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L E T T E R

Dear Wall Breakers

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ear Wall Breakers, Greetings in the name of our LORD. We are happy to meet you through this first edition of Shofar. The act of wall breaking signifies, breaking the spiritual walls and barriers that every believer faces, like being locked up in sin and going through trials the size of Jericho wall. Believers who break such walls by the power of the word of God are all ‘wall breakers’.

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

(John 17:17)” There are many philosophies and faiths in India. Out of which, Christian faith is different from the others because we are the ones who know the truth, as God wants us to know through the Scriptures. But even within our fellow brethren in Christ, we are struggling with sinful thoughts, wrong teachings and falsehoods. We are supposed to be the light of this dark world but we are not so. Our people have been tossed back and forth with many false ideas and teachings. With this burden, we are bringing this magazine 'Shofar' to bring the truth among christians so that we can live in the truth and holiness as God wants us to be. 'Shofar' is the hebrew word used for the 'trumpet' used

by Israelites to destroy the walls of Jericho. Likewise, we hope and pray that this magazine also would be breaking the walls of our falsehood and sinfulness and build us with God's word. May God be with you and give you wisdom and knowledge to know Him as He revealed it through His Word. And let us join hands in bringing the strongholds of satan with the sword, which is His word.

SANCTIFY THEM IN THE TRUTH; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.

with regards, Fellow Wall Breakers.

THIS MAGAZINE IS PRIMARILY MEANT FOR BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS. KINDLY PASS THIS ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AFTER YOU COMPLETE READING THIS OR ADD THEM TO OUR MAILING LIST BY MESSAGING THEIR ADDRESS TO US 3

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all Breakers Union is a Charitable Christian Organisation whose purpose is to bring together Christians who have the passion to preach the biblical gospel and to reform the church by scriptural truths. We provide opportunities for Christians, who share our vision and who are willing to work with us, especially those who are occupied with their earthly vocations. Any Christian who has similar beliefs and goals can join us, provided they have a vocation to support themselves. We have doctors, engineers, teachers, artists, evangelists, pastors and students who are vying to break the walls of strongholds.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10: 3,4)

• To work for the spiritual development of youth in schools, colleges, hostels and churches.

• To take the good news to children homes, old age homes and other similar places.

• To work through the Churches, Christian Fellowships, Sunday Schools, Christian Youth groups and evangelical organizations like the EU, FMPB, IMS, EMFI, etc. wherever possible.

• To assist Christians in their day to day evangelism.

• To write tracts, books, articles and magazines in as many Indian languages as possible.

• To display tracts in Christian hospitals, schools and other places were possible.

• To preach the Gospel, as it has to be preached according to the Word of God to those who do not know it & to those people who have already heard a corrupted non biblical Gospel.

• Reforming the existing believers, through the Word of God. • Translate and publish good existing doctrinally soundbooks of protestant reformation.

• Establish an internet website containing all the resources.

• Work towards establishing Christian Medical ethics and work ethics in India.

Our Motto:

Our activities:

To destroy strongholds of Satan and to build the Spiritual kingdom of God.

• We display literatures of life transforming testimonies in hospitals for Christian witness and psychological counselling • We publish a magazine ‘SHOFAR’ for teaching Christians sound doctrines • We work among the downtrodden of the society for their social and spiritual upliftment by conducting health camps and counselling sessions.

We have three wings 1) The Bereans: The aim of this wing is to aid and equip Christians with sound doctrines and teachings, so that the invisible Church in India would be preserved without blemish when Christ comes back and not be tossed back and forth with falsehood.

2) Fishers of Men: The aim of this wing is to preach the biblical gospel to individuals using innovative methods and individualised presentation. We also concentrate on helping other Christians to preach the gospel.

3) Good Samaritans: The aim of this wing is to be charitable in possible ways to destitute, widows and orphans, differently abled people, etc., who are within and outside the church.

We function with God as our Chief Wall Breaker. The act of wall breaking signifies breaking the spiritual walls and barriers that every believer faces, like being locked up in sin and going through trials the size of Jericho wall. Believers who break such walls by the power of the word of God are all ‘wall breakers’. This union is a mere association of all such wall breakers.

Our Mission statement:

Our hope: "The breaker goes up before them; They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it. And the LORD at their head." (Micah 2:13) Our objectives: • To work among Christian doctors and help them in their evangelism of patients.

Contact us : The Wall Breakers Union, Vellore, India.

Our Statement Address : No.1, 2nd West Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Vellore - 632006 India. of faith is Phone : +919487676628 Whats app: +919487676628 available at E-mail : wallbreakersunion@gmail.com our Website Web : http://www.thewallbreakersunion.com Twitter : wbu_ind 4 Shofar English May 2015 Facebook : - www.facebook.com/wallbreakersunion Tamil - www.facebook.com/thewallbreakersunion

SCRIBES AND TRANSLATION J O E L

common objection to the Bible is that its origin can be compared to a game of Chinese Whispers or Telephone.

As such, it is believed to contain lots of errors that have accumulated over the years. The telephone game is a game where people stand in a straight line with one person whispering a message into another person’s ears and that person whispers it to the next person and so on. In a typical game, the message is often seen to morph into a completely different message by the time it reaches the end of the line – often with hilarious results.

Is this really the way we get our Bible today? This article demonstrates that this is not the case. A brief introduction to Textual Criticism is provided, followed by an overview of the English Translations of the Bible.

Textual Criticism is the field of study concerned with determining the contents of the original manuscripts (autographs) of the Bible.

While we do not have the original manuscripts of the Bible, we are able to assert what the original autographs of the Bible would have been like.

Internal/Pre-suppositional Proofs:

It is important to see what the Bible says concerning the nature of Scripture and knowledge. Scripture, is first and foremost, the part of God’s mind that He has revealed to his chosen people. No one can destroy or corrupt God’s mind. Therefore, Scripture exists propositionally in the minds of believers even if every physical copy of the Bible is destroyed.

Rom 10:14-15 (ESV) tells us, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”.

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Matt 24:14 (ESV) tells us, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Jesus also tells us that the Old Testament is Scripture (John 5:39; Matt 5:17; Matt 23:35) and that the Scriptures cannot be broken (John 10:35). From these, we know that the Scripture would be preserved throughout time and will not pass away. Jesus also identified the Old Testament Canon as everything from Abel (The first martyr in Genesis) to Zechariah (The last martyr in the last book of the Old Testament

Can the Bible’s origin be compared to Chinese Whispers? as arranged in the Jewish Canon: Chronicles).

Jesus did not recognize the Apocryphal books that are used by the Roman Catholic Church today. Last but not least, the Apostle John closed the Canon after writing the book of Revelation by pronouncing a curse on anyone who adds to the book. Jesus also affirmed the Law, the Prophets, and the Wisdom literature (Psalms) in Luke 24:4. This sets for us the

boundaries of the books of the Bible. Between the New Testament and Old Testament, the books quote one another >3,000 times – demonstrating the complete unity of these books of the Bible as authoritative.

External Evidence:

While we do not have any existing physical copies of the original manuscripts of the Bible (i.e. the Autographa). What we have are the copies of copies (Apographa). While the original manuscripts of the Bible are without any errors, the apographa may contain scribal errors.

In the late 15th century, the Greek language was rediscovered after being lost for many years. At that time, Christians used the Latin Vulgate, which was translated by Jerome from the Greek in the fourth Century AD -- almost a

the Textus Receptus was a vast improvement over the Latin Vulgate and preserved the word of God for the people of God. In the last 500 years, many more manuscripts have been found allowing scholars to put together a text of the Bible that is far more accurate than the hastily assembled Textus Receptus. The vast number of manuscripts allows us to discern the original text better when some of these manuscripts differ from one another.

Scholars today have approximately 5,700 Greek manuscripts for the New Testament. This outnumbers any other ancient manuscripts; is closer to the original writing than other similar ancient writings; and has an internal consistency of around 99.5% among the various Greek Manuscripts. There are over 19,000 copies outside of these Greek Text in Syriac, Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic. Together,

Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses many years later was therefore wrongly sculpted with two short horns on Moses’ head thousand years before that. When the Greek manuscripts were examined, it was discovered that the Latin Vulgate contained many errors and mistranslations. For example, when Jerome translated the Latin Vulgate, when describing how Moses' face "shone" after his conversation with the Lord, wrongly translated the word as "horn". Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses many years later was therefore wrongly sculpted with two short horns on Moses’ head. Erasmus was one of the theologians racing to get a Greek translation of the Bible compiled. He gathered together half a dozen Greek Manuscripts from the twelve century and hastily sent them to be printed. This text was slowly edited repeatedly over the years to correct some of the more obvious textual errors in them, and this widely used text soon became known as the received text (Textus Receptus).

