Appendix 10
ANSWERING questions about the Bible can take you in many different directions so this appendix is separated into various sections, each of them capable of filling your shelves with profitable material.
How we got our Bible
In a situation where someone has brought along an old Bible, or if you are acting as steward overseeing a collection of Bibles (old or new versions), it’s always helpful to know a bit about the origin of the Book of Books. Works by Brother Banyard and F. F. Bruce have already been mentioned and there are lots more such books which aim either at a popular readership, or a more studious one.
J. Paterson Smyth wrote a lot of books about all this, with varying titles but much the same contents: How we got our Bible was first published in 1886 and it, like its companion volumes, has often been reprinted. They are now a bit dated (they precede the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, of course) but they give a generally helpful picture and are easy reading. There are plenty available second-hand, including the books listed elsewhere on this website.
If you want something a bit more substantial, but from the same general era, try B. F. Westcott, A General View of the History of the English Bible (1868); H. W. Hoare, Our English Bible (1911); or W. F. Moulton, The History of the English Bible (1878, but revised and enlarged by his sons in 1911). Sir Frederick Kenyon wrote Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts in 1895, but subsequent revisions (like the one in 1958, by A. W. Adams) do take account of the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls).
Manuscripts
If your interest is in the manuscripts (or ‘parchments’, as F. F. Bruce termed them, in his helpful book), Sir Frederick Kenyon also wrote The Text of the Greek Bible (which, once again, was revised by A. W. Adams, in 1975) and Bruce Metzger wrote The Text of the New Testament: its Transmission, Corruption and Restoration (1968). These are, however, a bit technical; but they explain the way in which textual criticism (as opposed to form criticism) works, to try to determine the most likely original reading. As you will have worked out in such matters, if you want to go further down the track of textual integrity, and see if doctrinal bias has played a part, try The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture by Bart D. Ehrman (OUP, 1993), which examines the work of the early transcribers of the New Testament and the anti-polemical world in which they lived. But these works are getting a bit complicated for the lay reader.
Biographies
Technical issues apart, the story of how the Bible has been preserved through the centuries is a fascinating one and the people who achieved this, under God’s guidance, were often colourful characters. Constantine Tischendorf’s discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus, in St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai, makes a good story and he wrote his own account of what happened (which is sometimes challenged) in a little work titled Codex Sinaiticus. There are many books about William Tyndale; perhaps the most carefully researched is by David Daniell, William Tyndale: A Biography. He also wrote a large volume called The English Bible, which concentrated overmuch on Tyndale’s work, given its intended scope, and Daniell has been involved in Yale University’s reprint of Tyndale’s translation works, albeit in modern English. There are plenty more popular works about Tyndale, like God’s Outlaw by Brian H. Edwards and If God Spare My Life by Brian Moynahan. Then, of course, there are books about the Welsh lady Mary Jones and her quest to buy a Bible, which gave a huge impetus to the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society. So, if you like reading biographies, there are plenty of useful ones to choose from.
Dead Sea Scrolls
The finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls is another area which combines treasure trove and scholastic work (and delay!). F. F. Bruce wrote a short book, Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1956 which has stood the test of time remarkably well, as does his Biblical Exegesis in the Qumran Texts (1959). More popular treatments by Millar Burrows (1956), The Dead Sea Scrolls and Edmund Wilson (1955) are now somewhat dated. Geza Vermes has published several editions of The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, should you want to read the non-Biblical scrolls; and the Biblical texts are now available in The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible, published by Harper, San Francisco. For a comparison between pre-existing texts and those that came from the Judaean desert, try Harold Scanlin’s The Dead Sea Scrolls and Modern Translations, which is also available electronically in Libronix format.
For a more recent assessment of the significance of the findings, try Randall Price’s Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls (1996) or the collection of material edited by Hershel Shanks, Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls (1992). BAR (The Biblical Archaeological Review) played a significant part in breaking the log-jam which had delayed the publication of the manuscripts, and had allowed unnecessary speculation to grow (it was being rumoured that the church authorities were delaying their release because the Scrolls undermined Christianity). If you want a simple but up-to-date review of where things are now, BAR have just published a large format 96-page paperback: The Dead Sea Scrolls. It’s obtainable from them direct.
Modern versions
Most of these books concentrate on the earlier part of the story of textual transmission and translation. There are also specialist books about particular modern versions. The New International Version, for example, often comes in for deserved criticism about its approach to issues of Christology. The Making of a Contemporary Translation, edited by Kenneth Baker, gives their published position about the purpose and method of translation and, if you look out for them, you can find other such explanations. Eugene Nida, for example, wrote Good News for Everyone to explain the principles behind the Good News Bible (sometimes called the TEV). And J. B. Phillips wrote a nice little book about his translation work, simply called The Ring of Truth; though it’s worth noting that he doesn’t believe in the plenary inspiration of the scriptures.
