How Did the Bible Come To Us?
How did the Bible come to us? Was it passed down through legends and folklore? Has it been copied and recopied so much that the original message is lost?
“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work”—2 Timothy 3:16,17 NAB
God wants us to feel confident that the Scriptures are as valid and trustworthy today as they were when they were first written (2 Peter 1:21). He also gives some information on the process he used to get His Word written down in a permanent form.
“The spirit of Yahweh speaks through me”—2 Samuel 23:2 NJB
The “older testament,” which exists today in 39 books, was written mostly in Hebrew over a thousand-year period, hundreds of years before Christ.
“Paper and ink”—2 John 12
The 27 books of the “newer testament” were written in Greek during the first century CE. As the various other Christian writings came into existence over the centuries, the people of God corporately studied and recognized these 27 books from the 1st century as being the Word of God.
The two testaments together tell a completed story. Testament means “covenant” or “agreement” between God and humanity (1 Corinthians 11:25). The Old Testament is “old” in the sense that it reveals a covenant made at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:3-6; 24:3-8; Romans 10:1). The New Testament or covenant was accomplished by Christ through His death on the Cross (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25).
“Papyrus rolls and . . . parchments”—2 Timothy 4:13 NAB
The original writings of the Bible’s 66 books were preserved by being meticulously copied and then distributed.
ONE SOURCE: The Word in Life Study Bible