SMBI #83

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #83

So let’s do a brief discussion of how we got what we today call the bible. Discussing what we know as the 66 books of the bible and how they came together in the first three centuries of Christianity. Much of this was covered way back in lessons 3 and 4 but it is appropriate to review that here as we addressed that over 7 years ago.

            First let’s look at the Old Testament (OT).  39 books written between 1446 BC to around 433 BC.  It constitutes the solid foundation upon which the New Testament stands, and points to Christ in its entirety.  All Hebrew scholarship is in agreement as to what constitutes the TANAK, The Torah or (Law); Genesis, through Deuteronomy, Neviim or (Prophets); Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the 12 minor prophets, The Kethubim (writings); Psalms Proverbs, Job, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Ester, Daniel, Ezra & Nehemiah, Chronicles.  This Old Testament Canon has been accepted as the divine Word of God by His people for almost 2500 years.  And since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, we have copies of OT text that range in age from 2100 to 2300 years old with the exception of the book of Esther the oldest copy being just over 1000 years old. 

            Trinitarian Christianity and all of biblical scholarship find full agreement on the 27 books that constitute the New Testament, written between 45 and 95 AD.  The earliest list is the Muratorian Canon from 150 AD listing 24 books.  Origen of Alexandria listed all 27 in 240 AD, and by 397 AD Eusebius, Athanasius, and the Council of Carthage had all listed the 27 books we call the New Testament.

            Now you might ask: Why did it take them so long, some 150 to 300 years to identify these 27 books?  Well, that would be a very good question and here are some very good answers.

            - Over half of the NT is letters that were spread all over the Roman Empire, The Gospels were also spread throughout the early church.  These obviously took time to be brought together and for their authorship to be verified.

            - The “technology” of the day was not conducive to large collections of books: scrolls which can only hold one or two books.  Scrolls were replaced by what is called a Codex or “books with pages” and these did not start being produced until the second and third centuries.

            - The first century Christians probably did not see the need for a collection of books because they thought Christ’s return would be very soon, but “soon” for us and “soon” for our eternal God are very different.

            - Heretical writings existed, like the Gnostic gospels, and other “pseudepigraphal” books—spurious writings falsely attributed to biblical characters or times.  These texts were written between 200 BC--200 AD and were easily identified by the early church as fraudulent because of their clear contradiction to the rest of the canon.  But excluding these fraudulent works also took time.

            Now many say that centuries of copying to replace old worn-out text would introduce many errors.  Well, let’s look at all the errors introduced into the book of Isaiah between the Dead Sea Scroll copy (from about 100 BC) and the earliest copy we had available (before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered) known as Codex Leningradensis (1000 AD).  The differences between these two texts over that 1100 year period, can be described as changes in the style that a particular letter is written, changes in the way words are spelled, changes in the way sentences are constructed, changes in prefixes or suffixes.  It seems that over time as the language changed, but God’s word grew to communicate the same truth. So, while grammar and spelling have changed, God’s word has not. 

Till next month In Christ Pastor Portier

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #82

Last time we ended at around 180 AD and I said we would make our way up to around 300 AD. Discussing how what we know as the 66 books of the bible how they came together in the first three centuries of Christianity. However, one of your classmates asked a question about the iron age and I remember discussing that topic a few years back so for the sake of time and space we will come back to our time line next year and for now I will re-present to you lesson # 43 from march of 2013 in answer to that question.

To give a thorough treatment of history, we must have a brief discussion of prehistory.  I say brief because as a “young earth” creationist, I believe most, if not all, topics of discussion in the bulk of scientific study that would fall under the umbrella of prehistory to be incorrectly dated.  However, just because I disagree with most experts on the timing of prehistoric research, does not mean there is not a lot of valuable information to be drawn from that research. So, what we will do in this lesson is see how a young earth creationist can piece together all the great information in the prehistoric realm of study (what is popularly held to be a period from 3.5 million years ago to around 5000 BC when ancient recorded history began), and logically plug that information into the biblical timeline that starts around 4000 BC.  I would like to suggest that all that is called prehistory can fit logically into a timeline that starts around 4000 BC and ends around 1500 BC.  This proposal will seem ridiculous to some, but in prehistory, all timeline assertions are based for the most part on Carbon 14 dating and other assumptions.  I addressed these false assumptions in lessons #21 and #22.  To do this, we must first discuss the commonly held timeline for prehistory, and then discuss how that can be applied to a biblical timeline.

