Not Everything in Our Bibles Is Inspired - Synopsis

1. Not Everything in Our Bibles Is Inspired

This is basically an introduction to the theme and content of the book. I chose not to call it "Introduction" as readers tend to skip the introduction to a book...

2. "Chapter One"

This "first chapter" looks at the origin of the Scriptures, how they were originally written, and the development of "additions", in particular the division into our modern chapters. It is the chapter with most "information", and least "application", laying a foundation for understanding the nature of the inspired autographs, their transmission to modern times, and the addition of other items to aid understanding over the centuries. The next chapter develops an application of the misunderstandings caused by holding too rigidly to these chapter divisions imposed later on writings that were originally unified literary compositions.

3. "And I Looked For a Man Among Them..."

As a continuation of the previous one, this chapter develops the theme of the artificial division of the Biblical writings into chapters by looking at the connection between Romans 8 and 9, the position of security for the Christian, and Paul’s desire to be able to lose his own salvation on behalf of his own people, with an application concerning the need for intercession for the nations. It also includes a comparison with Moses and Aaron’s intercession in the books of Exodus and Numbers. Our intercession can and must make a difference for world evangelisation.

4. Did You Know That...?

"... the name Jehovah is not in our Bibles?" The name Jehovah used in KJV where NIV uses "LORD" is not biblical. Yet few know the origins of this name, and it causes much confusion with Jehovah’s Witnesses in evangelism in countries where evangelical Christians also use the name. The chapter gives a brief explanation of the name Jehovah and how it originated.

5. A Fine Little Number - What Verses Have To Do With Women

I look at the division of paragraphs and verses in Ephesians 5.21-22, a division which is present in the majority of our Bibles, but is untenable in reading from the original Greek, which contains no verb in verse 22, depending irremediably on the "submit" in the previous verse. This has resulted in the submission of wives being separated from its right context of mutual submission in the Christian family; instead it tends to be applied in historical and contemporary Christian thought as a separate command to women in general. The chapter thus touches on the concept of the submission of women and women in leadership.

6. The Most Surprising Verse in the Bible

This is a "motivational" chapter based on the separation of Colossians 1.23 from verse 24 by the subtitle in the majority of editions. This interpolation separates Paul’s train of thought in the original Greek, and removes his suffering from the context of the suffering of Christ, "completing that which was lacking" in Christ’s earthly suffering. It constitutes an invitation to accept suffering as part of the price of world evangelisation, in contrast to the "comfort" gospel proclaimed today.

7. The Parable of the Soils

This chapter comments on the titles used for biblical sections, and how these can distract our understanding from the real thrust of a passage. Thus the "Prodigal Son" is perhaps better entitled the "Prodigious Father", for example. The "Parable of the Sower" deals rather with the difference in "soils", the varying receptivity of different persons/areas to the sowing of the gospel seed by the Son of God himself, and seeks to demonstrate that equal results must not be expected in different areas. Long term missionary success demands that supporting churches understand this.

8. The Woman That You Gave Me

This chapter looks at a Christian approach to sexuality. I interpret 1 Corinthians 7 in the light of the lack of punctuation in the original text, and the fact that Paul was answering questions sent to him by the church at Corinth. "It is good for a man not to touch a woman" thus better belongs to these questions, NOT to Paul’s answer, and in the rest of the chapter Paul then counters this pre-Gnostic and philosophical thought that was entering the church. The supremacy of celibacy and the evil of sexual relations is the legacy of the church’s failure to understand this over the centuries, and women have become the scapegoat of the spiritual man’s personal failure. It is an attempt to show Paul’s positive attitude to women and to sexuality in general.

9. Do You Love Me More Than These?

Here I look at Peter’s restoration to ministry in John 21, in particular highlighting the different Greek words used in Jesus’ questions and Peter’s answers, and the failure of most translations to bring this out, thus completely losing the thrust of verse 17. I then link this passage back to Peter’s original call whilst fishing, and the need for failure to bring us to a place of full and complete reality in our self-assessment before we can truly be useful to God in his work.

10. "First Hezekiah, Chapter Four..."

This chapter contains lessons from intertestamental history, in particular from the missionary message of the Apocrypha, which, though not inspired, contain invaluable information to understand God’s preparation of Israel for the Messiah and the Church’s initial missionary movement. I look closely at the development of the recognition of Yahweh as a universal God that took place during the captivity, rather than the peculiar property of a relatively insignificant Middle Eastern people.

