The Bible is is the top selling book in history. It brings social upheaval, international arguments, and political controversy. It has been used to justify both love and war. And for generations, it has found its way into the hearts of millions, offering comfort, direction, and life-changing truths.
George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
John Quincy Adams said, “So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society.”
While it’s exciting to hear what people have to say about the Bible, the best way to understand it is to look at what God’s Word, the Bible, has to say about itself.
Psalm 19:7-10 (NKJV)7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
The Bible is the best-selling book in history. It is also one of the most controversial. The Bible spans centuries of history, contains a variety of literary styles and culminates in the person of Jesus Christ. No book in the history of the world has been as widely circulated as the Bible. Every year it outsells all of the top best-sellers and it has now been translated into over 1,200 different languages.
Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world's best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 6 billion.
The Bible makes claims about the creation of the universe, the nature of the God who created the universe, and the fate of mankind. If these claims are true, then the Bible is the most unique and important book in the history of mankind. If the Bible is true, then it holds the answers to life’s biggest questions: “From where did I come?” “Why am I here?” and “What happens to me when I die?” The importance of the Bible’s message demands it receive fair consideration, and the truthfulness of its message is observable, testable, and able to withstand scrutiny.
We can’t just say, to people, believe the Bible just because the Bible says it should be believed. We should be able to test its truthfulness by historical and scientific means and there’s plenty of evidence to do just that. I can’t provide that evidence in this post but I can recommend two books by a man named Josh McDowell. The books are Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict. In these books Dr. McDowell presents historical and scientific evidence of the time and events claims of the Bible.
George Washington said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
John Quincy Adams said, “So great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society.”
While it’s exciting to hear what people have to say about the Bible, the best way to understand it is to look at what God’s Word, the Bible, has to say about itself.
Psalm 19:7-10 (NKJV)7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
The Bible is the best-selling book in history. It is also one of the most controversial. The Bible spans centuries of history, contains a variety of literary styles and culminates in the person of Jesus Christ. No book in the history of the world has been as widely circulated as the Bible. Every year it outsells all of the top best-sellers and it has now been translated into over 1,200 different languages.
Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world's best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 6 billion.
The Bible makes claims about the creation of the universe, the nature of the God who created the universe, and the fate of mankind. If these claims are true, then the Bible is the most unique and important book in the history of mankind. If the Bible is true, then it holds the answers to life’s biggest questions: “From where did I come?” “Why am I here?” and “What happens to me when I die?” The importance of the Bible’s message demands it receive fair consideration, and the truthfulness of its message is observable, testable, and able to withstand scrutiny.
We can’t just say, to people, believe the Bible just because the Bible says it should be believed. We should be able to test its truthfulness by historical and scientific means and there’s plenty of evidence to do just that. I can’t provide that evidence in this post but I can recommend two books by a man named Josh McDowell. The books are Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict. In these books Dr. McDowell presents historical and scientific evidence of the time and events claims of the Bible.
The Bible is Unique In Literature
The unity of the biblical message is further reason for why one should believe the Bible. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1,550 years, with at least 40 human writers, most of whom did not know each other and were from varying backgrounds (king, fisherman, tax collector, shepherd, etc.). The Bible was written in various environments (desert, prison, royal court, etc.), written on three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe). It was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.)
Writing any volume of such length and being in complete harmony would indeed be a wonder, much less dealing with a topic so controversial as religion. Despite covering controversial subjects, it carries one harmonious message. The circumstances surrounding the writing of the Bible would seem to guarantee its fallibility, and, yet, the message from Genesis to Revelation is uncannily consistent.
The Bible has survived through time. Before the printing press it had to be copied and re-copied for hundreds of years, but that didn’t diminish its style correctness or existence. The Bible has more manuscript evidence than any 10 pieces of classical literature combined. Here’s an example of how the manuscripts were preserved. The Jews had something called the massora (a collection of critical and explanatory notes on the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, compiled from the 7th? to 10th centuries a.d. and traditionally accepted as an authoritative exegetic guide, chiefly in matters of pronunciation and grammar), where they kept tabs on every letter, syllable, word and paragraph. There were specialists whose sole duty was to preserve and transmit these documents with practically perfect fidelity. What other piece of literature do we know of where the letters and syllables and words were counted to make sure there were no errors.