Contrary to popular belief, the TextusReceptus was not a single fixed compilation of the original bible, but an eclectic text hastily put together from different manuscripts available during that time. Despite its many technical short comings, 6

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we have over 25,000 manuscripts of the New Testament alone, and this is even before we address the evidence for the Old Testament.

Recently, there has even been reports of a papyri sheet containing fragments of the gospel of Mark that was probably written around AD 80-90 within 50 years of the original copy of the gospel of Mark (believed to have been written around AD 66-70) . With the Old Testament, we have copies of the Hebrew Masoretic texts that date back to around 800AD, and The Greek Old Testament (LXX) which were translations from even earlier Hebrew Manuscripts and are dated to around ~300BC. In addition, the Dead Sea Scrolls also lends credibility to how well the Old Testament text has been preserved.

To use the analogy of the telephone game, imagine having a line of 25,000 writers (not just oral transmission, but written records) copying the sentence, “This is a cat”. Somewhere along the line, the message get copied wrongly so that it becomes, “This is a bat”. Another person writes, “These is a cat”. Yet another writes, “This is a cats”. Would we be able to figure out

what the original message was? If we have 25,000 manuscripts all laid out before us in the order they were written, we would not only be able to determine where each error occurred, but even identify when those errors arose. If we were to go all the way back so that we are able to examine some of the earliest copies of this sentence, it is not difficult to recover the original message. The same goes for the Bible. While there are some minor differences between the different manuscript traditions, a closer study of the various manuscripts often clarifies the matter. For example, a well-known variant in the Old Testament that differs between the Masoretic Text and LXX is Psalms 96:5. In 1 Cor 10:19-21, the Apostle Paul quotes Psalms 96:5 as saying that food sacrificed to idols are actually sacrificed to demons. The Hebrew Masoretic Text on Psalms 96:5 reads, “all the gods of the nations are idols/nothingness”, while the Greek LXX reads, “all the gods of the nations are demons”.

Paul would have been familiar with both the Hebrew and Greek texts, yet his teaching on 1 Cor 10:19-21 indicates his preference for the LXX translation in this particular passage since he says that food offered to idols are not just nothingness, but demonic, and that anyone eating food sacrificed to demons participate in demonic worship. Other times, the Masoretic texts prove to be superior, as in the case of biblical chronologies (where a couple of LXX copies have the obvious error of having Methuselah dying 17 years after Noahic flood even though he should have already died before the flood came). We see parts of both the Greek LXX and the Hebrew Masoretic texts that were quoted by Jesus and the Apostles in the Scripture (though the LXX tends to be quoted more often). Using a range of different manuscripts and analytical tools, scholars are able to pinpoint what the original manuscripts would have looked like with a high degree of certainty.

Furthermore, unlike the traditional game of telephone, modern Bibles do not merely appeal to the latest copy of manuscripts, but seek to refer back to the earliest and best manuscripts of the Bible for their translation.

If we were to refer back to our analogy of the 7

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telephone game, and have each person refer back to the first few copies of the message as the basis for their copy, the margin for error becomes extremely small, and even if there is a copyist mistake somewhere along in the line, it would not make its way our translation. Using this method, it does not matter how long the line of transmission is. If each scribe copies his message by going back to the earliest manuscripts, its accuracy would be maintained – one might even argue that it is even better, since now, with the vast number of copies we have, anyone who makes a copyist mistaken would not have that error passed on to the next writer. If each person in a telephone game is allowed to refer back to the first few people in the chain for their message, there would be no room for any error.

Modern English Bibles

There are two major types of translations.

Dynamic Equivalence and Formal Equivalence Bibles. Dynamic Equivalent Bibles are Bibles that paraphrase the Greek text to English in their translation in order to present the original message of a text in an attempt to better convey what a passage is trying to say or to make a passage easier to understand for a modern crowd. Some Bibles that do this would include the New International Version (NIV) or the loosely paraphrased, New Living Translation (NLT). Formal Equivalence Bibles are more literal in their translation process and sticks more to a wooden word-for-word translation as far as possible. While this is more suitable for Bible studies as it is a word for word translation of the original languages, there is a tendency for some ideas to get lost in translation. The best approach is to translate for oneself by going back to the

original manuscripts, but if we are unable to do so, the next best text is usually to refer to a formal equivalence Bible as an accurate representation of the original language.

Formal Equivalence Bibles include the English Standard Version (ESV), the Lexham English Bible (LEB), New American Standard Bible (NASB), and the King James Version (KJV).

My personal preference is to use the LEB for the New Testament, and the ESV for its translation of the Old Testament. There is a third category which include works that are so loose in their translations that they cannot really be called a translation, but rather, are better called “books based on the Bible”.

These are not recommended for Bible study as they are a loose rewriting of what the text says. Some examples of these include The Message, and the Good News Bible. An even worse category are books that are deliberately

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rewritten to differ from the text. An example of these would be the New World Translation – the Bible used by the Jehovah Witness Cult.

They edit the Scripture to remove teachings that contradict the teachings of their cult. The Queen James Bible is another example of this, where passages on homosexuality are changed to remove the Biblical prohibition.

The Voice, a text written by the Emergent Church (a postmodern cult), is yet another version that has been deliberately rewritten to deny almost every major Christian doctrine in the Bible. These texts are not the Bible translations they claim to be, but are deliberate attacks and rebellion against the God of the Bible. Christians need to be careful to avoid such books.

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he world’s oldest complete copy of the Ten Commandments is going on rare display at Israel’s leading museum in an exhibit tracing civilisation’s most pivotal moments. The 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scroll, from a collection of the world’s most ancient biblical manuscripts discovered near the Dead Sea east of Jerusalem, has never before been publicly displayed in Israel and has only been shown in brief exhibits abroad, said Pnina Shor of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The manuscript is so brittle that it will only be on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem for two weeks before it is returned to a secure, pitch-black, climate-controlled storage facility there.

(Source: ‘The Guardian ‘ dated May 6 2015)

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HOW 66 BOOKS BECAME PART OF THE BIBLE? S A M

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here are atheists and people of other faiths, accusing Christians of following an old document which was written by fallible men not from God. I have heard non-Christians asking me questions like, “Did God give the Bible directly from Heaven?” So how did we come to know the 66 books of the Bible as the Scripture? In this topic we are going to look into the details of how they came to pass.

In order for a document or a book to be part of Scripture, they have to fulfil some rules.

We are going to see the ‘Rules’ required by a book to be part of the Bible.There are three rules which were considered by both Old and New Testament saints to test the authenticity of Scripture.

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they all proclaimed the similar theme which is in unison with rest of the scriptures.

2) Illuminating witness of the Holy Spirit:

Before Jesus was taken up to heaven, He said "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. “(John 15:26)(ESV).

God has promised us that the Holy Spirit would guide us in truth. Since God’s promises will come to pass, this promised Spirit of God

1) Internal consistency of the 66 books of Bible:

Internal consistency means that the article/book under consideration is not selfcontradictory. It means that all the parts of the Scriptures are consistent. For example, some Hindu Vedic texts say, “There is only One God” whereas in other places, they say “Everyone is God”. This is logically impossible because both “There is only One God” and “Everyone is God” cannot be true at the same time and context.

So Hindu Vedic texts are self-contradictory. But that is not the case with the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, all 66 books talk about same characteristics of God, the sinfulness of man and the need for a saviour to pay for our sins.

This theme has been there throughout the Scripture. Jesus and the New Testament authors quoted the passages of the Old Testament as Scripture 295 times. Even in the New Testament era, the apostles quoted from each other’s epistles as ‘Scripture’. The Bible has been inspired by God through many authors who lived in different periods of time, from different backgrounds (Prophets, kings, administrators, doctors, Pharisees, tax collectorsetc) and yet 9

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In order for a document to be part of Scripture, they have to fulfil some rules has been the testimony of Christians through history that these books are from God. 3) God’s providence in limiting the Bible to 66 books:

Since God is good and perfect, it is against His nature to hide some of ‘God’s word’ somewhere in a scroll in a secret place for more than 2000 years after Christ has risen to heaven. Heb 1:1-2 says “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. “(Heb 1:1-2)

(ESV). This verse is the proof for what I have said with regards to limiting the Bible to 66 books. There are two periods of time where God had revealed Scriptures. First during the time of the Jewish nation which we call the Old Testament and then during the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles in the 1st century in Rome, which we callthe New Testament. God has in Rev 22:18,19 commanded us not to add or remove the words from the Word of God. Jesus also says in Mat 5:18, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” These are the assurances from God himself that the Bible is complete.

