The Infallibility of the Bible and How to Study It

By Harry A. Peyton

A Brief History of the Bible (28)

Endnotes (40)

Copyright May 30, 1996 by Harry A. Peyton under the title of “The Doctrines Of Christ.”

A Note from the Author: Since Almighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ, gives His Salvation and His Word to all freely (Rev 22:17, Mt 10:7-8), this book, and all other books, written by Harry A. Peyton are given without charge, and can be accessed through the Internet at the following address: http://www.DoctrinesOfChrist.com. Therefore, fell free to copy it in digital or written form, and share it with others. Since this book is copyrighted, the author forbids any alteration of its contents, and the reproduction of it in any form for Marketing Purposes. This book may be placed on anyone’s web page, as long as my website address is attached to it.

The author believes that the Word of God is infallible in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE it was written in, and all translations of the Bible regardless of how good they may be are NOT. Since the author has implicit faith in the infallibility of the Word of God, the author has formed his beliefs firmly on the truth of the Bible. This author uses the ancient ANTIOCHIAN LITERAL-HISTORICAL METHOD OF INTERPRETING THE BIBLE, which was used by early Christian Apostles and Prophets of the Sinless Lamb of God.

I definitely believe that the ancient Alexandrian Allegorical Method of spiritualizing scripture, which was made popular by the ancient Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus (13 BC – 50 AD) and later used by the Ante-Nicene Catholic Priests, especially Origen and his student Clement of Alexandria (200 AD), is an abomination to our Lord. Therefore, all scriptures will be interpreted in a literal exegetical fashion, unless the language used and the context demands a spiritual interpretation.

The author will also quote from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Masoretic text, which was translated by 70 ancient Jewish scholars; this translation will be known in this book as LXX Septuaginta (LXT), which has been edited by Alfred Rahlfs. The English translation of the Septuagint is by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton and will be known as (LXE). The Greek Septuagint (the Seventy) is by far a much older written Bible than any Masoretic text we have today, for it was translated in the 7 year of the reign of King Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, which began around 280 BC and was completed about 200 BC. It is known as the Alexandrian Septuagint, which name is given to reveal its distinction from other later translations also bearing the name of Septuagint.

Tertullian speaking of the “Origin of the Septuagint” wrote: Now in ancient times the people we call Jews bare the name of Hebrews, and so both their writings and their speech were Hebrew. But that the understanding of their books might not be wanting, this also the Jews supplied to Ptolemy; for they gave him seventy-two interpreters-men whom the philosopher Menedemus, the well-known asserter of a Providence, regarded with respect as sharing in his views. The same account is given by Aristaeus. So the king left these works unlocked to all, in the Greek language. To this day, at the temple of Serapis, the libraries of Ptolemy are to be seen, with the identical Hebrew originals in them (ANF, vol 3, Tertullian, Part One, the Apology, chp 18, pg 59).

The standard printed Hebrew Bible that is used today is a reproduction of a Masoretic text written in AD 1088. The manuscript, in codex or book form, is in the collection of the Saint Petersburg Public Library. Another Masoretic manuscript, the Aleppo Codex is from the first half of the 10^th century AD, and is the basis for a new publication of the text in preparation at Hebrew University in Israel. The author will also use the Complete Jewish Bible when quoting Old and New Testament scriptures, which is published by the Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., and is distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources International. The history of the Bible with its manuscripts and translations will be given at the end of this book.

All CAPITALIZATION and ITALICIZATION in QUOTES used in this book is always MINE. All Biblical quotes used in this book will be in dark red, and from the New King James version of the Bible, unless another version is stated as the reference. The vast majority of all translations of the Bible, as well as Hebrew and Greek Lexical definitions and grammar, will come from BibleWorks computer software program version 7.0. The author in most places will quote verses from the Bible instead of commenting on a verse and giving a reference; for He believes that the written Word of God’s has greater power to inspire and enlighten a heart to understand and act upon truth, than the elegant oratory or writings of any man.

If this book has been a blessing to my beloved readers, and they would like to send an offering to the author, feel free to do so. If anyone wishes to send any biblical or historical materials to the author, my address is: 148 Little Creek Hills Rd.: Alto, NM 88312: Phone # 575-336-2800: Email address: DoctrineOfChrist@Hotmail.com.

The Infallibility of the Word of God

The great apostle Paul expressed the infallibility of the Word of God in the strongest language that can be found anywhere in the Greek Language. He told Timothy, his son in the Lord: “All Scripture is GOD-BREATHED [theopneustos] 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” (2Ti 3:16-17, NIV). Drs. Timothy and Barbara Friberg in their Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament defined the Greek adjective “theopneustos {theh-op’-nyoo-stos}” as: of the Scriptures as communication that has been ordained by God’s authority and PRODUCE BY the enabling of His SPIRIT; strictly GOD-BREATHED… (2T 3.16) (#13550).

The message God was giving through His Apostle was basically this: “The Old Testament Prophets and New Testament Apostles spoke as God’s Holy Spirit was BREATHING OUT of them, that is, giving them the WORDS to SPEAK!” In other words, God’s Holy Spirit was NOT moving on, that is, from the outside of them, but was BREATHING OUT of them from the INSIDE! A good Biblical example of this truth can be found in Acts 2:4-14, when the 120 disciples of Christ, after being FILLED with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in languages not learned by them; that is, as the Holy Spirit IN them was BREATHING OUT of them and giving them the words to speak in a known language in the world, that they had NOT LEARNED.

In other words, the words the Holy Spirit was speaking through their mouth, using their tongue and voice in praise to God, was NOT coming from their minds, for their minds did not comprehend the words they were speaking! The words they were speaking were completely or totally coming from God, as the Holy Spirit expressed God’s truths in their matter of speaking and writing or language style!! This is why the Holy Bible is not the word or product of man’s mind, but the infallible Word of God!!! This is why the Holy Word of God is the ONLY BOOK that can be used by ALL of God’s Children for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that they may perfect holiness in the sight of God, and exercise their God ordain ministry as God’s Holy Priesthood (1Pe 2:1-10)!!!!

Another good illustration of how the Spirit of almighty God spoke and gave the Word of God in the prophets and apostles can be found in what Paul said about speaking in unknown tongues. The great Jewish apostle declared: “For he who speaks in a tongue [an unlearned language] does not speak to men but to God, for no one UNDERSTAND him; however, in the Spirit he speaks MYSTERIES…. Therefore, if I do NOT KNOW the meaning of the LANGUAGE, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me…. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue [an unlearned language] pray that he may interpret. For if I PRAY in a tongue [an unlearned language], my spirit PRAYS, but my UNDERSTANDING is UNFRUITFUL. What is the conclusion then? I will PRAY with the Spirit [in an unlearned language], and I will also PRAY with the understanding [in a language I do know]. I will SING with the Spirit [in an unlearned language], and I will also SING with the understanding [in a language I do know]” (1Co 14:2, 11-14).

The Holy Spirit confirmed Paul’s teaching when he declared through the apostle Peter: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's OWN [ivdi,a - idios] interpretation [evpilu,sewj - epilusis]. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2Pe 1:20-21, NIV). German Professor Walter Bauer in his Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, revised and edited by Frederick William Danker, defined the Greek adjective “idios {id'-ee-os}” as: pertaing to belonging or being related to ONESELF… belonging to/peculiar to an individual… ivdi,a evpi,lusij 2 Pt 1:20 one’s OWN private interpretation (#3654); and the Greek noun “epilusis {ep-il'-oo-sis}” as: the act or process of explaining, explanation, interpretation (so Sext. Emp., Pyrrh. 2, 246; Vett. Val. 221, 9; 330, 10; Heliod. 1, 18, 2…. Callisth. 2, 1, 5 Stasagoras complains about the unfavorable interpretation of an omen by a prophet in these words: su. seauth/| evpe,lusaj to. shmei/on = you gave the omen your OWN interpretation (#2985).

Therefore, the words that came out of the Old Testament Prophets and New Testament Apostles’ mouth was not their own private interpretation of what God was saying as the Holy Spirit moved on them, but it was the WORDS God’s Holy Spirit in them was speaking out of them! This is why God’s Spirit speaking through the mouth of the Prophets Solomon and David could say: “EVERY WORD of God is PURE [Heb. tArïhoñj. Sept. a`gna,], a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do NOT ADD to His WORDS, lest He indict you and you be proved a liar.”

“The WORD of the LORD are PURE [Heb. tArïhoñj. Sept. a`gna,] WORDS, silver purged in an earthen crucible, refined sevenfold. You, O LORD, will KEEP THEM, guarding EACH from this age EVERMORE” (Pro 30:5-6; Psa 12:7-8, JPS TANAKH, is a new translation into contemporary English of the traditional Hebrew Masoretic text published. by The Jewish Publication Society.). The Masoretic text reads thus in Psalm 12:7-8: “qQ'ªzUm.÷ #r<a"+l' lyliä[]B; @Wrc'â @s,K,ä tArïhoñj. tArám'a] éhw"hy> tAræm]ai(⁷ `~yIt'(['b.vi `~l'(A[l. Wzæ rADàh;-!mi ŸWNr<¦C.Ti ~rE+m.v.Ti hw"ïhy>-hT'(a;⁸;” and the Greek Septuagiant read this way: “⁷ta. lo,gia kuri,ou lo,gia a`gna, avrgu,rion pepurwme,non doki,mion th/| gh/| kekaqarisme,non e`ptaplasi,wj ⁸ su, ku,rie fula,xeij h`ma/j kai. diathrh,seij h`ma/j avpo. th/j genea/j tau,thj kai. eivj to.n aivw/na.”

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Drs. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke defined the Hebrew adjective “tArïhoñj. or tahor {taw-hore'}” as: be PURE, clean…. It is used almost exclusively of ritual or moral PURITY…. The LXX generally translates ‰¹h¢r and its derivatives by katharizœ, katharos, katharismos, etc. ‘to PURIFY,’ ‘PURE,’ ‘PURITY….’ In a material sense the adjective ‰¹hôr is used to describe the PURE gold of the appurtenances of the tabernacle in numerous passages in Ex…. The WORDS of the Lord are PURE WORDS, (JB) ‘without alloy,’ as silver (Psa 12:6 [H 7]) (#792).

Our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ stated this truth this way: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY [Grk. panti. - pas] WORD that proceeds from the MOUTH of God” (Mt 4:4). Our Lord was quoting the Words He spoke through the mouth of Moses. The Greek Septuagint states this truth this way: “And He afflicted thee and straitened thee with hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thy fathers knew not; that He might teach thee that man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY [Grk. panti.- pas] WORD that proceeds out of the MOUTH of God shall man live” (Deu 8:3, Moses is the one speaking see 5:1-3; The English Translation of The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament by Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton).

Jesus speaking about His Prophetic Word declared: “If anyone takes anything away from the words in the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the TREE of LIFE and the holy city, as described in this book” (Rev 22:19, CJB; also see Deu 13:1). God’s Humanity in His High Priestly prayed stated the following great truth concerning His Infallible Word: “Just as you sent Me into the world, I have sent them [i.e. the apostles] into the world. On their behalf I am setting myself apart for holiness, so that they too may be set apart for holiness by means of the truth. ‘I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of THEIR [the apostles’] WORD’” (Jn 17:18-20, CJB). With this infallible statement, our Savior not only placed His approval on the WRITINGS of the Apostles, but He placed the salvation of mankind on believing the WORDS they wrote!!!

How could the Prophet David, who lived a 1000 years before Jesus was born at Bethlehem, explicitly describe the suffering of Christ: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me…? But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him…!’ I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs [Gentiles Roman soldiers] have surrounded Me; The congregation [Jewish High Priest and Elders] of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots” (Psa 22:1-18).

How could the Prophet Isaiah, who lived 700 years before Jesus, speak of the childhood, the physical appearance, and sufferings of Christ: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender [young] plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has NO form or comeliness [hansome]; And when we see Him, There is NO beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief [sickness]. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did NOT esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs [sicknesses] And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for OUR transgressions, He was bruised for OUR iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of US all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living [put to death] for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked -- But with the rich at His death, Because He had done NO violence [SIN], Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His SOUL an OFFERING for SIN…. He poured out His SOUL unto DEATH, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He BORE the SIN of many, And made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa 53:1-12).

How could Isaiah declare that the earth was circular in shape, if it was not the Holy Spirit speaking through his mouth when he said: “It is He who sits above the CIRCLE of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in” (Isa 40:22). How could the Prophet Job, who lived around 1800 BC, speak of the suspension system or force (gravity) that held up the earth in empty space so accurately, if is was not God who spoke in and through him: “He stretches out the north over empty space; He HANGS the earth on NOTHING” (Job 26:7).

How could Moses, who live around 1488 BC, speak of how God created the universe, for example, how He made a three layer water atmosphere of the earth, and how the middle layer or mesosphere would be cold enough to contain ice clouds: “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse [raqiya – i.e. mesosphere] between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and separated the water UNDER the expanse [i.e. stratosphere] from the water ABOVE it [i.e. thermosphere]. And it was so” (Gen 1:6-7). The Prophet Ezekiel, who lived around 600 BC, described God’s ice cloud mesosphere this way: “Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse [raqiya – i.e. mesosphere], sparkling like ICE, and awesome” (Eze 1:22, NIV).

The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, by Drs. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., Bruce K. Waltke define “raqiya` {raw-kee'-ah” as: expansion…. It identifies God's heavenly expanse. The Mosaic account of creation uses r¹qîa± interchangeably for the ‘open expanse of the heavens….’ The LXX… rendered r¹qîa± by [the Greek noun] stereœma, suggesting some firm, solid structure…. R¹qîa± may refer to a limited space, such as that of the canopy over the cherubim, under the throne in Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 1:22, 26)… and even Ezekiel's limited canopy (r¹qia±) is ‘as the [lit.] eye of awesome ICE’ (Ezek 1:22), i.e. transparent, ‘shining like CRYSTAL’ (RSV) (#2217b).