11. Did You Also Know That...?

"...the order of our books in the Bible is also not inspired?" This is another short chapter, that gives a brief history of why the books in our Bibles are in the order they are, introducing the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and its importance for the early Church’s mission movement.

12. Do You Understand What You Are Reading?

Here I follow up the previous chapter’s introduction to the Septuagint, looking at the place of the translation of the Scriptures. It contrasts the "translatability" of the Bible with the cultural stagnation of the Qur’an, and attempts to support the attempt to bring the Scriptures to the peoples of the world in their own languages. I look in particular at God’s "authorisation" of the whole translation process by the fact that the majority of quotes from the Old Testament in the New are NOT taken from the original Hebrew, but rather from the Septuagint, a rather wooden and often inaccurate translation of the Hebrew into Greek. The variations we perceive in the original Old Testament and the quoted form in the New are usually due to this. So what? The Old Testament Hebrew was inspired by God. The Greek New Testament is also inspired. But the Septuagint is an uninspired translation. But into these inspired New Testament documents God chose to insert totally uninspired Greek translations (often patently incorrect!) of His inspired original Word. Thus the human is clothed with the divine! It would appear that God is more interested in his Word reaching the nations in some form than pedantic accuracy. A bad translation in the language of the people is better than none, and he can speak through it with no problem whatsoever. I finish with an emphasis on getting this job done today, rather than worrying about which translation is "best", important though that is too.

13. Are We in Concordance?

The title of this chapter in Spanish is "¿Concordamos?", giving a play on the word for "concordance" and "agreement". It works in Portuguese too, but is not so good in English... (The book was first published in Portuguese, then in Spanish.) The chapter includes a look at our use of concordances, and the fact that these do NOT tell us much about the original, but rather about our translations. The specific example refers to the words used for "curse" in Gen.12.2-3 and "insignificant" in Is.49.6 being from the same root in Hebrew. I apply this to God’s perception of the task of his servant, that of being a light to the nations, as opposed to gathering the lost ones of Israel. It is a call to the Church to recognise missionary commitment as its first and foremost God given priority over and above any programme of self-aggrandisement.

14. Something Old, Something New

In this chapter I comment on the blank page that separates Old and New Testaments, and the historic neglect of the Old Testament in the Christian Church. It challenges the modern evangelical theological presupposition that the Old Testament is purely about Law (and therefore essentially irrelevant to us, other than as a source for sermon illustrations and Sunday School stories), and that the New Testament is only about grace. The main thrust of the chapter is a review of the missionary message of the Old Testament, generally overlooked by modern Christians, tracing God’s desire to reach the nations through all ages. It finishes with an application to the modern Church of God’s solution for the ethnocentric nation of Israel - we must learn the lessons of history, or we are liable to suffer their repeat!

15. "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

The Bible is certainly inspired by God, but just what does that inspiration mean? This chapter looks at Psalm 137, in particular the last verse, and examines the concept of the "inspiration" of such texts. Putting the verse into its historical context, we find a powerful missions message that stems from the heartfelt cry of the people of God as they grappled with the national disaster that had overtaken them. The very next psalm illustrates the results of this process.

16. No Comment

This chapter is a critique of the commentaries that are included within our Bibles, specifically the Brazilian Pentecostal Study Bible’s notes on Acts 1.8, and the complete failure to mention the nations in its commentary on this verse. Whilst a personal Pentecostal experience is to be recommended, and the commentaries contain nothing "wrong", the failure to even mention the missionary significance of this verse is a lack of enormous proportions, particularly as this verse serves as a conceptual centre or "contents page" for the whole of the book of Acts. My conclusion? The book of Acts is still being written, with its central characters those who are involved in the spread of the Gospel into new areas.

17. And Finally, Brethren

The final chapter is one of conclusions, drawing the threads together, and finishing with a call to obey the message of the Bible that we do know is inspired. It is a simple call to personal commitment to God, and to playing our part, whatever that may be, in the fulfilment of the Great Commission, Christ’s final command to His Church.

Postscript and Appendix

The book finishes with a personal postscript, explaining how my "unrepentant missionary bias" has found expression. The appendix contains resources for understanding the Bible better. The book also has a subject index and index of Scripture references.

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