Historical Background:

The idea of a written Scripture was initiated

by God when He commanded Moses to write the first five books of Scripture. “And he gave to Moses, when he had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God” (Ex. 31:18).

Moses wrote from Genesis to Deuteronomy.

Joshua and the Judges contributed the books Joshua and Judges. After that the prophets wrote most of the books. King Solomon wrote Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes.

Psalms is collection of many authorsfrom different backgrounds. Prophets wrote the rest of the books. Last book to be written in Old Testament is Malachi around 435BC. The Jews considered these works as part of the Torah while the Apocrypha was not considered to be part of the Bible. Historically, it has been considered that the apostles were entrusted with the writing of books under divine authorship and inspiration of God. Bible says, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:21)” So the first century Christians considered the New Testament books as scriptures and were quoting them in their letters written to churches.

But even then,all 25 books were not compiled together as the New Testament till the 2nd century. In the 2nd century, a heresy came which claimed that gnostic gospels were the sole truth of God. Gnosticism involves various heretical doctrines like denyingthehumanity 10

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of Jesus Christ, literal death of Jesus on the Cross etc. In order to save the church from heretical teachings, the early church leaders wanted to identify and compile the books which are truly inspired by God. Irenaeus was the first to compile theNew Testament based on apostolic witness. By the end of the 2nd century, the church leaders understood and accepted the current 25 books as part of the New Testament.

Church is not the authority of Scripture:

The most important argument of the Roman Catholics for Scriptures is that, the church authorities of the past were the ones who decided which books were to be a part of the Scripture and which were not. Scripture is not a list of books as approved by any human authority-be it apostles, prophets or Church councils. The Scriptures are self-attested. God providentially illuminated the church leaders

Irenaeus was the first to compile the New Testament

in the past to recognize and understand the superiority and the authority of the books of the New Testament. In other words, the Church is not above the Scripture and has no right to decide which books to include and not to include.

Rather, God helped the church to recognise the books in the New Testament as Scriptures through the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit.

This is how a theologian sums this up: ‘The NT books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognising their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect…. [Church] councils [did] not impose something new upon the Christian communities but codified] what was already the general practice of those

communities.’

The Catholic bible contains more books than the 66 books of the Protestant Bible.

These extra books are called the'Apocryphal Books'. These books are not considered as Scriptures because they do not pass the three rules of authenticity of Scriptures.

Practical applications:

1) This gives assurance that to know God’s Will, we need only God’s Word. We don’t need approval of any preachers, ministers or any human authority.

2) We can test councils of men, doctrines,

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hhattisgarh literally 'Thirty-Six Forts' is a state in Central India. It is the 10th largest state in India, with an area of 135,190 km2.

With a population of 25.5 million, Chhattisgarh is the 16th most-populated state of the nation.

It is a source of electricity and steel for India. Chhattisgarh accounts for 15% of the total steel produced in the country. There were 22.8 million people in Chhattisgarh as per the census 2011. As per 2001 census, total population is 20,833,803.Hindu population is 19,729,670 (94.07%), 409,615 (1.94%) Muslim, 401,035 (1.93%) Christian, 69,621 (0.33%) Sikhs and 65,267 (0.3%) Buddhists. Chhattisgarh now has the highest Hindu percentage in the world by state.

According to the data presented by the Evangelical Fellowship of India, Chhattisgarh has seen the most number of Christian persecutions.

The number of significant incidents violating human rights and inflicting physical damage for the past few years are as follows: Year 2012 – 21, Year 2013 – 28, Year 2014 – 28 For more details contact: Evangelical Fellowship of India, 805/92, Deepali Building, Nehru Place New Delhi - 110019, India Please Pray for Chhattisgarh, the Chief Minister Shri. Raman Singh and his cabinet and the Governor Shri. Balramji Das Tandon. Pray for our brothers ministering in Chhattisgarh.

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prophecies from God through the authority of Scripture which is complete.

3) The 66 books of Bible are sufficient to know if we are doing God’s Will or not. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17). If we are obedient to Scriptures, then that means we are in God’s plan of life. We don’t need any more assurances from any other sources.

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Chhattisgarh

Source: F.F. Bruce The New Testament Documents: Are they reliable?

(Downers Gr, Ill.: IVP 1960) http://creation.com/the-authority-of-scripture

THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE SCRIPTURES S A M

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ecently, a friend and I were talking about issues regarding divorce and abortion. I told him that God has made marriage as a covenant that lasts till death and that divorce is not an option . I also told him that abortion for the sake of contraception is wrong and unethical. My friend, however, opined that divorce was okay if there was a ‘valid’ reason and that we could abort a child depending on the ‘situation’. We realized that the reason for our disagreement is because of our attitude towards the Scriptures.

My friend felt that the scriptures, despite being God’s word do not possess the answers for issues of daily living, like the case above.

We see, here, that our view on Scripture can drastically affect our way of thinking and change our life dramatically.

Many of us are of the view, like my friend above, that the Holy Bible is a good book, but is irrelevant for the issues of the 21st century. Now, if the Scriptures cannot answer issues like these, how can we trust it for more important things like our salvation?

Scripture – Sufficient for our faith:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17) In this context, Paul was warning Timothy about the false teachings which were

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prevalent among the Christians of his time and charged him to be steadfast in his faith. Then, he exhorted him, declaring that the Scripture is God’s Word breathed out directly from the Holy Spirit (2Pet 1:21). Though God can speak to us through a prophecy or a dream, it would involve a human element and thus can be fallible. The Scripture, however, does not contain any human elements because “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. (2Pe 1:20)”. Thus, it is free from corruption due to sinfulness of man.

If we expand 2Tim 3:16, we find that the Scripture is sufficient for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness. Let us look for each of it in detail.

1) Sufficiency of the Scripture in teaching:

Scripture is sufficient for teaching about Christianity. The Scripture gives a first-hand account of who God is, His attributes, His nature and His relationship with man.

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exo 34:6-7) Scripture is sufficient to teach us regarding

our salvation, from our sins, and the good works which is expected from us when we are saved.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Jos 1:8) “ “He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. (Psa 107:20)” “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

(Heb 1:1-2)” If we want to know what God wants to teach us, we ought to go back to the Scriptures and meditate on His words. We need to test each and every teaching on its truthfulness, with the Scripture as our standard. This exercise should not be considered as a sign of not trusting the messenger, but, faith in the unchanging Word of God. “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Act 17:10-11) “ Paul here tells us that the Bereans, when compared to the Thessalonians, were nobler because they were testing Paul’s preaching from God’s word. Paul did not consider this as a lack of trust on his word, but as a sign of respect and reverence for the Scriptures.

Thus, we should also be like the Bereans, testing all the teachings of Christianity from the Scripture. This is a noble affair in the sight of our Lord.

Testament prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, rebuking Israelites for their sins. They are recorded in the Scriptures for us, so that we would not do the same sins that they have committed.

It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.” (Jer 44:23) “1Co 10:11 - Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. (ESV) “ 3) Sufficiency of the Scripture for training in righteousness:

Scriptures are sufficient for our guidance in holiness. Only through the Scriptures, can we know about how to please God. The Ten Commandments show the holiness of God and His expectation from us.

“I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

(Psa 119:11)” “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; (Psa 19:8)” “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psa 1:1-2)” After resurrection, when Jesus showed Thomas His physical hands, to touch and see, to prove that He was resurrected, He said the following words to exhort us, who believe Him through His words revealed in the Scripture: Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Joh 20:29) Let us, therefore, meditate on the Scriptures to know what God wants us to do for Him in this life. The Scripture is sufficient for us to know everything God wants us to know in this world.

Relevant for the 21st Century?

2) Sufficiency of the Scripture for reproof and correction:

There are numerous verses in which God talks about the different types of sins, and the call for repentance. We read about the Old 13

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THE APOCRYPHA

T

he apocrypha is a set of books written between approximately 400 B.C. and the time of Christ, that is rejected by the Protestants but was officially accepted by the Roman Catholic Church in 1546, as being inspired. These books are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, and Baruch.

If the Apocrypha is a Scripture, then it should not have any errors. But, since it does have errors, as will be demonstrated below, this puts into question whether or not the Roman Catholic Church has properly used its self-proclaimed position as the teaching authority of the Christian Church.

When we look into the apocrypha itself, we find numerous problems. For example, we see it advocates magic, such the smoke from a fish heart on a fire drives away devils.

