I have been doing serious study regarding how our New Testament came to be. I left seminary 40 years ago, and have spent four decades as a Pastor, studying commentaries in order to try to explain each week what the Bible says. I have in recent months felt a strong need to study the background of what I have taught. I feel the battle for the Bible is raging all around us.
I have read four deeply theological books on the early manuscripts of our New Testament. Being 40 years removed from Academia, I found myself not understanding key words, not knowing of important recent archaeological developments, and not up to date in the arguments that are swirling through the religious community.
I believe my bulldog tenacity to read all four books has paid off. The most fascinating thing to me is; the last four decades have actually been very helpful in undergirding the reliability of Holy Writ. The archaeologist's spade has become our friend. Unfortunately, people in our culture are not being exposed to the nuts and bolts of Biblical history and research. Instead they are by and large receiving sound-bites that can give a highly skewed interpretation of what is being learned on the archaeological front.
I look forward to teaching a class on this subject soon at Second. I want us to know not only what we believe about the Bible, but also why we believe what we do.
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