prophets and a Pharisee and a President wrote at different times for different reasons but each one had a message that God helped them to write down. We believe that every word in the Bible was given to men through inspiration and therefore the Bible is infallible and reliable.

Time of writing

Written over a 1600 year time frame and in 3 different continents ( Asia, Africa, Europe)

The first 5 books of the Bible were written by Moses around 1500～1450 B.C. and the last book was written by the Apostle John in 95～98 A.D.

Cannot be destroyed   Matthew 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Many atheists, emperors and dictators have tried to rid the world of the Bible but they have failed.

•   Voltaire, the famous agnostic said that in one hundred years the Bible would be an outmoded and forgotten book, to be found only in museums. When the one hundred years were up, Voltaire's house was owned and used by the Geneva Bible Society to print Bibles.

•   Tunstal, the Bishop of London, who spent much time and money buying cartloads of Bibles that were being smuggled into his city and taking them to St. Paul's Cross to burn them. He later asked a man that had been caught possessing a Bible where Tyndale was getting the money to pay for the publishing of all these Bibles.  “From you, sir, For every Bible you buy and burn, He gets the money to publish 10 more in its place!” 

Its prophecies come true

•   Over a hundred Messianic prophecies written centuries before Jesus's birth were all fulfilled.

•   Jeremiah the prophet prophesied that Babylon would be destroyed and would never be lived in again and that has been true. There is still just a pile of rubble there today. The modern city of Bahgdad is nearby but the actual ruin of Babylon is mostly unused.

•   Another prophecy in Ezekiel Ch 26 is made about the flourishing, port-city of Tyre. It was to be destroyed by Babylon, the site of the city was to be scraped clean and it was to be cast into the sea. True to prophecy, Nebuchadnezzar came and destroyed the city and drove the inhabitants out. The people of Tyre that survived, built a new city on an island about ½ mile into the sea. So far their city was not scraped clean nor was it cast into the sea. About 200 years later, Alexander the Great came to conquer Tyre and built a land bridge out to their island. In doing so his army used all the stones from the old city and even the dust itself was scraped up to dump into the ocean. The prophecy was literally fulfilled!

Its Manuscripts.

When trying to confirm the authenticity and accuracy of an ancient book, there are 2 major facts to consider.

1.                  How numerous are its manuscripts? The manuscripts will not all be identical but the more you have and can compare, the better idea you get of the original work. (There are no ancients books that have a surviving original copy or “autograph”)

2.                  How long of a time gap between the original work and the oldest manuscripts? The shorter the gap, the more likely the manuscripts are an accurate copy of the original.

The manuscripts of the Bible have some discrepancies in spelling and other small details but because of the many manuscripts that can be cross-checked the accuracy is unmatched among ancient works.

Archaeology supports the Bible

•   Nelson Glueck, a renowned Jewish archaeologist, said that no archaeological find has contradicted Scripture.

•   Sites such as Pilate's court, the Pool of Bethesda, the theater in Ephesus where the riot took place, have been uncovered hundreds of years after the Bible was written...backing up its truth.

•   The details of Jesus's birth including: Cyrenius the governor, the census and the return to the birthplace were all recently proven accurate by archaeology. Science and the finds of archaeologists continue to prove the Bible reliable.

It's preservation in copying

The Talmudists...a sect of Jewish scribes who hand copied Old Testament scrolls had these rules

◦      The ink had to be black, not green, red and had to use the same ink recipe.

◦      No word, letter or dot could be written from memory. They had to copy every word straight from the manuscript.

◦      Between every letter there had to be space of a hairsbreadth. 

◦      Between every paragraph the space of 9 letters.

◦      Between every book 3 lines.

◦      To be copied only by a Jewish scribe in full Jewish dress.

◦      Must have taken a bath before he began writing.

◦      When writing the name of God should not stop even if a king were to ask him a question.

◦      Some sects of scribes would require to count every letter in the Old Testament and find the middle letter.

◦      Any manuscript that had a mistake or blemish was buried or burned to prevent further copying mistakes.

Mainly written by eyewitnesses and personal friends of eyewitnesses.

•   The Gospels of Matthew and John were written by Jesus's disciples who walked with Him for 3 years and witnessed His life.

•   The Gospel of Mark was written by the apostle Peter's friend who is with Jesus in the Garden when He is arrested.

•   Luke was a physician who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. He wrote down what the apostle Paul preached. He traveled with Paul starting from Acts 16:10.

•   The Gospels were all written within 30-70 years of the life of Jesus. These books were written while many eyewitnesses were still alive and they could have pointed out any mistakes or lies in the books.

1000s of first century Christians died for their faith in God's Word

Many of the early church fathers such as Ignatius, Polycarp, died for their faith in God's Word which was recently written and could have been proven false if they would have found such evidence. 1000's of Christians laid down their lives in martyrdom because they had experienced the joy, forgiveness and peace promised through the Jesus of the Bible.

It speaks to our spirits   -   Its a Living Letter.

  The most wonderful thing about the Bible to me is that  The Spirit of God uses it to speak to me and guide the steps of my life.

  When I'm tired or discouraged, there are words of comfort and strength.

  When I grow careless or start to drift, God used His Word to warn me of my danger and point me to the safe path.

When I was backslidden, it was the Word of God that convicted me and dealt with my condition.

  In a day where God rarely speaks audibly to us, we have constant access to His precious Word! Aren't you glad you have access to the Word of God?

  It is our most treasured possession!!