Condones the use of magic

Tobit 6:5-7, "Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of this fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are necessary for useful medicines. 6 And when he had done so, he roasted the flesh thereof, and they took it with them in the way: the rest they salted as much as might serve them, till they came to Rages the city of the Medes. 7 Then Tobias asked the angel, and said to him: I beseech thee, brother Azarias, tell me what remedies are these things good for, which thou hast bid me keep of the fish? 8 And the angel, answering, said to him: If thou put a little piece of its heart upon coals, the smoke thereof driveth away all kind of devils, either from man or from woman, so that they come no more to them."

Is it true that the smoke from a fish's heart, when burned, drives away evil spirits? Of course not! Such a superstitious teaching has no place in the Word of God. It teaches that forgiveness of sins is by human effort.

Salvation by works:

•

Tobit 4:11, "For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness."

• Tobit 12:9, "For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting."

We know from Scripture that alms (money

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by Matt Slick

or food given to the poor or needy as charity) does not purge our sins. The blood of Christ is what cleanses us - not money or food given to poor people. "but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).

Money as an offering for the sins of the dead:

2 Maccabbees 12:43, "And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection."

Can anyone truly accept that money isn't offering for the sins of dead people? Such a superstitious and unbiblical concept has no place in Scripture.

Historical Errors

Wrong historical facts: Judith 1:5, "Now in the twelfth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Assyrians, who reigned in Nineveh the great city, fought against Arphaxad and overcame him."

• Baruch 6:2, "And when you are come into Babylon, you shall be there many years, and for a long time, even to seven generations: and after that I will bring you away from thence with peace."

The book of Judith incorrectly says that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the Assyrians when he was the king of the Babylonians.

Baruch 6:2 says the Jews would serve in Babylon for seven generations where Jer. 25:11 says it was for 70 years. "And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."

Obviously the apocrypha has serious problems. From magic and salvation by works, to money as an offering for the sins of the dead, and blatant incorrect historical facts--it is full of false and unbiblical teachings. It isn't inspired by God. Likewise, neither is the Roman Catholic Church, which has stated the Apocrypha is inspired. This shows that the Roman Catholic Church is not the means by which God is communicating His truth to His people, that the Magisterium has erred greatly, and that it is infested with man's false tradition rather than God's absolute truth.

•

ARE THERE ERRORS IN THE BIBLE B E L I N

K U L A S E K A R

rowing up in a postmodern and secular culture, we are accustomed to believe that anything old is of not much use, but is rather irrelevant, inaccurate, and erroneous. Hence, the ancient Book, the Bible, is automatically relegated to this category. Christian parents fail to educate their children about the nature ofGod’s Word, and church leaders are often busy with things other than the Scripture. Worse, they even believe that the Bible has errors! What view then can a Christian have about God’s Word? The Bible, as God’s Word, is fully true and is supreme in its authority over men. It bears witness to its author, “Thy word is true from the beginning” (Psalm 119:160). Let us never forget, “God is not a man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19).

THE ALLEGATIONS

We shall look at the alleged errors in the Bible very briefly. Due to spatial constraints, we will not go intoeach and every allegation, but we will try to provide some helpful categories under which the allegationsare made, and some principles by which they could be examined and refuted. Critics allege that there are contradictory statements in the Bible. For example, they allege error in the way Scripture writes about Judas’ death. Matthew records the incident as follows: “And he cast down the pieces of silver into the temple and departed, and went out and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5). In Acts, it is recorded as, “And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all of his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18).

Hence critics claim a contradictionand an error in the Bible. However, it is quite possible that Judas hanged himself and then fell headlong.

Forsomething to be a contradiction, two statements should be mutually excluding each other—they cannot be true in the same sense and in the same time. In this instance, Matthew 15

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and Acts do not contradict one another. Plenty of allegations brought against the Bible are due to the fact that the law of non-contradiction is not applied properly. Another helpful way to examine the alleged errors is to look at the context. For example, Proverbs 26:4-5 reads, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.” Is this a contradiction? Certainly not! There are times when we should answer a fool according to his words and times when we should not. The context is clearly to use discretion when dealing with people. The question is not, “Should you answer a foolor not?” Studying the context explains the majority of the alleged errors. A second allegation is that there are kingdoms, nations, cities, and places mentioned in the Bible as history, which simply did not exist. However,modern archaeological discoveries have proved otherwise. For example, for centuries the Hittite empire, mentioned so many times in the Bible, was considered to be a myth by critics. But archaeological discoveries have given substantial evidence for its existence in the same time and manner as mentioned in the Bible. Just because some city or nation mentioned in the Bible is not discovered by the modern man does not make itfalse. It just proves that we are limited in our ability to find evidence, not that the evidence does not exist. (Think about this: Just because these discoveries were not available for the pre-19th century man, could he conclude that the Bible is erroneous?) There are also allegations that science has disproved the Bible. It claims that science and the Bible are at variance in matters like evolution, age of the earth, technicalities of Noah’s ark, etc. It is also said thatmiracles which are claimed to be supernatural are not verifiable by science, and hence impossible

and even laughable (e.g. the big fish in Jonah, the virgin birth, etc.). But these claims arise from falseas sumptions and do not succeed in proving anything wrong in the Bible. When Scriptures talk about God’s work, they say so in clear, understandable, and non-technical statements. The purpose of God’s Word is a clear spiritual message to fallen men. As a matter of fact, it is science which disproves itself by making new inventions, correcting and improving on previous theories. Science cannot lay claim to inerrancy, but the Bible can do so. It never corrects itself. Science is still trying to disprove the first verse (Genesis 1:1), among the 31,102 verses of the Bible.

These allegations only prove the limitations of science. The Bible is above science. The God of the Bible is the God of science as well.

He is the one who permits great discoveries and inventions for the benefit of mankind.

God shows us these mercies so that we may glorify Him--not to find fault in His Word. Then there are alleged discrepancies in the case of dates and instances, where Old Testament referencesare cited erroneously by New Testament writers. However, upon closer and more detailed examination, we can find that there are plausible solutions for the allegations, and they can be refuted as not errors. Another aspect difficult to understand, one which is closely related to contradiction, is mystery.

There are charges that difficult things are explained away by believers as unexplainable mysteries. Yes, we unashamedly believe that there are mysteries in the Bible, but that does not make the Bible false. We say something is a mystery when the Scripture says so— not for each and every allegation. A mystery is something which is hidden until a certain point in time, and revealed later. The Scripture has some mysteries which have already been revealed, andsome which are yet to be revealed. For example, the fact that Christ was revealed as the hope of gloryamong the Gentiles, was a mystery hidden until the Apostolic times (Colossians 1:27). The mystery alluded to, between the Church and Christ is yet to be revealed (Ephesians 5:32). This in no way makes the Bible false. It just proves that there are certain things that are hidden and beyond our grasp, and hence shows forth 16

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our limitations and God’s infiniteness. While considering if there could be errors in the Bible, it is important to realize that if there is even one error in the Bible, then the Christian faith is useless, God is a liar, and we lose all our basis for life and salvation. If we insist that the Bible has errors, then we are accusing God of being a liar. This is what the Apostle also argues and answers, “What if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).

Consider the implications of this arrogance and folly. We, finite creatures, are accusing the infinite God, to whom we owe our very lives,

of being a liar. This proves nothing but what the Bible constantly says: that we are totally depraved sinners in need of a Saviour.

CONCLUSION

Are there difficulties, seeming contradictions, mysteries, and miracles in the Bible? Absolutely yes! Are there contradictions and errors in the Bible? Absolutely no! As believers, we have to look at the allegations and examine them.

There is no need to be afraid of the truth. God cannot lie or commit any mistake. There is no way there would be errors in His Word. The problem lies in our sinfulness and finiteness.

But God’s Word lives and abides forever, “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever” (1 Peter 1:24-25).

This is because the Bible is God’s Word, and God cannot lie or commit errors!

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INFALLIBILITY AND INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES L E S L E Y

W

hen something is ‘Infallible’, it is never wrong. By ‘Inspiration’ we mean that the authors of the Scriptures were influenced by God and they wrote the very word of God. If it be true that God is truth and God cannot lie and that He is the source of all truth, and if the Scriptures are the words of God Himself, then it follows that the Scriptures are always true and never wrong. Thus it may be said that the Infallibility of the Bible depends upon the Infallibility of God who has communicated Himself to us in His Word- the Scriptures.

The Internal Testimony of the Scriptures regarding Infallibility: These questions pop up as one rationally thinks of the Infallibility of the Scriptures.

