Questioning the
Whole Bible
(Old and New
Testaments)
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questions here
The Bible
This name “Biblia” is from the Greek through Latin,
and signifies ‘The Books’. The whole is called ‘The Scriptures,” and once ‘The
Holy Scriptures,’ that is , ‘The Sacred Writings,’ distinguishing them from all
others. The advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the great subject of the
scriptures, John 5: 39, and in whom as ‘Son’ God spoke, after a silence of 400
years, naturally led to a division of the sacred writings into two parts,
called the Old and New Testaments. The ‘Old Testament’ is mentioned as being
read in 2 Corinthians 3: 14; but the term ‘New Testament,’ as applied to the
collection of books that commonly bear that title, does not occur in scripture.
There was also a change in the language in which various books of the two
Testaments were written. The Old was written in Hebrew, except Ezra 4: 08 to 6:
18; 7: 12-26; Jeremiah 10: 11; Daniel 2: 04 to 7: 28: these portions being
written in Chaldee or Aramaic. The books of the New Testament were written in
Greek (without now taking into consideration whether the Gospel by Matthew was
originally written in Aramaic). The glad tidings of salvation were for the
whole world, and the language most extensively known at that time was chosen
for its promulgation. The New Testament brings out not only the history of
redemption by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, but gives the doctrine of the
Church in its various aspects, showing that Christianity is an entirely new order
of things, even a new creation. Those who form the church are instructed as to
their true position in Christ, and their true position in the world, with
details to guide them in every station of life. The Bible is the inspired Word
of God from cover to cover. Though the word ‘inspiration’ occurs in the Holy
Book but once in reference to the scriptures, yet the one statement in which it
is found is important and full of deep meaning: “Every
scripture is divinely inspired (God-breathed),
and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every
good work.” (2 Timothy 3: 16-17. This places all scripture on one basis
as to inspiration, whether it be historical, doctrinal or prophetic. We learn
by this quotation that not simply the persons who wrote were inspired, but the
writings themselves are divinely inspired, (Compare 2 Peter
What makes the Bible to be a holy book?
Three world religions – Judaism for the Old Testament,
Christianity and Islam for both Old and New Testament accept the Bible as a
holy book, or a book divinely inspired containing a message for their
followers. To Jews, this message appears only in the first collection, the
Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym derived from the words Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim, or
Law, Prophets, and Writings. To Christians, all three collections together with
the twenty-seven books of the New Testament represent “The Bible”. The Old
Testament contains the historical background to the message of the New
Testament. Muslims look upon both Old and New Testament as the historical
background to a separate sacred text which embodies their own divine message,
namely the Qur’an, a book of later origin that the Jewish and the Christian
Bibles.
Is the Bible a book of history, of faith,
or both?
The Bible is above all a book of faith. As such, it
transcends history. The events described in both Old and New Testaments,
however, are rooted in human history. Only the first ten chapters in the first
book of the Bible deal with the question of the beginnings of the universe and
the human species, which may be defined as prehistory. In chapter eleven the
scene shifts to Babylonia, known to be the place of some history’s early civilisations,
and to the ancestors of the People of Israel who originated in that part of the
Ancient World. The remainder of the Old Testament covers the history of
The overall framework of the Bible is firmly rooted in
history. Some individuals and specific events cannot be readily authenticated,
although archaeology and such major discoveries as the Dead Sea Scrolls have
done much to confirm a great deal of biblical data. For example, there are no
precise records of the physical existence of an individual named Jeremiah; but,
the prophetic message attributed to Jeremiah is clearly established as the product
of the time of the fall of
Is the Bible strictly for the few only?
No. Not any more than God is strictly a Jewish or a
Christian God. The message of the Bible is the brotherhood and sisterhood of
all men and women under the parenthood of God. God did not take the Hebrew
slaves out of Egypt, given them the Law, and bring them to the Promised Land
for their own personal gain and well being. And, the result of Christ’s death
on the cross and resurrection is that man is reconciled to God, meaning that
man, who was estranged and alienated from God, is now at peace with Him. The
enmity and hostility has been removed (Romans
Does the Bible still hold secrets not yet
revealed?
The Bible still holds many secrets as to the things to
come. However, the greatest secret is who is God, as this is beyond human
comprehension. Also, a great secret, is universal justice, and how does it
really work. Here we may have some insights, but not enough. We can continue
with the meaning of life, the soul, the historicity of biblical events and
personalities, and much more. No book can exhaust the questions raised by the
Bible, let alone provide all the answers. One can only try.
