INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE

It is a book, “Bible” being derived from the Greek, bibl…on, biblion, having the root
meaning of a type of reed from which papyrus was made. In the time of Jesus Christ it
referred to either a parchment scroll or a collection of papyrus sheets.

The various names given to the Bible.

“The Holy Bible.”

It is holy, sacred, or set apart from that which is common, and set apart unto that which is
especially to be revered. It is not like any other book, since it has come from the mouth of a
holy God (II Tim. 3:15-16; I Pet. 1:15-16), and for this reason it is to be treated reverently. It
is a book, “Bible” being derived from the Greek, bibl…on, biblion, having the root meaning
of a type of reed from which papyrus was made. In the time of Jesus Christ it referred to
either a parchment scroll or a collection of papyrus sheets.

The Holy “Scriptures.”

This is common terminology in the New Testament division of the Bible. Paul writes
concerning “the gospel of God . . . in the sacred/holy Scriptures/writings [gr£matta,
gramatta]” (Rom. 1:1-2). These are “the sacred/holy Scriptures/ writings which are able to
give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus,” and thus
are “Scripture [graf», graph¯e],” expired by God (II Tim. 3:15-16).Hence, it is truth
inscripturated that is written down through the use of words taught by the Holy Spirit (I Cor.
2:12-13; I Peter 1:20-21). It is a concrete, not fluid, objective, not subjective, propositional
revelation, that is a tangible record as distinct from subjective dreams, visions, opinions, or
“truth” by consensus (Jer. 23:28-29).

“The Word of God,” or “the Word of the Lord.”

Other names include “the oracles of God” (Acts 7:38), “the Word of God” (Eph.
6:17; Heb. 4:12; II Pet. 3:5), and “the word of the Lord” as repetitively used in
Jeremiah (cf. 1:2, 4, 11, 13).
The Bible is a book about God and His relationship with human beings. In it, God revealed
Himself through His actions in nature and in history. The Bible is one of the oldest books. Its
oldest sections were written about 1500 years before Jesus was born. Its newest sections were
written about 1900 years ago. No one knows exactly how many people contributed to the
compilation of the Bible.

However, scholars attributed authorship to about 40 people. And those who wrote the Bible
did not claim to be the source of the ideas they wrote about. Sometimes directly, sometimes
indirectly, authors assert that what they were writing really came from God. For example,
one of the writers, Paul, wrote thus: All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for
teaching,for re-proof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God
may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ).

The Divisions and Books of the Bible.

Two Fold Division

Here the Hebrew Scriptures and Christian Scriptures are most commonly
distinguished. However, the truth of Hebrews 1:1-2 best indicates the diversity in
unity that is reflected in these complementary revelations, with Jesus Christ being
the uniting hinge.

The Old Testament comprised of 39 books.

“Old Testament” here means “Old Covenant,” tyr]B=, berith, or old

agreement, specifically with regard to the covenant God made with the nation
of Israel shortly after it had been redeemed out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea,
and arrived at Mt. Sinai (Exod. 20:1-26; 24:1-8). It is vital that this bilateral
covenant should be distinguished from the unilateral Abrahamic Covenant
(Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21; Gal. 3:17-18).
The Four Major Christian Old Testament divisions.

The Law, or Pentateuch (five-volumed), or Torah, (instruction) as

theJews call it. Genesis through to Deuteronomy.

History, principally with regard to Israel. Joshua through to Esther.

Poetry, that is especially devotional, relational, ethical. Job through

toSong of Solomon (Canticles).

The Prophets, both major, Isaiah through to Daniel, and minor,

Hoseathrough to Malachi.

The Three Major Jewish Old Testament Divisions (Tanakh).

Torah (Law): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Neviim (Prophets):

Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings,

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.

Latter Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,

Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

Kethuvim (Writings):

Poetry & Wisdom: Psalms, Proverbs, Job.

Rolls (Megilloth): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations,

Ecclesiastes, Esther.

Historical: Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, I & II Chronicles.

 2. The New Testament, comprised of 27 books

“New Testament” here means “New Covenant” or new agreement,

specifically which God promised to Israel through Jeremiah (31:31-37; cf.
Heb. 8:7-13) and fulfilled through the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ (I
Cor. 11:25; Heb. 9:15; 12:24; cf. “eternal covenant,” 13:20). The five major
divisions are as follows:

The Gospels, concerning Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry. Matthew to Luke,

(synoptic), and John, (Johannine).

