Back to: How We Got The Bible
video source: https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/what-is-bible/
The Bible Project does a good job of combining insightful narrative and easy-to-understand accompanying visuals.
Listening to Tim Mackie’s teaching podcast series was one of the factors that led to this being a growth group topic. Here are a couple of sections worth a listen:
https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/making-of-the-bible/
https://bibleproject.com/podcast/series/torah-crash-course/
Another prompting for the idea came during a conversation with a friend, who exclaimed, “I don’t understand why people just can’t take the Bible at face value!”
My Story
When I came to my proverbial fork-in-the-road moment, one of the lingering questions that I had to resolve was on the origin and trustworthiness of the Bible.
I didn’t realize until after deciding to use Timothy Paul Jones’ book for this small group, that he and I shared a similar background in our upbringing. He writes in the Acknowledgements section at the end of the book…
“I grew up in a succession of churches where the King James Version was seen as the sole reliable rendering of the Scriptures. The primary enemies of Christian faith in these congregations were rock music, Russian communists, and every translation of the Bible other than the King James Version—or at least that’s how it seemed to me as a teenager.”
-Timothy Paul Jones
I had a lot of questions about the Bible, creation/evolution, and more as a young person. It seemed that none of the spiritual leaders and christian school teachers within my sphere of influence wanted to (or were able to) address the issues I brought to them.
At one point, I remember being told by one teacher that ‘an open mind was a tool of the devil’.
If I was to choose the path of a follower of Christ, I wanted to know that my faith is built on the rock solid foundation of truth.
A Disclaimer.
The first time I finished Lightfoot’s rendition of how we got the Bible, I have to admit that I felt ever so slightly disappointed. I will share why during group.
It’s important to note that we cannot get away from faith being a foundational aspect of Christianity. Regardless of the presentation and impact this study might have, you must still choose to believe, doubt, or reject the Bible as God’s inspired Word.
But the reward is with those who choose to believe.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
HEBREWS 11:6 ESV