The Jewish Encyclopedia under the heading of “Astronomy” spoke of God’s transparent solid water\ice mesospheric atmosphere this way: According to Gen. 1:6, this rakia’ was set in the midst [i.e. middle] of the waters, and it divided the waters above from those beneath. God ‘made’ it of matter ALREADY EXISTING at the time of Creation; that is, He did NOT ‘create’ it at that time. The rakia’ representing the sky in Ezek. 1:22 resembled ICE; therefore it is quite possible that the author of Genesis, like Ezekiel, regarded the sky as being composed of SOLIDIFIED WATER or ICE. Such a sky, being TRANSPARENT, would permit the stars, which are located ABOVE its vault, to be seen through it (vol 2, pg 245). Merrian-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary define mesosphere as: the part of the earth's atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere in which temperature decreases with altitude to the atmosphere's absolute minimum of about -112*F (-80*C).

On May 26, 2006 BBC News reported an article that was released by Goddard Space Flight Center, which was entitled Mysterious Glowing Clouds Targeted by NASA. The article stated: Glowing, silvery blue clouds that have been spreading around the world and brightening mysteriously in recent years will soon be studied in unprecedented detail by a NASA spacecraft. The Aeronomy of Ice in the MESOSPHERE (AIM) mission will be the first satellite dedicated to studying this enigmatic phenomenon (http://www.nasa.gov/home/index.html).

Cynthia O’Carroll, of Goddard Space Flight Center, in an article entitled NASA Satellite Captures First View of ‘Night-Shining Clouds’ released on 6/28/07 gave us a little more information about God’s ice clouds in the mesosphere. She declared: These MYSTIFYING CLOUDS are called Polar MESOSPHERIC CLOUDS, or PMCs, when they are viewed from space and referred to as ‘night-shining’ clouds or Noctilucent Clouds, when viewed by observers on Earth. The clouds form in an upper layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the MESOSPHERE during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer season… [and] during the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere. VERY LITTLE IS KNOWN about HOW these clouds form over the poles, WHY they are being seen more frequently and at lower latitudes than ever before, or WHY they have been growing brighter. AIM will observe two complete cloud seasons over both poles, documenting an entire life cycle of the shiny clouds for the first time (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aim/mystery_clouds.html; Release No. 07-75).

God is truly omniscient and omnipotent. When one examines these truths of scripture, all on can do is stand in AWE at God’s omniscience and power. There are not enough words in the English language, or any other language, that can describe God’s greatness. God is truly awesome! After reading these clear, undeniable passages of Scripture, can any honest hearted person deny that the Bible does not only contain the Words of God but EVERY WORD in it is the Words of God. Therefore no one, who claims to be a Child of God, can say they believe some parts of the Bible are true but other parts are false; either believe EVERY WORD of God or believe none of it, for either all of it is true or none of it is true!

Please do not let Satan deceive you the way he deceived Eve when he told her: “Did God really say” (Gen 3:1, JPS Tanakh)? The very moment you begin to question the validity of the Word of God, that is, in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE that is was written in and not translations that do have errors, than you make yourself god or the infallible one who sits in judgment of what God has really spoken in the Bible! I say again, even though God used human instruments for His Holy Spirit to speak in and through, the Words that came out of their mouth was not from their finite mind!

Since EVERY WORD was GOD-BREATHED, God places a curse on everyone who adds to His Words or takes from His Word, and does not keep His Word. God said it this way: “You shall NOT ADD to the WORD which I command you, NOR TAKE FROM, that you may KEEP the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you;” and “So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them. But it shall come to pass, if you do not OBEY the VOICE of the LORD your God, to observe carefully ALL His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these CURSES will come upon you” (Deu 4:2; 28:14-15).

Why We Need to Study the Bible

Beloved, permit me to ask you, why did God’s children in Jesus’ day reject the truths He taught them? Did they not have God Himself as their preacher or teacher? Did they not believe in the one true God? Did they not believe that the Bible was God’s Word? Did they not attend church every Sabbath Day? The answer is obviously yes to all these questions, so why did many of God’s children not believe the teachings of Jesus?

The answer can be found in second Corinthians 4:4. This verse reveals that Satan blinds the minds of those who do not believe the truth, meaning any of the truths that are taught in God’s Holy Word. How did Satan blind the minds of the believers in Jesus’ day? He accomplished this by using false prophets, who may have been or may not have been honest and sincere, to fill their minds with false beliefs.

It was for this reason, Jesus warned all believers to: “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Mt 16:6). What did Jesus mean by the term leaven? In verse 12, the Bible gives us the answer: “Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the [false] doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Even though some of these false prophets may have dazzled and mesmerized God’s Jewish children with their oratory and teaching skills, their doctrines were still false. Our Savior spoke of these deceived prophets when He said: “in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men…. Making the Word of God of no effect” (Mk 7:7, 13). It is quite evident that these deceived men followed the traditional teaching of some of their forefathers in their organization, and as a result they became false prophets.

Therefore beloved take heed, for even though a teacher may be able to paint beautiful spellbinding word pictures, or a preacher may be able to speak very fast and give fiery orations, this does not necessarily mean what they are preaching or teaching is the truth! Evidently, not everything these Doctors of the Law and pastors taught was a lie, for Jesus told them: “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things” (Mt 12:34)?

Since Jesus was the new and unknown preacher in town, who resoundingly taught the Bible antithetically or contrary to the theologians, pastors, and preachers of His day, the people chose to believe the teachings of their pastors and religious organizations instead of His teachings. It must have broken our Lord’s heart! It saddens me to say that this is exactly what many sincere Pastors and Christians do today, when they hear or read some the truths that were taught by Jesus and His apostles.

When I understood how Satan blinds the minds of believers, I soon developed a healthy fear that maybe I was not studying the Bible with an open and unprejudiced mind. I subsequently reexamined all my beliefs. I then discovered that several of my beliefs were incorrect, and I needed to repent and change them. Even though I was afraid to change my beliefs, being an Apostolic Pentecostal minister with a BA in Theology, I made up my heart and mind to walk in the Light as He is in the Light. I also came to the realization that I am not married to the doctrines of any preacher, church, Bible College, or denomination, but to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Infallible Word of God and the Truth (Jn 1:1; 14:6).

Beloved, if you and I expect to hear Jesus say to us: “Well done good and faithful servant” (Mt 25:21), then we must not be afraid to change our beliefs, when we perceive that they are not in agreement with the written Word of God; for the Bible, not men or organizations, is the only source of absolute truth. Let us not forget, the people who hated the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, were not the sinners among the Gentiles or the Jewish people as a whole, but the Church Officials such as: the High Priest, Doctors of the Law, elders or pastors, and priests, who were entrusted with leadership positions. These church officials were more dedicated to the traditions of their organization than they were to almighty God and His Word.

Therefore, it becomes very evident that none of these church officials were infallible teachers of the Bible, even though their followers thought they were. Because God’s people blindly followed the teaching of these officials of the church, they rejected our Savior’s teachings and die lost. This cold but sobering fact should be a warning to all believers today, to make no man or organization their infallible teacher.

Now, since my name, your name, your pastor’s name, your church’s name, and the name of your denomination, are not written in the Word of God, none of us are infallible teachers. Therefore it is senseless for us to make any man or organization our infallible teacher, regardless if they call themselves: a pastor, a Doctor of Divinity, an apostle, a prophet, a prophetess, the pope, the holy one, or the little flock. Every believer needs to love and respect their teachers, but they should never place them on a pedestal and worship them as their infallible golden calf, whereby everything that comes out of their mouth is “thus says the Lord.” Most believers are not aware that this is idolatry and God hates it.

Beloved, when God saved me and delivered me from this kind of idolatry, I made a vow to God that I would never again place my faith in any preacher or religious organization, but only in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Infallible Word. I promised my God that I would not believe anything about the Bible, until I could personally pray about it and search it out for myself! Now God has blessed me with some great pastors and teachers, whom I love and respect even to this day, but I can honestly say that I never worshipped any of them by making anyone of them my infallible teacher. Please do not take what I am saying in the wrong way; I am not condemning or belittling the biblical and holy office of a bishop, but I am placing it in a biblical and historical context.

Beloved, you may have a pastor who is a good teacher, or even a great teacher, but I promise you he is not infallible, and I am happy to tell you that neither am I. Now someone might ask me, why are you happy about not being infallible? Do you not want people to think that your teachings or books are infallible? No, I do not! You might ask why not? Because if I lead anyone to think my teachings or books are infallible, I cannot change or correct them, if I later discover that any part of my teachings are incorrect.

Therefore, I do not want to placed myself in the position, where I cannot say, “I am wrong, please forgive me. I make an honest and sincere mistake, but I will correct it and teach it correctly.” As a pastor, an assistant to a pastor, an evangelist, and a student of the Word of God for the last 38 years, I have always admonished God’s people to become students of the Bible, and I would challenge them prove what I taught them was the truth. I did this for two reasons: First, I wanted their faith to be in the Infallible Word of God and not in fallible man; also I knew that the Word of God could not get down deep into their hearts, unless each of them prove to themselves by their own research, what is truth and what is error. Every child of God needs to take their salvation seriously, for it is too precious to place it in the hands of any man.

Second, I knew from the Word of God that a pastor was not the only mouthpiece God had in the Church. I knew every humble Holy Ghost filled child of God, could receive revelation of truth from God (1Co 14:26). Therefore God placed them there not only for a pastors to “equip” them “for the work of the ministry,” or to “become able ministers or teachers of the gospel” (Eph 4:11-12), but also for a pastors to learn from them; for God gave them to pastors for their protection, so that they could correct him if he went into error.

If this is not the truth, then who and what will prevent any pastor from going into false doctrine. Because the majority of God’s churches today, do not have several pastors of equal authority over a congregation, who could also correct them and even reprimand them if they went into sin, God’s pastors today are without protection. The Bible reveals that only pastors have the authority to reprimand or even chastise or rebuke their fellow pastor in any given congregation (1Ti 5:19-20). I know many pastors think that God will use their fellow pastors in their denomination to keep them from going astray; but this is a lie of Satan, for every pastor knows that their fellow pastors, in their denomination, will never hear ninety-nine percent of what they preach or teach.

Beloved, it is a shame that many pastors have allowed, or in some cases encouraged, their people to believe that they are the epitome of knowledge, and every word that comes out of their mouth is straight from the throne God. They are doing a great injustice to the people of God. It is a shame that these men have made themselves the only mouthpiece of God in the Church. They should be fulfilling their God given responsibility to not only to teach God’s children sound doctrine, but also how to study the Word of God for themselves, so they can rightly divide the Word of Truth and find out truth for themselves!

Because pastors have made themselves the infallible Pope in God’s Church, Satan has placed a great fear upon these pastors that their people will not respect or listen to them, if they change any of their teachings. Therefore, fear and pride place a tremendous amount of pressure on pastors to close their minds to any teaching that is contrary to theirs, whereby they are afraid to investigate the teachings of others. If some overcome their fear and pride, they usually study the teaching of others with a bias mind, and their biases blind them to the truth.

As a result, many pastors, seminary professors, and denominational officials have become Nicolaitan ministers. The Nicolaitan Doctrine is one of the most misunderstood doctrines of the entire Bible! This doctrine will be fully explained in this book. Because many pastors, seminary professors, and officials in the hierarchy structure of denominations, are Nicolaitan ministers, they use Satan’s method of correcting those under their authority, who they feel are in error in their doctrinal beliefs. They usually give a strong rebuke to these ministers or saints, and then expect them to repent or change their beliefs, simply because they are the ones in authority.

These Nicolaitan ministers are either ignorant of or willfully rebel against the Biblical guidelines, which God gave in His Word to correct someone who may be in error. Because the love of God is not in the heart of these Nicolaitan ministers, or they are so filled with pride in their own infallibility, they will not take time to sit down with those whom they are correcting, and say in a loving way: “Well brother or sister, let us prayerfully and scripturally examine your belief and my belief, and see if it harmonizes with all the scriptures in the Bible that pertain to this doctrine” (2Ti 2:24-26). When one is looking for a harmony in scriptures and not for a debate, knowing that the Bible is the infallible Word of God “in the original language that it was written in,” it is not that hard for two people with opposing perspectives to come to an agreement, if their true motive is to find truth. The Bible declares: “Only by pride cometh contention” (Pro 13:10).

In one sense, denominational organizations are like individual churches, they close their mind and heart to anyone who has a different belief than theirs. Now this can be good in some ways and evil in other ways. It is good in the sense that it prevents heresy from spreading in the churches and in organizations, but it is evil and satanic when it is truth that is prevented from spreading. Because their mind is close and they have lost the spirit of investigation, pastors and denominations will never receive any more truth than what they presently have; this is exactly the reason why Christianity has so many denominations, which claim to be the true Church of Christ. They have gone the way of the Pharisees and Sadducees and have taken refuge in their organizations.

So, what is the answer to this church and denominational dilemma? The answer can be found in God’s Word, for God said: “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge” (1Co 14:29). Paul did not say: “Let two or three pastors speak, and let the other pastors in the congregation judge,” even though pastors are prophets also, but the context or two verses down, Paul proclaimed: “For you can ALL prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged” (vs 31). Therefore, Paul is no doubt referring to entire Priesthood of God!

A Prophet is someone who has the Spirit of God in them, which gives them the power to speak under the anointing and inspiration of Almighty God. In verse 32, Paul reminded God’s Holy Priesthood that their preaching and teaching must conform to the written Word of God. Paul said it this way: “the spirits of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets,” that is, the Prophets who spoke and wrote the Old Testament. The New Testament reveals that this admonishment also applies to New Testament writers. Everyone in the Corinthian Church must have been a Teacher for Paul said, “For though you might have ten thousand Instructors [i.e. Teachers] in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1Co 4:15-16).

Therefore, God gave His Children the responsible of knowing truth and judging what is truth, so that they would not be deceived. This in no way undermines Pastors’ God ordain responsibility of correcting and reproving false teaching in God’s Church! It is a shame that Pastors and denominations of today have flouted God’s instructions, which He gave for their protection, so that He would not have to judge them as a false prophet on the Day of Judgment! Woe be to the Pastors or denomination that follow man’s guidelines over God’s commands!! Ignorant is no excuse, for there will be a multitude on the Day of Judgment who will tell the Lord Jesus Christ: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness,” or practiced man’s precepts and have changed the teachings of God’s Word (Mt 7:22-23)!

The above biblical principle of correction can be applied to an individual church, as well as to a church organization. God told us that those priestly saints, who believe that God has given them a revelation, or insight into His Word, should have the opportunity to preach or teach it in the church, just as a pastor should be allow to teach any revelation in his denomination. Therefore, let the saints of God in the church along with their pastors, and the pastors in a denomination, judge the truthfulness or error of the teaching.