Genesis
The title Genesis comes from the Septuagint Greek translation
of the Old Testament and means “Origin” or “Beginning.” The book justifies its
title in three ways:
(a) As history it tells the story of
creation, of the earliest civilisation, of the flood, and of the origins of the
chosen people of God.
(b) As revelation it teaches primary
truths about God and Man: and with regard to the way of salvation it tells
first of the coming of sin into the world through the fall; then of the utter
failure of early man to save himself, culminating in the flood; and finally of
God’s choice of one family in which all families of the earth should be
blessed. The fact of God’s redemptive purpose, first foreshadowed in the Garden
of Eden (Genesis
(c) As practical teaching it introduces us to
personalities of profound and universal religious significance, such as Abel
and Cain, Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Esau and Joseph, and by its unforgettable
stories teaches lessons of lasting value, showing God at work in human life.
The Pentateuch or Five Books, of which Genesis is the
first, was attributed to Moses by universal tradition of the Jews, which our
Lord takes for granted and endorses with His own authority: Mark 12: 26; and,
John 5: 46-47.
Abbreviated
Outline of the book Genesis
|
Chapters 1 -
11 |
Primeval
History of Humanity |
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Chapters 1 - 2 |
Creation |
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Chapter 3 |
The Fall |
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Chapters 4 - 5 |
From the Fall to the Flood |
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Chapters 6 - 9 |
The Flood |
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Chapters 10 to 11 |
From the Flood to Abraham |
|
|
Chapters 12 -
50 |
Patriarchal
History of |
|
|
Chapters 12 - 25 |
Abraham |
|
|
Chapters 25 -
28 |
Isaac |
|
|
Chapters 28 - 36 |
Jacob |
|
|
Chapters 37 - 50 |
Joseph |
|
Genesis Outline
|
|
Part One: Ancient History ( |
|
|
I. |
The Creation |
|
|
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A.
Creation of the Universe and everything therein |
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|
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B.
Creation of Man |
2:04-25 |
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II. |
The Fall |
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A.
The Fall of Man |
3: 01-24 |
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B.
After the Fall: Contradictory Family Lines |
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III. |
The Judgment of the Flood |
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A.
Causes of the Flood |
6: 01-05 |
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B.
Judgment of the Flood |
6: 06-22 |
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C.
The Flood |
|
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D.
Results of the Flood |
|
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E.
After the Flood: The Sin of the Godly Line |
9: 18-29 |
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IV. |
The Judgment on the |
|
|
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A.
Family Lines after the Flood |
10: 01-32 |
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B.
Judgment on all the Family Lines |
11: 01-09 |
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Part Two: Patriarchal History ( |
|
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I. |
The Life of Abraham |
|
|
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A.
Introduction of Abram |
11: 10-32 |
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B.
The Covenant of God with Abram |
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1. Initiation of the Covenant |
12: 01-20 |
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2. Separation to the Covenant |
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3. Approval of the Covenant |
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4. Institution of the Covenant: Circumcision |
17:01-27 |
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5. Testing of the Covenant |
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6. Consummation of the Covenant |
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|
II. |
The Life of Isaac |
25: 19-26:35 |
|
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A.
The Family of Isaac |
25: 19-34 |
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B.
The Failure of Isaac |
26: 01-33 |
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C.
The Failure of Esau |
26: 34-35 |
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III |
The Life of Jacob |
27:01-36:43 |
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A.
Jacob Gains Esau’s Blessing |
27: 01-28:09 |
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B.
Jacob’s Life at Haran |
28: 10-31:55 |
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C.
Jacob’s Return |
32: 01-33:20 |
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D.
Jacob’s Residence in Canaan |
34: 01-35:29 |
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E.
The History of Esau |
36: 01-43 |
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IV. |
The Life of Joseph |
37: 01-50:26 |
|
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A.
The Corruption of Joseph’s Family |
37: 01-38:30 |
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B.
The Exaltation of Joseph |
39: 01-41:57 |
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C.
The Salvation of Jacob’s Family |
42: 01-50:26 |
Selected
readings from Genesis as overview: Chapters 1 – 2; 3; 15; 27;
29; 37; 41.
Did God create the universe and all there
is?
The Bible’s point of departure is the creation of the
universe. The first sentence of the Bible reads: “In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth.” Why should we believe those words? On whose
authority? The easiest answer would be, we don’t know how the universe started.
