That's an old book, it could have lots of mistakes...

The New Testament (NT) as recorded in most modern, literal, translations of the Bible is an excellently preserved document which invites critics to examine in a careful and objective manner the truth it contains. Of the many types of tests that may be applied to ancient documents, textual critique and historical references are the most significant. So efforts to prove or disprove the reliability of the NT must consider manuscript textual study, history, and archeological examination. In each of these aforementioned areas the NT again and again is found to be trustworthy in its record keeping effort.

In considering the physical reality of passing a text from one generation to the next there are certain expected norms in order to ascertain the accuracy of later copies to the original. The NT exceeds these in every way. Most importantly is the number of copies available to do textual criticism on. This process compares variation and develops a preferred reading based on various criteria standard to the science. Using these techniques many ancient documents are reconstructed with only a handful of copies. A trusted example of an ancient, reconstructed text is Homer's Iliad, which has one of the largest caches of manuscript evidence, around 600 copies. The NT is astonishingly ahead of every other piece of writing from that era with respect to the volume of its copies. Existing today are more than 5700 Greek (original language) copies of the NT. Another important element to add confidence to the accuracy of the text of the NT is the age of the copies. Complete copies exist within 200 years of its writing and a least one fragment dates to within 25 years. This is incomparable to any other writing of similar age. In addition to the copies there exists lists of the NT writings from less than 100 years after its composition. If the manuscript evidence is not enough to provide confidence, there is extensive record provided by early scholars of the Christian faith. These theologians from the second and third century were citing and commenting on the NT to the degree that the entire text, save eleven verses, can be reassembled. With so many copies in existence any minor variances are easily corrected.

The historical record of the NT is outstandingly confirmed by a variety of sources including the textual realities contained within it. The style and nature of its writing follow a normal pattern of historical recording. All of the NT writers were eye-witnesses or associates of eye-witnesses. The NT often references geographical, political and other independently verifiable information. Many of the assertations of the NT writers appeal to witnesses who were alive and could verify detail during the time of writing and distribution. Also, most of the apostles, who were eye-witnesses to the events of the NT were martyred for their unwillingness to forsake their claims to these facts. Additionally, no part of the NT events were done in secret. All major occurences of the life of Jesus and the ministry of the apostles happened in the public realm. Such as, the feeding of the 5000, the feeding of the 4000, crowds who gathered for the triumphal entry, Jesus' trial, Peter preaching to crowds and 3000 converted in one day etc. Interestingly the NT also records details which if a forgery or exagerated truth would not have been recorded. Some of these are, Jesus' sayings that caused people to turn away, disciples behaviour revealing incompetence and character flaws, and important facts witnessed to by women, who did not have a legal voice or witness. The historical record of the NT is also confirmed by those outside of the text. Josephus, a Jewish historian, who was not a Christian confirms many historical details of the NT and the Christian faith.

Almost no other religious book offers the kind of information that the NT does. It names people and places referencing them to world history, encouraging the examination by various fields of study including archeology. Numerous scholars have set out to verify some details from the NT via archeological discovery and excavation. That being said, no discovery has ever been made which denies the truthfulness of the NT. Some of these experts who expected to reveal the NT to be fanciful myth have found so much real evidence that they have converted to the Christian faith. Over the past few generations, Luke's details, as recorded in the book of Acts, have proven to be flawless and meticulous in citing names and titles of the complex and varying levels of governors in the Roman empire. One such example is the title of the government officer in Thessalonica. This governing position had never been recorded elsewhere and many critics claimed this sort of information should cause us to doubt the reliability of the NT witness. However, in the early 1960s an aging section of modern day Thessoloniki was demolished and an archeological work occurred before new development continued. This excavation uncovered a carved capstone from the entrance to a Hellenistic building which included the very same title of office recored only by Luke, the NT writer. This is the normative reality when archeological investigation encounters Biblical facts.

Now, given the consideration of the historical, archeological and manuscript testing of the NT careful observers find that the NT is beyond reasonable doubt a truthful, historical record. The events, persons and teachings described in the NT can be confidently believed to be accurate beyond 99 percent the original writers words. Certainly this knowledge will present serious consideration of a response that is fitting of the story told and will quite literally change the world.