This is a statement from Josh McDowell in his Evidence that Demands a Verdict book;
“A representative of the “Great Books of the Western World” came to my house recruiting salesmen for their series. He spread out the chart of the “Great Books of the Western World’ series. He spent five minutes talking to us about the “Great Books of the Western World” series, and we spent an hour and a half talking to him about the Greatest Bool. I challenged him to take just 10 of the authors, all from one walk of life, one generation, one place, one time, one mood, one continent, one language, and just one controversial subject (the Bible speaks on hundreds with harmony and agreement).
Then I asked him” Would they (the authors) agree?” He paused and then replied, “No” “What would you have?” I retorted, Immediately he said, “A conglomeration (which means a number of different things, parts or items that are grouped together; collection.) Two days later he committed his life to Christ.”
Here’s another comment “If every Bible in an considerable city were destroyed, the Book could be restored in all its essential parts from the quotations on the shelves of the city public library. There are works, covering almost all the great literary writers, devoted especially to showing how much the Bible has influenced them”
The unity of the biblical message is further reason for why one should believe the Bible. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1,550 years, with at least 40 human writers, most of whom did not know each other and were from varying backgrounds (king, fisherman, tax collector, shepherd, etc.). The Bible was written in various environments (desert, prison, royal court, etc.), written on three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe). It was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.)
Writing any volume of such length and being in complete harmony would indeed be a wonder, much less dealing with a topic so controversial as religion. Despite covering controversial subjects, it carries one harmonious message. The circumstances surrounding the writing of the Bible would seem to guarantee its fallibility, and, yet, the message from Genesis to Revelation is uncannily consistent.
The Bible has survived through time. Before the printing press it had to be copied and re-copied for hundreds of years, but that didn’t diminish its style correctness or existence. The Bible has more manuscript evidence than any 10 pieces of classical literature combined. Here’s an example of how the manuscripts were preserved. The Jews had something called the massora (a collection of critical and explanatory notes on the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, compiled from the 7th? to 10th centuries a.d. and traditionally accepted as an authoritative exegetic guide, chiefly in matters of pronunciation and grammar), where they kept tabs on every letter, syllable, word and paragraph. There were specialists whose sole duty was to preserve and transmit these documents with practically perfect fidelity. What other piece of literature do we know of where the letters and syllables and words were counted to make sure there were no errors.
This is a statement from Josh McDowell in his Evidence that Demands a Verdict book;
“A representative of the “Great Books of the Western World” came to my house recruiting salesmen for their series. He spread out the chart of the “Great Books of the Western World’ series. He spent five minutes talking to us about the “Great Books of the Western World” series, and we spent an hour and a half talking to him about the Greatest Bool. I challenged him to take just 10 of the authors, all from one walk of life, one generation, one place, one time, one mood, one continent, one language, and just one controversial subject (the Bible speaks on hundreds with harmony and agreement).
Then I asked him” Would they (the authors) agree?” He paused and then replied, “No” “What would you have?” I retorted, Immediately he said, “A conglomeration (which means a number of different things, parts or items that are grouped together; collection.) Two days later he committed his life to Christ.”
Here’s another comment “If every Bible in an considerable city were destroyed, the Book could be restored in all its essential parts from the quotations on the shelves of the city public library. There are works, covering almost all the great literary writers, devoted especially to showing how much the Bible has influenced them”
The Bible Is A Story
from This Dangerous Book by Steve Green, Jackie Green, and Bill High
Stories have been used throughout time as vehicles for truth. Even today, every culture passes down its history and values through storytelling. Everyone loves a good movie —for its storyline. Stories can cut through biased assumptions and ignite our imaginations. Stories don’t prescribe doctrine. They engage the heart. For a story to exist, it must be told. And that’s what the Bible does. It tells.
If we’re to read the Bible as a story, then we need to be careful that we don’t pick and choose what we want, cutting out snippets for our own personal needs. Stories demand our entire attention and require us to read them in full, or we may miss an important detail. It is also important that we accurately understand what the stories teach. We are told in the Bible that we are to
rightly [handle] the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
This means we do not have the right to say it means whatever we want it to mean, but we must seek to understand the lesson it is trying to teach. In other words, it’s important that we take an honest approach to the lessons and stories found in the book.
The Bible has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has characters, plot twists, and themes. Each story in the Bible contributes to the grand story, what we like to call the biblical narrative, and should be read with this big story in mind. If we read the stories in isolation and without context, we lose so much of what the story is telling us.
