Posts Tagged ‘canon’
Books “Missing” from the Bible?
by Ethan L. Longhenry In recent times we have seen an explosion of material alleging that the Bible that we have is not complete. Many theories have been advanced that speak of all kinds of other books that were “banned” from the Bible, “taken out” of the Bible, and other such ideas, and that such…
Read MoreConfidence in the Canon
by Allen Dvorak “The Lost Books of the Bible! Are you missing books from your Bible?” It is not uncommon to see such advertisements in the supermarket rags or at bookstores. Sometimes they hint at the idea that there has been some deliberate and/or covert effort to exclude certain books from the New Testament. Americans…
Read MoreHow We Know We Have All the Bible, with No Books Added and No Books Lost
by Willie Ramsey The Bible is God’s plan of salvation for mankind (John 17:17; 8:31-32; Mark 16:15-16; Romans 1:16). Its place in our lives is therefore eternally important. God warns us that no one is ever allowed to “add to” or to “take away” (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18-19), or in any way to “pervert” (i.e., “change” — Galatians 1:7-9), what…
Read MoreThe Canon of the Old Testament – Part 1
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Deuteronomy 31:9-13 I. As the last few years of a presidency winds down, people begin to discuss the legacy of the current President. How will the future remember him? What will historians say about him? A. So what makes a President great? 1. Is greatest determined by the writings of famous historians? 2. Or…
Read MoreWhy does Jude contain quotes not found in the Old Testament?
Question: When we study the book of Jude in our Bible study group, I found that in verse 9 and verse 14, Jude quoted “The Lord rebuke thee” and “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,” but they were not in the Old Testament. A brother told me that they are in…
Read MoreI came to the same conclusion regarding the letter to Laodicea that you did
Question: Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After reading Colossians during one of my personal studies, I came across the reference to the letter from Laodicea. I wanted to find out more, so I read many commentaries to try to see what this letter was all about. No…
Read MoreWhy isn’t “The Tales of the Patriarchs” included in the Bible?
Question: I recently learned about “The Tales of the Patriarchs,” a scroll found among the Dead Sea scrolls. If other books of the Bible were found among the Dead Sea scrolls, why isn’t this book included in the Bible? Answer: It should be noted that the Dead Sea scrolls contained the writings of a Jewish…
Read MoreWhy were only books which agreed allowed in the Bible? Wouldn’t writings by men naturally have variances?
Question: I read with interest your response to the ‘missing books in the Bible’ issue. I also wish to thank you for taking the time to respond to such a matter. However, your response is brief at best, no… it is brief, and ultimately comes across as a veiled threat from a semi-benign dictator to…
Read MoreDid Jesus tell the Essenes not to eat breakfast?
Question: Is it true that Jesus told the Essenes not to eat breakfast? If so, why? Answer: I was puzzled by the nature of the question since the Essenes are not mentioned in the Bible, though some claim that the Zealots (of which one apostle was once a member) were a branch of the Essenes,…
Read MoreWhat do you know about the “Acts of Paul and Thecla?”
Question: I was reading some Bible literature and came across a reference book, “Acts of Paul and Thecla”. I was wondering if you could enlighten me and provide some clarification of this book and relevance to the Bible. I understand that is was one of the lost books of the Bible and describes Paul and…
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