Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡμεῖς εὐχαριστοῦμεν τῷ Θεῷ ἀδιαλείπτως, ὅτι παραλαβόντες λόγον ἀκοῆς παρ’ ἡμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐδέξασθε οὐ λόγον ἀνθρώπων ἀλλὰ καθὼς ἀληθῶς ἐστὶν λόγον Θεοῦ
, ὃς καὶ ἐνεργεῖται ἐν ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν. --1 Thessalonians 2:13*
Can you imagine what it would be like to live during the time of Jesus? We can only imagine how filled with awe they were at the life of Jesus and all the miracles he performed. If I were one of those awe-struck disciples, I would probably have begun to write them down. In fact, that is what some of them did.
All 27 books of the New Testament were written within 100 years of Jesus' lifetime. Several authors of the New Testament actually met Jesus in person. By 315 AD, Christians began to recognize the Scripture that makes up the New Testament as sacred writing. The New Testament was believed to have been written originally in Greek on papyrus. It was copied so many times that thousands of ancient manuscripts still exist today.
The first Bible was printed in 1455. The Bible was translated into the English language in 1526. In spite of the many versions available, the New International Version (NIV) is a topseller. It was developed using over 100 scholars working from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text.
Today we can be as sure as ever that the Bible we read is not from men, but is actually the word of God as is stated in Paul's letter to the Thessalonians. *And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. --1 Thessalonians 2:13
If you are interested in the sources I reviewed to write this blog, check them out here:
- http://godisforus.com/information/bible/ntdocs/authors.htm
- https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/#vinfo
- http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/