History, principally concerning the early Church. Acts of the Apostles.

The Epistles of Paul, concerning the interpretation of Jesus Christ and

thefunction of local churches. Romans through to Philemon.

The General Epistles, Hebrews through to Jude.

Prophecy, or unveiling of the present and future. Revelation.

Early versions and Translations of the bible

The bible was developed from various documents and materials mainly from the Jewish
traditions. Some of them include:
Masoretic Text: This is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). It defines not just the
books of the Jewish canon, but also the precise letter-text of the biblical books in Judaism, as
well as their vocalization and accentuation for and private study.

3. The Septuagint: The Septuagint, abbreviation LXX was the earliest extant Greek
translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. The Septuagint was
presumably made for the Jewish community in Egypt when Greek was the common
language throughout the region.
 The name Septuagint, from the Latin septuaginta, “70” was derived both public
reading later from the legend that there were 72 translators, 6 from each of the
12tribes of Israel, who worked independently to translate the whole and
ultimately produced identical versions.

4. The Vulgate: The Vulgate, from the Latineditiovulgatameans common version wasa
Latin Bible used by the Roman Catholic Church, primarily translated by St. Jerome. In 382
Pope Damasus commissioned Jerome, the leading biblical scholar of his day, to produce an
acceptable Latin version of the Bible from the various translations then being used. His
revised Latin translation of the Gospels appeared about 383.

5. Tanakh: The Tanakh also called the Hebrew Bible or the Miqra is the collection of
Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah. These texts are almost exclusively in
BiblicalHebrew,with a few passages in Biblical Aramaic.TheHebrew Bible is also the textual
source for the Christian Old Testament.

6. Talmud:The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source
of Jewish religious law or halakhaand Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in
nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and
was foundational to all Jewish thought and aspirations, serving also as the guide for the daily
life" of Jews. This expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible.

7. Dead Sea Scrolls: The Dead Sea Scrolls, also known as the Qumran Caves Scrollsare
ancient Jewish religious manuscripts that were found in the Qumran Caves in the Judaean
Desert, near EinFeshkhaon the northern shore of the Dead Sea in the WestBank. Scholarly
consensus dates these scrolls from the last three centuries BC and the first century AD. The
texts have great historical, religious, and linguistic significance

because they include the second-oldest known surviving manuscripts of works later
included in the Hebrew Bible canon, along with deuterocanonical and extra-biblical
manuscripts which preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second
Temple Judaism.
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The Bible is divided into two major divisions, Old and New testaments It is a collection or
library of many small books written over a period 1600 years. The Hebrew Bible known to
Christian as the Old Testament is largely a record of the Hebrew deity’s dealing with the chosen
people Israel.

 Old Testament is longer and concerns events and personalities through which God was
working prior to the time of Christ.
 The second division deals with the events surrounding the life of Christ and the
subsequent beginning of earthly experience of the church of faith See community
 O.T 39 books N.T 27 books = 66 Books Catholics –OT has 46 books ,See the Apocrypha
in Greek meaning hidden Books
 Bible, Greek Biblion, meaning Booklet
 The word holy means separate, set apart, the bible is uniquely separate
 The bible is the work of men who were divinely inspired.

The bible as literature

The Bible is composed of variety of types of literature, see poetry, Biographies of some people,
sermons etc figurative language.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew language and Aramaic in some parts of
Ezekiel while the New Testament was written in Greek

The meaning of revelation

 Revelation means disclosure, it is unveiling.

 Revelation has simply meant that God has made himself Known to us.
 NB: Revelation is not illumination
 General revelation :See the nature.

Special revelation

- Direct communication with God as in Old Testament and the revelation Jesus Christ is
referred to as special revelation. (Hebrews 1:1)

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INSPIRATION

There two types of inspiration which are :

a) Dictation inspiration/verbal inspiration. It is the view of inspiration that holds that the
words themselves are truly, God’s words.
b) Dynamic theory: The Vew that the Bible was written by man through the help of the
Holy Spirit.
c) The word of God is infallible and inerrant, meaning that it is unquestionable. It is true
and has no errors.

Validity of the Old Testament

 Jesus Christ believed in it and taught it

 We trust in his teachings
 Apostles believed in it and kept or quoted
 NT is the fulfillment of OT

NEW TESTAMENTS

The New Testament confirmed the fulfillment of most of the prophecies in Old Testament.

 Apostles testified about the New Testament see testimony of Revelation.

