What is the Bible?

What is the Bible? This is the first question because the Bible is where we go for the answers to all our summer questions.

Pastor Brett's Sermon Link:

• Study of the Bible (01.12.14) - https://tbcgr.org/sermons/mp3/foundational-teachings/01-12-14PT2.mp3

Families, for resources to talk with your children about what the Bible is, go to tbcgrkidz.blogspot.com/2023/06/may-11.html

To help us think practically about what Drew Ford taught this Sunday (06.11.12), here is a statement on Bible translations the pastors and Christian Education Committee have been developing.  It is designed to help people understand what Bible translations we use and why.

TBC’s doctrinal statement on the Bible states, “We believe in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as verbally inspired of God, and inerrant in the original writings; and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life.  2 Timothy 3:16, 17.”

There are two critical phrases in this statement:

1. “Supreme and final authority in faith and life.”
    The Bible contains what we need to know for salvation and godly living.
2. “In the original writings”
   God inspired the authors and original writings.  However, the translations into other languages, like English, are not inspired.       

The Bible is of utmost importance. There are many different translations. This is why we, the pastors and Christian Education Committee, want to explain why Trinity uses our translation.

The New American Standard Bible (NASB) and English Standard Version (ESV) are formal equivalence translations. These sometimes sacrifice readability for word-for-word accuracy. The New International Version (NIV) is a dynamic-equivalence translation that aims to make the Bible readable by conveying idea-for-idea rendering.

During the worship service, Pastor Brett uses the NASB for preaching and recommends it for in-depth studies.  Pastor Brett prefers this translation because it uses older manuscripts and accurate word-for-word translation, which helps in sermon preparation and text explanation.

The children’s ministry and youth ministry often use ESV and NIV. These translations are used in many of the curriculums used.  Also, it is usually easier for younger children and new believers to understand. Many prefer that children and teens use either of these translations.

Storybook Bibles are suitable for family devotion time and home use, but children must become more familiar with the chapters and verses of the Bible. We recommend parents give their children a chapter/verse Bible towards the end of kindergarten. In the 1st through 5th-grade classes, they will look up verses and stories in their Bibles.

The Bible is God's Word, the supreme authority specially revealed to us through God's inspiration. Because it is from God, it is inerrant and infallible. Inerrancy means it corresponds to reality and never affirms anything contrary to fact. It is without error.

Why is it Vital to our Daily Lives:

• If the Bible is what Jesus and the Biblical writers claimed it to be, and it is, then it demands our efforts to read, understand, and obey it, giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to teach us through it and to run our lives as God has instructed in it.
• Without the Bible, any “authority” is simply human and lacks congruence with reality and the consistency and accuracy of the Bible.
• Denial of the God-breathed nature of the Word of God places humans in the judgment of God’s self-revelation – even if we “claim” to believe that the Bible is our source of authority but don’t live or act on what it says, then we are still effectively Denial.
• Faith is more straightforward when you understand more about God, but not believing in Someone more significant than yourself is to have a tiny God.

Chapters of Urban Legends of Theology by Michael Wittmer connected to this doctrine: 
The Bible Is Our Ultimate Authority (Ch.6)
A High View of Scripture Turns the Bible Into an Idol (Ch. 7)