As with all stories, we find so much packed into the pages. We find beauty, mystery, war, suffering, victory, redemption, betrayal, love, hate, death, and life. Each of these elements holds true whether we believe the Bible or not.
The Bible is filled with people. It tells the stories of families, friends, nations, kings, queens, sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. The Bible is filled with poetry and song. People the world over look to the longest book in the Bible, Psalms, for encouragement, peace, and healing, or to the book of Proverbs for the nuggets of wisdom it contains. When you stop and consider the amazing reality that the most famous book the world has ever seen is a collection of small stories that tell an even bigger story, you must marvel.
The Bible starts with an incredible line. It says,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. — Genesis 1:1
Right from the start, we are faced with questions. What are we to think? Is there a God? Are we to believe what is written? Can any of this be true? From its first sentence, the Bible sets forth the existence of God as a self-evident fact. At the end of God’s creation work, the Bible says, He pronounced his work “good.”
Shortly thereafter we read the story of man’s disobedience. We encounter the story of Adam and Eve and learn how the serpent deceived them in the garden and how they broke God’s one rule: don’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That was the only restriction man was given. Without that tree, there was no way for man to disobey and therefore no way to choose to obey or to love. This was the original religious freedom!
The Bible says that we are created in God’s image, and one of the unique aspects of humankind is our ability to choose, to love or not to love, because love requires a choice. The tree was God’s way of giving man choice. Man was told a lie, and because he believed the lie, he chose to disobey. That disobedience created a separation between God and man. The result can be seen in the chaos that followed. Death and destruction, culminating in the flood.
Imagine for a moment that it is springtime and you decide to do some spring cleaning. You send the kids out to play, and after a valiant effort, you are able to perfectly clean your house so that there is not a speck of dust; everything has a place, and everything is in its place. A real dream come true! Now you have a problem: you can’t let your children in the house. As soon as they step foot inside the house, it is no longer perfectly clean. That is the claim of the Bible. Because of our disobedience, our sin, we are no longer able to connect with God as we were created to connect. His perfection demands separation. It is this problem that the story goes on to deal with.
Then we learn about the birth and life of the nation of Israel. This section packs a punch; it’s loaded with stories of war and miracles. The story of Abraham disturbs and dazzles us—God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son, and just as Abraham lifts his knife to kill his son on the altar of sacrifice, an angel stops him and shows him a ram stuck in a nearby thicket to sacrifice instead. Pretty intense drama!
We read about the extraordinary life of Moses. He is orphaned, then raised as a son to Pharaoh, living the life of royalty. After murdering an Egyptian for beating a Jew, Moses flees to the wilderness, where God appears to him in a bush that burns yet is not consumed by the fire. There God calls Moses to lead his people, the Jews, out of Egyptian slavery and into a promised land. This is the stuff movies are made of ! Moses accomplishes this but endures great challenge and peril. He is responsible for the most heralded event in Jewish history—the Exodus from Egypt, which is still commemorated to this day as Passover.
We also read about the young and handsome shepherd boy, David. David is one of the more popular figures in all the Bible. He’s described as “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14).
There are stories of heroines like Ruth and Esther showing great courage, of prophets warning of God’s punishment because of disobedience, and of repentance and rebuilding after years of captivity. Each story teaches lessons itself, and yet each is a piece of a larger picture.
Then we read about a certain carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus, son of Mary. Jesus enters the scene when the nation of Israel waits to hear from God. Jesus arrives and says controversial things. His actions match His words, and He is quickly embraced by hordes of people because He heals them and eats and drinks with those considered to be the lowliest people in town.
How does He heal them? He speaks to them. He tells one young paralyzed man to pick up his mat and walk. And the man does! For a blind man, Jesus spits into dirt and makes mud, then puts the mud on the blind man’s eyes. Sight!
Another man, an invalid for thirty-eight years, has been sitting by a “healing pool” for a long time. But when Jesus sees him, Jesus asks if he wants to be healed. The man replies with a story about how he can never get into the healing pool quickly enough. Jesus replies,
Get up, take up your bed, and walk. — John 5:8 ESV
He walks!
Jesus shows up late to His friend’s house and discovers that he’s been dead for days. Overcome with grief, Jesus weeps.