We have some scientific theories, but we are still in the dark when it comes to
so-called ultimate questions, and may always be. Recalling someone, one can
choose to believe the biblical account of creation rather than stay in the
dark. However, the former Soviet physicist Joseph Davydov quite recently wrote
a book called God
Exists, in which he shows how science in our time has fully
corroborated the biblical account of creation. He refers to our current
understanding of matter, which proves that something physical can be created
out of nothing. He points out to the existence of light before such luminaries
as the sun existed. And he makes the case that, scientifically speaking,
everything created must have a creator. He calls this creator the “absolute
God” who created our “relative universe.”
Why does Genesis start with the story of
creation?
If the Bible is a book of law, order and faith, why
does it start with stories about the formation of the natural universe, instead
of concentrating on issues of law, order and faith? Most likely, because the
Bible is, primarily, the history of the God of the universe, and only
secondarily the story of a certain small people (at the beginning) in antiquity called Israel to whom God turned to
transmit knowledge of the absolute universal God, which they in turn were to
impart to the rest of the world.
On the face of it, the biblical story of creation is a
transmitted story, like so many other folk stories around the world. People
have always wondered where they came from, and how it all started. Many stories
about the origins of the universe and of human life have come down to us from
civilisations as old or even older than the Bible. Some of the best known are
the Babylonian Myth of Gilgamesh, the stories of Greek mythology, and the Popol
Vu text of the ancient Maya. In all of those stories, some superhuman being or
beings create the physical universe in which we live, and fashion human beings
out of the elements of this physical creation, such as earth, water, and so on.
In this context, the story of creation in the Book of
Genesis is another story of creation among many. But
there is an essential difference between the biblical account and all others.
Most importantly, the biblical Creator “God”, unlike
the one or ones in other cultures, is not superhuman, but rather metahuman,
or beyond human. In other words, the nature of the Creator is beyond any human
experience or understanding. One can never hope to reach direct or concrete
knowledge of this metahuman reality. One can only experience its creation, but
not the creator per se. In this sense, the Bible puts forth the idea of a God
who created the universe, but whose existence transcends the universe.
Why did God create the universe and all
there is?
Unlike other stories of creation, in which the world
and human beings are created for no obvious reason, or, in some cases, for the
gods to amuse themselves, the story in Genesis makes it clear that creation has
a purpose and a reason. This idea is conveyed in the words, repeated on each
day of creation (twice on the third day):
“And God saw that it was good.” In other words, the universe was created in
such a way that it has what one may call a moral purpose, reflecting the will
of God who is not merely an aimless cosmic force or energy, but One that created
the universe for a reason. That purpose can be seen in the words, “Let us make
man in Our image, according to Our likeness”, meaning “Let us create a human
being in our likeness.” The likeness here is not physical, since God has no
physical likeness (as it is made clear in the Ten Commandments, “You shall make
no graven image of what is in heaven above”). Rather, it is the likeness of
God’s attributes of justice and mercy, which human being must live by.
How were man and women created?
The book Genesis presents the creation of man as male
and female in the image of God (Genesis 1: 26-27,
Taken from Hebrew theology, there are three versions
of the creation of human life in Genesis. In chapter 1, Adam, meaning “person”,
is created as male and female. In chapter 2, Adam is first created alone from adamah
(“earth” in Hebrew). Finally, in the third version, God decides Adam needs a
“companion or helpmate,” and takes a rib out of Adam’s body from which Eve,
meaning “companion,” is created. The first version, then, makes no distinction
between male and female creation. Both are created at the same time. The second
and third, taken together, seem more figurative than factual. Some may look
upon this version as sexist, suggesting male superiority, while others may
point out to Adam’s words after Eve is created from rib: “This is now bone of
my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of Man. (Genesis 2: 23)” Take this as an expression of man and woman
being equal.
Are all people descendants of “Adam and
Eve”, the first couple?
Human life as we know started somewhere, at some point
in time. One could also argue that it started simultaneously at different
places and times. Witness the existence of different races whose cultures
developed separately from each other all over the globe. No long ago, genetic
studies have shown remarkable similarities among human groups as far apart as
There is also a moral lesson implied in the first
three chapters of Genesis, namely the appearance of human life on earth. There
are no superior or inferior races. There are no superior or inferior people.
All people stem from a common ancestor, and all have a common purpose. Each
person has the right to say, “For my sake the world was created.” Each person
is as important before the universal law of justice as the next one, whether
prince, great genius or a common labourer.
Finally, destroying one human life is equal to
destroying the entire universe, for each person embodies the entire work of
creation.
Did Adam and Eve eat a forbidden apple?
