Also on this coming Lord’s Day, I will begin teaching a new Adult Sunday School Class on the subject of ‘ How We Got the Bible.’

As we engage this very important topic, we will seek to address a number of issues that will help us to have more confidence in God’s written Word.

Some of the key matters we will tackle in this class are:

How were the Old and New Testaments formed, and when?
How do we know that the 39 books of the Old Testament are the ‘right ones’?
How do we know that the 27 books of the New Testament are the ‘right ones’?
What do the words “canon” and “canonization” mean?
How can we know that the Words of Scripture are true?
What about the other ‘gospels,’ and other ‘epistles’ (purportedly written by the apostles) that are not included in the New Testament?
Why were some of the books that are in the Bible seriously questioned?
Does archaeology help us to better understand how we got the Bible?
Should we also include the Apocrypha among those books referred to as ‘Holy Scripture’?

If you would like to read along with us as we cover these topics, below is a list of recommended books. Those in bold print are a bit easier to read.

Bruce, F. F. The Canon of Scripture. InterVarsity, 1988.

Comfort, Phillip W., ed. The Origin of the Bible. Tyndale, 1992.

Frame, John. The Doctrine of the Word of God. See Part 4, ‘How the Word Comes to Us’ (especially chapters 17-23).

Grudem, Wayne, and C. John Collins and Thomas R. Schreiner, eds. Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible’s Origin, Reliability, and Meaning. Crossway, 2012.

Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Zondervan, 1996. See Part I, ‘The Doctrine of the Word of God’ (chapters 2-8).

Kruger, Michael. Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books. Crossway, 2012.

Reeves, Michael, and Charles E. Hill. Know How We Got Our Bible. Zondervan, 2018.