People often ask what is the best translation of the Bible; based on the most reliable texts and with the most accurate method of translation (literal or dynamic equivalent). If you have read a little about the underlying manuscripts and the way in which the process unfolded, you will already be halfway there in answering such a question. But if you want an assessment of the various pros and cons, there are plenty of books to help you make a choice. The Testimony Committee published Which Translation? in 2000, a compilation of articles from the magazine; Jack Lewis wrote The English Bible from KJV to NIV, to give both a history and an evaluation and, more recently, David Dewey’s Which Bible? comes more up to date by including The Message, the ESV and The Net Bible. That’s stocked by the Office and gives a pretty balanced evaluation but, as in everything to do with books, it pays to have two or three translations so you can make your own assessment, and many more than that are available electronically either in standard Bible software packages or by logging on to a site like the Bible Gateway.
KJV-only views
There are strongly-held views about the received text (which underpins the KJV) along the lines of, “If it was good enough for Erasmus it is good enough for me”. J. W. Burgon was a fierce defender of its authenticity, believing that texts found later on, in the Vatican or in a Monastery, could not possibly be superior texts, especially as they were much corrected. His books The Revision Revised, The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels and The Last Twelve Verses of Mark have occasionally been reprinted or summarised. Counterfeit or Genuine is a compilation by D. O. Fuller, which includes the gist of Burgon’s arguments about Mark 16 and the pericope of John chapter 8. D. A. Carson, who is a prolific author on many Biblical subjects, has written a helpful little book, The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism, published by Baker Books in 1979. And James White wrote a much longer book called The King James Only Controversy, again to plead for a balanced and rational approach to the subject.
Is the Bible True?
Of course, none of this matters – about texts and translations – unless the Bible really is the inspired and inerrant word of God. Mention has already been made of Christadelphian works which support the authority of God’s word, to which could be added a small work by Brother Robert Roberts: Is the Bible True? (1931; reprinted from Good Company, 1890-1894); Believing the Bible, a short introductory work written by Brother Alfred Norris in the 1940s, and For the Study and Defence of the Holy Scripture by Brother Edward Whittaker, published by The Testimony Committee. That book starts with a couple of useful articles about revelation and the canon of scripture and then branches out into more general exposition of scripture.
There are many older books about the authority of the Bible as a whole, apart from Gaussen’s treatise, Theopneustia (which has also been reprinted as Divine Inspiration of the Bible, and is still available). Here are some of them in descending order of general usefulness, though there is invariably something worth reading in all of them:
- C. H. Waller: The Inspiration and Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures (1887, reprinted, and available in its entirety in Volume 1 of the Imperial Bible Dictionary
- Benjamin Warfield: The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible
- A. W. Pink: The Divine Inspiration of the Bible (available on the web or from Ages Software: you can buy a CD-ROM containing all his published works)
- Henry Rogers, The Superhuman Origin of the Bible (1872)
- R. D. Wilson A Scientific Investigation of the Old Testament (1926)
- W. E. Vine (who also complied the Dictionary of New Testament Words): The Divine Inspiration of the Bible (at just 119 pages, this is an easy read)
- John Urquhart: The Inspiration and Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures (1895)
- W. E. Gladstone: The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture (1890, so his comments on recent archaeological findings are now a bit dated!)
- C. H. Waller: Moses and the Prophets is an attack on higher criticism, including the writings of S. R. Driver
- Sidney Collett: The Scripture of Truth (1905).
Bear in mind that a lot of these books are criticisms of the changing attitude towards the Bible in the 19th century, so often the writers set out their own views in contrast to prevailing opinion. And they are all out of touch with more recent findings in other fields of study (like the Dead Sea Scrolls and archaeology).
If you want more modern books along similar lines, other than those already mentioned, look out for a conservative publisher: like IVP (which used to be called IVF); Tyndale, or The Banner of Truth.
Brian H. Edwards’ Nothing but the Truth (1978) is very accessible (published by the Evangelical Press). Edward Young wrote a nice little work: The Word is Truth (BofT); J. I. Packer: Fundamentalism and the Word of God (IVF); John Wenham: Christ and the Bible (Tyndale); Clark Pinnock: The Scripture Principle (H&S) and there are many collections of articles by various experts, like Scripture and Truth (IVP) and Revelation and the Bible (Tyndale).
Kenneth Kitchen has just published a very significant work titled, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003) which, at 662 pages, gives you a lot to think about.
Specific books
Some of the books listed above concentrate upon the defence of specific issues which have come under criticism. For example, John Urquhart moves from the general to the specific defence of the historicity of the Books of Esther and Daniel. But you can get books which concentrate on defending the historicity and authority of specific books.
It would make this Appendix over long to begin to list them, but if you are in difficulty about specific issues, try Oswald T. Allis or A. H. Finn on the Pentateuch; Margalioth or Allis (again) on Isaiah; Wiseman, Anderson, Whitcomb or McDowell on Daniel; and there are plenty of others who have sprung to the defence of the scriptures. You might want to send in your personal recommendations and we can add them to the list of books cited.
Final recommendation
If you do not feel able to plough your way through substantial works, but want something specific and accessible, which will also point you towards a lot of other conservative writers, try Josh McDowell. Evidence that Demands a Verdict is now published in a new and revised format (1999). We wouldn’t agree with his views about Christology but, those apart, he has brought together a lot of useful information and quotes quite extensively from other writers, and those extracts give you a flavour of their prose so that you can decide if you would enjoy reading them more extensively. Remember that what appeals to one reader may be considered really hard going by another. The good thing is that there’s plenty to choose from.