Although I composed this article much of the preceding data was gleaned from a class at Southern Evangelical Seminary (www.ses.edu) taught by Prof. Doug Beaumont (www.dougbeaumont.org)

Power To Pray

Prayer is a serious concern. That needs to be said, at least for my benefit, because it is just simply under-valued in every way. Do you doubt it? Try to come up with words to describe the significance of having a personal conversation with God. Then, consider that our ability to describe that is even lacking, let alone the fact that, any human idea of who God is fails to capture even a fraction of his greatness. But don't let that discourage you. No, instead realize the truth that if God is great and to relate to him through prayer is that important, then he must have something very special attached to it. And that is our hope.

I am embarking on a journey to find out what God, through Christ, has designed for us when we pray. I hope you will join me as I start with asking this question:

How can I find the power to pray?

My answer begins with this scripture from the book of John 16:12-15:

"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for he will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."

Before understanding how I see the above passage giving us the power to pray we must look at some of the difficulties that exist for which we need this special power to overcome. Experience teaches us that even our best intentions to pray are often thwarted. Many people set out with ideas that they will rise early and pray, or stay up late and pray, or pray anytime they think of it, or pray every day before leaving home but what most of us can attest to is, those ideas are often forgotten. For whatever reason, and the list of reasons is very long, prayer gets pushed to the back burner of life more often than not. I realize that I am generalizing. So, if you have a different experience please share it. You likely know something I'd like to learn. But if we were to boil all the reasons down to their source we would probably come up with three primary causes for why we do not follow through on a desire to pray.

First, is the deception of the enemy. He will do anything to prevent a Christian from entering into a time of prayer. And I don't like to give him more credit than he's due, but he surely he must know that the praying Christian is stronger to resist him and more capable to deny his lies. And as the key text for this post tells us, Christ is glorified by our prayers. Satan hates that. In addition, we are constantly being swayed from spending time in prayer by the God-denying influence of the world around us. Jesus tells us that the world hates us because we are not of it (John 15:18-19). Because we now no longer belong to the earthly pattern of thinking we will find that the things we are drawn to, such as prayer, scrape against the grain. Now, the final and probably most powerful reason for our tendency to overlook prayer is our human nature, our fleshly constraint. The fact is we get distracted, hungry, bored and tired all too easily. Look at what Jesus said to Peter in the garden on the night he was betrayed, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mark 14:38). Given these obstacles, we must dedicate ourselves to discovering how God plans to enable us to overcome them.

Our single hope to triumph in attending to prayer, is the Spirit who has been given to us that are in Christ. This idea is presented by Jesus in the long discourse recorded in the book of John where our text is taken from. The Lord Jesus, as he speaks to his disciples keeps pressing this thinking with varied phrases that give us a glimpse into the nature of our relationship to him. These phrases begin in chapter 13 as Jesus washes Peter's feet he says to him "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me Me"(v7). Then Jesus makes himself comfortable and continues "...he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me (13:20)". He further explains this mystery saying, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you"(14:16,17). Jesus goes on, "...he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him"(v21). The word "disclose" is where we are going to now turn our interest.

In the text from chapter 16 above, the phrase "He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you" is repeated. It is quite clear that Jesus is emphasizing this activity of the Spirit of truth, God's Holy Spirit. And I think that this is a direct reference to prayer. The reason that I think it is prayer as opposed to some sort of supernatural implant is this. The context of this passage is deeply personal, relational. He is pointing out to the disciples that what they are becoming involved with is not only going to affect them in their earthly lives, but it will be the pattern of eternity. And the language that Jesus is using is very caring and intimate. This is meant to invite us to encounter the living God in prayer. Just the thought of such closeness which will meet our deepest needs provides motivation necessary to overcome all kinds of resistance. That is the power to pray.

The Source of Conflict In The Tale of Two Sons

The following, is what I composed for a recent talk that I gave as part of a series on the parable of the prodigal son. As a means of drawing out the underlying themes of the passage I asked the question; What is the source of the strife and conflict that is depicted for the two sons? What does the story indicate is the problem for these two characters?

The younger son deeply offends his father by asking for his inheritance early (while his father is still alive!). This is an outrageous request, he is not asking for financial assistance to purchase something, or for his father to pay for a trip for him. No, he wants what he has coming and he wants it now, so that he can spend it on his pleasure without thought of his father's wishes. This is spiteful, insolent and malicious. Why did he do this? Could he not just get by at home, dodging his work, drinking too much and fraternizing the local girls? Why did he turn on his father in this way?

