• Bible Study Starter, continued:
    • Our attitudes
      • Romans 10:2
      • Saul of Tarsus
      • The parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-22)
        • “Beside the road” (Matthew 13:4, 14) – Do I make the effort to understand the Word?
        • “Rocky places” (Matthew 13:5-6, 20-21) – Do I help the Word take root?
        • “Among the thorns” (Matthew 13:7, 22) – Do I let the Word and wealth choke the Word?
        • “The good soil” (Matthew 13:8, 23) – Do I hear the Word, understand it, and bear fruit?
  • The Bible’s Inspiration
    • Inspiration – evidence
      • The Bible claims to be inspired, but so do other books such as the Quran and the Book of Mormon. Is there any evidence that supports the Bible’s claim? Yes!
      • God does not want people to blindly accept the claims of any person or book. Acts 17:2-3
      • Historical accuracy
        • The Bible has proven to be extremely accurate.
          • King Sargon of Assyria (Isaiah 20:1)
          • King Sennacherib
          • Moabite Stone
          • Tacitus’ writings
        • The Bible mentions hundreds of people and places.
      • Scientific foreknowledge
        • The Bible contains a number of scientifically accurate statements and medically accurate practices, thousands of years before modern science revealed the same truths.
          • Quarantine – Numbers 5:1-3; Leviticus 13
          • Circumcision on the 8th day – Genesis 17:12-14
          • Dimensions of the ark – Genesis 6:15
          • Water cycle – Amos 9:6; Ecclesiastes 1:7; 11:3
      • Fulfilled prophecy
        • Compared to Nostradamus, Jeane Dixon
        • The Bible makes very specific prophecies and warns about false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:22
        • Ezekiel 26 – prophecy about the destruction of Tyre
    • Inspiration – what it means
      • II Timothy 3:16
      • The Holy Spirit chose the very words inspired people used.
        • Matthew 10:19-20; I Corinthians 2:13; I Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1:10-12; II Peter 1:20-21
        • Use a translation that tries to remain true to the original words (NASB, ESV, NKJV)
      • The Holy Spirit did His work with a personal touch, incorporating some personal traits from each writer.
    • Transmission of the text
      • We don’t have original manuscripts, but we have so many copies that agree with each other that we can have great confidence in the accuracy of the Bible. The Dead Sea Scrolls helped increase this confidence even more.
      • We have over 5,700 manuscripts of the Greek New Testament today.