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Church of Christ

Chart #1: What is the Bible About?

 

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Life has standards because it is real.

• Natural laws reflect a physical order that shows what is “standard” in reality.

• Conventions try to measure physical weight and height, but reality has weight and extent before conventions name them.

• Spiritual laws reflect a spiritual order that shows what is “standard” in reality.

• Conventions try to measure right and wrong spiritually, but spiritual reality has better and worse before conventions name them.

• What is an appropriate standard for spiritual things?  What about the Bible?

 

The Bible is a record of God’s relationship to people which focuses on spirituality and standards for being spiritual.

• The Bible’s claims for authority are reasonable because reality is consistent with what the Bible teaches.  Consider some information in books like:

• Batsell Barrett Baxter, I Believe Because…: A Study of the Evidence Supporting Christian Faith (Baker Books, 1971), A.O. Schnabel, Has God Spoken? (A.O. Schnabel, 1974).

• C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Macmillan, 1943).

• Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Historical Evidences for the Christian Faith (Here’s Life Publishers, 1972), Lee Strobel, The Case for the Creator (Zondervan, 2004), The Case for Christ (Zondervan, 1998), The Case for Faith (Zondervan, 2000).

 

The Bible’s claims for authority are reasonable because it is different from other human collections in its unity and harmony.

• The Bible is a collection of 66 books by about 40 authors living over a period of 1,400 years writing about more than 4,000 years of history, yet these writings form a united, harmonious continuous account.  No other collection of books from any culture is like this.

• The Bible asserts to speak of actual historical events and its record is consistent with scientific archaeological discoveries that have increased its credibility with the passing of time.

• The Bible asserts to speak accurately of actual life although not pretending to be a “science book” and its record is consistent with scientific physical discoveries that have increased its credibility with the passing of time.  (Over for detailed notes)

• Note:  In 1861 the French Academy of Science listed 51

• “Scientific facts” proving the Bible false, but by 1920, every one of these was shown to be mistaken while the Bible’s assertion was correct.

• Note: Because science books become obsolete quickly, most of the National Library of Science in Paris’ three million volumes of obsolete science textbooks have more contradictions with current learning in scientific matters than the Bible when completed two thousand years ago.

 

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The Bible records God’s will for all people “dispensed” to people.

• God’s will for people has always been that we live as His children, “holy and blameless in love” even though He knew that we would be imperfect.  Eph. 1:3-14.

• God’s will for people was dispensed three different ways during three eras, sometimes called three “dispensations.”

• In Genesis, He dispensed His will to the heads of households orally during what is sometimes called an era of “Patriarchal dispensation.”

• In the rest of the Old Testament, God dispensed His will to a special people, Israel, in writing through His servant Moses and through prophets authorized by Moses’ writings during what is sometimes called an era of “Mosaic dispensation.”

• Then God dispensed His will for people personally through the life of His Son, Jesus the Christ, whose life and teachings are recorded in the New Testament during what is sometimes called an era of “Christian dispensation.”

• God’s will for people was free choice to relate to God and follow His will or to avoid relationship to God and disobey His will.

• Gen. 2:16-17.  Cf. Acts 17:26-27, Eph. 1:3-14.

• God dispensed this will orally to Adam, who freely chose to violate God’s will.  When God saw humanity’s choice not to live in fellowship with God, God cast us out of the garden and allowed us to decay and die so that we would have a chance to see that physical life is not the goal in itself.  Gen. 2-3.

• God dispensed His will to all families, but people generally chose to disobey God and suffer the consequences of a world of shame, guilt, fear, blame, and violence.

• God responded by “washing away” those whose choices were causing His creation such pain with a flood and by confusing the languages of those whose choices were causing humanity to fail in its role of taking care of the whole globe.  Gen. 3, esp. 3:6, Gen. 6-9, esp. 6:5-8, Gen. 11.

• God revealed a positive alternative for all families when He promised to bring about salvation for all people through His servant Abraham.  Gen. 12:1-4, etc.

• The rest of Genesis describes how Abraham’s promise from God was renewed and passed down through his descendants or “seed.”  These were then taken down into Egypt out of Canaan’s idolatry so that they could be protected there from idolatry’s iniquity as if in an incubator while they grew into a great nation.  Gen. 12-Ex. 10.

• When the sinful consequences or “iniquity” of the idolatrous Amorites “became full” after 400 years in this incubator, God caused them to be enslaved by new leadership in Egypt so that they desired to leave and follow God out of bondage.  God led these people in an exodus out of Egypt using miracles and then provided a written record of God’s will for them as a nation that reflected God’s will for everyone – The Law of Moses.  See Exodus through Deuteronomy, Gal. 3:16, 19, Rom. 2:12-16, 3:19-20.

• Jesus fulfilled this law at the proper time so that all could see God’s dispensing of His will through Christ.  Gal. 4:4, Heb. 1:1-3 & 2:1-4.

 

God’s history of His relationship to people shows what happens when we follow our will rather than God’s will.

• Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they would not believe and obey.  Numbers 14-Joshua 1, I Cor. 10, etc.

• Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land and in the conquest of Canaan as Israel obeyed God, but Israel was defeated when they disobeyed God’s commands.  Joshua.

• When Israel followed their idolatrous servants, God let Israel be led by these idolaters so that sin led to suffering and then sorrow and finally answered penitent prayers with saviors called Judges.  The next generation followed the same pattern, and then the next generation did the same, until a downward spiral of sin resulted.

• When Israel wanted “permanent saviors” like they thought the other nations enjoyed, God allowed them to have a United Kingdom under Saul, David and Solomon for about 120 years.  But when kings did not follow God, all Israel suffered.  I & II Samuel, I Kings 1-11, I Chronicles & II Chronicles 1-9.

• God caused divided kingdoms because of Solomon’s disobedience, resulting in Solomon’s servant, Jeroboam ruling the northern ten tribes called “Israel” while Solomon’s son, Rehoboam ruled the southern two tribes called “Judah.”

• These two kingdoms continued to fall into idolatrous habits until Israel was carried into Assyrian captivity and then Judah into Babylonian captivity.  I Kings 12-II Kings 25, II Chronicles 10-36.

• During this time and during the time of the restoration of the temple and city of Jerusalem, God used prophets who spoke His will to show their violations of Moses’ Law and God’s need to discipline them following the curses of Lev. 16 and Deut. 28-32.  Judges, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

• These prophets also pointed forward to God’s future completion of His promises through an anointed one – a Messiah or “Christ.”

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God’s will has always been for all people, but any particular revelation of that will – any “dispensation” of it – was only for those to whom it was given.  Heb. 1:1-4, Jn. 1:17, Eph. 2:13-16, Col. 2:14.

 

Next chart: How is the Bible organized?

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