1. Does the Bible view itself as an infallible document?

2. Did the people of Israel of old view the Scriptures as an infallible document?

3. Did the apostles and the prophets claim that their writings (that are included as Scripture) were infallible?

To answer these questions, we need to look at the internal testimony of the Scriptures which claim that firstly the Scriptures are the words of God Himself and secondly, the people of Israel at that time knew the Scriptures to be the very words of God and thirdly, the apostles and the prophets claimed that their writings were the words of God. So once Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures is understood, it will be easy to understand how the Scriptures are infallible.

One might ask, ‘if you are evaluating the infallibility of a document, how is it you appeal to its own testimony to prove its claim?’. It is true that a trait of a particular document must be judged by comparing it with a higher standard which may be another document, logical reason or evidence. Although it may be said with certainty that the Bible will stand the test of Infallibility when logical reason and evidence 17

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P O N R A J

are rightly used, still in this essay, we will turn to the internal testimony of the Scriptures because the Scriptures still remain by default the highest standard by which any truth may be judged. Therefore, the internal testimony of the Scriptures is the highest standard by which the Scriptures itself is judged.

In days past, God communicated to man through oracles and visions. In this manner, Adam, Noah, the Patriarchs and the people of Israel had the knowledge of God. In the fullness of time, He revealed Himself to us through His Son Jesus (Heb 1.1, 2). In due time, it was written down for us that we may ‘have certainty concerning the things we have been taught’(Lk 1.4).

With this in mind, let us look at the answers to the above mentioned questions one by one.

Every time the prophets spoke with a disclaimer, ‘thus says the Lord’, they showed that the words they spoke were from God. In fact, the prophets were the mouth-piece of God who communicated His counsels to man. To disobey the words of a true prophet was to disobey God. An example is when God gave a commandment to King Saul through the prophet Samuel and later when King Saul disobeyed the commandment, he was said to have disobeyed God. (1 Sam 10.8, 13.13).

The Old Testament contains the writings of the prophets. Thus we can be sure that the Old Testament contains the words of God. The Scripture as it was available to the apostles in the form of the Old Testament was viewed as the words of God Himself. This is evident in Jesus’ words (in Mat 4.4) where He quotes verses from the Scriptures (i.e. Deut 6) against the Devil and refers to these as instances of ‘the words that proceed from the mouth of the Lord’. Peter testifies to the same in Acts 3.18 when he says that ‘God foretold that Christ would suffer through the mouth

of His prophets’ i.e., in their writings. Jesus says that things written ‘in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms’ (ie the Old Testament) concerning Him must be fulfilled (Lk 24.44). Thus we see the testimony of the people in the turn of the Old Testament Era who understood that the Old Testament as a whole was the Word of God. What about the New Testament then? Are they the words of God too? Peter (in 2 Pet 3.16) testifies to putting Paul’s epistles on the same ‘Scripture category’ as the rest of the Scriptures (ie the Old Testament). Paul says clearly (in 1 Th2.13) that the words that the Thessalonians received from him were not merely the word of men, but the word of God. The Apostles had the view that their writings were of the same category as the rest of Scripture, that is, they were the very words of God. The Internal Testimony of the Scriptures regarding Inspiration: Peter says (in 2 Pet 1.20, 21) that the ‘prophecy of Scripture originated not in the will of man’, as per man’s own fancies. He also says that the prophecy of Scripture does not come about ‘by the prophet’s own interpretation of things’. But the prophets and the apostles who wrote the Scriptures wrote them as they were ‘carried along’ by the Holy Spirit. They were influenced by the Holy Spirt to such an extent that the origin of their writings, the content of the matter were totally of God and not of man.

Therefore when referring to the Scriptures, Paul uses the term ‘God-breathed’ (2 Tim 3.16). Thus we learn that the Bible was written by men of God as they were ‘carried along’ by the Holy Spirit.

The means of Inspiration are said to be ‘diverse’ (in Heb 1.1). They range from systematic historical data collection as in the case of Luke (in Lk 1.1-3), visions and oracles as in the case of the writings of the prophets and Apostle John’s Revelation, or dictation

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THE APOSTLES HAD THE VIEW THAT THEIR WRITINGS WERE THE VERY WORDS OF GOD. to a scribe as in the book of Jeremiah (see Jer 36.4) and Romans (see Rom 16.22). But in all these various modes of inspiration of Scripture, we can be sure of the Providence of Godthat orchestrated the writing of the Bible in a manner that is still compatible with God’s own infallible nature.

Profits of the doctrine of ‘Infallibility and Inspiration of the Scriptures’: 1. We can turn to the Scriptures as the standard of truth in matters of all controversies with regardsto the teachings pertaining to life and godliness.

2. We can be sure that it ‘will be profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness’. We can be sure to derive profit from it for the things it assures us of.

3. It pushes us to a lofty understanding of the Scriptures as we truly understand what it means when it is written ‘the word of the Lord abides forever’.

4. We can be sure that just as God spoke in days past when He inspired the prophets and apostles to write Scriptures, likewise He still speaks to us from the Scriptures.

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THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURES J E R O M E

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he Psalmist David in the 19th Psalm, verse 7 says “The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul”. One of the many perfections of the Word of God is the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as “the rule of faith and life.”

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 It is to be noted that the Apostle Paul used three adjectives of totality – “complete”, “thoroughly” and “every” – to express the adequacy of the Scriptures for good works. The Apostle makes it clear that thesoleand infallible truth and authority for all good works is the Scripture, as against church traditions, personal experiences and speculations and human writings.

The sufficiency of Scripture means that the Scripture contained all the words of God He intended His people to have ateach stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need to know about our salvation, for 19

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trusting Him perfectly, and for obeying Him perfectly.

The Westminster Confession of Faith in Article VI of the First Chapter “Of The Holy Scriptures” says:“The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or

that the man of God may be complete

Scripture and tradition, or the oral teaching of Christ and his apostles (the popes), handed down through the Church. They hold tradition to be necessary, 1st, to teach additional truth not contained in the Scriptures; and, 2nd, to interpret Scripture.

Thearguments raised in favour of this anti-Christian notion are: 1) Scripture authorizes it, 2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6.

Refutation: Tradition, as intended by Paul signifies all his instructions, oral and written, communicated to those very people themselves, not handed down. On the other hand, Christ rebuked this doctrine of the Romanists in their predecessors, the Pharisees, Matt. 15:3,6; Mark 7:7.

2) The early fathers asserted its authority and founded their faith largely upon it.

by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture…”

The Reformed Puritans who wrote the Confession were militating against two enemies: A. The Roman Catholics whose authority consists of

Refutation: History utterly fails them. For more than three hundred years after the apostles they have very little, and that too contradictory, evidence for any one of their traditions.

Their practice is inconsistent with their own principles.

They do not receive many of the earliest and best attested traditions. Many of their pretended traditions

are recent inventions unknown to the ancients.

3) Scripture is obscure and needs tradition as its interpreter.

Refutation:Ps. 19:7,8; 119:105,130; 2 Cor. 3:14; 2 Pet. 1:18,19; Hab. 2:2; 2 Tim. 3:15,17 – these verses establish the clarity of Scriptures beyond doubt. All Christians indiscriminately are commanded to search the Scriptures. Scriptures (except a few of the epistles) are addressed immediately, either to all men indiscriminately, or else to the whole body of believers as such.

4) We receive the scriptures as the word of God only on the authoritative testimony of the church and the authority of the church, being the foundation of that of Scripture, must of course be held paramount.

Refutation: We receive Scriptures as authoritative not on the testimony of the church. Rather the attributes of canonicity are the divine qualities of the Scriptures, their apostolic origins and their consequent corporate reception by the church.

That is, the Scriptures are self-authenticating and do not need any church to infer authority upon it.

B. The mystics who spoke of an “inner light”

In refuting and rebuking these mystics, John Owen says “… if the revelation of the divine mind which is made in the Scriptures is perfect and absolutely complete, then what need can there possibly 20 Shofar May 2015

be for new revelations, imagined or real, of inner light, spiritual irradiation, uncontrolled enthusiasm, heavenly inspiration, angelic colloquies, or what-not, to instruct us in the ways of God and our duty?.....

It is perfectly clear that all of these ways which our fanatics dream up are uncertain, dangerous, useless, and totally unnecessary. They offer no sure knowledge of God

but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever

and His will. They must be rejected and shunned.”

The implications of this doctrine for a Christian are: 1) The doctrine of sufficiency of Scriptures implies that the Christian can have the confidence of knowing from the Scriptures what God requires him/ her to think or do with respect to all doctrinal and moral questions which are

needed for his/her training in righteousness.Thus the sufficiency of Scriptures establishes the need for training in systematic theology.

