S3 E2: What is the Big Deal About the Bible?

Season 3 of Spirit-Led Hope is all about the Bible. In this episode, Glenn gives a high-level view of the Bible which is helpful for those who know nothing about it. He then discusses what sets the Bible apart from other books.

This episode has a transcript. If your podcast player does not support transcripts, please go to the Transcripts section of https://spiritledhope.com/ .      

Season 3 is part of a long term goal to study systematic theology. If you want to know more about systematic theology, or expand your study, Glenn is using the following text as a helpful framework to make sure the main topics are covered:  Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, by Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave.  The book is published by Foursquare Media and Glenn is using the Second Edition published in 2016.

Transcript

S3 E2 TRANSCRIPT 

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE BIBLE?

INTRODUCTION

Hello everyone and welcome to Spirit-Led Hope. My name is Glenn Erichsen, and in this episode, we are answering the question: 

     WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE BIBLE?

In the previous episode, I mentioned that we have a long-term plan of studying systematic theology. Systematic theology methodically examines the topics taught in the Bible. In this season we are looking at the Bible itself. Let us start things off by looking at how many people read the Bible.

HOW MANY READ THE BIBLE?

The Bible is the most printed book of all time. The Guiness Book of world records estimates that somewhere between 5 and 7 billion Bibles have been printed. That is a lot of printing since 1454 when Gutenberg got things going after inventing the printing press. In addition, if we count how many Bibles are downloaded to phones and computers, then the number of Bibles circulated becomes even greater.

If you take the most modern-day popular books, they do not come close to the circulation of the Bible. The Harry Potter series is one of the most successful books ever, and it has print numbers around 600 million copies. In terms of circulation, the Bible stands alone.

But just because billions of Bibles are available, that does not mean that everyone reads it. I tried to find some statistics on how many people read the Bible, and I came across a couple of surveys worth discussing. To be clear, these surveys are focused on the United States and may not be applicable to other countries. If you are a listener outside of the US, thank you for taking the time to listen to Spirit-Led Hope…I am sorry I do not have statistics for your country.

Lifeway Research did a poll in 2016 to determine how many Americans read the Bible. According to their data, 9% of Americans have read the entire Bible more than once, and 11% have read the entire Bible once. That means that 20% of Americans have read the whole Bible. 

I admit that I have a hard time believing that, although it may have been true in 2016. It could also be that I am disillusioned because I live in one of the least churched counties in the entire United States. I do not meet many people, outside of those attending a church, that read the Bible at all. The same survey also found that more than 50% of Americans have not read any of the Bible, or only small portions. That certainly implies that a lot of Bibles sit on the shelf.

The American Bible Society published their 2023 state of the Bible, this is pretty recent, and they found that around 39% of Americans use the Bible three or more times per year. In 2020, for the same criteria, the number was about 50%, which indicates Bible use is dropping. The American Bible Society also found that about 24% of Americans read the Bible at least once a week apart from any church service. That seems like a very useful number for us to think about. And maybe most of the people in that 24% have read the whole Bible at least once…which seems to make that Lifeway Research number more credible. So maybe my perception on Bible reading is affected by where I live. That is very possible…I live far away from the Bible Belt.

I will include links to both studies in the episode transcript.

WHAT IS IN THE BIBLE?

There must be a reason why 1 out of 4 Americans read the Bible weekly.  That is over 80 million people. And while I do not have the statistics for other countries, I am confident that millions more around the world do the same. Why do so many people read the Bible?

Let us look at a few details about the Bible to see if we can understand why so many people read it. I know that many people listening to this podcast are familiar with what I am about to say, but if this is new to you this will help you understand the basics.

The Bible is divided into two major divisions called the Old Testament and the New Testament. Each division is a collection of smaller books. The Old Testament has 39 books, and the New Testament has 27. The whole Bible then, is one book made up of 66 books.

One thing that can cause confusion, is that I am talking about the Bible used by Protestants. If you are Catholic, your Bible contains some extra books not found in the Bible that I, and other Protestants, use. We will talk more about that in future episodes.

The Old Testament, as you might guess, is much older than the New Testament. Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, was probably written around 1440 BC, that is a long time ago, and the last books were probably finished around 435 BC. I say “probably” because not all scholars agree on these dates, but these are generally considered to be reasonable.

The New Testament was written over a much shorter time span. The first books were probably written around 50 AD and the oldest were recorded in the early 90’s AD. Using these dates, we see that the Bible was written over a span of about 1500 years.

