PRAISE AND WFW

May we ever praise Him! May our children and children's children always rely upon Him! Please stop by Amy Deane's blog and consider joining WFW! Today WFW is hosted at Christy's Blog.

THE BIBLE ACCURATELY COPIED DOWN...

Thank you to everyone who is praying for my friend Kathy and her daughter, who I mentioned in last week's post!

When I have the opportunity to give a defense of my faith and the Bible, I will ask the person their beliefs and listen. Then, usually they will allow me to give mine. I stick to the core of Christianity and don't argue minor points. What is the core message of the Bible?--- We are all separated from God and only faith in Christ can reconcile us. What about Christ? Who do they say He is? Do they belive the Bible?

The Bible does hold up in every way and I will gladly hear any argument against it. Even if I don't know how to refute it, I will find out, because it can be refuted. The Bible stands the test of time. My husband talks about how no one is allowed to dispute the Koran. But, many want to dissect the Bible and refute it. The Bible is an open book. It can be disputed and it will prove true each time!!!

I also want to highly recommend the Apologetics Study Bible with Ted Cabal as the General Editor. I take the following information from today's post from an article in the Apologetics Study Bible by Normal L. Geisler (pages 468-469). (All quotes are from Geisler's article.)

"The Bible is the most accurately transmitted book from the ancient world." Geisler states that both the New and the old Testament's reliability is based on "their abundance, dating, and accuracy." (Though I pull from this article, I have read several other people's works and websites that give the same reasons in support of the Bible's authenticity.)

THEIR ABUNDANCE- Put in layman's terms, there have been more manuscripts found of the Old and New Testament than other texts. Supposedly Homers' Iliad has 643, the most. But, the "number of NT (New Testament) manuscripts is overwhelming (almost 5,700 Greek manuscripts)."

THEIR DATING- Both OT and NT manuscripts have been discovered more closely to the time they were written than other manuscripts. "The earliest undisputed NT manuscript is Jon Rylands Papyrus, dating between A.D. 117 and 138." Many more NT manuscripts were found dating to about 250.

THEIR ACCURACY- Both OT and NT manuscripts "were more accurately copied" than other texts. Scholars have looked at the texts that were found of different manuscripts and have found more textual corruption. The Greek Scholar A. T. Robertson estimated the Bible's accruacy of the New Testament at 99.9%, with other manuscripts people hold as authentic (Iliad of Homer and Mabharata of Hinduism) as 90 and 95% authentic respectively.

Of course, we believe the Bible to be 100% accurate as Christians. How else can you base your life on the Bible's teachings?

II Timothy 3:15-16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Recently, I have been befriended by a very kind and very New Age mom whose daughter is in my daughter's dance class. She doesn't believe in the truth of the whole Bible as we Christians do. She picks and chooses what she thinks is truth from it. She believes Christ was reincarnated and that He was the first Adam. Very different from what Christians believe, huh? She does believe Christ died on the cross and was resurrected. (I am still figuring out how/why she believes what she does.)

A lot of people, I have found, including Christians doubt the inspiration, validity, and authority of the Holy Scriptures. So, I have decided to devote my next several Tuesday writings to somewhat of an apologetic writing on the Bible along with some feedback from my relationship with my new friend. Please pray for my friend Kathy and her daughter that they would come to Christ's light and for me to have God's Word to speak and God's love to show.

Did you know?

• The Bible consists of about 40 different authors. (There is some controversy over who wrote certain books.) The Bible was written over a span of 1600 years.
• In over 2700 times you will see written in the Bible "The Lord Said" or "The Word of God".
• "The unity of the Bible is remarkable..."
• Noah created an ark (a huge floating ship). In 1844 Isambard K. Brunnell built a ship using almost the exact same ratio of the ark.
• This information is taken from a wonderful children's book. How Do you Know the Bible is from God?, Kyle Butt.

I will put more information about the Bible in weeks to come. If you want to add anything for me to include or disagree on any point, please let me know. I for one want to be able to give an answer for the hope I have, a hope that is founded upon God's Word and a personal touch from a relationship with Christ my Lord. (I will post later this week on my other blog an apologetics refuting the lie of reincarnation if you are interested!) Blessings,

"What are you thankful for today? Stop by Sonya's blog, Truth 4 The Journey, to find out how to share your gratitude and see what others are thanking God for today." (Once more I am in between classes at work/college and it won't let me post the picture for TT here.)

1. I am thankful for the mercies of the Lord and newness- new days, new months (Happy October), and new life in Him!

2. I am thankful for feeling well. I often take it for granted and was recently sick for about three weeks off and on. It has given me fresh appreciation for wellness.

3. I am thankful for good books. Right now I am reading C.S. Lewis The Silver Chair and it speaks to me on so many different levels. As much as I love a good movie, I enjoy books even more. Books take more time to read than watching a movie and books provide a wonderful escape. I can't wait to finish the Silver Chair!!!

4. I am thankful for the State Fair. I am headed there today with my family after I work. I love the rides, animals, food, the atmosphere...

5. I am thankful for the Holy Spirit. I wrote about Him on my last post. Truly, He is my constant companion and help. I am thankful for the power, and strength, and wisdom that He gives me each day!!! Blessings to you all,