Then He asks the locals to open up the tomb. The people fear the foul stench of the dead body but open the tomb. Jesus shouts to His friend,
Lazarus, come out. — John 11:43 ESV
His close friend rises from the dead and walks out of the tomb, grave clothes still wrapped around him.
Jesus’ path is strewn with miracles.
He claims to be the Messiah — just what the Israelites are waiting for! A national leader. But He disappoints many because He does not want to overthrow the oppressive Roman government. Instead He talks about a kingdom that is “not of this world” (John 18:36).
He talks about how He came to bring eternal life to the world by dying and coming back to life in three days. It’s crazy talk for this no-name son of a carpenter. Or is it? He claims to be the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets! He claims to be the one to fix the sin problem that has been there from the beginning. Believe it or not — you must read the story!
The name of Jesus stirs people up.
Most people, including historians, admit that a man named Jesus walked the earth and was indeed killed in the fashion depicted in the Bible. But Jesus’ words present a scandal. He claimed to be the Son of God (Matthew 26:63-64), the giver of eternal life (John 10:28), the One who forgives sins (Mark 2:10), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Light of the World (John 8:12), and the Savior, because He died for man’s wrong choice (John 3:14-16).
Most scandalous of all, Jesus says,
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. — John 14:6
What do we do with such a claim? How do we fit this claim into our pluralistic society? Jesus, as a character in this Bible’s narrative, demands our attention. His life and resurrection stories are narratives worth exploring. His claims, if true, require more than attention; they require some kind of response: belief or disbelief.
After Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, we read from the likes of Peter and John, two of Jesus’ most beloved friends and disciples. We also read from the pen of Paul, a former persecutor of Christians. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, records Paul’s dramatic conversion, when Jesus appears to Paul in blinding light. The light blinds Paul for days, as he finds his way to Damascus. A disciple of Jesus heals Paul after Jesus speaks to the disciple through a dream.
Having regained his sight, Paul heads straight for Peter and John and learns the teachings of Jesus. After his dramatic conversion, this former Christian-killer now follows Jesus and ends up writing most of the New Testament.
Here again, historians recognize there was a man named Paul, a follower of Jesus.
The Bible ends with an epic book that describes what life will be like in the end of days. John, who some refer to as “the beloved disciple,” wrote the book of Revelation. In this last book of the Bible, he encounters an angel from God who shows him what will happen in the last days before and after Jesus returns for a second time, to collect his followers and to banish evil once and for all.
Revelation is a book cloaked in controversy and outlandish interpretations. But for those who follow this Jesus, it also possesses advice and encouragement.
Excerpted with permission from This Dangerous Book by Steve and Jackie Green, copyright Steve Green, Jackie Green, and William High.
from This Dangerous Book by Steve Green, Jackie Green, and Bill High
Stories have been used throughout time as vehicles for truth. Even today, every culture passes down its history and values through storytelling. Everyone loves a good movie —for its storyline. Stories can cut through biased assumptions and ignite our imaginations. Stories don’t prescribe doctrine. They engage the heart. For a story to exist, it must be told. And that’s what the Bible does. It tells.
If we’re to read the Bible as a story, then we need to be careful that we don’t pick and choose what we want, cutting out snippets for our own personal needs. Stories demand our entire attention and require us to read them in full, or we may miss an important detail. It is also important that we accurately understand what the stories teach. We are told in the Bible that we are to
rightly [handle] the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
This means we do not have the right to say it means whatever we want it to mean, but we must seek to understand the lesson it is trying to teach. In other words, it’s important that we take an honest approach to the lessons and stories found in the book.
The Bible has a beginning, a middle, and an end. It has characters, plot twists, and themes. Each story in the Bible contributes to the grand story, what we like to call the biblical narrative, and should be read with this big story in mind. If we read the stories in isolation and without context, we lose so much of what the story is telling us.
As with all stories, we find so much packed into the pages. We find beauty, mystery, war, suffering, victory, redemption, betrayal, love, hate, death, and life. Each of these elements holds true whether we believe the Bible or not.
The Bible is filled with people. It tells the stories of families, friends, nations, kings, queens, sons, daughters, fathers, and mothers. The Bible is filled with poetry and song. People the world over look to the longest book in the Bible, Psalms, for encouragement, peace, and healing, or to the book of Proverbs for the nuggets of wisdom it contains. When you stop and consider the amazing reality that the most famous book the world has ever seen is a collection of small stories that tell an even bigger story, you must marvel.
