Crosstalk: February 28, 2017

Dr. David Brown is pastor of First Baptist Church of Oak Creek, WI. He holds a masters degree in theology and a Ph.D. in history, specializing in the history of the English Bible. He is the president of the King James Bible Research Council, an organization dedicated to promoting the King James Bible and its underlying texts. He is also the president of Logos Communication Consortium, a research organization that produces a large variety of materials warning Christians of present dangers in our culture. Dr. Brown is also on the board of directors of the Center for Research & Preservation of the Majority Texts.

2 Timothy 3:16 is the Bible verse that covers the inspiration of the Bible (God breathed out his words) while 2 Peter 1:21 covers the fact that God's Word is not man's ideas. The Holy Ghost carried the writers along to write out exactly what God had breathed out, in their own style. In other words, we have the words of God in our Bible today.

Dr. Brown noted that while we don't have original manuscript evidence for the Bible, we have copies of those originals. In fact, there are thousands of examples of Greek manuscript evidence to support the accuracy of the Bible. He cited one in particular known as the Magdalene Fragment that dates back to about 70 AD. It agrees with the text of the King James Version of the Bible.

The Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years. It began with God's revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Old Testament is testified to in the scroll of Isaiah. Regarding the Jews who preserved the Old Testament, they were so meticulous in their efforts, they couldn't write anything from memory. Dr. Brown described the process beginning with a reading scribe, a writing scribe and a checking scribe.

By the end of the 1st century or the beginning of the 2nd century, the books of the New Testament were collected into one volume. Dr. Brown believes by that time the church recognized what was God's Word and what wasn't. Writings that fit the latter category include the Gnostic Gospels.

Dr. Brown mentioned how the term 'canon' means 'reed or measuring rod' but came to mean 'a rule of faith'. In light of that, what should we make of the Apocrypha? Why isn't that part of the canon of the Bible? There are no Hebrew manuscripts of the Apocrypha. So while it was added in, in the 1400's the Westminster fathers indicated that although they felt it was good for historical purposes, it was not to be taken as Scripture.

As part one moved along, Jim had Dr. Brown discuss the following:

--Since we don't have the original manuscripts, which copies can we depend upon?

--How did the Bible move from the Hebrew to the Latin Vulgate?

--Why did the Roman church prevent people from reading the Bible on their own?

--What men did God use to break this grip of church control?

--Who was Richard Hunne?