In a Nicolaitan Church or organization this will never be allowed, for the pastor or denomination claims to be the only mouthpiece of God, therefore no one will ever be able to correct them. As a result, these pastors and their organizations will never change their teachings. Satan will continue to use these pastors and their denominations to promote whatever lies or false doctrines he has deceived them into believing. Because God does not want His Children to be deceived by Nicolaitan Pastors or Teachers, and Pastors to be deceived by Nicolaitan denominations, He commanded all of them to: “Prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:2); and “Prove all things, hold fast that which is good” (1Th 5:21); and “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth” (2Ti 2:15, KJV).

According to the great apostle Paul, the Berean saints explicitly followed these God given commands, for he wrote: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and EXAMINED the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11, NIB). In other words, these believers did not allow their love and respect for Paul, or any other teacher, to prevent them from examining their teachings with the written Word of God. The only way any child of God can “know the doctrine whether it be of God,” is by becoming a devoted student of the Bible (Jn 7:17). This is the will of God! Truth may come very slowly, but it will come as long as a Saint of God, or a Pastor, or a denomination is willing to humble himself or itself, and change their teaching when they perceive that it is error!!

Beloved, if you claim to be a son or daughter of Almighty God, then you must hunger, thirst, desire, and love truth, more than life itself. God has given all of His Children the responsibility and privilege of knowing and finding truth for themselves. If they do not take this God given responsibility seriously, than God will allow them to believe a lie and be lost. Because God’s Jewish Children, in the days of the Lord Jesus, did not take this responsibility seriously, they rejected the truths He preached and died lost. They rejected their Savior and Messiah.

Our Savior warned all believers not to follow the teachings of false prophets, who would deceive them, especially concerning the New Birth, which is how one enters into the straight and narrow path, that leads into Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection (Mt 7:22-23, cp with vss 13-15). Jesus taught that we would know false prophets and false religious denominations by their fruits. One of their fruits would be, they would place a literal meaning on the scriptures they use to prove their doctrine, and a figurative meaning on the scriptures used by others to prove their doctrine false. This is what the Bible commanded us not to do, when it stated that we should not ‘wrest’ or ‘twist’ or ‘pervert’ the scriptures to our “own destruction” (2Pe 3:16). All scriptures must be taken LITERAL, unless it is a Jewish idiom or the language and context demands a spiritual interpretation.

A favorite saying among those who have been deceived by false prophets is: “I know this teaching is not of God because it bring in confusion.” Therefore many believers will follow the example of their deceived teachers, and will also place a literal meaning on the scriptures they want to believe in, and a figurative meaning on the scriptures that seems to bring confusion to them. Because they are not willing to change their beliefs, they will not look for an interpretation that will harmonize with all the scriptures on that subject; therefore, they would rather believe a lie, and spiritualize away or totally forget about the scriptures that seem to bring confusion to them. Hey friend, it is time to repent for handling God’s Holy Infallible Word in a dishonest fashion! Do not forget, God will judge you for this on the Day of Judgment!

I have discovered through my own experiences that we are beings, who love to follow the traditions of our Elders, churches, and denominations. Since none of us likes change when it comes to our beliefs, we react very negatively when someone disturbs our feelings of security. Beloved, if we claim to be Children of the Light, we must then walk in the Light, or “darkness will overtake us” (Jn 12:35-36, 46). If we truly love our fellow man as our Lord commanded us to, then we will not be afraid to tell each other the truth in a kind and loving manner, even if we momentarily become offended. No surgery is pleasant while the doctor is cutting us open, but after the tumor, cancer or disease is removed and our health is restored, what joy good health brings.

Since our God and Savior commanded us to: “Buy the truth, and do not sell it” (Pr 23:23), Pastors and Saints, who preach this great gospel, should always remember that there is a price to pay to walk in truth! Rejection, loneliness, and heartache are often a part of this great price; nevertheless, everyone who truly loves our dear Lord will always be willing to pay any price to walk with Him in truth! Therefore, I encourage my readers to open their hearts and minds, as they open their Bibles in search for the truth.

I furthermore admonished them to believe that God said what He meant, and meant what He said. In other words, God intended that we believe and understand “EVERY WORD,” He used to express His infallible thoughts or teachings (Psa 12:6-7; Pro 30:5; Mt 4:4; 2Ti 3:16). God never intended His Word to be interpreted by the imaginations of the mind of mankind; it makes no difference if they are called Pastors, Prophets, Prophetesses, the Anointed Ones, Doctors of Divinity, Archbishops, or the Pope. The Bible is a Book inspired with all of mankind in mind, and God intended that it should be read, studied, and understood by all of mankind, not just a selected few, for it is one of our Heavenly Father’s great and precious gifts to us.

Therefore, let each of us become students of the Bible, and eat “our daily bread” with an open and unbiased mind. Let us not be lazy; let us study the Word of God for ourselves; let us not be afraid to search out the teachings of other Christian Ministers. Either we will believe Satan’s lie, that we can not understand the Bible because of our lack of education in theology, or we will believe what Jesus said: “If any man will do His [God’s] will, he shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God” (Jn 7:17).

Beloved, we do not understand the teachings of the Bible by our intelligence, regardless how much or little we may possess, but it comes by inspiration from God’s Holy Spirit. God only gives revelations to us as we love, keep, hunger, thirst, dig, and pray for truth! You must be willing to do your homework, and study the Word of God with an open, unbiased, humble, and honest spirit!! You must have your mind made up, that you will settle for nothing less than truth, in your walk with your Creator and Savior!!! If we do not buy the truth because it is not popular, or it offends our parents, relatives, friends, church, organization, and so on, then we are selling our salvation for the favor and praises of men. We become men-pleasers instead of God-pleasers. We will esteem men much more highly than we esteem God.

Beloved, permit me to give you one example of how truth is discovered. When our government wanted to discover the truth concerning splitting the atom, they gathered together a group of scientists from various fields of science, and placed them in one room. These men were instructed to proposed theories of how the atom could be split to form a bomb. Each scientist had to be willing to lay aside their pride, as their fellow scientists did their best to disprove their theory. Every theory that could not be disproved was then tested, until the truth was discovered. The same principle is also applied to Pastors or Saints in a Church, or Pastors in a denomination!

A Brother in the Lord once told me that his dad, who was a denominational minister, told him that he spent four years in Seminary School to learn the Bible, and twenty years unlearning what he had learned. In other words, because he was so thoroughly indoctrinated with the beliefs of his denomination, it was a real struggle for him to lay aside his biases, and to study the Bible with an open mind. Beloved, do not be afraid to test or thoroughly examine your beliefs; for truth can be placed under a microscope and thoroughly dissected, and it will shine brighter than ever; as long as we follow the biblical guidelines that are given in the Bible. These guidelines are given in this book!

Therefore, the author of this book is asking his beloved readers, to prayerfully read this teaching to the end, so that they may comprehend the entire teaching. After doing this, then dissect and examine this book by looking for a harmony in all the scriptures that I use, and also the scriptures you know of that pertain to this subject, as both of us interpret them in a literal fashion. After you have done these things, then judge for yourself the validity of this teaching.

Beloved, truth is the greatest gift of love that any preacher can give to those who listen to him speak, or read his writings. The more truth any Child of God places in their heart, the more of Jesus they have, for He is the Truth (Jn 14:6). Beloved, you cannot say you love Jesus and not love the Bible, for Jesus is the Living Word (Jn 1:1); and EVERY WORD in the Bible is His Words.

God’s Literal Method of Interpreting the Scriptures

vs Satan’s Allegorical Method

So that my readers can obtain a full grasp of the importance of interpreting the scriptures in a literal fashion, let us look at a brief history of allegorism. The scriptures of the Bible can be used to teach any doctrine, as long as the interpreter uses some and not all of the scriptures on any given subject, or uses Philo’s satanic and corrupt allegorical method of interpreting the Bible. All false doctrines are the product of one or both of these methods.

Dr. Charles F. Pfeiffer, in his book Between The Testaments, speaking of Alexandrian allegorism wrote: Alexandrian Jews followed their gentile neighbors in subscribing to a school of Greek philosophy. This resulted in that attempt to harmonize Scripture with Greek thinking which produced the allegorical method of interpreting Scripture. Aristobulus and Philo were the great allegorizers. To them the literal meaning of the Bible was vulgar, misleading, and insufficient. A hidden, deeper meaning must be sought; by reading into the Bible their pagan philosophy, they were able to consider themselves enlightened Hellenists and orthodox Hebrews at one and the same time.

According to Pfeiffer, around 160 BC Aristobulus, an Alexandrian Jew: taught that the Greek philosophers had actually borrowed much of their thought from the Mosaic Law. To Aristobulus, Moses and the prophets presented the same truths as those enunciated by the great Greek philosophers. The most famous name in Jewish allegorical thought is Philo... who lived from 20 BC to AD 50. A man of great erudition, Philo mentions sixty-four Greek writers, including Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, Solon, the tragedians, and Plato.

To Philo, these Greeks were not pagans. They were men of God, on a par with Israel’s prophets. From Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics, Philo was able to weave for himself a philosophical system.... From the Jewish allegorists, the [Catholic] Christian church adopted a method of Biblical interpretation [allegorism] that has persisted in some places to the present. From the time of Origen it dominated the thinking of the Roman Church. [1] Pfeiffer is wrong on this point, for allegorism did not start with Origen in Catholicism, but with Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome. It dominated Catholic teaching from AD 100 on.

Early Catholic apologists loved and used this method of interpreting the Scriptures. Origen was without a doubt the foremost proponent of allegorism. Professor Philip Schaff, in his History Of The Christian Church, revealed that Origen was one of the first Catholics to follow Philo’s corrupt allegorical method. Schaff said that Origen believed that this method was for those who stood: On the high ground of philosophical knowledge. In the application of this theory he shows the same tendency as Philo, to spiritualize away the letter of scripture. Schaff went on to say “But this allegorizing suited the taste of the age. [2]

Most of the corrupt teachings of Catholicism came from its philosophical school, which was located in Alexandria, Egypt. Dr. F. W. Farrar, in his History Of Interpretation, said that this school’s: Object, like that of Philo, was to unite philosophy with revelation.... The first teacher of the school who rose to fame was... Pantaenus. Who, believing in the divine origin of Greek philosophy, openly propounded the principle that all scriptures must be allegorically understood. [3]

Professor Walter Martin, in his book entitled The Kingdom Of The Cults, revealed that all cults use the allegorical method to verify their teachings of the Bible. He said: Let it never be forgotten that cultists are experts at lifting texts out of their respective context, without proper concern for the laws of language or the established principles of Biblical interpretation. [4] The allegorical method used by cultists has been a curse to many of the honest hearted people in every age that sought for the Eternal Life that our Savior offers.

My readers by now you should be able to understand the importance of sound Biblical rules for interpreting God’s Holy Word. Let us hear what Professor J. Edwin Hartill has to say concerning receiving illumination from God. He wrote in his book Principles Of Biblical Hermeneutics: God alone is able through His Spirit, to open our understanding and to make us behold the glorious things in His Word. No human teacher can do this. Sin has veiled our understanding.... Sin seals the Book. When you cling to sin, you will find difficulty in interpreting the Book.

To the natural man the Bible is full of apparent contradictions. The Bible student, to become a real Bible student, must obey every injunction in the Book that pertains to him.... God reveals his truth to those who are willing to walk in the Light.... He, who will abuse the Light, will receive only blindness.... The Bible is a mine, and you can never get anything out of it without digging for it.... In studying the Word of God, we must dismiss from our minds what we have been taught.... One of the hardest things to do is to unlearn what you have already learned.... This is the only safeguard against error and evil. [5]

Seven Biblical Rules for Interpreting Scripture

There are certain biblical hermeneutical principles one must use if they wish to interpret the Bible correctly. I hope my readers will find these rules interesting as well as informative. If we do not want to become false prophets, we must be willing to study the Bible with an open and unbiased mind. This is very hard for all of us to do, because most people study the Bible with a closed mind. They already know what they believe, so they search for the scriptures that seem to confirm their belief. This is not an honest approach to studying the Bible.

The following seven steps are not the only steps, but they are pertinent and imperative in interpreting the Bible. I definitely believe they will guide you through the straight and narrow corridor that leads to truth:

FIRST: We must begin our study by checking our human spirit. What is our motive for studying the Bible? Is it truly to discover truth so we can walk pleasing unto God, and not let Satan lead us into false doctrine that will bind our heart and mind, or is it so we can feed our pride and appear to be smarter than our love ones and friends? The Word of God declares: “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24). God desires the human spirit of His Children to seek after and serve Him in TRUTH.

In fact, God uses truth to mold our human spirit in holiness. God said it this way: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb 12:22-23). Only a true hunger and love for truth will bring about God’s anointing and revelation. We must love truth with all of our heart, in fact, more than anything or anyone. When we do, we will have a strong enough motivation to study God’s Word with an open mind, thereby not permitting Satan to use our present belief system, whether it may be true or false, to blind our spirit whereby we cannot keep an open and objective mind as we study the Word of God. If we truly desire our Lord’s illumination, we must study the Bible this way.

SECOND: We should always start our study with sincere prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ for guidance, and be determined in our heart to love and keep the truths God reveals to us. In fact, we should pray a prayer similar to that of David, when he cried out to God with all of his heart and said: “Teach me O Lord the way of Thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; I shall observe it with my whole heart…. I understand more than the ancient because I keep Thy precepts” (Psa 119:33-34,100, KJV).

David totally relied on God to be his primary teacher. David knew that in order for God to become his teacher and reveal truth to him, he had to be willing to love and keep the Word of God with all of his heart. Sin is what blinds the mind of man, but holiness sets it free. Obedience to the Word of God is the master key for understanding the Bible. Therefore, we must have our mind made up not to compromise truth for fellowship or acceptance by loving ones or by a certain denomination.

THIRD: We, who have the Spirit of God in us, as the Old Testament Prophets and the New Testament Apostles did, must believe and expect the Holy Ghost to teach us. Our dear Lord told us that the Holy Ghost: “will guide” us “into all truth” (Jn 16:13). He will “teach” us all thing, and bring all things back to our “remembrance” (Jn 14:26). John said: “The anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you…[for] the same anointing teaches you concerning all things” (1Jn 2:27). The Word of God explicitly, expressly, and emphatically declared that the Holy Ghost would be our teacher, if we will permit Him. There is not a human teacher anywhere, which can compare to the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, for Jesus is our Master Teacher.