The Bible starts with an incredible line. It says,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. — Genesis 1:1
Right from the start, we are faced with questions. What are we to think? Is there a God? Are we to believe what is written? Can any of this be true? From its first sentence, the Bible sets forth the existence of God as a self-evident fact. At the end of God’s creation work, the Bible says, He pronounced his work “good.”
Shortly thereafter we read the story of man’s disobedience. We encounter the story of Adam and Eve and learn how the serpent deceived them in the garden and how they broke God’s one rule: don’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That was the only restriction man was given. Without that tree, there was no way for man to disobey and therefore no way to choose to obey or to love. This was the original religious freedom!
The Bible says that we are created in God’s image, and one of the unique aspects of humankind is our ability to choose, to love or not to love, because love requires a choice. The tree was God’s way of giving man choice. Man was told a lie, and because he believed the lie, he chose to disobey. That disobedience created a separation between God and man. The result can be seen in the chaos that followed. Death and destruction, culminating in the flood.
Imagine for a moment that it is springtime and you decide to do some spring cleaning. You send the kids out to play, and after a valiant effort, you are able to perfectly clean your house so that there is not a speck of dust; everything has a place, and everything is in its place. A real dream come true! Now you have a problem: you can’t let your children in the house. As soon as they step foot inside the house, it is no longer perfectly clean. That is the claim of the Bible. Because of our disobedience, our sin, we are no longer able to connect with God as we were created to connect. His perfection demands separation. It is this problem that the story goes on to deal with.
Then we learn about the birth and life of the nation of Israel. This section packs a punch; it’s loaded with stories of war and miracles. The story of Abraham disturbs and dazzles us—God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son, and just as Abraham lifts his knife to kill his son on the altar of sacrifice, an angel stops him and shows him a ram stuck in a nearby thicket to sacrifice instead. Pretty intense drama!
We read about the extraordinary life of Moses. He is orphaned, then raised as a son to Pharaoh, living the life of royalty. After murdering an Egyptian for beating a Jew, Moses flees to the wilderness, where God appears to him in a bush that burns yet is not consumed by the fire. There God calls Moses to lead his people, the Jews, out of Egyptian slavery and into a promised land. This is the stuff movies are made of ! Moses accomplishes this but endures great challenge and peril. He is responsible for the most heralded event in Jewish history—the Exodus from Egypt, which is still commemorated to this day as Passover.
We also read about the young and handsome shepherd boy, David. David is one of the more popular figures in all the Bible. He’s described as “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14).
There are stories of heroines like Ruth and Esther showing great courage, of prophets warning of God’s punishment because of disobedience, and of repentance and rebuilding after years of captivity. Each story teaches lessons itself, and yet each is a piece of a larger picture.
Then we read about a certain carpenter from Nazareth, Jesus, son of Mary. Jesus enters the scene when the nation of Israel waits to hear from God. Jesus arrives and says controversial things. His actions match His words, and He is quickly embraced by hordes of people because He heals them and eats and drinks with those considered to be the lowliest people in town.
How does He heal them? He speaks to them. He tells one young paralyzed man to pick up his mat and walk. And the man does! For a blind man, Jesus spits into dirt and makes mud, then puts the mud on the blind man’s eyes. Sight!
Another man, an invalid for thirty-eight years, has been sitting by a “healing pool” for a long time. But when Jesus sees him, Jesus asks if he wants to be healed. The man replies with a story about how he can never get into the healing pool quickly enough. Jesus replies,
Get up, take up your bed, and walk. — John 5:8 ESV
He walks!
Jesus shows up late to His friend’s house and discovers that he’s been dead for days. Overcome with grief, Jesus weeps.
Then He asks the locals to open up the tomb. The people fear the foul stench of the dead body but open the tomb. Jesus shouts to His friend,
Lazarus, come out. — John 11:43 ESV
His close friend rises from the dead and walks out of the tomb, grave clothes still wrapped around him.
Jesus’ path is strewn with miracles.
He claims to be the Messiah — just what the Israelites are waiting for! A national leader. But He disappoints many because He does not want to overthrow the oppressive Roman government. Instead He talks about a kingdom that is “not of this world” (John 18:36).