2) It implies thatGod does not require us to believe anything about Himself or His redemptive work that is not found in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:29 - The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law). The Christian should emphasize what Scripture emphasizes and be content with what God has told him/her in Scripture.

3) Furthermore, no one is to add anything to the Scripture or subtract anything from Scripture.

"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Revelation 22:18-19).

Although this verse is specifically applicable to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, it’s location at the end of the Bible is a warning against altering Scripture.

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THE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE P R A B H A V

C

hristians believe in the existence of God. We believe that this God is the creator and sustainer of everything, including us human beings. Further more, we believe that this God is personal, i.e., he is a God who can relate to people as opposed to a force that is impersonal. He does that in several ways – he commands, he encourages, he loves, he gets angry, he forgives, he cares, he grieves, he rejoices etc.Assuming that these facts about God are true, we realise that God, as our creator, has the right to instruct us in the way we should live. He created us for a purpose. He reveals His purpose to us in certain ways.

The manner in which he has chosen to talk to us is through the “uninspiring” medium of the word – the scriptures. When we read the scriptures, it is really God talking to us. However, God has so humbled himself in revealing himself to us that the Bible just seems to be one of the many books that are in our library. It is easy for us to ignore what it tells us.

I am married and I get angry with my wife quite a lot. Now the scriptures talk a lot about my anger.

In Ephesians 4:26, the Bible says, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” In the same spirit, the Bible also says in Matthew 5:22, “… everyone who is angry with his brother [without cause] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever insults his brother will be liable to the hell of fire.” I guess it is quite clear that I need to be very careful with my anger. However, I usually do not take this very seriously. I get angry, yell at my wife, and come under the very condemnation that is mentioned in these verses.

If, instead, God were to appear in all his glory (and assuming that I did not die when I saw Him) and said the same words that the scriptures tell me. The terror of God from that encounter will make me more conscientious about obeying what God said. Now assume that God is with me in a physical form – I see His power, glory, and terrifying presence – every moment. Do you think I would live a life that takes what He says, moment by moment, more seriously than I take the bible? If I do, I have not understood the authority of the scriptures.

The scriptures, 1 Timothy 3:16 says, “… are God breathed.” In other words, they are the very words of God and carry all the authority that God Himself has.

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Even though men wrote the scriptures at different times in history, the bible assures us that “no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”(2 Peter 1:21). This means that the men who wrote the scriptures wrote exactly what God wanted them to write. The scriptures, therefore, carry the very authority of God. We must tremble before the word of God, as Isaiah or John did when they saw God. Having established that the scriptures are authoritative because they reflect the authority of God Himself, we turn to the question as to what this authority means. We understand how a rulebook can be authoritative – it tells us how to behave.

We understand how a doctrinal statement can be authoritative – it tells us what to believe. Does the authority of scripture limit itself to the commands stated in the bible – the ‘thou shalt’ and the ‘thou shalt not’ of the bible? If this is the case, most of the scriptures are not authoritative. If we are more conservative we would affirm that the scriptures are authoritative in its entirety, but we have no idea what that authority means. It is difficult to see in what way the story of David and Goliath, or for that matter any other narrative in the scripture,is authoritative in my life today?

It is at this point that we need to recognize what the scripture is and what it is not. The scriptures are not, as some erroneously think, a rulebook or a doctrinal book. It is primarily a story – a story of a creator God dealing with His creation. It is the story of the unfaithfulness of human beings to the very God who gives them breath every moment. It is the story of how God, though perfectly justified in destroying human beings, is kind enough to show a way out of our sin back into His presence. We see God dealing with men in different ways in the scriptures. We see how he chose Israel and made him into a nation and brought them out of the land of Egypt “with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” We see God giving His law to the nation of Israel and the subsequent failure of the nation of Israel to keep the law. We see repeatedly, the rock solid faithfulness of our God, and the fickle unfaithfulness of His people. In the fullness of time, we see Jesus coming into this world to die for us, rescue us from our sin, make us saints and sons of the living God, purify us and transform our wicked hearts into hearts that want to obey God through the Holy Spirit. The scriptures, then, give us

a glimpse of the future – the glorious reality that one darkness into the kingdom of light. Incidentally, this day we will see God face to face. On that day, God is probably the best proof of the authority of the bible. would so transform us that we would be incapable of Let me say the same point in a different way. The sin. The Bible is the story of a creator God who made bible is God’s words to tell us what to do but more a perfect world that fell into sin and decay when than that, it is God’s way of changing our stone cold Adam sinned. It is the story of the God who gave hearts into warm hearts full of worship for our God. His son Jesus to die on the cross so that He could We speak authoritatively to people from the word of restore the created order back to its place – including God, not just because they ought to submit to it, but restoring humanity to an uninhibited relationship with because it will raise people up from spiritual death, Him. The main point of the scriptures is this story just like Lazarus rose from the dead when Jesus – whether it be narrative, songs, proverbs, law, or called. prophets - the big theme is the redemptive story that This authority of the bible is not just wielded by God is writing in history. the truths set forth in the bible, which are definitely So coming back to the question that we were important, but by its very form. It is not by mistake that asking – how can a story be authoritative? What the bible has more narrative than didactic portions. does this authority mean for us 2000 years after the We must resist the temptation to make the narratives last parts of the bible were written? merely into theological/instructional soundbites. We The authority of the bible does not lie primarily, must submit to the form of the bible – bowing to let me state this at the cost of repetition, in the rules what God thought the appropriate way to give us His that it lays down or the doctrine it espouses, but the truth. Often we behave as if God made a mistake story line. The story of the bible tells in giving us the gospels and the long us the story of God dealing with this narratives of the old testaments – a world. As we live in this world, in a few more epistles would have been setting very different from the setting more helpful, we think. We are guilty of the biblical times, we realize that of flattening the narratives, the poetry, the God of the Bible is the very same and the prophecies to our purposes THE BIBLE IS NOT JUST God today. The fundamental issues of making it all instructional. The bible INFORMATIVE BUT with humanity are the same now, as is not primarily concerned, as we saw it was then. Our enemies, the world earlier, about teaching us what to do TRANSFORMATIVE – IT and Satan, are the same today as and believe (if it was, probably one MOULDS US. IT IS THE yesterday. The modes of operation genre would be sufficient for it). It is for all of us have changed but we concerned about changing our lives POTTER’S WHEEL are fundamentally the same. One of along with all its complexity in the the ways the scriptural story line is mind, the will, and the emotions – and authoritative is in telling us where we hence the different genres. We need are to locate ourselves in the story to let the bible along with all its literary that God is writing. To be frank, in diversity to work in our lives. One of broad strokes, it is not very difficult to the ways we do this in our personal find ourselves in the story. However, the crux of the lives and church lives by making the reading of the authority of the Bible is not just telling us the story, but Bible our primary (or at least a very important) task making us the story – we are the last act in the grand – not just the parts of scripture we love and like, but story of the bible. The Bible is not just any book – it is the whole scripture. Too often, in Christian circles the living word of God. The story of Bible transforms we have made the exposition of the word of God, us in amazing ways - it brings life to us when we are as important as it is, more important than the word dead, it makes us see when we are blind, it brings of God itself. joy to our soul, it restores us when we are weary, it In summary, the authority of the Bible comes from corrects us when we are wrong, it encourages us the fact that it is the very word of God. The same when we are in despair, and it does so much more word that He used to bring into existence the created than what we can ever know. Reading the bible is order. We ought not, to therefore, think that His not like reading a good novel or an ethics textbook, words are authoritative only in that they tell us what it is like being cut open by a double edged sword, or to do and believe. The word of God is authoritative like seeing yourself in a mirror, or like drinking from a in the fact that it tells us the story of redemption and sweet water pool. The bible is not just informative but as the story is told in calling people to be a part of transformative – it moulds us. It is the potter’s wheel, the story, by giving them new birth. This authority of which in the hands of the Holy Spirit, makes us into the Bible is not just in the didactic parts but in its beautiful vessels to the glory of God. It is precisely whole. As Christians, we need to reclaim the Bible at this point that we need to locate the authority of for ourselves by reading it in its fullness, and with an the bible. We need to understand that the bible has ear to the story it tells. the authority to call people out of the kingdom of

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APPLICATION OF SCRIPTURES IN DAILY LIFE D E E P U

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pplying the scripture in one’s life is an inevitable mark of a Christian as it clearly is an indicator of his/her love for God. Therefore, an elaborate exercise in correctly interpreting bible passages or understanding the true meaning of its words without meditating on its implications for one’s life and following it up with obedience is, unfortunately, an exercise in futility and can also cause the student of the scriptures to be puffed up with pride. Such a person also misses out on a golden opportunity of being blessed by God’s word.