If you think about this, then it should be clear that the Bible was written by more than one person. It is not known who authored every single book of the Bible. Some of the books, like the book of Psalms, may have several unknown authors. From what we do know, the Bible has at least 40 authors.

One of the fascinating things about these writers is how diverse they were in their occupations. Some of them had very humble beginnings as fishermen or shepherds. One of the authors declared himself to be a sycamore fig tree farmer. I love that. And then there were authors who were higher in society. Some were religious leaders, and some were kings. Others occupied unique positions. One was a hated tax collector, and another was a trusted cupbearer to a king. Because of this diversity, the authors of the Bible differ in their education and social status.

When we look at this conglomeration of authors spanning hundreds of years, we might expect that the Bible comes across as an irregular patchwork that feels like 66 separate and distinct books. And yet, that is not what we see. Instead, we find that the Bible has a continuity as if it had a single source of authorship. We will talk more about that in a future episode.

So, what did these authors write about? If we opened a Bible, what would we find in it?

The Bible starts out big. On its very first page, the Bible answers the three big questions that people from all cultures ask themselves. It tells us how the universe began, how life began, and the purpose and role humans play in the universe. In Season 2 we covered the first chapter of the Bible in detail.

After an account of the beginnings of everything, the Bible switches its focus to the relationship between God and humans. It explains how the first two humans, Adam and Eve, chose to exercise their free will in a way that severed their relationship with God.

What follows next in the Bible, is a historical account of the expansion of humans and their actions as they continued to live apart from God. It is in these early pages where we read the stories that have entered popular knowledge. For example, many people who have never read the Bible know the stories of Noah’s ark and the Tower of Babel.

It is after these events that the Bible makes an interesting pivot. The Bible begins to detail the life of Abraham. This is fascinating because if you are a Jew, Muslim, or Christian, you consider Abraham to be the father of your faith. But it is at this point, that the Bible begins a journey to focus on the descendants of Abraham who will ultimately become the nation of Israel. It probably comes as no surprise then, that all the Bible writers we know about, except one, were Jewish.

Throughout the Old Testament we read about the successes and failures of the Israelites and their relationship with God. We learn that God chose the Israelites as his people. It was their calling to point humans back to God through their worship of the Creator.

Much of the Old Testament then, is historical in nature. We learn about the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt and their freedom through the leadership of Moses. We read about the laws and commandments God gave the Israelites to teach them about himself. We learn about the kings of Israel and how they did or did not worship God. We also read about the surrounding nations and their relationship to the people of Israel. It is not always a pretty account, because the Bible does not shy away from recording real events that show how far the people were away from following God.

Woven throughout these historical accounts are actions of men and women who were used by God to speak and act on his behalf. As the Israelites turn further away from God, God uses prophets to declare that, because the people have rejected God, the kingdom of Israel will fall.

And yet, in the middle of these proclamations, the prophets begin to speak words of hope. They looked forward to a coming Messiah who would make possible a restored relationship with God. The prophets explained that this Messiah would not only allow people to have a change of thought, but a change of heart.

Ultimately, the Old Testament records how the Assyrians and Babylonians conquered Israel and the Israelites were scattered. Their temple of worship was destroyed, and their best youth were carted off to serve their captors.

Everything I just described is found in the Old Testament. Of course, this is a vast simplification for a text that is hundreds of pages long. When you read the Old Testament, you soon recognize there is a large variety in the content.

For example, there are genealogical records that list generations of families. There are records that list the number of people in Israel. There are large sections of poetry and songs. There are stories about the common people, the kings, the priests, and the prophets. There are directions for religious ceremonies and holidays and many pages of civil, ceremonial, and moral laws. All of that, and more, is in the Old Testament.

What about the New Testament, what is in that? And why is something that was written over 400 years after the Old Testament considered part of the same book?

The answer is simple, the New Testament records the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. The New Testament starts with the birth of Jesus and shows that he is God in human form. Jesus is the Messiah, the one foreseen by the prophets.

The first four books of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are called the gospels. The gospels record the life of Jesus and contain some of the words he spoke. Through the gospels, we see that Jesus was both adored and hated. We learn about the 12 men who became his disciples, and how the religious leaders of the day rejected Jesus and ultimately killed him. 

In the gospels we see how Jesus performed miracles and proved that he was, indeed, the Son of God. The gospels reach their pinnacle by describing how Jesus was betrayed and crucified as a sacrifice for all people. But as a final proof that everything he said was true, Jesus came back to life and conquered death.

After the gospels, there is the book of Acts. Acts is a continuation of the book of Luke and records the fulfillment of more Old Testament prophecies and the words of Jesus concerning the Holy Spirit. Acts records the start of the Church, with a capital “C,” and how the good news of Jesus began to spread.