He talks about how He came to bring eternal life to the world by dying and coming back to life in three days. It’s crazy talk for this no-name son of a carpenter. Or is it? He claims to be the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets! He claims to be the one to fix the sin problem that has been there from the beginning. Believe it or not — you must read the story!
The name of Jesus stirs people up.
Most people, including historians, admit that a man named Jesus walked the earth and was indeed killed in the fashion depicted in the Bible. But Jesus’ words present a scandal. He claimed to be the Son of God (Matthew 26:63-64), the giver of eternal life (John 10:28), the One who forgives sins (Mark 2:10), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Light of the World (John 8:12), and the Savior, because He died for man’s wrong choice (John 3:14-16).
Most scandalous of all, Jesus says,
I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. — John 14:6
What do we do with such a claim? How do we fit this claim into our pluralistic society? Jesus, as a character in this Bible’s narrative, demands our attention. His life and resurrection stories are narratives worth exploring. His claims, if true, require more than attention; they require some kind of response: belief or disbelief.
After Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, we read from the likes of Peter and John, two of Jesus’ most beloved friends and disciples. We also read from the pen of Paul, a former persecutor of Christians. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, records Paul’s dramatic conversion, when Jesus appears to Paul in blinding light. The light blinds Paul for days, as he finds his way to Damascus. A disciple of Jesus heals Paul after Jesus speaks to the disciple through a dream.
Having regained his sight, Paul heads straight for Peter and John and learns the teachings of Jesus. After his dramatic conversion, this former Christian-killer now follows Jesus and ends up writing most of the New Testament.
Here again, historians recognize there was a man named Paul, a follower of Jesus.
The Bible ends with an epic book that describes what life will be like in the end of days. John, who some refer to as “the beloved disciple,” wrote the book of Revelation. In this last book of the Bible, he encounters an angel from God who shows him what will happen in the last days before and after Jesus returns for a second time, to collect his followers and to banish evil once and for all.
Revelation is a book cloaked in controversy and outlandish interpretations. But for those who follow this Jesus, it also possesses advice and encouragement.
Excerpted with permission from This Dangerous Book by Steve and Jackie Green, copyright Steve Green, Jackie Green, and William High.
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About This Dangerous Book
In This Dangerous Book, Steve and Jackie Green explore the incredible history and impact of the Bible. As the founders and visionaries of the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., the Greens have a unique perspective on the Bible’s journey—from its ancient beginnings, to its effect on the moral fiber of nations, to its transformative influence in individual hearts.
The Greens share the challenges they have faced in acquiring biblical artifacts from around the world and why generations—in every time period and in every geographical location—have risked their lives to preserve this precious book.
Exploring ancient tablets, medieval commentaries, and modern translations, This Dangerous Book offers fascinating insight into the miracles and martyrdoms that have led to the Scriptures we read today. The Greens explore how cutting-edge technology gives new insight into the authenticity of the Bible, including the work of fifty scholars who recently uncovered hidden details about thirteen unpublished Dead Sea Scroll fragments. This Dangerous Book also looks at the link between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, what we can learn from how the Bible was passed down to us, and why God’s Word is foundational to America’s past and crucial for its future.
The Bible is a world-changer and a heart-changer. Whether you have read the Bible for years or are simply curious about its influence, This Dangerous Book could change your heart as well.
In This Dangerous Book, Steve and Jackie Green explore the incredible history and impact of the Bible. As the founders and visionaries of the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C., the Greens have a unique perspective on the Bible’s journey—from its ancient beginnings, to its effect on the moral fiber of nations, to its transformative influence in individual hearts.
The Greens share the challenges they have faced in acquiring biblical artifacts from around the world and why generations—in every time period and in every geographical location—have risked their lives to preserve this precious book.
Exploring ancient tablets, medieval commentaries, and modern translations, This Dangerous Book offers fascinating insight into the miracles and martyrdoms that have led to the Scriptures we read today. The Greens explore how cutting-edge technology gives new insight into the authenticity of the Bible, including the work of fifty scholars who recently uncovered hidden details about thirteen unpublished Dead Sea Scroll fragments. This Dangerous Book also looks at the link between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, what we can learn from how the Bible was passed down to us, and why God’s Word is foundational to America’s past and crucial for its future.
The Bible is a world-changer and a heart-changer. Whether you have read the Bible for years or are simply curious about its influence, This Dangerous Book could change your heart as well.
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