James argues the same in James 1:23-25 ESV– “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ gives a sober warning against not acting bywhat we learn from the Bible, in Matthew 7:24-27. He illustrates this point with the example of the two men who built their houses on the rock and on shifting sand.

Anyone who hears Jesus’ words and does them is likened to the wise man who built his house on the rock, while those who heard and did nothing were likened to a foolish man who built his house 23

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on shifting sand.

On the other hand, studying the Bible with the aim of applying its truthshasundeniablebenefits such as praying according to God’s will (John 15:7), being equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16) etc.

Having looked at the benefits of applying scripture briefly as well as the implications of not doing so, it must be said at this point that correct application requires using principles of correct interpretation. For example, one may try to apply in the following ways, Philippians 4:13 (ESV) which says – “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Without looking at the immediate context of the verse, a common method of wrong interpretation, one might quickly exclaim: “Aha! I can pass in my exams with a centum through Christ who strengthens me!” or“I can clear this job interview through Christ who strengthens me! Hallelujah!” thus ending up with a wrong application. How can this be so, one may ask? This is because a contextual interpretation of the verse tells us of the contentment that Paul had, in situations of life with varying degrees of comfort. Another interpretative error that may creep in is trying to find the so-called “inner

meaning” of plain incidents or in other words, allegorizing. For example, in Jesus’ preaching to the Israelites at the sea, trying to find what the shore signifies or what the sea, where Jesus stood on a boat and preached, means may prove to be nothing more than a highly imaginative and misleading trip, given that we are dealing with a true and plain historicalincident and not a symbolic parable/prophecy.

Now,we can at least begin to understand at this point that correct interpretation is essential for right application of biblical passages. This calls for a serious study of bible passages and dedication and devotedness on the part of the student to first properly understand what the passage says before he or she derives applications out of it.

Once the hard-work of studying and deriving the meaning of scripture is done, the most important, lifechanging part of application comes next. There are two steps by which one can apply the scriptures to one’s life – Memorization and self reflection through meditation.

Scripture memorization is not merely an exercise for Sunday school students or for children to keep them occupied at church/ home. It has clear benefits for any believer. For example, the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 119:11 that hiding God’s word in our hearts is an effective way to prevent sinning against God. Paul tells us that being filled with God’s word (Col. 3:16, 17) can have similar benefits to being filled with God’s spirit (Eph. 5:18-21) i.e. teaching and admonishing believers; singing to one another in hymns, psalms and spiritual songs; making melody with thankfulness in hearts etc.Committing the scripture to memory provides the easiest way to meditate on it, especially, in situations where you do not have a copy of the Bible, or enough charge on your phones to access a Bible app. Spiritually mature people often encourage to memorize promises in scripture because these promises form an anchor in the storms of life’s uncertain circumstances by arming the christian with faith and thus helping in applying them in the most unlikely situations. Then again, how does faith come?

As we read in Romans 10:17, by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ! Clearly, byhearting is an effective way of hearing God’s word as we speak it to ourselves!

As far as memorization is concerned, it is advisable to by-heart chapters and not just few disconnected verses to prevent misuse of memorized scripture through non-contextual use. While it may seem overwhelming to do so, there are ways to by-heart whole chapters. And it’s not that it is impossible to do. Youtube has several videos showing an elderly John Piper (of desiring God) beautifully recite Romans 5, 8 and various Psalms. Check out the links in the further reading section to know more.

Coming to self-reflection, as we saw earlier in James, it can be compared to the act of viewing oneself in a mirror. For example, when we read and meditate over the ever-memorable Psalms 23:1“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”, we analyze ourselves to see if we are truly content in God or not. When Jesus talks of treasure in Matthew 6:19-21, we can check our hearts to see if its gaze is fixed on earthly perishable treasures or imperishable heavenly riches. Even the negative historical passages of scripture which shows the failures of God’s people become useful to us as they serve as warnings to us. Samson’s life tells us that sheer physical strength is useless if one’s heart is enslaved to lustful passions.

Peter’s denial warns us against being complacent and fostering spiritual pride. The failures of the Old Testament Israelites are lessons(1 Cor. 10:11-13) as we compare our lives with theirs.

However, as seen earlier in James, failure to obey in the light of self-reflection can prove to be quite foolish. Let us not be weary or shuffle our feet over thoughts of obedience but remind ourselves of the truth God spoke through his beloved apostle John in 1 John 5:3,4 that His commandments are not burdensome and anyone born again can overcome worldly obstacles by obeying them.

CORRECT INTERPRETATION IS ESSENTIAL FOR RIGHT APPLICATION

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For Further reading:- Memorization: http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-you-memorize-scripture

NORTH KOREA

Leader: Kim Jong-un

Population: 25.2 million (300,000 Christians) Main Religion: Atheism/traditional beliefs Government: Communist dictatorship Source of Persecution: Dictatorial paranoia

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orth Korea is the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. The state has an iron grip on its citizens; anyone who s from the two ideologies of 'Juche', which points to man's self-sufficiency, and 'Kimilsungism', the godlike worship of the nation's leading dynasty, are considered enemies of the state. Thousands of Christians are incarcerated in prison camps in North Korea, and while there are many secret believers, they face arrest, disappearance, torture, or public execution if discovered.

Yet the church there is not only surviving, but growing.

Read more about the persecution in North Korea PERSECUTION IN NORTH KOREA

"My mother spoke with me in a calm voice, but her eyes were red and swollen: 'Four agents from the National Security Agency raided our house. They confiscated one of the Bibles and arrested Father.'"

Hee Young's* family was broken apart in the midnineties when the North Korean authorities raided a secret worship meeting in her house.

Her father disappeared and she never saw him again. Many other Christians were arrested at the same time.

Christians are viewed as

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World Watch List Rank: 1

hostile to the regime. A social stratification system in North Korea called 'Songbun', similar to the Indian caste system, divides people into three main classes: the loyal, the wavering and the hostile. These are further divided into 51 subclasses; Christians are part of the 'hostile' class, with Protestant Christians being number 37 and Catholic Christians being number 39.

To avoid further suspicion, Hee Young's grandmother told her family to burn their Bibles.

Hee Young says, "I saw her tear page after page from the Bible and throw them in the fire, tears sliding down her cheeks. My grandmother said it was okay to burn the Bible as long as we stayed true to our faith in God. But when the flames devoured the pages, my grandmother wept intensely."

Choosing to follow Jesus is one of the most dangerous decisions a person can make in North Korea. If discovered, they face arrest, torture, imprison ment, and perhaps even public execution. In the case of Hee Young's family, they were banished to a remote area. But thousands of Christians are incarcerated in prison camps in North Korea, and most will stay there until they die.

And yet, many have decided that knowing Jesus is worth it.

Their only Bible may be in their mind. They may never meet with more than one other believer.

They may never say the name of Jesus aloud. But the church in North Korea is not only surviving, but growing - and they have great hope for the future.

One Christian has shared: "One day the borders will open and we will unite with the South Korean and the Chinese church to bring the gospel to some of the darkest places on this earth."

Years later, Hee Young and her family managed to escape the oppression; she now lives in South Korea with her husband and three children. Together with other North Korean refugees she prepares to go back to North Korea one day.

PLEASE PRAY:

• Ask for comfort and strength for the thousands of Christians imprisoned in labour camps, and the isolated believers who worship in secret.

• Praise God that the church is very much alive and has a vision to bring the gospel to the nations.

• Praise God that a UN report in February 2014 has brought North Korea to the attention of world leaders.

Ask God to give them wisdom as they respond.

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Source: OpenDoors World Watch List http://www.opendoorsuk.org/ persecution/worldwatch/north_korea.php

SIMPLE GUIDELINES FOR A GODLY READING OF THE WORD

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nterpretation is simply making sense of a written passage. We all interpret and do it at all times but when we do, we do not simply do it from a neutral point of view but bring to the passage all that we have learnt so far in our lives about the different things in the world. Think for example of the word 'Church.' The moment we read the word Church in the Bible, what comes to the mind to many of us, at least initially, is a modern day congregation meeting for worship in a building meant solely for the purpose. Or if you are from a metropolitan city you may think of a Mega-Church meeting in a huge, 5000 seater auditorium, resembling an IPL stadium. But in reality the early Church met in houses of ordinary people. We interpret in the light of what we already know and what we are accustomed to. That is, we interpret and interpretation is inevitable. But, despite the biases we carry in our hearts it is possible to interpret in a correct manner and that's the point of this article.