            Prehistory forms the popularly held three-age world view:  Stone age 3.5 million to 4500 BC, Bronze age 3750 BC to 300 BC, and Iron age 1300 BC to 400 AD.  You will notice some peculiar things about my summary of ages here. First, there are some major overlaps and second, this goes deep into the time of recorded history. This is because I have summarized the entire world’s progression through these ages.  Different regions of the world entered and exited these ages at different times.  What I have listed here is the earliest entry into an age followed by the latest exit from that age.  These ages are determined by when these regions progressed through these technologies (stone, bronze, iron) be it through conquest, commerce, or ingenuity. Prehistory also starts at different times in different places based on the development of written languages which is popularly held to be between 3500 BC and 2500 BC. Ancient history is typically defined as around 3300 BC to 600 AD. To finish things out, the Middle ages is popularly defined as 300 AD to 1500 AD with the Renaissance starting around 1350 AD, and the modern period beginning as early as 1450 AD. Again, you will see overlaps due to different regions entering and exiting these ages at different times. As you can see in a discussion of world history, a simple question of where to begin can be a bit complicated.

            I propose that all the prehistoric scientific dates listed above are simply misdated and can logically be placed in a biblical prehistoric time of 4000 BC to 1500 BC. During this biblical period of prehistory, the world was created around 4000 BC, plus or minus no more than 50 years.  The world was populated to about 25 billion in the first 1650 years. Then the world was destroyed in a flood around 2350 BC reducing the population to 8 and covering the earth with a large fossil layer and causing what remained of pre-flood civilization to be hard to date and analyze because of the vast geographic and geological changes that took place. In the 700 years that followed the flood, large ice caps formed and receded (see lesson #35).

            From a biblical perspective, the oldest written words are found in the book of Job from around 2000 BC. The next books in line are the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible written by Moses from 1446 BC to 1406 BC during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  While we can have an intelligent debate on when history began, you would be hard pressed to find any written historical accounts that talk about events that predate 4000 BC because they do not exist.  This means that all discussion of prehistory must depend on areas of research outside the realm of written history.  When it comes to written history, the most dependable is the written account of a firsthand witness. What we have in Genesis, chapters 1 through 11, is the first-hand account of the Creator given directly to Moses for him to record in the Hebrew language some 3400 years ago. So, there is a basic representation of Lesson #43 and next month we will resume our time line walk and probubly end up at around 300 AD. And a brief discussion on the canonization of scripture. Full plate for January.

Till next month Pastor Portier                         

Lesson #81 Early Church

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #81

Last time we ended with the martyrdom of Peter and Paul circa 68 AD. I am not sure how big a piece we can break off of the remaining 1948 years of history but let’s take a bite and see how much we can chew on in this month of elections and turkey dinners.

            Let’s start with one of the single most significant events in the first century, in the fall of 70 AD. This was the point at which Rome had had enough of the zealots and their rebellion and decided to squash this irritating little region and make an example of them. The troubles started in 66 AD but by fall of 70 AD, under Tacitus, the Romans had destroyed the 500-year-old second temple.  For centuries many historic things and events were actually dated based on the number of years ‘since the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem’.

           

            Some other things going on in the world in the first and second centuries were: Rome reached its greatest geographical size under Emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98 to 116 AD; Emperor Hadrian built his wall to protect his British colonies from 122 to 127; Afghanistan is first invaded by the Huns around 200 AD; Tacitus writes his history around 117; Pope Victor the First, Bishop of Rome, is officially the 15^th Pope (but it was not until near the end of his time in 199 that the Roman pontificate claimed the predominate position that it still claims today); Some of the oldest known Mayan monuments date back to around 168 AD; Ptolemy drew maps of 26 countries around 170 AD; and Rome suffered a great plague, one of the first on record from 134 to 180 AD.

            We will keep it short this month and next month we will make our way up to around 300 AD. We will also discuss how what we know as the 66 books of the Bible came together in the first three centuries of Christianity. That will leave us about 1700 years to cover in 2017.     