It must be that his desire to shape his own destiny became what would define him. A future full of pleasure, with no rules, no authority and no pressure to conform to someone else's idea of who he should be is what awaited him once he had the resources. He probably didn't want to hurt his father in the beginning. Its just that as time went by it seemed more and more difficult to live up to the pattern that his older brother had set. His brother was always so good. As the first born son he seemed to get all the best things first and this younger son would get the seconds. Plus, he was the one that got the worst jobs dumped on him and the least amount of recognition. So, he knew that if he could get his share then he would be home free. The thing is that he had to totally disrespect his father.

What is the ultimate motivation for this kind of sin? There is no indication that this father had ever treated his sons with anything but love and acceptance. This cannot therefore be assumed to be a crime of retaliation or as an escape from an abusive home. Actually, the fact that the younger son asked for his inheritance and thought that he might receive it says something about the kind of father he had. No, family breaking sin, father crushing sin comes from a misplaced love. St Augustine is famously quoted as saying that we murder not because we hate but because we love something too much; our pride has been injured, our beloved has been wooed by another suitor, or our wealth is being threatened.

What about the older son? What did he do wrong? Apparently, at least in his mind, nothing. At his father's acceptance of his wayward younger brother. this son gets angry. Why is he angry and what does that tell us about him? He seems to indicate that he is upset over the father's generosity to his brother. He does not mention the disgrace that would have been overlooked. He does not want to defend his family's image and insist that his brother should not be so quickly forgiven. He instead seems deeply concerned that his father has given his younger brother a party and that this represents some inequality. His position, status and wealth are at stake. He is offended that even though he "never disobeyed an order" his father has not given him this kind of lavish celebration. If their father will treat his younger son this way given his poor record of behaviour, then his trust in his good record earning him favour and position is being destroyed. The older son's response is deeply painful and sinful. He first refuses to attend the party, an insult to his father, then when confronted by his father he lashes out exposing a greedy underbelly to his good behaviour.

Both sons fell prey to idols. They found their identity outside of being sons of their father and they wanted to take what they could from him to serve their desires. This is a temptation for all people. We are made to worship and we do it even if we aren't religious. Often the primary object of our worship is self. And our worship of self is often tied to some kind of internal process of thought. We use everything around us to make us feel good, to give ourselves a sense of security, to identify who we believe we really are. This has always been a problem:

The Tower of Babel - Genesis 11:4

"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

The Nation of Israel Under the Judges - Judges 3:7

"The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs."

The Nation of Israel Under the Kings - 2 Chronicles 28:1,2

"Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and also made cast idols for worshiping the Baals."

The Christian Church - Galatians 4:8,9

"Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God-or rather are known by God-how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?"

How can we expose the presence of idols in our lives? I think that one way, which I have taken from Tim Keller and Edmund Clowney, is by seeing our breaking of the ten commandments 3-10 as actually ultimately breaking the first two, that is to have no other God besides Yahweh and to not make for ourselves any idols or worship them. Lets take a couple of minutes to look at the ten commandments. If you have your Bibles turn with me to Exodus 20.

1. You shall have no other Gods before me.

Here God introduces himself as "the Lord your God", adding that he was the one to bring them out of slavery. That is the God of redemption.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol. or worship it.

He declares himself to be jealous, an attribute that coincides with true love.

3. You shall not use God's name in vain.

To do so denies the power of his name. It takes something special and makes it common. It essentially brings him down and makes him equal to other things, at least in your speaking of him.

4. Remember the sabbath (day of rest), to keep it holy.

Taking at least one day off of work, labour and striving gives consideration to the fact that God is God and he is sovereign and in control. No one else can compare to him in this sense.

5. Honour your father and mother.

Respect for authority is essential in teaching us to relate to God. If we cannot submit to the most essential of human authorities how will we submit to God?

6. You shall not murder.

Anger that leads to violence is ultimately the result of a god-complex and we are asserting ourselves. We must trust God to fulfil his word, "vengeance is mine, I will repay". Or there is something that we value way too much and are afraid of losing it.

