Jesus replied to His critics by saying “You are in error because you don’t know the scriptures, (Matt.22:29).” And many Christians believe that His reply is a summary statement that reminds us that all we don’t know, how we ought to live today and forever, can be found when we get to know the Bible. Getting to know the Bible is a foundational task of a disciple of Jesus.
But what if we don’t know the Bible? Raised in the church or not, many people have no idea how we got the Bible, what’s in it, or why we should use it as an authority in our lives. They ask questions like these:
“Wasn’t it copied so many times, we have no idea if we have copies of what it originally said?”
“Wasn’t it written long after the events it talks about took place? How do we know they even happened?”
“Was Jesus a historical person? And can we believe anything written about him?
It isn’t only people outside the church who ask these questions, but many today either in the process of deconstructing or evaluating their faith ask these questions either out loud or in a quiet dark night of their soul when they lie awake wondering if everything they’ve believed in is more than a fairy tale.
This series of lessons will give you well-researched, historical answers as you learn how we got our Bibles
Looking at history, the Bible itself, Jewish, Christian, and secular scholarship, I put together this series of lessons to give you an overview in easy-to-understand video, podcast, and notes format, how we got our Bibles.
Below is a short video overview of the lessons and following are the links to the lessons in this series. The first link is to the Bible805 site where you can find free copies of the lesson notes, plus links to the PODCAST and YOUTUBE videos. The second link will take you to the Bible805 Academy where you can find editable materials for you to teach the lesson including ad-free videos, audio files, editable PowerPoint presentations, notes, questions, and associated infographics—all for FREE or PWYW (pay-what-you-want). Downloading for FREE is greatly encouraged, the goal of these materials and all from the Bible805 ministry is for you to know, trust, apply, and teach the Bible. In it and in it only do we find the words of eternal life.
How We Got the Old Testament, and why we can trust it as the Word of God
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-wH
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/yd5V7
How We Got the Apocrypha and its Relationship to the Septuagint
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-xh
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/a6hYs
The Time Between the Testaments, and What to do when God seems silent
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-xU
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/7p3sL
How we got the New Testament, Part One—History that proves WHEN it was written
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-yn
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/d3Tpm
How we got the New Testament, Part 2—why the Gnostic Gospels aren’t part of it & implications for today
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-yE
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/X2mKw
Canonicity, the Bible, and Us—how we discover, not determine God’s Will
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-yT
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/cBaoU
How we got our English Bibles, the long and winding road from Greek and Hebrew to English translations
Link to free notes, podcast, and video:
https://wp.me/pazrJD-za
If you would like to teach this lesson with editable materials and an ad-free video, it is available at this link on the Bible805 Academy:
https://bible805academy.com/b/u05Wg