Page 24 - Bible Doctrine Survey I - Student Textbook (3)

How did the Bible get its name? - Early books were written on a paper made of papyrus, a reed grown
in the Nile River Basin in Egypt. The reed was harvested and shipped to a Phoenician seaport city called
Byblos (also called Gebal). Codex (books) were then created by binding pages together, with both sides
of the paper used. A book, therefore, became known as byblos. The Latin word, biblia, was a derivative
of the original word. The French translated the word, Bible, which means, “the books.”

Is the Bible really the Words of God? - Emphatically YES! The Bible itself claims to be God’s Word. In
over 3,800 references in the Old Testament alone, the Bible claims to be speaking the Word of the Lord.
Likewise, NT writers claim to be writing God’s Word.

Throughout the history of mankind, men have recognized that the Bible is God’s Word. Check out these
quotes from American presidents or famous persons:

Robert E. Lee said: The Bible is a book in comparison with which all others, in my eyes, are of minor
importance, and which in all my perplexities, and distresses has never failed to give me light and
strength.

Abraham Lincoln: “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the
Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.”

George Washington: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.

Patrick Henry: “The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.”

Woodrow Wilson: “The opinion of the Bible bred in me, not only by the teaching of my home when I was
a boy, but also in every turn and experience of my life and every step of study is that it is the one
Supreme source of revelation, the revelation of the meaning of life, the nature of God, and the spiritual
nature and needs of men. It is the only guide of life which really leads the spirit in the way of peace and
salvation.”

Bible History – How did the Bible come together?
The first recorded instance of God’s Word being written down was when the Lord Himself wrote it down
in the form of Ten Commandments on the stone tablets delivered to Moses at the top of Mount Sinai.
This occurred between 1400 BC and 1500 BC, almost 3500 years ago. The language: Hebrew (probably
the language of Adam). Moses penned the first five books called the Pentateuch. The writings of these
books were passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years on scrolls made of
animal skin, usually sheep, but sometimes deer or cow. Animals considered unclean by Jews were never
used to make scrolls.

The Pentateuch on a scroll was called the “Torah.” An entire Torah scroll, if completely unraveled is
over 150 feet long! As most sheep are only about two or three feet long, it took an entire flock of sheep
to make one Torah scroll. The scroll was broken into leaves (about one sheep long (2-3 ft)) and sewn
together to form the scroll. If a scribe made the slightest mistake in copying, such as allowing two
letters of a word to touch, they destroyed that entire panel and the panel before it, because it touched
the panel with the mistake! This demonstrates the level of faithfulness to accuracy applied to the
preservation of God’s Word throughout the first couple thousand years of Biblical transmission. All
scrolls that were damaged or began to show wear were copied, then destroyed to show reverence to
God’s Word.

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