 See the apostolic office
 Testimony from the early church father clement, bishop of Rome
 Ignatius of Antioch
 Polycarp Ireneaus, Tertullian papias.

Preservation of the Old Testament

Moses and others wrote this Book between 1000-1400BC

These scrolls were controlled by the Temple Priest partly under the supervision of the king and
prophets. The bible itself contains internal evidence about its own composition and
preservation.Some stories, histories and poems were preserved in the imperishable clay tablets
of Mesopotamia.In Egypt writings were done on papyrus. The last Old Testament Book was

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most likely written 400BC. The discovery of the Dead Sea scroll in 1947 provided a wealth of
new textual materials.Traders from the Palestine bought the Egyptian papyrus in exchange of
cedar wood and olive oil. Papyrus were convenience but could be destroyed during the rainy
season.As the old scroll worn out, they had to be recopied.During the middle ages, the Hebrew
Old Testament was preserved by the jews.

Dead Sea scrolls

In 1947 an Arab shepherd threw a stone into a cave near the Dead Sea and heard the tinkle of
breaking pottery, seven manuscripts were found in that cave.

The bible has been written by different people who were all in harmony some were prophets, tax
gatherers, scholars.Its background changed from Bronze age to the iron age and to the Roman
times. It was written over a period of 16 centuries.

The translation of the bible

The first translation of the Hebrew Bible begun in Alexandria Egypt in the mid third century
before Christ was born; this is after the Jewish colony found that the young generations were not
understanding classical Hebrew. Seventy two/72 scholars were appointed to translate the
scriptures into Koine Greek and after laboring for seventy days, seventy identical versions
this land marks translation is also called Septuagint abbreviated LXX(after the seventy or
seventy two elders who translated the word)

The next version was Latin vulgate commissioned by the Bishop of the Rome around 385-405
AD and became the official bible of the Roman Catholicism. By 1500 a reformer William
Tyndale made translations from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

CANNONICITY OF THE BIBLE

a) The term canon refers to a list of books officially approved for use in a given
community. It also refers to the standard of measurement by which books are included or
excluded from the authoritative list.
b) In Greek Canon means “a straight stick by which something is ruled or measured, it
simply means measuring rod”

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 c) Is derived from Greek word Kenon which refers to a standard or measurement, the norm
by which something is evaluated or Judged acceptable.

The New Testament Canon

The word Testament is a synonym for covenant which means an agreement or promise in the
Old Testament God introduced the covenant in which Israel which gave the old testament its
name.At MT Sinai Yahweh promised to be the God of Israel and they vowed to obey him and
hence Mosaic/Sinaic/Herobic covenant.Christians believe that Jesus initiated the new covenant
of the last supper, Mathew 26:27-28 .The New Testament came to effect around 367AD
(canonical of the 27 books). To say that the scripture are canonical is to declare that they have
been recognized as the word of God written and thus has accepted the authority which is unique

The chief criteria of the New Testament were:

a) The association with apostolic tradition and hence apostolicity.

b) Books written by the one of the 12 apostles were considered to be of more importance.
c) 2nd criterion was orthodoxy or true doctrine writing was considered authoritative if their
teachings were in line with the faith of the apostolic church.
d) The third criterion wasantiquity meaning that it was written in the apostolic age that is
while the authors could have had contact with the apostles.
e) The forth criteria was inspiration all the individuals in the early church who suggested a
canon believed their list of writings was inspired.
f) The fifth and most important was the wide spread use by the early church. Those texts
that were used widely and met the needs of the Christian community were the ones that
eventually won acceptance as a holy scripture.

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The New Testament Apocrypha

 The term Apocrypha means: hidden, legendry, less than true or doubtful
authenticity
 The Jews have never accepted the Apocrypha as canonical
 The New Testament , Jesus Christ, and the Apostles never quoted from the
Apocrypha

The New Testament Apocrypha include:

i. The epistle of Barnabas

ii. The first and the second epistle of Clement to Corinth
iii. The Shepherd of Hermas
iv. The Didache or teachings of the twelve
v. The Apocalypse of Peter
vi. The act of Paul and Thecla
vii. The epistle to the Laodicians
viii. The Seven Epistle of Ignatius

Canonicity of the Old Testament

a) Torah was the first books to be accepted by Jews.

b) Prophets were the second group to be given authoritative status
c) The 3rd criterion which led to the closing of the Jewish canon was the conformity,
inspiration, Hebrew language and widespread use. Works that were accepted as
authoritative had to conform to the teachings of the Torah and other writings that were
already normative for Jewish believes and practice.
d) Works that were accepted had to have been written by divinely inspired prophets.
e) Works that were not originally written in Hebrew were excluded.
f) Widespread use: the works that were eventually recognized as authoritative within
Judaism were those that had already found general acceptance among the people on the
basis of their contents as they were the works that conveyed most clearly the Jewish
understanding of God’s dealings with the Jewish people.

