Much of what is contained in “That God Thing” is rooted in what I believe to be God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible. Because of that, I’m going to take a few posts here to elaborate on my understanding of the Bible itself. It’s only fair to give you my view.
Just a few points of what the Bible is not:
It is not a science book although there are a few observations contained in it.
It does not seek to prove itself but rather simply states itself.
It is not a history book providing a detailed chronology of all that is written.
It does contain some records that seem to be beyond the scope of credibility but then, I have other less reliable sources that also test my comprehension.
The author does not provide footnotes, references and sources beyond what is contained within.
It was not compiled until years after the individual books were written and original manuscripts have not been found to date.
It was not written in King James 1611 English in the original manuscripts.
The chapters and verse divisions were added long after the first compilations. Likewise for any year dates BC or AD.
God did not name the books or the compilation; the word “Bible” comes from medieval Latin ‘biblia’ for book and was first used as bible in the 1200s.
This is a five part look at the Bible but for those who want even more…
Compiler’s Note: One of the most complete yet concise explanations on the Bible is found in the back of the ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible, Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois © 2008. This includes overviews of Doctrine, Ethics, Interpretation, Canon, Reliability of Manuscripts, Original Languages and more all of which is way beyond the scope of Cowsbell.