Till next month Pastor Portier                         

Lesson #80

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #80

Last time we ended with Ascension Day on Mt. Olivet near Bethany, May 14^th, 33 AD. So let’s press on. We only have 1983 years left to cover but over 90% of recorded history is in the last two millennia. For that matter actually the last 500 years probably account for half of all historic materials. Mankind gets better at recording history and saving that record from the ravages of time so that the more recent a historical event the better chance it has of being well documented. (P.S. the dates that follow are all AD)

So let us enter the age of the early church with that in mind. In its first few years the young church starts to structure itself and suffers a few blows from the evil one. Matthias is chosen to replace Judas shortly after Jesus death and resurrection. After Pentecost, in May of 33, they go out spreading the Gospel and even performing miracles in Jesus’s name. The apostles suffer trials, beatings, the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira and the martyrdom of Stephen. In mid-36 Paul went from being one of the church’s greatest persecutors to one of its greatest champions. For the next decade the apostles are busy preaching and teaching the faith; in 36 & 37 Philip preaches and plants churches in Samaria & Judea, in 37 & 38 Paul is in Arabia, Damascus, and Jerusalem.  Peter sees and reports the conversion of Cornelius and other gentiles in 39 & 40. At that time Barnabas and Paul are in Antioch. In 43 Peter travels to Rome and Paul and Barnabas return to Judea with relief resources for the other churches. In late 42 early 43 Agrippa the First executes James and imprisons Peter. Later in 43, Agrippa the First dies and Paul, Barnabas and John-Mark go to Antioch.

The rest of the datable events in the first century church can be structured around Paul’s missionary journeys. His first journey was with Barnabas from 45-48 when they visited Cyprus, Pisidan, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and Perga. During this trip Paul establishes churches and helps to organize and give guidance to new churches. In 49, between Paul’s first and second journey, a church council was convened in Jerusalem. That spring Peter went to Antioch and treated gentile Christians as poorly as the Judaizers did. He later got an ear full from Paul. As they reconciled, they set into practice Christ’s teaching that in His universal church, all were to be treated without favoritism or cultural separation but as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul’s second journey was from 49 to 51. His companions for this journey, in whole or in part, were Barnabas, Mark, and Silas. This trip takes him to Cyprus, Cilicia, Syria, Galatia, Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, Brea, and Athens. Paul spent about half of this trip in Corinth where he wrote 1 Thessalonians and went before a Gallio’s tribunal. His journey ended in Caesarea in the winter of 51 and just a few months later in 52 his third missionary journey began from Syrian Antioch (where a lot of today’s conflict is taking place). His companions for parts of this journey were Apollos, Timothy and Erastus. This trip went to Galatia, Phrygia, Corinth, Ephesus (while here he wrote 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians and possibly Galatians, some believe Galatians was written during the first journey), Macedonia, Greece (while here he wrote Romans), Philippi, Troas, Miletus and finally back in Jerusalem in 55.

The next 13 years are very tumultuous for Paul. He is imprisoned and spends the next two years going through legal proceedings with Governor Felix, Drusilla, Governor Festus, and the chief priest Herod Agrippa & Bernice, all playing a part in his long litigation. Finally, his appeal to Cesar is granted and is sent to Rome. He leaves Caesarea in September of 57. After a stop in Crete he survives a ship wreck in Malta and spends the winter there, cared for by the kind natives. He leaves in February of 58 and arrives in Rome in March of 58. Paul was released in 60 and that is when many believe he made a trip to Spain (a fourth missionary journey) which he mentions in his third journey. We have no record of the actual trip. James the half-brother of Jesus and Bishop of Jerusalem was martyred in 62. Then in 65, Paul leaves Titus in Crete and Timothy in Ephesus.  Paul’s final church visits are Macedonia in 65, Nicopolis & Ephesus in 66 and the last in Troas in 67 where he is again arrested. This time he and Peter are martyred in Rome in late 67 early 68.

            All of these names, dates, and locations are important because they speak to the historicity and the truth claims of the Apostles, the early church and Scripture.

Till next month Pastor Portier                                           

Lesson #79 Post Resurrection Appearances

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #79

As I mentioned last time, the first Easter was probably April 5^th, 33 AD. This month I would like to briefly discuss the 40-day period between Easter Sunday and Ascension Day; two very important dates on the church’s calendar. The article at Answers in Genesis which is linked below does a good job of summarizing and addressing any supposed conflicts in the biblical accounts. There are some historical facts that must be dealt with by those who claim Christianity is just a big hoax.

