7 Things You Didn't Know About The Bible

Here are seven tidbits about the Bible that you may not already know.  These are all well-known to the people (pastors, theologians) that study in the field but is information that rarely makes it into a sermon.

1. We may very well have an original document from the New Testament.

There are some documents from the New Testament that have been discovered that date very close to when the original would have been penned. Much depends on how and when you date both the manuscripts and authorship of them, but it's fun to think about.  (I always had the impression that some of my seminary professors thought it very likely, although wouldn't say it outright since there was no way to confirm it.) 

Part of Papyrus 46.

2. Greek with no spaces and Hebrew with no vowels.

Have you seen on Facebook those memes where words are typed with numbers or characters and you can still read it?  That's similar to how people wrote thousands of years ago.  They relied on the brawn and brains of the readers to figure out all the stuff in between.

3. A woman helped translate the New Testament.

Barbara Aland works as an editor for the  Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, which is the Greek text translators use to then translate into English. It's a compilation of orginal language manuscripts.  She also played a part in the highly regarded Greek-English dictionary that translators rely on called BDAG. 

4. Textual Criticism is the field of study relating to old documents. 

Textual Criticism is also not exclusive to Biblical texts but all historic documents.  The techniques in this field can be applied to anything from documents of Shakespeare to a bunch of torn up letters from 100 years ago you found in your attic.  

5. Your Bible tells you how it was translated.

Ever read any of that boring stuff at the front and back of your Bible?  Every Bible I've seen has at least a few pages going over their translation techniques.  Many will have a great deal of information and resources on the topic.  It's actually worth taking a look at every now and then.

6. New Testament manuscripts get categorized by presumed location of scribe.

It's called a text-type and is based on certain distinctions that show up within all the documents in that category.  The three prominent ones are called Byzantine, Alexandrian and Western.  This is actually important to know because different translations are based on the use or combination of different text-types.  The Nestle-Aland (referenced above) uses all text-types but favors the Alexandrian.  The King James Version is based on the Byzantine. 

7. Wondering how that Bible gets into your hands?

It goes something like this:  

• Start with tons of really old, kinda old and not so old manuscripts in the original language.
• Someone like Barbara Aland takes those manuscripts and puts them into one original language document like the Nestle-Aland 28. 
• English speakers use that document to translate into English.  (They may still look at other manuscripts if they feel it's needed.)
• Often the translators are working with a publisher such as Zondervan, so then the finished translation easily finds its way into your heart home.

My featured book: "The Lost Letters of Pergamum"

 As a preteen I read fiction all the time. I couldn't get enough of it. Nowadays I only read non-fiction except for those occasional times I get it in my brain I need to branch out and read fiction. I usually enjoy it but it doesn't intrigue me now like non-fiction does.

The Lost Letters of Pergamum

I believe story is important. Even in non-fiction writing if it doesn't hit on elements of 'story' the writing is dull, boring and encyclopedic. I tend to fill my need for story and imagination mainly through television. This seems to put me on a lower culture wrung in many people's minds. I've studied a bit in script writing and it's not easy. I can't imagine having to make the sets, costumes, shoot and edit a television show or movie. It's hard. Some things on television are poorly done and trashy but some books are too.

Okay, back on topic. For October book month I'm featuring The Lost Letters of Pergamum by Bruce Longenecker. In seminary I had to read this book and enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I typically cringe at historical fiction. As an analytic left-brainer putting up with the fuzzy or made-up details I feel fill most historical fiction books drives me nuts. Usually historical fiction authors are writers who decide to write a book based in a different time period and then spend six months to a year researching the time period to find some accuracies to add to the writing.

In The Lost Letters the author has a Ph.D. in Theology and is an expert in the New Testament. This means that when he writes about the time period of the New Testament he comes from the point of view not of a writer trying to find a good topic but of someone who through his extensive study dreamt up a story he wanted to tell. He also takes pains to make sure the reader understands what is purely fiction and what is not with an explanation at the beginning and an appendix.

I also like this book because it helped me understand how people during the New Testament time period wrote and transmitted letters. It filled in for me many of the blanks about how letters in the New Testament came to be in such widespread use. Since I live after the invention of the printing press my ability to fully understand how this worked was beyond me. The use of story and imagination filled in the gaps that non-fiction couldn't and for that I'm appreciative.

The book tells the story of a man that starts reading Luke's history about Jesus and begins wondering about what is true or not. The story accounts a series of letters recently discovered nowadays and published in a book for current day readers to read. The letters are correspondence from Antipas to Luke and others during the time Antipas was reading and learning about Jesus. It's a great read!