I'm a Christian - Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

Bible History and Structure, Creeds and Liturgy

Bible History and Structure

The best starting place in dealing with the Bible is to start with the structure of the Bible and discuss the history of each section at that time. But to begin, we believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that it illuminates the relationship between God and humanity, that it is the Only source for questions related to Salvation and the Primary source for understanding God at work in the world. The Bible we often refer to as the Protestant Bible is a collection of books written at different times, by different writers and translated in many languages. There are 66 books of the Bible divided into the Old Testament (39 Books) and the New Testament (27 Books). The Old Testament is divided into 5 groupings or divisions.

• The Books of the Law
• The Books of History
• The Books of Poetry
• The Major Prophets
• The Minor Prophets

We understand that originally the Hebrew people divided the Old Testament into three sections.

• The Books of Law, Torah or Pentateuch is considered to have been written by Moses or have been accumulated at or shortly after the time of Moses. These books chronicle the creation story, the flood story and the Exodus Story of the Hebrew people out of Egypt. They include the Mt. Sinai experience where God brought the guidelines for living that encompasses the Ten Commandments. The first five books of the Bible are included in this group, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
• The Prophets originally included 21 books of the Old Testament. They included Joshua Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Then there were the so-called Latter Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea-Malachi).

·         The Writings were considered by the Hebrew people as books that were written by men who were inspired of God but were not prophets. We do not know who collected these books or when some of them were written. This group includes the 5 books of Poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) as well as these remaining 8 books: Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 & 2 Chronicles.

The Hebrew Bible which became our current Old Testament came into reality somewhere around 300 years before Christ when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek. It included additional books that did not find their way into the Protestant Bible but are part of the Catholic Bible. These books are known as the Septuagint. These books appeared around the time that the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek and included works that were known at that time. They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch as well as additions to the Books of Esther and Daniel. These books are often referred to as the Apocrypha. They are not part of the Protestant Bible because Protestant biblical Scholars argued that they were not part of the original Hebrew Bible.

When the Bible was translated into Greek, it was divided into the groupings of present day. These groupings were by literary style more than chronological order or Hebrew definition.

• The first five books, the Books of Law have been left intact.
• They are followed by the Books of History which explains the history of the nation of Israel. They include Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
• The next grouping is called the Books of Poetry; include the Books of Ester, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. They are sometimes called Wisdom writings as well.
• Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel have become known as the Major Prophets. They lived between 2700 and 2500 years ago and include prophecies concerning the nation of Israel including prophecies of Christ.
• The final grouping of the current Bible Old Testament include all of the Minor Prophets which include Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. The term minor prophets comes from the length of these books, not the status of the prophet.

We come now to the discussion of the New Testament. The New Testament is divided into three groupings.

• The Gospels which include the Books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We believe them to be written after the death of Christ, most likely some 30 - 40 years after his death. The Apostles believed that Christ was coming again in their lifetime, but as they began to die off realized that he might not. So they began to write down the teachings, events in his life and his sayings so that they would survive.
• The Writings or Epistles include Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude. They were written by followers of Jesus. They often were sent to other people to help explain Christianity. Sometimes they were written to counter heresy, or wrongful interpretations of the teachings of Jesus.
• The final grouping is one single Book, The Revelation of John. This book is thought to have been written around 70 AD or 70 years after Jesus died. It contains a future vision of Jesus and the world.

How it came to be

The early Christians continued to hold to the OT as their divinely-given Scripture, but they soon came to realize the need to value 1^st century apostolic writings as well. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Peter and the others preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). This process of inspiration continued in their preaching and in their writing. It is assumed that all NT books were written before the end of the 1^st century. Paul wrote letters to several churches and asked that they be read publicly when the Christians assembled (I Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16). Early historical accounts clarify that apostolic writings were read on a regular basis in the Christian assemblies.

In Paul's letter to the Colossians, he commands that they exchange letters with the church of the Laodiceans (4:16). It appears that early Christians soon began to circulate many of the apostolic writings. It is in this way, most likely, that various books of the NT began to be gathered into collections. Peter, in 2 Peter 3:16, indicates already a collection of Paul's letters (notice that Peter calls them "scriptures" and places them alongside that of the OT).

In the 2^nd century, following the death of all the apostles the writings of the apostles became more valuable. The desire to exchange and collect such writings increased. The gospel accounts appear to be quickly accepted by the Christian community. Paul's letters were commonly accepted. There was yet, however, no mention of a canon of the NT; there were only casual collections of writings that were being passed around.

Soon, however, spurious or pseudonymous letters came into circulation among the churches (letters falsely bearing apostolic names and/or claiming apostolic authority). Furthermore, false teachers arose claiming knowledge handed down by tradition. All this led to the beginning of the canon as Christians realized the need to determine what writings were genuine and what writings were not. By the end of the 2^nd century, the idea of a NT canon was clearly understood. The extent of that canon, however, was yet to be determined.

It is important to understand the criteria used by early scholars to determine the canonicity of any book. The true (and obvious) test of canonicity is/was inspiration. If a book was clearly inspired of God, then certainly it was accepted as part of the NT canon. The question then remains: how was inspiration to be demonstrated?