7. You shall not commit adultery.

God ought to be our all satisfying pleasure. Sexual sin comes as a result of wanting to be made much of and failing to see that God has already made much of us. And he wishes our marriages to echo the faithfulness of himself to his "pure and spotless bride" the church.

8. You shall not steal.

We need to learn to trust God to be the provider of our wealth. Our tax evading, illegal media duplicating and ducking out of work early are all efforts to get good things at someone else's cost instead of trusting Jesus to meet our needs.

9. You shall not give false testimony (lie).

The lies we tell are representative of failing to trust God for the effects of the truth. And when we tell lies to hide the truth about our own shortcomings we are ignoring God's grace and resisting the need for repentance.

10. You shall not covet.

Wanting others things, relationships, positions etc are ignoring the greatest gift of eternal life in Christ and failing to be satisfied by him.

To sum up this list an idol can also be described as a functional saviour. That is, something that we turn to at a difficult point in our journey to "save" us or to make us feel good. Jesus is the only worthy saviour, and the only one who actually does save us and meets our every need. Idols always leave us wanting.

What can we do about this? Does the parable offer us any clues? It surely does give us help. Like the younger son we need to run to our father. And the Scriptures make it very clear, the way to get to God is Jesus. Even for those of you who have been Christians a long time, there is a constant need to refocus on Christ. The idols were always creeping in for the people of Israel, and they had success when they were proactive. When they went to war against anything that would be worshiped instead of the one true God.

I have been reading "The City of God" by St Augustine and in it he spends great energy describing the pagan rituals and beliefs and the silliness of thinking that these false gods would offer any hope. He points out something that I found very interesting, given that this book is 1600 years old, that the primary way of promoting the false gods was through entertainment. The greek tragedies describe the escapades of the pantheon of gods and the citizens of the Roman empire attended these as their chief form of entertainment. Augustine pulls no punches in declaring that this propagation is the work of demons. It is safe to say, demons are at work to encourage idolatry by influencing culture, media and general perceptions. Resulting in the guiding and correcting influence of conscience, Scripture and the Holy Spirit being ignored and forgotten. Maybe, just maybe, that realization could cause us to be more critical of our entertainment diet. Are we enjoying web content, television, music and movies that feed our idols? Its safe to say that in this era of media overload we could all make better choices. But, that's nothing new. Take the song "Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations its from 1968. I was listening to it this week and the lyrics go like this:

"…Why do you build me up, Buttercup baby,

just to let me down and mess me around.

And then worst of all, you never call baby,

when you say you will, (say you will) but I love you still.

I need you (I need you) more than anyone darling

you know that I have right from the start.

So, build me up Buttercup, don't break my heart…"

Take it from this guy, relationships make terrible idols.

So, what do we do?

The answer is so simple, that it might seem trite to even say it. Seek Jesus first, "and all these things will be given to you" (Matt 6:33). But its not always that easy for many people their idols are too important. So we need to be reminded of the promises that are available to those who believe in the Gospel, that Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost!

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matt 7:7,8)

Jesus is everything seek him and he will reward you (Hebrews 11:6)

Pray to God. Be bold, because Jesus lives to petition God on our behalf. You might need to come to Christ for the first time. If so, don't wait just do it, ask him to meet you where you are. To show himself to you and to give you the strength to open the door for him to come into you.

Or you might be a follower of Christ, maybe even for a long time and you are just feeling dry and stale. Go to him, claim his promise to answer your prayer and fill your heart with more love. Ask for a Mount Carmel experience to show his superiority to the idols in your life. I take great encouragement when I hear about the prayer life of others and one of my favourites is Jonathan Edwards, an 18th century pastor and theologian, in his journal he writes the following:

"From about that time, I began to have a new kind of apprehensions and ideas of Christ, and the work of redemption and the glorious way of salvation by him… I walked abroad alone, in a solitary place in my father's pasture, for contemplation. And as I was walking there, and looking up on the sky and clouds, there came into my mind so sweet a sense of the glorious majesty and grace of God… I felt God, so to speak, at the first appearance of a thunder storm; and used to take the opportunity, at such times, to fix myself in order to view the clouds, and see the lightnings play, and hear the majestic and awful voice of God's thunder, which often times was exceedingly entertaining, leading me to sweet contemplations of my great and glorious God."

Jonathan Edwards, Personal Narrative