This does not mean we do not need to study the Bible or use good principles in interpreting it. What it does mean is that after we uses all the principles of interpretation, we still must depend upon the anointing of Holy Spirit of God for a true and complete understanding of truth. This is not a mystical thing, for the Spirit of God in us works through the very words of Scripture to help us understand its meaning. Therefore, as we examine the context of Scripture, the meaning of the words God uses to express His truth, and allow Scripture to interpret Scripture (comparing Scripture with other Scriptures on the subject), God will reveal the truth to us.

Let us always remember that the apostle John, who is telling us to rely on the Spirit of God to be our teacher, is a great pastor, preacher, and teacher himself. He, like Paul and all the other apostles, knew God’s children must study the Word of God. No amount of preaching and teaching from good pastors or men of God will ever relieve us of our obligation and privilege to study the Bible for ourselves. In fact, our Lord commanded us to “study” His Word, to show ourselves “approved unto God” (2Ti 3:16). I have never read anywhere in the Bible where Paul or any of the other apostles ever forbade or reproved anyone for investigating their preaching. In fact, Paul praised the Bereans for they received the Word of God with an open mind, and “search the Scriptures daily” to verify his teachings (Acts 17:11).

Therefore, if any Catholic priest, Protestant pastor, or Pentecostal pastor is offended or angry with you because you have examined his teaching and found it false, mark this man as a False Prophet for in his insatiable pride he has made himself the infallible pope or holy one. A true man of God is one who is humble and thankful to God for showing him wherein he has taught false doctrine, that is of course, if he has truly made an error! If you are the one who is wrong in your teaching, then it gives him the opportunity to sit down with you in love and show you wherein you have failed to comprehend the truth. This correction process is a needed and helpful experience, if we are going to truly love truth and keep our human spirit in subjection to the infallible Word of God. Helping each other to know and walk in truth is the greatest act of love anyone can bestow on another!!

FOURTH: We must be hungry for truth and be willing to search diligently for it. God’s truths are like pure gold nuggets that are hidden in the earth. Unless one is really hungry, he or she will not take the time or make the effort to dig for the deeper things of God. For us to discover truth, we must seek and “search for her as for hidden treasures” (Pro 2:4); God told us to “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Mt 7:7-8).

Most pastors, because they are so busy, will spend only a few hours reading a commentary, Bible Dictionary, a Topical Bible, a concordance, or even a book that has been written on a certain subject that they are planning to teach. Because many preachers have been to a Bible College or a Seminary, they feel that they know the doctrines of the Bible, which they have been indoctrinated with or taught, adequately enough to do a quick review of the subject. As a result, they lose or never acquire the spirit of investigation.

I know this from personal experience, since I have held several Church Offices, such as, the office of a Pastor, Evangelist, Sunday School Teacher, and so on. I have often found it easier to teach doctrines, I have been taught by a pastor or instructor whom I loved. Bible College or Seminary School did not make me or anyone else an authority on the Bible. Although, it did provide me with the fundamental skills and tools I needed to do serious Bible research. If we are honest with ourselves, as well as sincere with God, we will set a fixed time in our busy schedule each day to do serious Bible studying. Searching out scriptures on any given doctrine of the Bible is one of the most exciting, thrilling, and awesome experiences anyone can experience in this life, especially when God reveals a truth to you that you did not know before! There is nothing in life that is more challenging than searching and finding out the mysteries that God has hidden in His holy Word!!

FIFTH: We must discipline ourselves to examine all the facts of the Bible with an unprejudiced mind. The best way to have an objective, impartial, impersonal view is to go on a fact-finding mission. This is where the real work in studying the Bible takes place. You must be willing to spend a few weeks or even months searching the Bible for scriptures that are related to the subject you are studying. A Naves Topical Bible has many scriptures in it on different subjects of the Bible, but it does not contain all of them. It is still a good source to use to begin your search. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible will help you find all the scriptures, if you know how to use it.

These Bible study helps can be very useful in locating scriptures, if you become a WORD vulture, that is, looking for key words and key phrases God uses in the Bible, which are related to the subject being studied. In other words, look for key words or phrases in each scripture and then look for other scriptures that have the same words or phrases; for example, say you are studying the doctrine of hell, some of the key words and phrases you would look up are: fire, burn, furnace, torment, Gehenna, Lake of Fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, the worm does not die, outer darkness, second death, perish, destroy, destruction, devour, burned up, consume, ashes, more tolerable, wrath, judgment, punishment, damnation, etc.

You should also ask yourself this question, is the doctrine I am studying related to any other doctrine that can bring light on the doctrine I am studying? For example, lets look at the doctrine of hell again. How does it relate to the doctrine of Eternal Life, the immortality of the soul, the word forever (ages of ages), and most of all to God’s attributes, such as love, mercy, justice, holiness, etc. What is Eternal Life: is it a place, a better resurrection, status of life, or does it mean life without end? Does the Bible teach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul? All of these doctrines are definitely related to the doctrine of hell.

Therefore, as my beloved reader can perceive by now, key word and phrase searches are absolutely necessary in studying the Bible. Now this kind of work is very exigent and frequently time consuming, but the truths you will discover by doing it is well worth the effort. As you examine each scripture in your key word and phrase search, ask yourself this question, “Is this scripture related to the subject?” If the answer in your spirit is yes, then write it down in a notebook under that subject heading. Do not try to understand the scripture in relationship to your belief at this time. You must be determined in your spirit to use each scripture, regardless of whether or not it teaches something contrary to your belief.

Bible doctrine, as I stated before, is like a jigsaw puzzle; if you have only one-half or even three-fourths of the pieces, but think you have all, you will see a picture, but it will be a distorted or false one. When all of the pieces of the puzzle are present, you will be able to see the one true picture clearly, or in other words, you will be able to comprehend the correct interpretation of that particular doctrine. This is why you must be willing to examine all the facts of the Bible with an unprejudiced mind.

SIXTH: We must place a literal interpretation on every scripture, unless the language used and the context demands a symbolic one. After we have found all the scriptures we can on the subject that we are studying, we should thoroughly examine each of them. We should search for the one interpretation that will harmonize with all the scriptures on the topic we are investigating, for the Word of God teaches: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2Ti 3:16). This means as I stated before that every single scripture is “God-breathed,” therefore, there is no way one scripture can contradict another, in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGE it was written in.

As I stated before, we only become confused on any given doctrine, when we refuse to change our belief. This happens when we find scriptures on a certain subject, which we know are not figurative and should be interpreted in literal sense, but because they do not agree with our belief, we hold to a figurative interpretation. We desperately search the Scriptures for some symbolic interpretation that may be applied to interpret these scriptures. Countless times in the past I have told someone, “The longer I study the Bible on this subject, the more confused I become.” All the while the Holy Spirit was telling me in my spirit to interpret these scriptures literally and to change my belief.

SEVENTH: We must be willing to do KEY WORD STUDIES in Hebrew and Greek Lexicons (dictionaries), and translate them according to the CONTEXT God places them in. Since EVERY WORD of the Bible is God-breathed, we definitely need to know what the Words God uses to express His truths mean! As stated before, the Bible says: “EVERY WORD of God is PURE, a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do NOT ADD to His WORDS, Lest He indict you and you be proved a liar” (Pro 30:5-6, TNK). David said it this way: “The WORDS of the LORD are PURE WORDS, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever” (Psa 12:6-7). Our Savior stated this truth this way: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY WORD that proceeds from the MOUTH of God” (Mt 4:4).

Therefore, let my readers take note: the Bible stated every word and not just every thought is pure. This naturally means every word in the ORIGINAL LANGUAGES the Bible was written, that is, the Hebrew and the Greek. Dr. Robert Young in the preface of The English Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible confirmed this truth when he wrote: The INSPIRATION of the Bible, extends ONLY to the ORIGINAL TEXT, as it came form the pens of the writers, not to any translations ever made by man, however aged, venerable, or good; and only in so far as any of these adhere to the ORIGINAL neither adding to nor omitting from it one particle.... A strictly literal rendering may not be so pleasant to the ear as one where the apparent sense is chiefly aimed at, yet it is not euphony but TRUTH that ought to be sought.

Even though there are several good translations of the Bible, such as Morris’ Literal Translation of the Bible, The Interlinear Bible by Dr. J. P. Green, Dr. Young’s literal translation, etc., none of them have been translated perfectly, all though the literal translations of the Bible do a much better job when it come to Hebrew and Greek Grammar. Many Bible translations do not follow the laws of grammar when it comes to certain doctrines of the Bible, for example, they will take a verb and make it a noun and vice versa.

Here is one example of an improper translation of a verse, as far as the meaning of words, such as the Greek word pneuma or spirit: Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit [pneuma - pneu,matoj], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit [pneuma - pneu,matoj] is spirit [pneuma - pneu/ma,]. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind [pneuma - pneu/ma] blows [pneo] where it wishes, and you hear the sound [phone] of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit [pneuma - pneu,matoj]” (Jn 3:8, KJV; the NKJ, ASV, NAS, NIV all incorrectly translate pneuma in verse 8 as wind).

In the Greek verse 8 reads this way: “to. pneu/ma o[pou qe,lei pnei/ kai. th.n fwnh.n auvtou/ avkou,eij avll ouvk oi=daj po,qen e;rcetai kai. pou/ u`pa,gei\ ou[twj evsti.n pa/j o` gegennhme,noj evk tou/ pneu,matoj.”

Definition of Greek Words: The Greek word “pneuma” literally means spirit. It is used 385 times in the New Testament, and the Kings James translated “it 381 times as spirit, spirits, and Ghost” referring to the “Holy Ghost,” 1 time as spiritual, 1 time as spiritually, 1 time as life, and 1 time as wind. The word “Spirit” in verses 5, 6 and 8 is the Greek word “Pneuma,” therefore, the entire context of Jesus’ discourse is about how to be born or the Spirit or receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the entire context of these verses demand that Pneuma be translated as Spirit in the first part of verse 8 as well as the last part of verse 8.

My readers should keep in mind, our dear Lord and the great apostle John, who wrote down His infallible words, definitely knew the difference between the Greek words “pneuma” and “anemos.” The Greek word for “wind” is “anemos.” Anemos is used 22 times in the NT, and it is always translated as wind. It is translated 15 times as wind and 7 times as winds. If John wanted his readers to believe that he was speaking of the wind in the above verse, he would have wrote anemos there instead of pneuma, just as he did in Jn 6:18, Rev 6:13 & 7:1.

The word “blow” is the Greek word “pneo” that literally means: a hard breath, figuratively it means blow. Anemos is used 5 times with pneo and it is always translated as the “wind blows,” but when “pneo is used with Pneuma” it should be translated as the “Spirit breathes.” The word “sound” is the Greek word “phone,” which literally means: voice or language, and figuratively means sound. [6] Phone is used 141 times in the NT, and it is translated “131 times as voice,” 8 times as sound, and 2 times as noise. It is use many times “to refer to God’s voice or God speaking.”

English Translations of John 3:8: Morris’ Literal Translation of the Bible: “The Spirit [Pneuma] breathes where He desires, and the voice [phone also means language] of Him you hear, but you know not where He comes, and where He goes, so is everyone having received birth from the Spirit [Pneuma]” (also see The Interlinear Bible by J. P. Green). Dr. Young's Literal Translation of the Bible, translated verse eight this way: “The Spirit where He willeth doth blow, and His voice thou dost hear.”

The Emphasized Bible, by Joseph Bryant Rotherham, translated this verse the same way: “The Spirit where it pleaseth doth breathe, and the sound therefore thou hearest….” The translation of the Rheims Bible of 1582: “The Spirit breatheth where He will: and thou hearest His voice.” M. R. Vincent in his Word Studies in the New Testament made this comment: Some hold by the translation Spirit, as Wycliffe, ‘The Spirit breatheth where it will.’ [7]

The Latin Vulgate, edited by Bishop Richard Challoner, translated this verse thus: “The Spirit breatheth where he will; and thou hearest His voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” [8] Even the old Latin Jerome Bible of the fourth century and all the Latin translations there after translated it this way. These Latin Bibles were used throughout Europe for many centuries.

The Translation of John 3:8 in the Ante Nicene Fathers: In 240 AD, Origen quoted and translated this verse this way: The Holy Spirit, who alone searches the deep things of God, reveals God to whom he will: ‘For the Spirit bloweth where He listeth.’ [9] Cyprian wrote to Donatus in AD 252, in which he used a phrase from John 3:8. He told Donatus that after he was born of the water: the agency of the ‘Spirit breathed’ from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man. [10]

In A Treatise on Re-Baptism, which was written in AD 255, John 3:8 is translated this way: ‘The Spirit breathes where He will, and thou hearest His voice.’ It went to say: The Spirit indeed continues today invisible to men, as the Lord says, ‘The Spirit breathes where He will and thou knowest not whence He cometh, or where He goeth.’ [11] Cyril, the Archbishop of Jerusalem (AD 380), in his Discourse on the Holy Ghost wrote: For even Nicodemus was ignorant of the coming of the Spirit, and to him it was said, ‘The Spirit breatheth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice. [12]

Commentaries Comments on John 3:8: The Expositor’s Greek Testament, edited by W. R. Nicolli, speaking of this verse declared: In the new birth the Spirit moves and works unseen.... ‘The Spirit breatheth where he will,' as in the margin of the Revised Version.... In favor of the other rendering it may be urged that there is nothing to warn us that we are now to understand that by pneuma wind is meant. It occurs about 370 times in the New Testament and never means wind.... The Vulgate renders ‘Spiritus....’ The Spirit makes Himself audible in articulate and intelligible sounds. The breathing of the Spirit is like man's breath, not mere air, but articulated and significant voice. [13]

The People’s New Testament Commentary, in their comments on John 3:8, declared that all the laws of grammar reveals that the Greek word “pneuma” used in this verse should be translated as “Spirit,” and not as wind. They wrote: Most commentators have held that this means: ‘As the wind moves mysteriously, so does the Spirit, and it breathes upon whom it will, effecting the inward change called the birth of the Spirit arbitrarily.’ This view I believe due to a wrong translation, sanctioned, not by Greek, but by current theology. Let it be noted that: (1) exactly the same Greek term ‘pneuma’ is rendered ‘wind’ and ‘Spirit’ in this verse. It is a violation of all law [of grammar] that the same word should experience so radical a change of meaning in the same sentence. (2) That the word ‘pneuma’ is not translated ‘wind’ elsewhere, although it occurs scores of times in the New Testament, but is always rendered ‘Spirit.’

