Skip to main content

Does Your Belief System Include These Facts About “The Bible”?


Participants in BHC Bible studies and discussion groups agree to follow this guideline:

My Belief System will be large enough to include all of the facts, open enough to be examined and questioned, and flexible enough to change if errors or new facts are discovered.

An important skill participants learn is how to make accurate distinctions between fact-based statements, institutional beliefs, individual beliefs and random opinions. Now let’s learn about some facts about the Bible.

The first fact about “the Bible” is that “the Bible” is an Identity Meme used by Christians to refer to “Christian Scriptures.” “Scriptures” in this context refers to “canonized writings by an institution with authority.”

When Jesus referred to “Scriptures” he was referring writings called the Torah, Prophets and Psalms. In addition he quoted from other books that are in the Tanakh (Jewish Scriptures today). The books of the Tanakh are found in “Christian Scripture” where they are called “the Old Testament.”

It is important to understand that Jesus’s Scriptures were not written in “one book.” They were written on individual scrolls -- the Torah was written on one scroll, major prophets, like Isaiah, were written on one scroll, too. Other texts were combined and written on a single scroll.

No one carried “all of the Jewish Scriptures” around with them, because trying to carry all of those scrolls at the same time would have been a very difficult challenge. No one had “the Jewish Scriptures” sitting on their desk or coffee table. Non one could simply flip back and forth between different books in Bible studies. And there were no chapter and verse markers in the scrolls – what would your Bible study be like without chapter and verse breakes? And, by the way, most people could not read during the first century CE.

Scrolls were all hand-copied and that made them very expensive. Most people could not afford to buy one, much less all of them. The closest Jesus, and probably most of his followers, ever came to those scrolls was on Shabbat when they gathered at their synagogues. Readers were chosen handed a scroll to read from. The most popular and well-known scroll was – and still is in Judaism -- the Torah scroll.

The Scriptures of Jesus did not have a New Testament. None of the books found in modern New Testaments had been written at that time. Even after they were written, none of our Christian institutions existed to “canonize” and make them “Scripture.” The first group of “New Testament” books to be treated like “Scripture” was created in Rome by Marcion in 140 CE. The first reference to a “New Testament” was made by Tertullian in the 3rd century, hundreds of years after Jesus.

As I said above, members of our study and discussion groups learn is how to make accurate distinctions between fact-based statements, institutional beliefs, individual beliefs and random opinions. Some facts about the Bible are these -- “There are many books called ‘The Bible’ but they have significant differences, beginning with different books and in books they share, there are different words.”

Different Christian Canons (click here to see a few).

Different English translations (click here to see a list).

When new people show up at a meeting, they always say something like this – “The Bible says . . . .” Someone will then ask the new person this question – “Which Christian canon or English translation are quoting?” Someone else will probably ask – “Have you checked out other Christian canons, English translation or the Jewish Scriptures?”

BHC study group participants consider themselves “explorers of their biblical heritages” – not defenders of institutional beliefs and authority. Being questioned about one’s beliefs is the norm, expected and requested. Saying “I don’t know” is a very badge of honor -- and it’s an honest answer. We value transparency!
__________________________

If you like the BHC approach and want to see more information like this -- Subscribe to our Mail List. Stay up-to-date and It’s Free because of the generosity of BHC Donors! (click here).

Donate and Help fund future articles, newsletters, blogs, etc. ($5, $10, $50, $100, $200 . . . every donation is important and helps). Donate now and let us know you care (click here). If you have never donated, used to donate or haven’t donated in a while – your generosity will be greatly appreciated.

Also use our Free Bible Tools in your Bible Studies and Discussions (click here).

Shalom & Thank You!
Jim Myers

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It’s a Yod -- NOT a Jot and Tittle!

Not only did Yeshua read and speak Hebrew, so did his followers and disciples! Two very well known, but not accurately understood words in the Gospel of Matthew prove it – jot and tittle . For some reason jot and tittle stick in the minds of Christian Bible readers. But when you ask them what jot or tittle mean, you get a lot of conflicting and some really weird answers. Today, you are going to get the facts about what Yeshua originally said and how they ended up in English translations of the Bible as jot and tittle . Let’s begin by reading Matthew 5:18 from the King James translation: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. If you have not read the article “ From Yeshua to Jesus ” in Yeshua’s Kingdom Handbook please take a moment to read it online by clicking here before you continue. In it you will see how we began with the name “ Jesus ” and traced it through Lati...
Post a Comment
Read more

Do Not Say RAQA! - Yeshua on Anger (Part 2)

In the last blog, we covered the first part of Yeshua’s lesson on Anger -- An Angry Person Should be Tried in Court like a Murderer – keep in mind that “anger” is the focus of Yeshua’s lesson. “Whoever says to a brother, ‘ RAKA ,’ shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin.” [i] Yeshua reveals that the seriousness of the offense has become greater by elevating the crime to the next highest court – the Sanhedrin . It is the highest court in the nation and would be the equivalent of our Supreme Court. What makes this offense more serious than murder, to keep things in the context established by Yeshua? It is because of what the angry person said out of anger – “ RAKA !” RAKA is the English transliteration of the Greek word found in the ancient manuscripts of Matthew. Interestingly, the Greek word is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word into Greek. Keep in mind that when a translator working on a translation of a Greek manuscript transliterates a Greek word, he only finds ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Prayer Yeshua Prayed Twice Every Day

One of Jesus’s earliest memories was no doubt watching and listening to his family when they gathered to pray the Shema at sunrise before the day’s work began and after the working work day was over at sunset . He also heard and participated in praying the Shema at their synagogue. He was surrounded by neighbors who also prayed the same prayer in their homes every day. The Hebrew word for prayer is tefilah . It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpalel, meaning “ to judge oneself .” This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer. The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. [1] Most of Jewish prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me," an...
Post a Comment
Read more