According to history, several books were universally accepted by every church without any doubt or hesitation. These were the 4 gospels, Acts, the 13 letters of Paul, 1 Peter and 1 John (20 books). Several years would pass, however, before the acceptance of the complete canon of 27 books as we have today.

In the 3^rd century, Origen, a well-known scholar of that time, gave a list of generally accepted books. He acknowledged the four gospels, Acts, the 13 letters of Paul, 1 Peter, 1 John, and Revelation. He mentioned Jude, wavered in regard to James, 2 Peter, and 2 and 3 John, and he evidently hesitated concerning Hebrews because, as he said, "God alone knows who wrote it."

In the early part of the 4th century, Eusibius expressed the general Christian thought of his time. He accepted Hebrews as authentic and indicated that James, Jude, 2 Peter and 2 John were beginning to find recognition. Finally, it was in 367 that a man named Athanasius first gave a list of canonical books identical with our 27 today. Scholars since that time have generally remained in agreement that the 27 books we have in our NT are all inspired of God and are the only available such writings.

Creeds and Liturgy

Methodist worship services are varied and are structured by the congregation, the Pastor and tradition. Some of the liturgies that you may hear are included below. Though they may be in different places in the worship, some or all of them are typically included. Many of them are included in other denominations and have been used throughout the centuries. I have included only a few here but the Methodist Hymnal is a great place to experience them.

• The Gloria Patri is often used in worship as a doxology. The current form appeared around 1971 but the original form was in use around the fourth century. It is an acknowledgement of our Trinitarian Belief, Father, Son and Holy Ghost while also including the promise of eternal life. “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.” (Methodist Hyman, #70)
• The Hymn Praise God, often called the Doxology, is often sung after the offering has been taken as a way of lifting up the offering to the Lord. It is praise that all things come from God, that all of us must praise him and again we see the understanding of Trinity in the God we worship, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Ghost). It was written in 1674 by Thomas Ken. “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow: praise him all creatures here below; praise him above ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.” (Methodist Hymnal #95)

• Affirmations of Faith. There are ten affirmations of faith in the United Methodist Hymnal. One of them is the social principles of the United Methodist Church which comes from the Book of Discipline modified by General Conference. This is similar to our Bill of Rights in the constitution, outlining how we are to be responsible Christians. The remainder are modifications of the Apostles Creed due to cultural and language differences throughout the globe. The non-American affirmations are a reminder of how we are connected to the world.
• Included among the Affirmations of Faith is the Nicene Creed. This creed in its present form comes from the two Councils of Nicaea which gathered in 325 AD and 381 AD. It is important to note that this creed established for the Christian world the concept of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, begotten, not made, making all equal of one being and yet separate.

• The Apostles’ Creed and all of the Affirmations of Faith are designed to remind us of what we believe. They are our doctrine for how we understand God and who we understand our roles and responsibilities in the world around us. The Apostles’ Creed is significantly different than many of our liturgies because of its history. It is believed that the original Apostles wrote these words on or shortly after the day of Pentecost, the day when they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It was used both as an outward expression of their understanding of God and also as a sign one to another, to identify Christians. Rufinus accounts for the creed in AD 400 and says that it comes from an earlier time. So unlike many of our liturgies, hymns and doctrines, this one piece of our worship carries itself back to the very beginning of our Christian movement. It is important to note that changes have been made and so I have included three iterations for you to see.
• What we believe to be the original form (from around AD200) “Believing in one God Almighty, maker of the world, and his son, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, on the third day brought to life from the dead, received in heaven, sitting now at the right hand of the Father, will come to judge the living and the dead through resurrection of the flesh.”, or
• “I believe in one God, maker of the world, the Word, called his Son, Jesus Christ, by the Spirit and power of God the Father made flesh in Mary’s womb, and born of her fastened to a cross. He rose the third day, was caught up into heaven, set at the right hand of the Father, sent the vicarious power of His Holy Spirit, to govern believers, will come with glory to take the good into life eternal and condemn the wicked to perpetual fire, through restoration of the flesh”
• The Roman Creed (in place by AD 600) “I believe in God the Father Almighty; And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary; Crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried; The third day He rose again from the dead, He ascended into heaven, Sitteth at the right hand of the Father, Whence He shall come to judge the loving and the dead, And in the Holy Ghost, The Holy Church, The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body’
• Our current form (in place AD 700) (Methodist Hymnal #881)          “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;* he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic ** church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen”
• Traditional use included “he descended into hell” in place of “dead and buried”
• ** catholic here is the universal church or carries back to the original “Holy Church”

Questions:

1.    How has the formation of the Bible changed or affirmed your feelings about its authenticity?

2.    How might translations over the centuries changed the meaning of the Bible?

3.    Is one translation better than others?

4.    Does this make a difference to the Bible being the inspired Word of God?

5.    How do Creeds enhance Worship?

6.    Does the history and meaning of the creeds change the way you now feel about them and why?