One of the greatest and wonderful gifts which the Protestant Reformation gave the Church is the personal study of the Bible. The Bible that many people take it for granted and handle it too casually, is in their hands because numerous, committed godly Christians were willing to lay down their lives for that purpose. We should thank God for people like William Tyndale and others who laid down their life for attempts to give the Bible to the laypeople. In England, the one of the movements that played a big role in promoting the formation of small groups that met together regularly to study the Word and to grow in godliness was the Methodist movement. The Wesley brothers and George Whitefield revived the evangelical faith in England and in America.

In the twentieth century the various student movements like the Inter-varsity fellowship and in India, the Evangelical Union have contributed greatly in this area. Today, any serious minded Christian is expected personally study the Bible and not to do so poses the risk of being labelled a nominal Christian.

While is great for all of us to do our own personal Bible study, this has led to an error which probably the reformers never wanted the people to commit - the error of subjective interpretation of the Scriptures. Theologian R.C Sproul calls this 'Subjectivism.' For us to understand this error,

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RONALD CAREY

think of a group of people sit around, with a cup of coffee on one hand and the Bible on the other, and read a passage and discuss what each of them personally think about the meaning of the passage. It is not uncommon to hear statements such as 'For me, this passage means this..'

Another common scenario is the reply one hears if one tells another that the Bible says such and such a thing regarding a matter - 'Well, that's your opinion.' In simple words, in the error of subjectivism, the person can mean whatever he wants to mean from the text.

Subjectivism is not without consequences.

If someone says - Believe what you want to believe from the text - it sounds humble only on the surface. Subjectivism pushes one towards arrogance because if a person's understanding of the Scriptures cannot stand the test of objective analysis and scrutiny, humility demands that she lets go of what she thinks it is and accept the real meaning. Moreover, not a few men and women take erroneous steps in personal lives citing divine guidance from God which actually is something that has stemmed from a wrong methodology of reading the Word of God. Because this error has grown to a dangerous magnitude, it needs urgent correction. And the antidote to this bad interpretation is not 'no' interpretation but 'good' interpretation. And good interpretation begins with reading the Scriptures objectively.

When we say objective - we seek to find out what the text means before we apply the text to ourselves. In this manner we say that the Bible is objective and at the same time these objective truths can be applied subjectively to the reader.

This objective reading of the text before we do any application is called exegesis. Exegesis is careful systematic study of the Scripture to discover the original intended meaning. While experts in the original languages and good theologians do it well, any ordinary person can do it as well. In fact when some one says - 'What Jesus actually meant was....' he or she is actually doing exegesis. A solid exegesis is also vital for good hermeneutics which is the application of the objective meaning of the text to our lives here and now. Simply put, hermeneutics is seeking contemporary relevance of ancient texts.

In doing exegesis and hermeneutics, we will do well if we keep in mind some of the time tested

ground rules which Bible teachers and evangelical theologians have advocated for many centuries.

We will, in brief, review some of them.

One of the basic rules in interpretation of the Bible is interpreting Scripture with Scripture.

R C Sproul says that, in Scriptures 'no part can be interpreted in such a way as to render it in conflict with what is taught elsewhere.' The basic assumption behind this rule is that God's Word is coherent and consistent. There are two other important rules which need to be mentioned alongside 'Interpreting Scriptures with Scriptures.'

The first is that historical narratives should be interpreted by the didactic and the second is that what is implicit should be interpreted by what is explicit.

A good example of historical narrative is the description of what happened at the cross by Luke. But when Paul explains to his readers the significance of that event, it is didactic teaching.

Similarly, when Exodus talks about what happened to the Israelites in Egypt that is historical narrative but the Ten Commandments are didactic teaching.

In general we should interpret the narrative by the didactic. Since the Bible is replete with real life events, conversations and commentaries, it is very tempting to draw meanings out of these contexts. While it is not wrong to do that, we should always be careful to interpret the implicit by what is explicit. If an implication drawn from a passage is contradictory to what is explicitly stated elsewhere, the implication must be rejected. Consider the story of Lot and Abraham.

For a lot of us, Lot appears as a carnal person and considering some of the choices he made in life many even conclude that Lot was not a believer . This implicit meaning that Lot is an unbeliever assumed from the narrative texts on the life of Lot can be summarily rejected because elsewhere in the Bible, in 2 Peter 2:7, we read that Lot was a righteous man.

Another important rule is to interpret the Bible literally paying attention to figures of speech and the literary forms employed in the text. That is to simply say that the Bible should be read like any other book. In the Bible, we apply the same rules as we apply to any other book. This is not to say that we should forget the role of the Holy Spirit. We believe in the truth of God's Word by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us in applying the truths we understand, to our hearts. It is one thing to understand a parable and another to live by the truth found in the parable.

But the truth remains that we should apply our mind to what the Scriptures says. To treat the

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Bible like a magical book is to court with disaster.

It is worth quoting the familiar example of the 'lucky dipping' method of reading the Bible. The man who wanted a specific guidance from God opened the Bible and the first verse he turned to was Mathew 27:5 - Judas went away and hanged himself. He was not sure how it applied to him and so he turned further. He ended up in Luke 10:37 - Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.' He was upset - so he turned once again and came to John 13:27 - What you are about to do, do quickly.

It is better that we be careful in the way we read lest we end up in predicaments like this one.

Bible reading also requires a careful genre analysis. We do genre analysis with all writings, but it is all the more important when we read the Bible. For example, consider the importance of hyperbole. The function of a hyperbole - an expression that is an exaggeration of the reality, is to underscore the magnitude of the thing that is being described. For example, Mathew 9:35 says, 'Jesus went through all the cities and the villages.'

Though it is possible that Jesus went through all the cities and the villages, it is more likely that Jesus went through majority of the villages and the genre employed in the text is a hyperbole. To quote a commonplace example of hyperbole, we say, 'The whole of India was watching the World cup match.' and by that what we mean is not that every single person in India watched the match but a big majority of the Indian population watched the match.

Another literary form that is often found in the Bible is personification. Here inanimate objects or animals are given human characteristics. In Genesis 4:9-10, we find God telling Cain - ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.' Here, blood is personified. However we should guard ourselves against the error of calling personification when it is not. For example, consider Balaam's ass.

The ass in real spoke like a human being. That is a fact and not an example of personification.

Metaphors are also commonly employed in the Bible. These are words or phrases denoting one kind of object but used in the place of another to suggest similarity. For example: 'I am the door' John 10:9; 'I am the good shepherd' John 10:11; 'I am the light of the world' John 9:5. By door, Jesus meant that he is the way and did not mean that he is literally a door - made of wood.

Just like we pay importance to literary forms, we also should pay attention to grammatical constructions and historical contexts out of which the Scriptures were written. In English translation

References: 1. R. C Sproul, Knowing Scriptures (Intervarsity press, 2007) 2. Douglas Stuart, Gordon Fee, How to read the Bible for all its worth (Zondervan, 2003)

of the Bible, we read Acts 1:8 as 'You shall be my witnesses.' Here, to ascertain whether Jesus is making a prophetic statement or issuing a command is very difficult. But when we look up a commentary it will tell us that the Greek grammar employed indicates that Jesus is actually issuing a command. And finally, we should not forget to do a historical analysis of the books of the Bible.

It is worth the effort to spend time learning the historical setting and situation in which the books were written. Since languages change with time, the meanings of words should be carefully understood. Take for example the word 'awful.' In 13th century, it meant inspiring wonder whereas now it is used primarily in a negative sense.

Similarly, knowing the reason why some epistles

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were written help us to understand the content well.

It is good for us to remind ourselves that we are not the first people to read the Bible. The Church has read it for centuries. It has been debated, researched, translated and has brought about revolutionary changes in the history of mankind.

God's Word is dynamic, powerful and majestic. If we change what it means it is bereft of its power and it is we who stand to lose. But whenever the Church read the Bible faithfully the results were remarkable. People changed, the Church changed and the society around changed. But more than that God's name was magnified. May this become a reality in our times too!

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all Breakers Union is made of a group of independent Doctors, Engineers, Artists, Evangelists, Teachers, Theologians and Students. Motivated by the over whelming need in Gospel and health care we worth together. We work form different places, but are a part of one big family of God. Our aim is to provide spiritual care to the common man. And to that end we stand together, to break any walls that hinder the needs of the people. We are planning to translate good Biblical Christian literature into Indian vernaculars. Guiding the universal church to learn the biblical doctrines systematically is a long term goal. We would be glad if you could help us in any of the following ways. We need: • Translators in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Bengali.

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