First, there was an empty tomb. There were also many witnesses not only to the empty tomb, but also to the multiple appearances of the man who was laid in that tomb, walking talking, and even eating. Second, if one were going to make up a story to support a false religion, would it not make sense that they would in some way benefit from the hoax? Keep in mind that the list of reliable witnesses I am about to summarize for you were for the most part persecuted and martyred for their bold witness.

On Easter day Jesus appeared to no fewer than 5 women, 4 of whom we know by name: 2 named Mary, Salome, Joanna, and at least one other unnamed woman. He appeared also to no fewer than 12 men, including 10 of the apostles (Simon & Peter twice), and the two disciples headed to Emmaus: Clopas and his un-named companion. On April 12^th you can add Thomas to the list. So already in the first week we have 6 separate appearances and 18 firsthand witnesses.

Additionally, sometime in the following weeks, recorded for our benefit, was an appearance at the sea of Tiberius (which is what the sea of Galilee was called in the coastal area around the town of Tiberius). This appearance included 5 named apostles and two other disciples. In Matthew 28, the resurrected Jesus appears to the Apostles on a mountain in Galilee. He then institutes what is often called “The Great Commission”, instructing them to baptize and teach the faith to all nations. This is also from where the church draws the “baptismal formula” under which all Christians are to be baptized into the triune name of God. There was one more pre-ascension appearance recorded for us in 1 Corinthians 15, in which over 500 brethren witnessed the resurrected Christ.

       Lastly came Ascension Day on Mt. Olivet near Bethany, May 14^th, 33 AD. We do not know how many of Jesus’ disciples were there, but we do know he had more than 70, and after 40 days, many if not most would have been (I am guessing of course) on sort of high alert; a “where will he appear next?” sort of mind set. Suffice it to say there were a lot of disciples there. A small chapel stands on the spot at which this is traditionally thought to have taken place. Historic traditional locations for things are, the result of generations of individuals witnessing to the importance of that location.

Hundreds of reliable witnesses have given us reports of at least 10 post-resurrection appearances. The question now becomes, “what evidence exists to refute the claims of scripture?” I contend that there is none, and disbelief that resurrection from the dead is possible is not a valid argument!

see the link below for a graphic time line that I could not past here

Link to article: answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/resurrection/the-sequence-of-christs-post-resurrection-appearances

#78 The Life of Christ

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #78

By the estimation of Paul Maier and Andrew Steinmann, two of our best biblical history scholars, Jesus was born sometime between late 5 and early 2 BC. Maier calls this the “un-datable date” in his book “In the Fullness of Time”, where he examines, in-depth, the first Christmas and Easter, as well as the early Church.

Before we start discussing the life of Christ, let’s look at some of the other things going on in the world during the first 50 years AD (Anno Domini / the Year of our Lord). Cymbeline, King of Catuvellauni (a tribal region in southeast Britain) was recognized by Rome as the King of Britain around 5 AD. In the same year, Ovid finished “Metamorphoses”, a poetic collection of some 250 myths. The first definite reference to diamonds appears in records from 16 AD, and the Han Dynasty began in China around 22 AD. London was founded in 43 AD, and after conquering Gaul (modern-day France & Germany), the Romans learned how to use soap. (Thank goodness for that; soldiers can get really smelly!)

We finished up last month with Jesus and his family returning to Nazareth in mid to late 1 BC. Of course, Matthew & Luke are our primary sources for the early life of Christ, but after he gets to Nazareth we only get 12 more verses regarding his youth; “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” (Luke 2:40.) Verses 41-51 are the account of Jesus being accidently left by his family at the temple for three days, and Luke closes by saying in verse 52, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” We might like to know more about the early life of Christ, but there are no other reliable sources. The Koran repeats a second-century gnostic myth from the gospel of Thomas about Jesus turning clay pigeons into real birds, but there is no credible source for it, so it remains a myth.

Besides scripture, there are no other written sources that even mention Nazareth until around 200 AD. Some claim it did not exist, however, archeology and most scholars say that in the first century, Nazareth was home to thousands of people, including many “tecknons” (Greek for builder, contractor, carpenter, stone mason, etc.), and was a place of relative peace and prosperity. Jesus probubly spent most of the first 30 years of his life there. We can even speculate that he would have been following the 4^th commandment by being a good son. 