This may seem an insignificant question, but it has to
do with a misreading of the Bible, which ought to be corrected. The Hebrew text
does not use the word ‘apple’. Instead, it
refers to “the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” We are
never told what kind of fruit it was. This is an example of an interpretation,
rather than an accurate rendition of the biblical text.
Why was man given free will?
The Lord God could have created an obedient creature,
who did God’s bidding at all times and never strayed from the straight and
narrow path. But this is not what God chose to do. God created a being in God’s
likeness, namely, one endowed with free will.
This has been the source of both human greatness and human failure.
After Eve talks Adam into tasting of the forbidden fruit, God asks Adam why he
did it. Adam shifts the blame to Eve, who in turn shifts it to the serpent. It
is then that God realises man must be taught to take responsibility for his
actions, which can only be done through hardship and struggle. This may almost
be the main lesson of the Bible. After
Why is so much human history compacted
into the first ten chapters of Genesis?
As was seen earlier, the Bible is not primarily a book
of history. It is not the intention of the author of Genesis to narrate in
detail the history of the world. Instead, the first ten chapters of Genesis set
the stage for the rest of the Bible, providing us with a brief summary of the
origins of mankind, seen through the perspective of God’s ethical plan for His
creation. However, here is found the beginning of salvation history, the story
of God and man, sin and grace, wrath and mercy, covenant and redemption even in
the first book of the Bible. As the Book of Revelation is the climax and
conclusion of the Bible, so the Book of Genesis is the beginning and an
essential part of the Bible. Genesis is in fact an important book for
understanding the meaning of the entire Bible, Old and New Testament.
Cain and Abel and the beginning of
civilisation?
Read Genesis 4: 01-09. This story regarding Adam and
Eve’s two sons, is not so much about the actual two children of the first human
couple, but also a morality account about the early stages of human
civilisation. Abel is a shepherd, while Cain is a farmer. Here we have the
beginnings of civilisation, when man learns how to domesticate animals and
cultivate the soil. The two activities are in conflict with each other, as
one’s flocks violate the other’s fields. Disagreement and conflict result in
violence which leads to murder, or the destruction of God’s work, created “in
the likeness of God’s image.” Once again, as in the narration of the temptation
of Adam and Eve, the one who breaks God’s law fails to take responsibility for
his actions. When God asks Cain, “Where
is your brother Abel?” Cain replies, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Even today,
human progress does not result in moral progress. Once again Genesis here makes
it clear that rivalry and conflict are at the heart of the human condition.
Abel was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ as shepherd.
There is no report of evil about him. In fact, he was hated by his brother
without a cause. Abel died on account of his brother’s sin. Cain, how hated his
brother Abel, foreshadows the Jew, who rejected Christ and delivered Him into
the hands of the Gentiles and shed innocent blood.
Noah and the flood: history or fable;
and, was the ark ever found?
The story of the flood in Genesis, chapter 6, points
to a time of a global natural calamity, when life on earth was destroyed. The
Bible looks upon natural calamites as an act of God meant to punish evil.
Stories of great floods are also found elsewhere in all parts of the world.
They may allude to earlier prehistorical times of great natural cataclysms.
During the 1950s, archaeologists explored the
The
In the story of the
What do the stories of the beginnings of
human history teach us about the human condition?
The picture that emerges from the biblical stories about
the early origins of humanity is not very flattering. Quite to the contrary.
“The inclination of man’s heart is evil from an early age (youth),” we are told
early in the book of Genesis (Genesis
The first great Patriarch Abraham,
ancient of
With the stories of Abraham, starting in Genesis,
chapter 11, we emerge from biblical prehistory to enter history. The stories of
Abraham, as all subsequent biblical stories, are rooted in historical fact.
Abraham is a native of the Babylonian culture that dominates the prehistorical
narratives of the Bible. Abraham was the father of the Hebrews and the prime
example of a righteous man. According to the Midrash (Jewish legends and lore),
when Abraham was a child, he realised that the idols worshiped by the
Babylonians were powerless, and grasped the existence of the one invisible God
who ruled the universe. So that when, years later, he hears God telling him to
leave his native land and go to a strange land where his descendants would
become a great nation, he does not hesitate, and embarks on the journey to the
land of Canaan. Abraham had faith in the promises of God. Therefore, he is
presented as a model for human behaviour. Welcoming the strangers (Genesis
Who are the “three angels” who visit
Abraham?
In Genesis, chapter 18, Abraham is visited by three
men. In the next chapter we are told of two angels who go down to the city of
To be continued
Please forward your
questions.
The best questions
and answers will be published here.
Recommended reading:
Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by
Gleason L. Archer. (Regency Reference Library / Zondervan Publishing House,
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