(3) Another word in the Greek, ‘anemos’ is usually used to represent ‘wind.’ (4) The erroneous idea creates a confusion of figures. It makes Christ to say: ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth; so is every one born of the Spirit.’ It affirms of him who is born just what is affirmed of the wind, a thing the Savior never did. These facts are sufficient to show that the rendering ‘wind’ is wrong. All we have to do is to translate ‘pneuma’ here, as is done in the latter part of the verse and elsewhere in the New Testament. The verse then reads: ‘The Spirit (‘pneuma’) breathes where it pleases and thou hearest the voice thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes nor whither it goes. So is every one born of the Spirit’ (‘pneuma’). The meaning is: The Spirit breathes where it wills and you recognize its manifestation by its voice. [14]

This is positive proof that we must do key word studies because translators are not perfect, as Dr. Young has so accurately pointed out. The real problem the translator faces is choosing the word that exactly expresses what the author intended, since Hebrew and Greek words, like English or any other language, have more than one meaning. There is a literal meaning and there is also a figurative meaning. Each translator must choose the word that FITS the CONTEXT of the scriptures surrounding the word. Hopefully, they can do this without allowing their own religious beliefs to hinder them from choosing the correct word.

For this reason, it would behoove every sincere student of the Bible to be prepared to do key word studies employing a good lexicon. I would recommend for beginners the Strong Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, for it not only gives the literal and figurative meaning of Greek and Hebrew words used in the original text, but also their root meaning. It also gives every English word the King James translators used to translate it as well.

Here is example of an improper Greek Grammar translation of a scripture: “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks” (Rev 2:1, KJV; the NKJ, ASV, NAS, NIV all neglect the rules of Grammar in this verse). The Holy Bible, New Living Translation translated this verse this way: “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands” (2^nd edition). This translation does a better job grammatically then the other translations, but it fails to understand God message. In the Greek, this passage appears this way: “Tw/| avgge,lw| th/j evn VEfe,sw| evkklhsi,aj gra,yon\” (Robinson-Pierpont Majority Text & Friberg NT -UBS3/4).

The Greek noun “aggelos” or “messenger” is in the dative case, which is an indirect object; consequently, it should FOLLOW the verb and not come before it. According to Daniel B. Wallace in his book, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: The dative substantive is that to or for which the action of a verb is performed. The indirect object will only occur with a transitive verb, when the transitive verb is in the active voice. The word “church” is in the genitive case or the case that expresses possession, which should be translated “of the church.” The Greek preposition “evn” or “in” modifies the word “Ephesus,” which is also in the dative case; therefore it to should FOLLOW the verb and not come before it.

The verb “write” is in the AORIST tense, active voice, IMPERATIVE mood, second person, and singular number. Imperative mood is the mood that expresses a COMMAND with the subject being “you” or “you write.” Because the aorist tense refers to continuous action, regardless of when the action began, Jesus is not only referring to the Church that existed in Ephesus in that day, but also the Church that existed in that age. Therefore Revelation 2:1, 8, 18, 3:1, 7, & 14 all should read: “You [John] write OF the CHURCH, the MESSENGER in” Ephesus, Smyrna, and so on.

Since the Church consists of God’s holy Priesthood of all born-again believers, every child of God in the church is God’s one and only Messenger to the world during the period of time he or she lives. The word of God states this truth this way: “As NEWBORN BABES, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…. You are a chosen generation, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation” (1Pe 2:2, 59; Mt 28:19-20; Acts 8:3-4).

God’s Priests are His Messengers: “For the lips of a PRIEST should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the MESSENGER [Septuagint a;ggeloj - aggelos] of the LORD of hosts” (Mal 2:7). Another example of the Greek noun aggelos being translated as Messenger is: “When the MESSENGERS [aggelos] of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John” (Lk 7:24). Therefore God’s Messenger in the Church is His Holy Priesthood of all born-again believers; and grammatically speaking, all the above verses should be translated as: “You [John] write OF the CHURCH, the MESSENGER in” Ephesus, Smyrna, and so on.

If we do not want Satan to blind our minds against the truth, then we must be willing to study the Bible by doing Lexical Word Studies and hopefully Grammar Studies if possible. BibleWorks is an excellent computer program that will definitely help you do both Lexical and Grammar Studies on every verse in the Bible! BibleWorks address is: P.O. Box 6158, Norfolk, VA 23508, and it can be found on the web at: bibleworks.com. These are just some of the principles one should use in studying the Bible. Beloved, some may become upset when reading the seventh step, but I would be doing my beloved readers a grave injustice, by leaving this step out and not telling them the full truth on Bible interpretation.

Historical Dates Given for the Books of the New Testament,

the Hebrew Massoretic Text, Jewish Writings, and Translations of the Bible

52 AD: the apostle Paul wrote First Thessalonians from Corinth.

53 AD: Paul wrote Second Thessalonians from Corinth.

57 AD: Paul wrote First Corinthians from Ephesus, Second Corinthians from Macedonia, and Galatians from Corinth.

58 AD: Paul wrote Romans from Corinth.

60-61 AD: Paul wrote his 4 Prison Epistles from Rome: Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.

63 AD: Paul wrote 2 of his Pastoral Epistles: 1 Timothy and Titus.

65 AD: John Mark wrote the Gospel of Mark, when Paul was in Spain and Britain.

67 AD: the apostle Peter wrote Second Peter and the year he was crucified by Nero.

68 AD: the apostle Paul was imprisoned in Rome when he wrote his 3^rd Pastoral Epistles Second Timothy and probably Hebrews shortly, that is, shortly before he was beheaded by Nero in May. Jude wrote the Epistle of Jude at this time. John Mark was dragged to death through the streets of Alexandria, Egypt on Easter; the apostle Bartholomew was martyred in India; the apostles Philip and Thomas, along with Jude were martyred at Hierapolis after being beaten with clubs, flayed alive and crucified in Armenia.

81 AD: the Targums, the Aramaic versions of the Old Testament began to appear at this time.

85 AD: the apostle John wrote the Gospel of John.

90 AD: John wrote the Epistles of I John, II John and III John. Jewish Rabbis gathered at Jamnia to establish the Jewish Canon of Scripture.

95 AD: John wrote the Book of Revelation when he was banished from Ephesus to Patmos by Roman Emperor Domitian.

170 AD: According to Eusebius, Bishop Muratori, who epistle was lost, declared the Church accepted TWENTY New Testament books as canonical, genuine or inspired from God: the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Book of Acts, the 13 Epistles of Paul, 1 Peter, and 1 John. There was according to Eusebius a question about the Book of Hebrews, the Epistles of James, 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, Jude, and Revelation, which were later accepted as canon.

200 AD: Rabbi Jehudah Ha’nasi compiled the Mishnah, and later the Gemara was added to become the Palestinian Talmud.

240 AD: Origen composed the Hexapla, which was a 6-column compilation of the Hebrew Old Testament and five Greek Translations, that is, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodorion, the Septuagint, and a transliteration.

330 AD: the Greek Sinaitic New Testament Manuscript was produced by the Arian Eusebius at the orders of Emperor Constantine for 50 Greek New Testament. Eusebius perverted several passages of Scripture in these manuscripts concerning the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Birth, and some prophecies in the Book of Revelation. Many of the newer translations of the Bible favor this corrupted manuscript!

367 AD: ATHANASIUS, bishop of Alexandria, wrote his 39th Festal Letter and listed the present 27 New Testament books we now have.

380 AD: AMPHILOCIUS of Iconium produced the earliest list to correspond exactly to our New Testament in both order and content.

383 AD: JEROME was commissioned to make a Latin Bible.

385 AD JEROME translated the New Testament from Hebrew to Latin, a work which was completed in 404.

500 AD: The Babylonian "Talmud" was compiled.

1227 AD: STEPHEN LANGDON divided the Bible into 1,189 chapters.

1229 AD: The Synod of Toulouse forbade Bible reading by laymen.

1250 AD: The Bible was divided into chapters by Cardinal HUGH deSANCTO CARO.

1300 AD The "Zohar", a single source book of Kaballah, was produced for Jewry.

1382 AD: JOHN WYCLIFFE, the "Morning Star of the Reformation", founded the Lollards and published his English New Testament, the first complete manuscript.

1384 AD: JOHN WYCLIFFE died. NICHOLAS of Hereford completed the translation of the Old Testament into English.

1408 AD: JOHN HUSS was accused of heresy and deposed. English subjects were forbidden to make or read a version of the Bible in their native tongue.

1415 AD: The Council of Constance deposed all three popes and declared its "Sacrosancta" on April 6th. The Council also ordered JOHN WYCLIFFE'S body exhumed and desecrated. JOHN HUSS was burned at the stake in Prague on July 6th.

1455 AD: JOHN REUCHLIN, who composed a Hebrew grammar and dictionary, was born.

1456 AD: The Latin Bible, called the Mazarin Bible, was the first printed book by JOHANN GUTENBERG on his printing press.

1488 AD: The first complete Hebrew Old Testament was produced.

1492 AD: On March 30th, all Jews were expelled from Spain "under penalty of death, never to return". Many migrated to Tiberias and Safed, where they developed the Kabalah.

1501 AD: The Pope ordered all books against the Roman Church to be burned.

1514 AD: Cardinal XIMENES in Alcala published the first Polyglot Bible in Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek and Latin, and a Greek New Testament.

1516 AD: DESIDERIUS ERASMUS published his Greek New Testament on March 1st.

1522 AD: MARTIN LUTHER translated the New Testament into German. ZWINGLI broke with Rome. ADRIAN BOEYENS became Pope ADRIAN VI. The Complutesian Polyglot Bible was issued by Cardinal FRANCISCO JIMENEZ DeCISNEROS of Spain.

1525 AD: WILLIAM TYNDALE translated, and PETER SCHOEFFER printed ERASMUS' Greek New Testament into English and published it in 1526.

1528 AD: A Latin translation of the Hebrew Bible was made by SANTES PAGNINUS.

1534 AD: MARTIN LUTHER completed the translation of the whole Bible into German, based on the original Hebrew and Greek. WILLIAM TYNDALE published a revision of his New Testament.

1535 AD: MILES COVERDALE published the first complete printed Bible in English, with a translation of the Apocrypha from Latin.

1537 AD: The Matthews Bible was printed.

1539 AD: MILES COVERDALE published The Great Bible, the first Authorized English Version, with the Apocrypha separated from the Hebrew text.

1551 AD: ROBERT STEVENS (ESTIENNE) divided the Bible into 31,173 verses.

1560 AD: The Geneva Bible was published, the first in verse form.

1566 AD: The Vulgate version of the Bible was adopted as authoritative. PIUS V became pope.

1568 AD: The Bishop's Bible was published.

1582 AD: The Rheims New Testament was produced.

1604 AD: KING JAMES I authorized the translation of the Bible at Hampton Court Conference.

1609 AD: The Douay Bible was published.

1611 AD: The Authorized King James Version of the Bible was published.

1628 AD: The Alexandrian Manuscript was presented to the British by the Bishop of Constantinople.

1653 AD: BRIAN WALTON edited the London Polyglot Bible in ten languages.

1782 AD: The Aitken Bible became the first Bible to be printed in America.

1808 AD: THOMPSON translated the "Septuagint" from Greek to English. Andover Theological Seminary was founded by the Congregationalists.

1962 AD: The Jewish Publication Society published "The Torah", a translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text.

A Brief History of the Bible

New Testament Cannon: The Biblical New Testament was formed from over 5,000 ancient manuscripts, Bible translation in different languages, and scripture quotes from the Ante Nicene Fathers of the 2^nd through the 4^th centuries. The King James translators made very careful comparison of all these writings, which was made available to them. Most of these writings agreed with each other, but there were a few exceptions. Whenever this occurred, the translators always relied on the two oldest and most revered translations of the Bible, which were the Syriac and the Old Latin Translations; these translations contain both Old and New Testaments and were made between 100-150 AD. There were used in many places throughout the Roman Empire.

The Syriac Version was made by the Christians in Antioch, Syria around the middle of the second century. This NT translation was either translated from the original epistles of Paul and other writers of the NT, or from a copy of the original Greek text. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary it included: both the Syriac and the Chaldee languages…. The Old Testament… (called the Peshitto, i.e., simple translation, and not a paraphrase), was made early in the second century (110-140 AD?), and is therefore the first Christian translation of the Old Testament. It was made directly from the original [Hebrew], and not from the LXX Version. The New Testament was also translated from [the original] Greek into Syriac about the same time (heading Syriac). This Bible was used for many centuries in the nation of Syria.

Easton Bible Dictionary under the heading Syriac stated: A Syriac version of the Old Testament, containing all the canonical books, along with some apocryphal books (called the Peshitto, i.e., simple translation, and not a paraphrase), was made early in the second century, and is therefore the first Christian translation of the Old Testament. It was made directly from the original, and not from the LXX Version. The New Testament was also translated from Greek into Syriac about the same time (#3549).

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under the heading Syriac Versions declared: 3. Syriac Old Testament: ….The older view was that the translators were Christians, and that the work was done late in the 1^st century or early in the 2^nd. The Old Testament known to the early Syrian church was substantially that of the Palestinian Jews…. 4. Syriac New Testament: Of the New Testament, attempts at translation must have been made very early, and among the ancient versions of New Testament Scripture the Syriac in all likelihood is the earliest. It was at Antioch, the capital of Syria, that the Disciples of Christ were first called Christians, and it seemed natural that the first translation of the Christian Scriptures should have been made there…. Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, IV, xxii) [says] that Hegesippus ‘made some quotations from the Gospel according to the Hebrews and from the Syriac Gospel,’ we should have a reference to a Syriac New Testament as early as 160-80 AD, the time of that Hebrew Christian writer…. The translation of the New Testament is careful, faithful and literal, and the simplicity, directness and transparency of the style are admired by all Syriac scholars and have earned for it the title of ‘Queen of the versions (#8479).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under the heading of Latin Version we read: These OLD LATIN TRANSALATIONS going back in their earliest forms to nearly the MIDDLE of the 2^nd CENTURY [150 AD] are very early witnesses to the Greek text from which they were made. They are the more valuable inasmuch as they are manifestly very literal translations. Our great uncial manuscripts reach no farther back than the 4th century, whereas in the Old Latin we have evidence--indirect indeed and requiring to be cautiously used--reaching back to the 2^nd century. The text of these manuscripts is neither dated nor localized, whereas the evidence of these VSS, coming from a particular province of the church, and being used by Fathers whose period is definitely known, enables us to judge of the type of Greek text then and there in use.