All four gospels record the start of Jesus’ ministry at his baptism, which according to the best estimates, was around the summer of 29 AD. This was immediately followed by Jesus’ 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. In the fall of that year, Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana, and called the first of his apostles. On April 6^th of 30 AD, Jesus celebrated his first Passover with his disciples in Jerusalem. Towards the end of that year, John the Baptizer was arrested, and Jesus traveled throughout Samaria. In the fall of 31 AD Jesus celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, and in the winter of 31/32 AD, he traveled throughout Galilee. John the Baptizer was executed in the winter of 32. Jesus was busy that year finishing up his time in Galilee, feeding the 5000 & 4000, walking on water, healing, and casting out demons in places like Tyre, Sidon, the Decapolis, Caesarea Philippi, Samaria, Juda, and Perea. He was then in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication in 32 AD.

This is, of course, a very rough sketch of Jesus’ three-and-one-half-year ministry, which included some 36 recorded miracles and over 350 fulfilled prophecies, and which came to a close at passion week. March 29^th 33 AD was Jesus’ triumphal entry (what most Christians celebrate as Palm Sunday), April 2^nd was the Last Supper, April 3^rd, Good Friday, and April 5^th, the first Easter. While the date of Jesus’ birth is known only within a 3 to 4-year window, thanks to the detailed accounts of Good Friday and holy week, along with evidence from external sources, archeology, history, and astronomy, they are among the most certain of dates we have in the life of Christ. Of course, we must acknowledge that events 2000 years past cannot be known with 100% certainty, but all known evidence supports this timeline and none contradicts it.

We will kick things off at Easter next month.

Till then in Christ,

Pastor Portier

Lesson #77

Smoky Mountain Bible Institute

(Est. 2009) Lesson #77

Last month we covered the time between the testaments and while we touched on some things on the AD side of history let’s start this month with the birth of Christ. The exact date of Jesus birth is not known for a number of reasons so let’s address that question. When was Jesus born? Chapter 11 of Andrew Steinmann’s book “From Abraham to Paul” gives the question a very thorough treatment, what I will try to do here is give a summary overview of the many historical elements that affect how we understand the date of Jesus birth.

First the traditional view based on a biblical chronology has Jesus birth falling somewhere between 3 and 1 BC, while the modern consensus view dates the birth before 4 BC. The consensus view is primarily based on the estimate of Herod the Grate’s death in 4 BC. There are a number of dating contradictions and inconsistencies between ancient sources when trying to nail down a reliable chronology of Herod the Great. Without getting into any great detail I will give a summary of datable events in Herod’s reign based on Steinmann’s well-argued chronology.

            Late 39 BC Herod is appointed King.

            38 BC Herod begins his first full regnal year.

            36 BC Herod conquers Jerusalem.

            35 BC Herod begins his first full regnal year in Jerusalem.

            31 BC The battle of Actium takes place on September the 2^nd .

            20 BC Caesar is in Syria and Herod begins work on the Temple.

            Late 19 Early 18 BC Work on the Temple complete.

            12 BC Work on the temple precincts completed.

            11 or 10 BC work completed on Caesarea Sebaste also known as Caesarea Marittima.

            5 BC Magi observe the star.

            4 BC Pheroras murdered, Antipater deposed, Archelaus named Herod’s heir.

            3 or 2 BC Tax Revolt of Judas.

            Mid 3 BC John the Baptist is born.

            Late 3 Early 2 BC Jesus Born.

            40 to 50 days later Jesus family escapes to Egypt.

            First quarter of 1 BC Herod dies.

            Later in 1 BC Jesus family returns to Nazareth.

            Because of the fragmented and conflicting nature of the ancient evidence associated with the life and times of Herod the Great. No chronology can assert with absolute certainty the accuracy of their time line. However, we can affirm the sound scholarship that lays behind such a chronology. We can also say the with all the evidence in consideration that Jesus was born Somewhere between 6 and 2 BC. In my mind it is quite amazing that we can have such a small window of time for an event two millennia in the past.

            Next month we will examine the Chronology of the life of Christ

Till Then

Pastor Portier