The rest of the New Testament is largely composed of letters written by the men we call Apostles. These letters encouraged the Christians who were spreading out into the known world. Many of these letters, especially the letters of the Apostle Paul, teach more about Jesus. They teach about the love of the Father, and the work of the Holy Spirit. The whole of the New Testament invites all people into a relationship with God. It is now the mission of everyone, not just the Israelites, to introduce people to God through Jesus.

The New Testament closes with the book of Revelation. Much like the Bible begins with an account of Creation, it ends by pointing to how all things will be reborn. We will talk more about the book of Revelation many, many episodes from now, when we talk about eschatology. 

With this overview, you can see some of the reasons why so many people read the Bible. There is a lot of interesting stuff from beginning to end. 

WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE BIBLE?

Now that we have given a high-level view of what is in the Bible, we are ready to answer the question, “What is the big deal about the Bible?” At the same time, we will discover the main reason most people read it.

If we just take the few facts that we have talked about, we can already see that the Bible is a big deal. The Bible contains the holy writings for two of the world’s major religions. The Old Testament is used in Judaism, and both the Old and New in Christianity.

Societies have patterned laws after the moral codes of the Bible. Music, art, and architecture have been inspired by its words. Many common expressions come from the Bible…like having the patience of Job or seeing the writing on the wall. Children around the world know about David and Goliath, even if they do not know where the story came from. The Bible is arguably the most influential book of all time.

And yet, for all of that, that is not the biggest deal about the Bible. The biggest deal is something you might have guessed when I mentioned the prophets of the Old Testament. The big deal about the Bible, is that its words are inspired by God himself. That is the big deal, and it is what distinguishes the Bible from any other book, and it is the main reason people read it.

Now obviously, not everyone believes that the source of the Bible is God, but that is an essential belief for Christians. And the Bible itself makes this claim. For example, in the Old Testament, the prophets openly declared that what they were speaking came from God. Many times, the prophets quote what God said to them. Moses carried with him stone tablets said to be written by the finger of God. 

We also see that the New Testament is inspired by God. We read the words of Jesus, who is God himself. You cannot be more God-inspired than that.

The Apostles did not shy away from claiming they had God-given authority to teach. They also affirmed that the Old Testament Scriptures were “breathed by God.” Again, this is what makes the Bible a big deal.

SPIRIT-LED HOPE

As we wind down this episode, I want us to practically consider how the Bible relates to a life led by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is the central reason why we can be Spirit-led and full of hope. As we talk about the Bible, we must not underestimate the power of having God write something down for our benefit. The written word of God is one of the things that makes a Spirit-led life possible. 

Can you imagine what it would be like if, in our current state, God could only be known through individual spiritual discernment? Because we are all broken to some extent, our picture of God would be fragmented and distorted. Our understanding of God would be a tangled mess of our collective imaginations and desires. We would have no way of validating our picture of God or understanding his plan for us.

But the Bible changes all of that. Through the Bible, God reaches out to us so that we can learn about him and ultimately know him in a dynamic relationship. He tells us what we need to know about him…because he is the only one who can do that. The Bible becomes an anchor and a plumbline for truth that points us to Jesus and ultimately the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit. Without the Bible, we would be led astray and grow further from him, but it keeps us safe because its words help us reject anything that is not true. 

Through a written foundation, we are now able to recognize the Holy Spirit as he speaks to us. Jesus said that his sheep know his voice, and we recognize his voice because we hear it as we read the Bible. It is the steadfast Bible that tunes our hearts and minds so that we can have an intimate awareness of God speaking to us in whichever way he chooses. 

The Bible helps us to filter out and recognize anything that is not from him. The Bible is a big deal.

CLOSING

In our next episode, we will look more at what it means to say that the Bible is inspired by God. And we will look at how this relates to the authority of the Bible.

As always, if you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, please email me at glenn@spiritledhope.com, or simply use the Contact Form at spiritledhope.com. That is spiritLEDhope.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

If you find these episodes useful, please share them with your friends, leave a good review, and make sure to follow the podcast so that you are notified when the next episode is published.

As we close this episode:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

Until next episode, take care.

Copyright 2024  Spirit-Led Hope

SOURCES CITED IN THIS EPISODE

https://sotb.research.bible/

https://research.lifeway.com/2021/10/21/more-americans-read-the-bible-during-the-pandemic/#:~:text=A%202016%20Lifeway%20Research%20study,a%20few%20sentences%20or%20less.