Easton Bible Dictionary under the heading of Versions stated: 4. The Latin Versions: A Latin version of the Scriptures called the ‘Old Latin,’ which originated in North Africa, was in common use in the time of Tertullian (A.D. 150)…. The Itala was reckoned the most accurate. This translation of the Old Testament seems to have been made not from the original Hebrew but from the LXX.

Easton Bible Dictionary also declared that the Itala Version was: A Latin version of the Scriptures, called the ‘Old Latin,’ which originated in North Africa, was in common use in the time of Tertullian (AD 150). Of this there appear to have been various copies or recensions made… in Italy, and… the Itala was reckoned the most accurate. This translation of the Old Testament seems to have been made not from the original Hebrew but from the LXX (heading Version). This Bible was not only used in Africa, but also throughout Europe for several centuries.

Now the Greek Text of Textus Receptus, by Robert Estienne (Stephanus) in AD 1550, was basically from the Greek New Testament (c. 1522) of the great Greek scholar Erasmus. Stephanus added to Erasmus Greek Text the system of verses to the New Testament (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia heading Text and Manuscripts of the New Testament). Erasmus himself taught Greek at the University of Cambridge. His Greek New Testament (1516), based on recently discovered manuscripts, with critical notes and a new Latin translation, was a more accurate version than the Latin Vulgate. Because these works influenced religious reformers of the time, Erasmus is sometimes called the father of the Reformation.

James Earl Ray, in his book God Only Wrote One Bible, declared that the King James Translators relied heavily upon Syriac Version and Itala Version of the Bible, when different manuscripts and Bible Translations conflicted in their translation of scripture. The translators definitely believed that the older the Bible translation, the possibility of corruption would be much less; or in other words, the older the Bible translation the more like the original Greek NT it would be. Too bad many of the modern translators did not follow the King James translators golden rule for establishing the correct reading of scripture. Not only this but the KJV translators also used some 5,000 other manuscripts to determine the truth.

Many of the newer translations of the Bible today do not follow the wisdom of the King James Translators, but use two corrupted Greek manuscripts of the 4^th century, when the manuscript evidence disagreed. These translators follow what is known as the Westcott-Hort tradition. The two Greek manuscripts that these English Greek Scholars favored were the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus Codices, which the Catholic bishop Eusebius produced for Emperor Constantine around 350 AD, who order him to make 50 Bibles in Greek. Because Eusebius was an Arian, he perverted some of the NT passages that taught the Deity of Christ and His Virgin Birth, as well as other scriptures.

Ray declared that the King James Translators either had the Codex Vaticanus or a copy of it, but did not use it because they believed Eusebius, who was accused of Arianism, corrupted it. Erasmus did not trust in the Vaticanus manuscript but put his faith in the Greek Vulgate and other ancient Bibles. Many noted Biblical Textual Scholars have given evidence of the corrupt nature of these two manuscripts. The following gives a brief description of these two corrupted Greek Codices:

Easton Bible Dictionary under the heading Vaticanus Codex stated: It and the Codex Sinaiticus are the two oldest uncial manuscripts. They were probably written in the fourth century. The Vaticanus was placed in the Vatican Library at Rome by Pope Nicolas V. in 1448, its previous history being unknown. It originally consisted in all probability of a complete copy of the Septuagint and of the New Testament. It is now imperfect, and consists of 759 thin, delicate leaves, of which the New Testament fills 142 (#3766).

Easton Bible Dictionary under the heading Sinaiticus Codex declared: On the occasion of a third visit to the convent of St. Catherine, on Mount Sinai, in 1859, it was discovered by Dr. Tischendorf…. ‘He found not only that the LXX, but a copy of the Greek New Testament attached, of the same age, and perfectly complete, not wanting a single page or paragraph….’ It is shown by Tischendorf that this codex was written in the fourth century, and is thus of about the same age as the Vatican codex; but while the latter wants the greater part of Matthew and sundry leaves here and there besides, the Sinaiticus is the only copy of the New Testament in uncial characters which is complete (#3443).

Old Testament Cannon, the Ancient Greek Septuagint Better than the Massoretic Hebrew Text: All textual scholars and Church historians agree, the greatest witnesses to the complete accuracy of the Septuagint Greek Translation of the Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ and His holy Apostles; for they not only read from this translation in their synagogues, but every OT quote in the New Testament is from the Septuagint and not the Massoretic Hebrew Text. Another witness to the accuracy of the Greek Septuagint is from the Ante Nicene Fathers who also quote OT passages of Scripture from it. According to history, some of the Rabbinical Jews of the 2^nd century AD corrupted some of the scriptures in the Hebrew Massoretic text in their hatred for Christians, who were using the Septuagint against them to prove Jesus was the Messiah.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under the heading of Septuagint stated the above truth this way: 2. Official Revision of Hebrew Text circa 100 AD: But it was not until the beginning of the 2^nd century AD that the divergence [difference] between the Greek and the Palestinian Hebrew TEXT reached an acute stage. One cause of this was the REVISION of the Hebrew text, which took place about this time. No actual record of this revision exists, but it is beyond doubt that it originated in the rabbinical school, of which Rabbi Akiba was the chief representative, and which had its center at Jamnia in the years following the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jewish doctors, their temple in ruins, concentrated their attention on the settlement [an agreement intended to resolve a dispute] of the text of the Scriptures, which remained to them. This school of eminent critics, precursors of the Massoretes, besides settling outstanding questions concerning the Canon, laid down strict rules for Biblical interpretation, and in all probability established an official text.

3. Adoption of Septuagint by Christians: But another cause widened still farther the distance between the TEXT of Jerusalem [Massoretic] and Alexandria [Greek Spetuagint]. This was the adoption of the Septuagint by the Christian Church. When Christians began to CITE the Alexandrian version in proof of their doctrines, the Jews began to question its accuracy. Hence, mutual recriminations which are reflected in the pages of Justin's Dialogue with Trypho. ‘They dare to assert,’ says Justin (Dial., 68), ‘that the interpretation produced by your seventy elders under Ptolemy of Egypt is in some points inaccurate….’ Justin retaliates by charging the Jews with deliberate excision [either cutting our or changing] of passages favorable to Christianity.

4. Alternative 2^nd Century Greek Versions: That such accusations should be made in those critical years was inevitable, yet there is no evidence of any material interpolations having been introduced by either party. But the Alexandrian version, in view of the [Massoretic] REVISED TEXT and the new and stricter canons of interpretation, was felt by the Jews to be inadequate, and a group of NEW TRANSLATIONS of SCRIPTURE in the 2^nd century AD supplied the demand. We possess considerable fragments of the work of three of these translators, namely, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, besides scanty remnants of further anonymous versions.

5. Aquila [Greek OT translation]: The earliest of "the three" was Aquila, a proselyte to Judaism, and, like his New Testament namesake, a native of Pontus. He flourished, according to Epiphanius… [says Aquila] he was converted to Christianity by Christian exiles returning from Pella, but that refusing to abandon astrology he was excommunicated, and in revenge turned Jew and was actuated by a bias against Christianity in his version of the Old Testament. What is certain is that he was a pupil of the new rabbinical school, in particular of Rabbi Akiba (95-135 AD), and that his version was an attempt to reproduce exactly the REVISED official [corrupted Massoretic] text….

6. Theodotion [Greek OT translation]: According to the more credible account of Irenaeus, Theodotion was an Ephesian and a convert to Judaism. His version constantly agrees with the Septuagint and was rather a revision of it, to bring it into accord with the CURRENT [corrupted revised] Hebrew text, than an independent work….

9. Hexaplaric Manuscripts: ….The fact has to be emphasized that Origen's gigantic work was framed on erroneous principles. He ASSUMED (1) the purity of the CURRENT [corrupted revised] Hebrew text, (2) the corruption of the current Septuagint text where it deviated from the Hebrew. The modern critic recognizes that the Septuagint on the whole presents the older text, the divergences of which from the Hebrew are largely attributable to an official [corrupted] revision of the latter early in the Christian era (#7762).

The Order the Gospels Were Given by Eusebius in 350 AD: Eusebius in his history declared: Those great and truly divine men, I mean the apostles of Christ, were purified in their life, and were adorned with every virtue of the soul, but were uncultivated in speech… Nevertheless, of all the disciples of the Lord, only Matthew and John have left us written memorials, and they, tradition says, were led to write only under the pressure of necessity. For Matthew, who had at first preached to the Hebrews, when he was about to go to other peoples, committed his Gospel to writing in his native tongue, and thus compensated those whom he was obliged to leave for the loss of his presence.

And when Mark and Luke had already published their Gospels, they say that John, who had employed all his time in proclaiming the Gospel orally, finally proceeded to write for the following reason. The three Gospels already mentioned having come into the hands of all and into his own too, they say that he [John] accepted them and bore witness to their truthfulness; but that there was LACKING in them an account of the DEEDS done by Christ at the BEGINNING of his ministry. And this indeed is true.

For it is evident that the three evangelists recorded only the DEEDS done by the Savior for one year after the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and indicated this in the beginning of their account. For Matthew, after the [our Lord’s] forty days’ fast and the temptation which followed it, indicates the chronology of his work when he says: ‘Now when he heard that John was delivered up he withdrew from Judea into Galilee.’ Mark likewise says: ‘Now after that John was delivered up Jesus came into Galilee.’ And Luke, before commencing his account of the DEEDS of Jesus, similarly marks the time, when he says that Herod, ‘adding to all the evil deeds which he had done, shut up John in prison.’

They say, therefore, that the apostle John, being asked to do it for this reason, gave in his Gospel an account of the period which had been omitted by the earlier evangelists, and of the DEEDS done by the Savior during that period; that is, of those which were done BEFORE the imprisonment of the Baptist. And this is indicated by him, they say, in the following words: ‘This beginning of miracles did Jesus’; and again when he refers to the Baptist, in the midst of the DEEDS of Jesus, as still baptizing in non near Salim; where he states the matter clearly in the words: ‘For John was NOT yet cast into prison.’

John accordingly, in his Gospel, records the DEEDS of Christ, which were performed before the Baptist was cast into prison, but the other three evangelists mention the events which happened AFTER that time. One who understands this can no longer think that the Gospels are at variance with one another, inasmuch as the Gospel according to John contains the first acts of Christ, while the others give an account of the latter part of his life.

And the genealogy of our Savior according to the flesh John quite naturally omitted, because it had been already given by Matthew and Luke, and began with the doctrine of His DIVINITY, which had, as it were, been reserved for him, as their superior, by the Divine Spirit. These things may suffice, which we have said concerning the Gospel of John.

Luke… delivered in his own Gospel an accurate account of those events in regard to which he had learned the full truth, being aided by his intimacy and his stay with Paul and by his acquaintance with the rest of the apostles…. But of the WRITINGS of John, not only his Gospel, but also the former of his epistles, has been accepted without dispute both now and in ancient times” (N& PNF, Series 2, vol 1, Church History, bk 3, chp 24, pp 266-268).

The Infallibility of the Bible: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia by Dr. Stanley Morris, edited by Dr. James Orr, General Editor, under the heading of Inspiration stated: 2. Occurrences in the Bible: ….In the English Versions of the Bible of the Apocrypha (both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American)) "inspired" is retained in The Wisdom of Solomon 15:11; but in the canonical books the nominal form alone occurs in the King James Version and that only twice: Job 32:8, ‘But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding’; and 2 Tim 3:16, ‘All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness….’ For the Greek word in this passage--Grk: theopneustos--very distinctly does not mean ‘inspired of God….’

What it says of Scripture is, not that it is ‘breathed into by God’ or is the product of the Divine ‘inbreathing’ into its human authors, but that it is BREATHED OUT by God, ‘GOD-BREATHED,’ the product of the creative breath of God. In a word, what is declared by this fundamental passage is simply that the Scriptures are a Divine product, without any indication of how God has operated in producing them. No term could have been chosen, however, which would have more emphatically asserted the Divine production of Scripture than that which is here employed….

‘By the word of Yahweh,’ we read in the significant parallel of Ps 33:6 ‘were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the BREATH of His MOUTH.’ And it is particularly where the operations of God are energetic that this term (whether Heb: ruach, or Heb: neshamah) is employed to designate them—God’s BRETH is the irresistible outflow of His power. When Paul declares, then, that ‘every scripture’ or ‘all scripture’ is the product of the DIVINE BREATH, ‘is God-BREATHED,’ he asserts with as much energy as he could employ that Scripture is the product of a specifically Divine operation.

3. Consideration of Important Passages: (1) 2 Timothy 3:16: In the passage in which Paul makes this energetic assertion of the Divine ORIGIN of Scripture he is engaged in explaining the greatness of the advantages which Timothy had enjoyed for learning the saving truth of God…. The expression, ‘Sacred Writings,’ here employed (1 Tim 3:15), is a technical one, not found elsewhere in the New Testament, it is true, but occurring currently in Philo and Josephus to designate that body of authoritative books which constituted the Jewish ‘Law….’

(2) 2 Peter 1:19-21: What Paul tells us here about the Divine origin of the Scriptures is enforced and extended by a striking passage in 2 Pet (1:19-21). Peter is assuring his readers that what had been made known to them of ‘the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ did not rest on ‘cunningly devised fables.’ He offers them the testimony of eyewitnesses of Christ's glory. And then he intimates that they have better testimony than even that of eyewitnesses. ‘We have,’ says he, ‘the Prophetic Word (English Versions of the Bible, unhappily, ‘the word of prophecy’): and this, he says, is ‘more sure,’ and therefore should certainly be heeded….

You do well, he says, to pay heed to the Prophetic Word, because we know this first, that ‘every Prophecy of Scripture....’ What he says of it is that it does not come ‘of private interpretation’; that is, it is NOT the result of human investigation into the nature of things, the product of its writers’ own thinking. This is as much as to say it is of Divine gift. Accordingly, he proceeds at once to make this plain in a supporting clause which contains both the negative and the positive declaration: ‘For no Prophecy ever came (margin: ‘was brought’) by the will of man, but it was as BORNE by the Holy Spirit that men spoke from God.’ In this singularly precise and pregnant statement there are several things which require to be carefully observed. There is, first of all, the emphatic denial that prophecy--that is to say… Scripture--owes its origin to human initiative….