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FORMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE

The fact that Christians arose from within Judaism, the early Christians naturally accepted the
Hebrew Scriptures as authoritative.

The Apocrypha of the Old Testament

We can also say that Apocrypha are works usually written of unknown authorship, they are a set
of text included in the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate but not in the protestant and Hebrew Bible

They include :

i. Bel and Dragon

ii. The Prayer of Mannasseh
iii. The song of the three Holy Children
iv. 1stEsdras
v. 2ndEsdras
vi. Ecclesiasticus

Deuterocanical Books

These refer to the seven extra books found in Roman Catholic Old Testament books, they
include:

i. 1st Maccabees
ii. 2nd Maccabees
iii. Judith
iv. Baruch
v. Judith
vi. Tobit
vii. Wisdom of Solomon

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Oral stage

Some of the materials especially that incorporated into the Gospel circulated orally for several
decades, these included the teaching of Jesus and the stories about him were valued in the early
church and were used in preaching and in teaching.

Writing stage

i. When some of the disciples started dying the church became aware to preserve the
records of the eye witnesses to Jesus’ life in written form.
ii. Second the end time did not appeal as some early Christians expected and some
instructions was needed to interpret both the present and the future.
iii. 3rd as the movement spread problems arose in the churches that demanded the attention of
knowledgeable church leaders who wrote then to serve the problems
iv. Fourth, as the number of converts increased, documents were written to instruct the new
believers in the rudiments of the Christian faith.

The first written materials of the New Testament were the letters of Paul beginning around 50
AD.The first Gospel of Mark was written in around 70AD, then Mathew 85-90 then Luke 85 –
90 and John 90-100. 2nd peter could be the last of the New Testament perhaps as late as 125-150

The process of translation

The first complete English Bible appeared in 1382 and it was the work of John Wycliffe who
made translation forms the Vulgate. This version was staunchly resisted by the church leadership
saying that English was so vulgate and that the Bible could fall in the hand of false teachers who
could misinterpret it and introduce heinous doctrines and the desire of the church to maintain
authority over the people. This Bible was condemned and after forty years of his death his body
was exhumed and burnt in retaliation for his work as a translator, however his Bible was
welcome by the masses and enjoyed a wide range for over 150 years.

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William Tyndale published his English Translation of the New Testament in 1526 from
Germany where he had fled to escape persecution from the church in England; he was later on
arrested and burned at stick as a heretic.

Apart from papyrus leather scrolls made from treated animal hides stitched together were used to
make copies of individual Books of the bible

Between 6th – 10thcenturies certain European Jewish scribes called masoretes worked carefully to
preserve the Old Testament as they transmitted from copy to copy. The Hebrew word masora
means “that which is transmitted, that which is handed down hence the name masorete

Twenty years or more after the death of Jesus Christ, the Christians testimony about him was
entirely oral. Eyewitnesses, memories about Jesus deeds and words were transmitted by the word
of mouth without any consistent reference to the time plate or circumstances of their origin. As
preserved in the Christian keryguma (Proclamation) individual sayings circulated
independently of one another so free floating that when later incorporated into the Gospel each
evangelist placed them in a different narrative setting, compare the four strikingly different
concepts given to the story of the women who anointed Jesus with oil Matt 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-
9, Luke 7:36-50 John 12:1-8.

The term New Testament is connected with the Hebrew scripture in Biblical terms testament is a
synonym for covenant which means an agreement, contract or bond. In Hebrew Bible God was
often making covenants with human beings see the Mosaic covenant.

Moses acted as the covenant mediator between Yahweh and the people where Israel swears to
uphold all the laws and commandments that Yahweh enjoins upon them.

Jesus instituted the new covenant at the last supper he held with his disciple “and he took the cup
and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New
Testament Math26:27-28

The New Testament are arranged in a way that approximately the order of Hebrew Bible called
Tenaka

Old Covenant (testament) New Covent (Testament)

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T Law books (5) Moses Four Gospel (Jesus)

N Neviim (Prophets Book of Acts

History of Joshua –Kings Church History

Books of the prophecy letter of Paul’s and other church

Leaders

K – kethium (Writing)

Books of Poetry, wisdom and an apocalypse Catholic epistles and an apocpuse

(Daniel) (Revelation)

Most of the New Testament books were written between the half century 50—100CE (canon
Era) also see BCE Before the Common Era A.D” Annodomini Latin for “in the year of the lord”)

Paul’s letters span between 50-62 CE while most of the others spanned including the Gospel and
the Book of Act spunned from 66-100CE

GOSPELS

Refer to the first four books of the New Testament, the term gospel is translated from the Greek
word evangelion meaning Good news about Jesus. The Gospel tells the story of Jesus ministry,
death and resurrection.The term Evangelist refer to the writer of evangelion(Gospel) the Gospel
is about the story of Jesus deeds and teachings.The four Gospel do not give us the complete life
of Jesus e.g. from the age of 12 to 30 (Luke) 3:32)The significance of Jesus’ suffering and death
known as the passion) is the central concern of each evangelist.Gospel writers are theologians
who wrote to primarily voice their individual understanding of Jesus religious or theological
significance.

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A history of the church (historical books)

The historical narratives cerebrate the deed of a few early Christian leaders written by Luke the
book of Luke continues the story of Christianity’s origin. Beginning with an account of Jesus
ascension to heaven and ending with apostle Paul’s preaching activity in Rome. The book
narrates a series of critical episodes in Christianity, early development covering the thirty years
form about 30 to 0CE

Letters/Epistles

There are twenty one letters ascribed to influence leadership of the early church, this includes
Paul who wrote thirteen of them, John wrote three, peter wrote two, Jude James one and Hebrew.

An apocalypse

The title revelation is derived from the Greek apokalypsis which means apocalptive literature,
revelation features, visions of an unseen worked inhibited by spirit creatures both good and evil.
It highlighted the cosmic struggle between God and Satan, a conflict involving both heaven and
earth that ultimately sees evil defeated. God’s kingdom triumphant and the creation of new earth
and heaven(Rev 12:16 20-21)

SUMMARY

 Protestant Bible contain of sixty six books written by forty authors over a period of 1600
years
 Malachi the last book of the Old Testament was written about 450 BC
 Ezra was probably involved in the identification of the completed Old Testament canon
which was recognized not later than 300 BC .
 The 27 Books of the New Testament were formally acknowledged at the Council of
Hippo in North Africa in 393 AD and the Council of Carthage in North Africa in 419
AD. Both gatherings were under the influence of Augustine
 Athanasius , the great defender of Jesus Christ as the God-man declared all 27 books of
the New Testament to be canonical in 367 AD.

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HOW GOD COMMUNICATE WITH HIS PEOPLE

God communicate with his people through his words and various ways as follows:

1. Spoken Speech as in Isaiah 28:11

2. Vision as in Ezekiel 1, Daniel 7:13
3. The written word as in the Ten commandment
4. Revelation : God reveal himself through:
i. Natures : the universe give testimony to God as creator Psalms
8:3-4
ii. Divine Actions : Israelites crossed the Read Sea or the plague that
God wrought in Egypt

AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPTURE: REASONS WHY THE BIBLE IS TRUE

i. Manuscript Evidence: Biblical Manuscript are consistent than any other classic
literatures written by any philosopher
ii. Archaeological Evidence:Archeological discoverieshave verified the accuracy of the
historical and cultural references in the Bible. The more they dig, the more they
confirmed the Bible. Near Eastern Archeology it has demonstrated the historical and
geographical reliability of the Bible in many important areas also see the discovery
of Dead sea scroll .
iii. Eye witness Account: The Bible was written by people who witnessed the events it
describes, whereby many were persecuted and martyred but they never changed the
story. The scripture has been sealed by the blood of so many witnesses who died for
their faith in the Bible
iv. Corroborating Account: There are plenty of references in non-biblical sources to the
event described in the Bible. A Jewish historian who had no interest in becoming a
Christian called Josephus provides indispensable background material for the student
v. Literally Consistency: The Bible Contain 66 books written over 1600 years by 40
different authors but it tells one Big story of God’s plan for salvation that Culminated
in Jesus Christ. All these authors tell the same story without contradicting one another
yet they did not know one another. It is difficult to tell secret to a circle of 12 people