Here is as direct an assertion of the Divine ORIGIN of Scripture as that of 2 Tim 3:16; but there is more here than a simple assertion of the Divine ORIGIN of Scripture. We are advanced somewhat in our understanding of how God has produced the Scriptures. It was through the instrumentality of men who ‘spake from him.’ More specifically, it was through an operation of the Holy Ghost on these men which is described as ‘bearing’ them. The term here used is a very specific one. It is NOT to be confounded with guiding, or directing, or controlling, or even-leading in the full sense of that word. It goes beyond all such terms, in assigning the effect produced specifically to the active agent….

The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of His choosing. The things which they spoke under this operation of the Spirit were therefore His things, not theirs. And that is the reason, which is assigned why ‘the Prophetic Word" is so SURE. Though spoken through the instrumentality of men, it is, by virtue of the fact that these men spoke ‘as borne by the Holy Spirit,’ an immediately Divine Word…. Because this is the way every Prophecy of Scripture ‘has been brought,’ it affords a more ‘SURE’ basis of confidence than even the testimony of human eyewitnesses…. These great declarations are made, therefore, at least of large tracts of Scripture; and if the entirety of Scripture is intended by the phrase ‘the Prophetic Word,’ they are made of the whole of Scripture….

5. His Testimony that God Is Author of Scripture: ….Jesus adduces the Scriptures as Divinely authoritative that are recorded in more than one of the Gospels (e.g. ‘It is written,’ Mt 4:4,7,10 (Lk 4:4,8,10); Mt 11:10; (Lk 7:27); Mt 21:13 (Lk 19:46; Mk 11:17); Mt 26:31 (Mk 14:21); "the scripture" or "the scriptures," Mt 19:4 (Mk 10:9); Mt 21:42 (Mk 12:10; Lk 20:17); Mt 22:29 (Mk 12:24; Lk 20:37); Mt 26:56 (Mk 14:49; Lk 24:44)). These passages alone would suffice to make clear to us the testimony of Jesus to Scripture as in all its parts and declarations Divinely authoritative.

6. Similar Testimony of His Immediate Followers: ….The apostles solemnly justified the Gospel which they preached, detail after detail, by appeal to the Scriptures, ‘That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures’ and ‘That he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures’ (1 Cor 15:3,4; compare Acts 8:35; 17:3; 26:22, and also Rom 1:17; 3:4,10; 4:17; 11:26; 14:11; 1 Cor 1:19; 2:9; 3:19; 15:45; Gal 3:10,13; 4:22,27). Wherever they carried the gospel it was as a gospel resting on Scripture that they proclaimed it (Acts 17:2; 18:24 ,28); and they encouraged themselves to test its truth by the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The holiness of life they inculcated, they based on Scriptural requirement (1 Pet 1:16), and they commended the royal law of love which they taught by Scriptural sanction (Jas 2:8).

Every detail of duty was supported by them by an appeal to Scripture (Acts 23:5; Rom 12:19). The circumstances of their lives and the events occasionally occurring about them are referred to Scripture for their significance (Rom 2:26; 8:36; 9:33; 11:8; 15:9,21; 2 Cor 4:13). As our Lord declared that whatever was written in Scripture must needs be fulfilled (Mt 26:54; Lk 22:37; 24:44), so His followers explained one of the most startling facts which had occurred in their experience by pointing out that ‘it was needful that the scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spake before by the mouth of David’ (Acts 1:16). Here the ground of this constant appeal to Scripture, so that it is enough that a thing ‘is contained in scripture’ (1 Pet 2:6) for it to be of indefectible authority, is plainly enough declared: Scripture must needs be fulfilled, for what is contained in it is the declaration of the Holy Ghost through the human author.

What Scripture says, God says; and accordingly we read such remarkable declarations as these: ‘For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up’ (Rom 9:17); ‘And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, ....In thee shall all the nations be blessed (Gal 3:8). These are not instances of simple personification of Scripture, which is itself a sufficiently remarkable usage (Mk 15:28; Jn 7:38,42; 19:37; Rom 4:3; 10:11; 11:2; Gal 4:30; 1 Tim 5:18; Jas 2:23; 4:5 f), vocal with the conviction expressed by James (4:5) that Scripture cannot speak in vain. They indicate a certain confusion in current speech between ‘Scripture’ and ‘God,’ the outgrowth of a deep-seated conviction that the Word of Scripture is the Word of God. It was NOT ‘Scripture’ that spoke to Pharaoh, or gave his great promise to Abraham, but God. But ‘Scripture’ and ‘God’ lay so close together in the minds of the writers of the New Testament that they could naturally speak of ‘Scripture’ doing what Scripture records God as doing.

It was, however, even more natural to them to speak casually of God saying what the Scriptures say; and accordingly we meet with forms of speech such as these: ‘Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, Today if ye shall hear His voice,’ etc. (Heb 3:7, quoting Ps 95:7); ‘Thou art God.... who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage,’ etc. (Acts 4:25 the King James Version, quoting Ps 2:1); ‘He that raised him from the dead .... hath spoken on this wise, I will give you.... because he saith also in another (place)....’ (Acts 13:34, quoting Isa 55:3 and Ps 16:10), and the like. The words put into God’s mouth in each case are not words of God recorded in the Scriptures, but just Scripture words in themselves. When we take the two classes of passages together, in the one of which the Scriptures are spoken of as God, while in the other God is spoken of as if He were the Scriptures, we may perceive how close the identification of the two was in the minds of the writers of the New Testament.

7. Their Identification of God and Scripture: This identification is strikingly observable in certain catenae of quotations, in which there are brought together a number of passages of Scripture closely connected with one another. The first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews supplies an example. We may begin with Heb 1:5: ‘For unto which of the angels said He"--the subject being necessarily ‘God’—‘at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?’--the citation being from Ps 2:7 and very appropriate in the mouth of God—‘and again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?’ --from 2 Sam 7:14, again a declaration of God's own—‘And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him’ --from Dt 32:43, Septuagint, or Ps 97:7, in neither of which is God the speaker—‘And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire’ --from Ps 104:4, where again God is not the speaker but is spoken of in the third person- ‘But of the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God,’ etc. --from Ps 45:6,7 where again God is not the speaker, but is addressed—‘And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning,’ etc.--from Ps 102:25-27, where again God is not the speaker but is addressed—‘But of which of the angels hath he said at any time, Sit thou on my right hand?’ etc. --from Ps 110:1, in which God is the speaker.

Here we have passages in which God is the speaker and passages in which God is not the speaker, but is addressed or spoken of, indiscriminately assigned to God, because they all have it in common that they are Words of Scripture, and as Words of Scripture are Words of God. Similarly in Rom 15:9 ff we have a series of citations the first of which is introduced by ‘as it is written,’ and the next two by ‘again He saith,’ and ‘again,’ and the last by ‘and again, Isaiah saith,’ the first being from Ps 18:49; the second from Dt 32:43; the third from Ps 117:1; and the last from Isa 11:10. Only the last (the only one here assigned to the human author) is a word of God in the text of the Old Testament.

8. The ‘Oracles of God’: This view of the Scriptures as a compact mass of words of God occasioned the formation of a designation for them by which this their character was explicitly expressed. This designation is ‘the sacred oracles,’ ‘the oracles of God….’ The New Testament writers naturally also speak of them under this designation. The classical passage is Rom 3:2 (compare Heb 5:12; Acts 7:38). Here Paul begins an enumeration of the advantages which belonged to the chosen people above other nations; and, after declaring these advantages to have been great and numerous, he places first among them all their possession of the Scriptures: ‘What advantage then hath the Jew? or what is the profit of circumcision? Much every way: first of all, that they were entrusted with the Oracles of God.’ That by ‘the Oracles of God’ here are meant just the Holy Scriptures in their entirety, conceived as a direct Divine Revelation….

From the point of view of this designation, Scripture is thought of as the living voice of God speaking in all its parts directly to the reader; and, accordingly, it is cited by some such formula as ‘it is said,’ and this mode of citing Scripture duly occurs as an alternative to ‘it is written’ (Lk 4:12 replacing ‘it is written’ in Mt; Heb 3:15; compare Rom 4:18). It is due also to this point of view that Scripture is cited, not as what God or the Holy Spirit ‘said,’ but what He ‘says,’ the present tense emphasizing the living voice of God speaking in Scriptures to the individual soul (Heb 3:7; Acts 13:35; Heb 17,8,10; Rom 15:10). And especially there is due to it the peculiar usage by which Scripture is cited by the simple ‘saith, without expressed subject, the subject being too well understood, when Scripture is adduced, to require stating; for who could be the speaker of the words of Scripture but God only (Rom 15:10; 1 Cor 6:16; 2 Cor 6:2; Gal 3:16; Eph 4:8; 5:14)…?

How completely the Scriptures were to them just the Word of God may be illustrated by a passage like Gal 3:16: ‘He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.’ We have seen our Lord hanging an argument on the very words of Scripture (Jn 10:34); elsewhere His reasoning depends on the PARTICLE [verb] TENSE (Mt 22:32) or WORD (Mt 22:43) used in Scripture. Here Paul's argument rests similarly on a grammatical form. No doubt. it is the grammatical form of the word which God is recorded as having spoken to Abraham that is in question…. This much we can at least say without straining, that the designation of Scripture as ‘scripture’ and its citation by the formula, "It is written," attest primarily its indefectible authority; the designation of it as "oracles" and the adduction of it by the formula, ‘It says,’ attest primarily its immediate divinity. Its authority rests on its divinity and its divinity expresses itself in its trustworthiness; and the New Testament writers in all their use of it treat it as what they declare it to be--a God-Breathed document, which, because God-Breathed, is through and through trustworthy in all its assertions, authoritative in all its declarations, and down to its last particular, the very word of God, His ‘Oracles.’

9. The Human Element in Scripture: That the Scriptures are throughout a Divine book, created by the Divine energy and speaking in their every part with Divine authority directly to the heart of the readers, is the fundamental fact concerning Scripture them which is witnessed by Christ and the sacred writers to whom we owe the New Testament. But the strength and constancy with which they bear witness to this primary fact do not prevent their recognizing by the side of it that the Scriptures have come into being by the agency of men…. In their view the whole of Scripture in all its parts and in all its elements, down to the least minutiae, in form of expression as well as in substance of teaching, is from God; but the whole of it has been given by God through the instrumentality of men….

No ‘prophecy,’ Peter tells us (2 Pet 1:21), ‘ever came by the will of man; but as borne by the Holy Ghost, men spake from God.’ Here the whole initiative is assigned to God, and such complete control of the human agents that the product is truly God's work. The men who speak in this ‘Prophecy of Scripture’ speak not of themselves or out of themselves, but from ‘God’: they speak only as they are ‘borne by the Holy Ghost.’ But it is they, after all, who speak. Scripture is the product of man, but only of man speaking from God and under such a control of the Holy Spirit as that in their speaking they are ‘borne’ by Him. The conception obviously is that the Scriptures have been given by the instrumentality of men; and this conception finds repeated incidental expression throughout the New Testament.

It is this conception, for example, which is expressed when our Lord, quoting Ps 110, , declares of its words that ‘David himself said in the Holy Spirit’ (Mk 12:36). [In other words, it was David’s voice, and his mouth and tongue uttering the words, but the words did not come from David’s mind]…. In other words, they are ‘God-Breathed’ words and therefore authoritative in a sense above what any words of David…. The conception finds even more precise expression, perhaps, in such a statement as we find--it is Peter who is speaking and it is again a psalm, which is cited--in Acts 116, ‘The Holy Spirit spake by the mouth of David.’

Here the Holy Spirit is adduced, of course, as the real author of what is said (and hence, Peter's certainty that what is said will be fulfilled); but David’s mouth is expressly designated as the instrument (it is the instrumental preposition that is used) by means of which the Holy Spirit speaks the Scripture in question… and in Mt 13:35 still another psalm is adduced as ‘spoken through the prophet’ (compare Mt 2:5). In the very act of energetically asserting the Divine origin of Scripture the human instrumentality through which it is given is constantly recognized. 10. Activities of God in Giving Scripture….

It is very desirable that we should free ourselves at the outset from influences arising from the current employment of the term ‘inspiration’ to designate this process. This term is NOT a Biblical term and its etymological implications are not perfectly accordant with the Biblical conception of the modes of the Divine operation in giving the Scriptures. The Biblical writers do NOT conceive of the Scriptures as a human product breathed into by the Divine Spirit, and thus heightened in its qualities or endowed with new qualities; but as a Divine product produced through the instrumentality of men. They do not conceive of these men, by whose instrumentality Scripture is produced, as working upon their own initiative, though energized by God to greater effort and higher achievement, but as moved by the Divine initiative and borne by the irresistible power of the Spirit of God along ways of His choosing to ends of His appointment. The difference between the two conceptions may not appear great when the mind is fixed exclusively upon the nature of the resulting product. But they are differing conceptions, and look at the production of Scripture from distinct points of view--the human and the Divine; and the involved mental attitudes toward the origin of Scripture are very diverse.

History of the Bible: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under the heading of Bible stated: The word ‘Bible’ is the equivalent of the Greek word Grk: biblia (diminutive from Grk: biblos, the inner bark of the papyrus), meaning originally ‘books.’ The phrase ‘the books’ (Grk: ta biblia) occurs in Dan 9:2 (Septuagint) for prophetic writings…. There is naturally no name in the New Testament for the complete body of Scripture; the only Scriptures then known being those of the Old Testament. In 2 Pet 3:16, however, Paul’s epistles seem brought under this category. The common designations for the Old Testament books by our Lord and His apostles were ‘the Scriptures’ (writings) (Mt 21:42; Mk 14:49; Lk 24:32; Jn 5:39; Acts 18:24; Rom 15:4, etc.), ‘the Holy Scriptures’ (Rom 1:2); once ‘the Sacred Writings’ (2 Tim 3:15).