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 with the same message at he end …Therefore it lies a single divine author with a
single unifying theme according to John Stott.
vi. Diversity and Unity: The bible has survived different Kingdoms of Egypts,
Assyrian, Babylon, Media Persia, Greek and Rome yet what was written can not
contradict the other. There is progress of revelation
vii. Prophetic Consistency: There are over 300 Specific prophesies in the Old Testament
that are fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the New
Testament. ...God has himself planted within the scripture an internal consistency that
bears witness in his word (Sproul, 1935).
viii. Jesus authoritatively endorsed the bible: He together with his apostles quoted the
Old Testament scroll.,
ix. Expert Scrutiny: The early Church had extremely high standards for what books
were judged to be authentic and therefore included in the Bible (see the canonicity of
the New Testament) apostolicity and antiquity, the orthodoxy and widely used .
x. Leader Acceptance: Great world leaders and thinkers in history haveaffirmed the
truth and impact of the Bible. See Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Junior.
xi. Global Influence: The Bible has greatly influenced on the Laws, Arts, music and
literature of world civilization than any other book in history.
xii. Transforming Effect upon Profligates, Unbelievers :
 Aurelius Augustine- Immoral Professor at Milan , became great theologians
and defender of Christianity
 John Newton – A hard-hearted slave trader and sea captain became a pastor
and a hymn writer
 John Bunyan: - Foul mouthed tinker at Bedford becomes a pastor and an
author of the Pilgrims progress.
 Skeptics suchas Frank Morrison, Lewis a political hatchet, robbers,
prostitutes, etc not forgetting the biblical Paul.

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 Authority of the New Testament

1. Internal Testimony: The New Testament itself testifies to the authority of the
message, there are references indicating that the Old Testament is the word of God such as : 2 nd
Timothy 3:15-17,2nd Peter 1; 20-21, Hebrews 8;8 and Acts 28:25.

References that talkabout the teachings of Jesus as the as a “Word of the Lord”1STCor9:9, 13-
14,1stThess 4:15, 1stCor 7:10,25.

References that certain information was received directly from God, Galatian 1:1,12, 1 st
Thessalonians2:13.

References that acknowledged Paul’s Letters as authoritative 2nd Peter 3:15-16.

2. External Testimony: The Early Church fathers recognized the canonicity of the New
Testament , they include:

i. 1Clement from Rome quoted the he earliest document of the New Testament in 95 AD
ii. Ignatius of Antioch in Syria (116 AD), Knew all Paul’s letters, quoted Mathew and John.
iii. Polycarp of Smyrna( 150 AD), knew Paul’s Letters Mathew and quote from 1st Peter, 1st
John and possibly Acts.
iv. The Didache ( 100- 150) used Mathew, Luke and many other New Testament books
v. Irenaeus (170 AD).
vi. Origen (250 AD).

CHURCH COUNCILS

An official council was a formal discussion by delegates of the Church.

The Councilof Laodicea is the earliest council that dealt with issues of canon in 363 AD, this
council decreed that only the canonical books of the New Testament that could be read in the
Church.

The Third Councilof Carthagewas the earliest Council to list the current 27 books of the New
Testament as they are in 397 AD, this is usually dated as the last date for closing the Canon of

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the New Testament, and howeverthe council of Hippo in North Africa gave the same list in
419 AD.

AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

i. Some Churches vest their authority in Creeds, confession, the rule of the Bishop,
episcopacy and supremely the pope.
ii. For others authority is found in the declaration of various scholars Calvin, Lutherans etc
iii. Still some trust in inward experience, subjective opinion, extra ordinary happenings and
extra biblical revelation

USES OF THE BIBLE

 To give inspiration
 To Look for God’s help
 To find how we should live
 To prepare sermon
 Used to administer oath in the Court
 It is the word of God and therefore it has authority
 To encourage people in needs
 Used in schools pastoral program instruction
 Used as a key tool in Bible school and religion faculties
 Used for Evangelism
 Used to build the body of Christ
 Used in composing Gospel music

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 CHORE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES IN CHRISTIANITY

 One God in three persons

 Public communal worship
 Belief in the creation of the universe and human beings
 Church as a community of believers
 Dignity of each persons and common good and the care for the needy

CHRISTIAN VALUES
 Love
 Integrity
 Honesty
 Sexual Morality
 Kindness
 Faith
 Hope
 Responsibility
 Trust
 Charity

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