The Jewish technical division (see below) into ‘the Law,’ the ‘Prophets,’ and the ‘(Holy) Writings’ is recognized in the expression ‘in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms’ (Lk 24:44). More briefly the whole is summed up under ‘the Law and the Prophets’ (Mt 5:17;, 11:13; Acts 13:15). Occasionally even the term ‘Law’ is extended to include the other divisions (Jn 10:34; 12:34; 15:25; 1 Cor 14:21). Paul uses the phrase ‘the Oracles of God’ as a name for the Old Testament Scriptures (Rom 3:2; compare Acts 7:38; Heb 5:12; 1 Pet 4:11).

The Scriptures, therefore, ‘Old’ and ‘New Testament’ mean, strictly, ‘Old’ and ‘New Covenant….’ After the middle of the 2^nd century, a definite collection began to be made of the Christian writings, these were named ‘the New Testament,’ and were placed as of equal authority alongside the ‘Old.’ The name Novum Testamentum (also Instrumentum ) occurs first in Tertullian (190-220 AD), and soon came into general use. The idea of a Christian Bible may be then said to be complete.

The Old Testament: it is well known, is written mostly in HEBREW; the New Testament is written wholly in GREEK, the parts of the Old Testament not in Hebrew, namely, Ezr 4:8 through 6:18; 7:12-26; Jer 10:11; Dan 2:4 through 7:28, are in Aramaic (the so-called Chaldee), a related dialect, which, after the Exile, gradually displaced Hebrew as the spoken language of the Jews. The ancient Hebrew text was ‘unpointed,’ i.e. WITHOUT the vowel-marks now in use. These are due to the labors of the Massoretic scholars (after 6th century AD). The Greek of the New Testament, on which so much light has recently been thrown by the labors of Deissmann and others from the Egyptian papyri, showing it to be a form of the ‘common’ (Hellenistic) speech of the time, still remains, from its penetration by Hebrew ideas, the influence of the Septuagint, peculiarities of training and culture in the writers, above all, the vitalizing and transforming power of Christian conceptions in vocabulary and expression, a study by itself….

New Testament References: ….It is therefore highly significant that, although the writers of the New Testament were familiar with the Septuagint, which contained the Apocrypha (see below), no quotation from any book of the Apocrypha occurs in their pages, One or two allusions, at most, suggest acquaintance with the Book of Wisdom (e.g. The Wisdom of Solomon 5:18-21 parallel Eph 6:13-17). On the other hand, ‘every book in the Hebrew Bible is distinctly quoted in the New Testament with the exception of Josh, Jgs, Chronicles, Cant, Eccl, Ezr, Neh, Esther, Ob, Zeph and Nah’ (Westcott). Enumerations differ, but about 178 direct quotations may be reckoned in the Gospels, Acts and Epistles; if references are included, the number is raised to about 700. In four or five places (Lk 11:49-51; Jas 4:5; 1 Cor 2:9; Eph 5:14; Jn 7:38) apparent references occur to sources other than the Old Testament…. An undeniable influence of Apocalyptic literature is seen in Jude, where 1:14, 25 are a direct quotation from the Book of Enoch….

The Septuagint: Hitherto we have been dealing with the Hebrew Old Testament; marked changes are apparent when we turn to the Septuagint, or Greek version of the Septuagint current in the Greek-speaking world at the commencement of the Christian era. The importance of this version lies in the fact that it was PRACTICALLY the Old Testament of the EARLY CHURCH. It was USED by the APOSTLES and their converts, and is FREELY QUOTED in the NEW TESTAMENT, sometimes even when its renderings vary considerably from the Hebrew. Its influence was necessarily, therefore, very great….

The New Testament: …It has been seen that a Christian New Testament did not, in the strict sense, arise till after the middle of the 2nd century. Gospels and Epistles had LONG EXISTED, collections had begun to be made, the Gospels, at least, were weekly read in the assemblies of the Christians (Justin, 1 Apol., 67), before the attempt was made to bring together, and take formal account of, all the books which enjoyed apostolic authority….

(1) Acknowledged Books: The ‘acknowledged’ books present little difficulty. They are enumerated by Eusebius, whose statements are confirmed by early lists (e.g. that of Muratori, circa 170 AD), quotations, versions and patristic use. At the head stand the Four Gospels and the Acts, then come the 13 epistles of Paul, then 1 Peter and 1 John. These, Westcott says, toward the close of the 2nd century, ‘were universally received in every church, without doubt or limitation, as part of the written rule of Christian faith, equal in authority with the Old Scriptures, and ratified (as it seemed) by a tradition reaching back to the date of their composition’ (op. cit., 133). With them may almost be placed Revelation (as by Eusebius) and He, the doubts regarding the latter relating more to Pauline authority than to genuineness (e.g. Origen).

(2) Disputed Books: The ‘disputed’ books were the epistles of James, Jude, 2 John and 3 John and 2 Peter. These, however, do not all stand in the same rank as regards authentication. A chief difficulty is the silence of the western Fathers regarding James, 2 Peter and 3 John. On the other hand, James is known to Origen and is included in the Syriac Peshitta; the Muratorian Fragment attests Jude and 2 John as ‘held in the Catholic church’ (Jude also in Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen); none of the books are treated as spurious….

(a) The Synoptics: The former--the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke)--fall in date well within the apostolic age, and are, in the 2nd century, uniformly connected with the authors whose names they bear, Mark is spoken of as ‘the interpreter of Peter’ (Papias, in HE iii.39); Luke is the well-known companion of Paul. A difficulty arises about Matthew, whose Gospel is stated to have been written in Aramaic (Papias, ut supra, etc.), while the gospel bearing his name is in Greek. The Greek gospel seems at least to have been sufficiently identified with the apostle to admit of the early church always treating it as his….

(b) Fourth Gospel: ….The gospel may be presumed to have been composed at Ephesus, in the last years of the apostle's residence there…. John had so often retold, and so long brooded over, the thoughts and words of Jesus, that they had become, in a manner, part of his own thought, and, in reproducing them, he necessarily did so with a subjective tinge, and in a partially paraphrastic and interpretative manner. Yet it is truly the words, thoughts and deeds of his beloved Lord that he narrates. His gospel is the needful complement to the others--the ‘spiritual’ gospel.

(c) Acts: The Acts narrates the origin and early fortunes of the church, with, as its special motive (compare 1:8), the extension of the gospel to the Gentiles through the labors of Paul. Its author is Luke, Paul’s companion, whose gospel it continues (1:1). Certain sections--the so-called ‘we-sections’ (16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1 through 28:16) -- are transcribed directly from Luke's journal of Paul's travels. The book closes abruptly with Paul’s 2 years’ imprisonment at Rome (28:30,31; 60-61 AD)….

(2) The Epistles (a) Pauline: Doubt never rested in the early church on the 13 epistles of Paul…. Most are letters to churches he himself had founded (1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians(?), Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians): two are to churches he had not himself visited, but with which he stood in affectionate relations (Romans, Colossians); one is purely personal (Philemon); three are addressed to individuals, but with official responsibilities (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus).

The larger number were written during his missionary labors, and reflect his personal situation, anxieties and companionships at the places of their composition; four are epistles of the 1^st Roman imprisonment (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon): 2 Timothy is a voice from the dungeon, in his 2^nd imprisonment, shortly before his martyrdom. Doctrine, counsel, rebuke, admonition, tender solicitude, ethical instruction, prayer, thanksgiving, blend in living fusion in their contents. So marvelous a collection of letters, on such magnificent themes, was never before given to the world.

The earliest epistles, in point of date, are generally held to be those to the Thessalonians, WRITTEN from Corinth (52, 53 AD). The church, newly-founded, had passed through much affliction (1 Thess 1:6; 2:14; 3:3,4, etc.), and Paul writes to comfort and exhort it. His words about the Second Coming (1 Thess 4:13 ff) led to mistaken expectations and some disorders. His second epistle was written to correct these problems (2 Thess 2:1-3; 3:6, etc.).

Corinth itself received the next epistles--the 1st called forth by reports received at Ephesus of grave divisions and irregularities 1 Cor (1:11; 3:3; 11:18 ff, etc.), joined with pride of knowledge, doctrinal heresy (15:12 ff), and at least one case of gross immorality (chapter 5) in the church; the 2^nd, written at Philippi, expressing joy at the repentance of the offender, and removing the severe sentence that had been passed upon him (2 Cor 2:1-10; compare 1 Cor 5:3,4), likewise vindicating Paul's own apostleship 2 Cor (chapters 10 through 13). The DATE of both is 57 AD. 1 Cor contains the beautiful hymn on love (chapter 13), and the noble chapter on resurrection (chapter 15).

In the following year (58 AD) Paul penned from Corinth the Epistle to the Romans--the greatest of his doctrinal epistles. In it he develops his great theme of the impossibility of justification before God through works of law (Rom 1 through 3), and of the Divine provision for human salvation in a ‘righteousness of God’ in Christ Jesus, received through faith. He exhibits first the objective side of this redemption in the deliverance from condemnation effected through Christ's reconciling death (Rom 3 through 5); then the subjective side, in the new life imparted by the spirit, giving deliverance from the power of sin (Rom 6 through 8). A discussion follows of the Divine sovereignty in God's dealings with Israel, and of the end of these dealings (Rom 9 through 11), and the epistle concludes with practical exhortations, counsels to forbearance and greetings (Rom 12 through 16).

Closely connected with the Epistle to the Romans is that to the Galatians, in which the same truths are handled, but now with a polemical intent in expostulation and reproach. The Galatian churches had apostatized from the gospel of faith to Jewish legalism, and the apostle, sorely grieved, writes this powerful letter to rebuke their faithlessness, and recall them to their allegiance to the truth. It is reasonable to suppose that the two epistles are nearly related in place and time… the epistle may have been written from Ephesus (circa 57 AD).

The 4 epistles of the imprisonment all fall within the years 60, 61 AD. That to the Philippians, warmly praising the church, and exhorting to unity, possibly the latest of the group, was sent by the hand of Epaphroditus, who had come to Rome with a present from the Philippian church, and had there been overtaken by a serious illness (Phil 2:25-30; 4:15-18). The remaining 3 epistles (Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon) were written at one time, and were carried to their destinations by Epaphras.

Ephesians and Colossians are twin epistles, similar in thought and style, extolling the preeminence of Christ, but it is doubtful whether the former was not really a ‘circular’ epistle, or even, perhaps, the lost Epistle to the Laodiceans (Col 4:16; see LAODICEANS, EPISTLE TO THE). The Colossian epistle has in view an early form of Gnostic heresy (compare Lightfoot, Gal). Philemon is a personal letter to a friend of the apostle's at Colosse, whose runaway slave, Onesimus, now a Christian, is being sent back to him with warm commendation.

Latest from Paul's pen are the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus), implying his liberation from his first imprisonment, and a new period of missionary labor in Ephesus, Macedonia and Crete (see PASTORAL EPISTLES). Timothy was left at Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3), Titus at Crete (Tit 1:5), for the regulation and superintendence of the churches. The epistles, the altered style of which shows the deep impress of advancing years and changed conditions, contain admonitions to pastoral duty, with warnings as to perils that had arisen or would arise. 1 Timothy and Titus were written while the apostle was still at liberty (63 AD); 2 Timothy is from his Roman prison, when his case had been partly heard, and the end was impending (2 Tim 4:6,26,27).

(b) Epistle to the Hebrews: These are the Pauline Epistles proper…. designed, by a reasoned exhibition of the superiority of Jesus to Moses and the Levitical priesthood, and of the fulfillment of Old Testament types and institutions in His person and sacrifice, to remove the difficulties of Jewish Christians, who clung with natural affection to their temple and divinely appointed ritual. It was included by Eusebius, with others in the East….

(c) …Epistles, James and Jude are by ‘brethren’ of the Lord (James, ‘the Lord’s brother…’ Acts 15:13; 21:18; Gal 1:19, etc.); Peter and John, to whom the others were ascribed, were apostles. James and 1 Peter are addressed to the Jews of the Dispersion (1 Pet 1:1; Jas 1:1)…. The early date and acceptance of James is attested by numerous allusions (Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Hermas, Didache). Many regard it as the earliest of the epistles -- before Paul’s….

The Book of Revelation: The one prophetic book of the New Testament –t he apocalyptic counterpart of Daniel in the Old Testament -- is the Book of Revelation. The external evidence for the Johannine authorship is strong tradition and internal evidence ascribe it to the reign of Domitian (circa 95 AD). Its contents were given in vision in the isle of Patmos (Rev 1:9).

Your Servant In Christ,

Harry A. Peyton

Books Written by the Author and Given Away on His Website:

A Biblical, Medical, and Psychological Account of the Sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Heresy of the Nicolaitans

Biblical Creationism vs Pantheistic Theories of Evolution (Nature Worship)

A Prophetic History of God’s Apostolic Pentecostal Church

(The Seven Prophetic Periods of the Church Age)

The Mysteries of Prophecy Revealed

What Do You Mean I Must Be Born Again?

Preacher, What Must I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?

A Historical Record of Speaking in Tongues

The Mysteries of the Godhead Revealed

A History of Oneness Throughout the Centuries (Baptism in Jesus’ Name, the Godhead in Christ)

What Happens to Man’s Spirit, Soul and Body Immediately after Death?

What Is Lost Man’s Eternal Destiny? (Immediate Annihilation, Eternal Torment, Torment for a

Time and Then Universal Salvation, or Torment for a Time and Then Annihilation)

The Mysteries of the Spirit and Soul of Man Revealed

(What Are They? Does Each Nature of Man Have Mind, Will, and Emotions?)

Holiness: God’s Beauty College

What Is God’s Rest for the Believer: the Sabbath Day or God’s Sabbath Spirit

How to Study the Bible

A Calendar of Biblical and Historical Dates and Events Beginning with the Creation of Adam

The Heresies of the Pharisaical Jewish Ebionites

William Marion Branham: His Life, Teachings, and Demonic Spirit-Guide

Nutrition and Nutritional Charts

Law vs Grace or Works vs Faith

Water Baptism: the Essentiality, the Mode, and the Formula

Glossolalia: Ten Steps of Faith to Receiving the Baptism of the Holy Ghost

Glossolalia and the New Birth

Benefits of Salvation and the False Doctrines that Hinder It

Eternal Life vs Eternal Death

Christ’s Loving Servant,

Harry A. Peyton

148 Little Creek Hills Rd.

Alto, NM 88312

Telephone # 575-336-2800

Internet Address: DoctrinesOfChrist@hotmail.com

Website: DoctrinesOfChrist.com