The Written Word

By Stephen Baker

In THE WRITTEN WORD, you will read the amazing story of how God's Word originally came to man, how it was preserved over the centuries, and how it has been translated into the English language. The author writes from a conservative, pro-Received Text and pro-KJV viewpoint.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stephen Baker
• Release date: Apr 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370633661

Stephen Baker

STEPHEN BAKER is the author of Raised, Relationship and Fellowship, Repentance: God's Marvelous Gift, and other books and Bible studies. He and his wife, April, have served as full-time foreign missionaries with MWBM, and Stephen has been privileged to teach the Word of God in the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Peru, the Philippines and South Africa; as well as in the USA. Stephen pastors a church, and serves God in local jail ministry. He also preaches weekly on the Bible Expositor's Podcast on SermonAudio.com. Stephen is a graduate of Crown Seminary in Powell, Tennessee, and a member of the Trinitarian Bible Society.

Book preview

Contents

THE WRITTEN WORD

Copyright Information

Dedication

Spurgeon, on the importance of not being ignorant of theology.

Disclaimers

BIBLIOLOGY: The Doctrine of Scripture

Definitions

PART I: THE MIRACULOUS WORD OF GOD

1. Inspiration: God Breathed His Word.

2. Revelation: God Reveals Himself Through His Word.

3. Preservation: God Keeps His Word.

4. Canonicity: God Made Sure That We Would Have All Of His Words.

5. Illumination: God Shines The Light On His Words.

6. Authority: God’s Word Is Supreme.

PART II: GOD’S WORD AND MAN

7. Textural Criticism: Man Reconstructs The Original Manuscripts Of God’s Word.

8. Higher Criticism: Man Investigates The Background of God’s Word.

9. Translation: Man Translates God’s Word Into Other Languages.

10. Interpretation: Man Understands God’s Word.

Works Cited

About The Author

Other Books by This Author

Connect with Stephen Baker

THE WRITTEN WORD

The Written Word: How we got our Bible from Genesis to King James

By Stephen D. Baker, M. Min.

Copyright Information

THE WRITTEN WORD

How we got our Bible, from Genesis to King James

Copyright 2013, 2018 Stephen Baker.

Published by CrossLife Press™ at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ALL SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS ARE FROM THE AUTHORIZED VERSION (KJV) unless otherwise noted. Quotations from other English versions are given for comparison purposes and do not constitute an endorsement of those versions.

OTHER ENGLISH VERSIONS UNDER COPYRIGHT USED FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES:

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Dedication

Dedicated To The Memory Of Keith Kiser,

My Bible Doctrines Professor.

I’ve Found The Book!

Spurgeon, on the importance of not being ignorant of theology.

Be well instructed in theology, and do not regard the sneers of those who rail at it because they are ignorant of it. Many preachers are not theologians, and hence the mistakes which they make. It cannot do any hurt to the most lively evangelist to be also a sound theologian, and it may often be the means of saving him from gross blunders. Nowadays, we hear men tear a single sentence of Scripture from its connection, and cry, ‘Eureka! Eureka!’ as if they had found a new truth; and yet they have not discovered a diamond, but only a piece of broken glass. Had they been able to compare spiritual things with spiritual, had they understood the analogy of the faith, and had they been acquainted with the holy learning of the great Bible students of past ages, they would not have been quite so fast in vaunting their marvelous knowledge. Let us be thoroughly well acquainted with the great doctrines of the Word of God, and let us be mighty in expounding the Scriptures. -C. H. Spurgeon, from Lectures to my Students

Disclaimers

Sometimes I quote from Wikipedia. While this website is not known for its stellar accuracy, the articles quoted are well sourced and the quotes are accurate.

This should go without saying, but just because I quote from person x who teaches at university y, it does not mean that I am necessarily endorsing the university, or everything that person x believes and teaches.

While I discuss the translation of the KJV in THE WRITTEN WORD, this is not a book about the King James Bible (a subject on which there have been numerous books published). THE WRITTEN WORD is a book about how the Bible was authored (in its original languages) and how the words of these originals were preserved through the centuries, and ultimately translated into English. It tells this story from a historical and theological perspective and gives a simple explanation of Bibliology (the doctrine of the Bible). I have written this book from a pro-Received Text, and pro-KJV viewpoint.

BIBLIOLOGY: The Doctrine of Scripture

Introduction:

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. - (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

Solomon, the great Hebrew King, said these words close to three thousand years ago. Every student knows that much study is a weariness of the flesh. What we are especially interested in today is what Solomon said about books: Of making many books there is no end. Writing has been around for over 5,000 years. Is it any wonder that God would choose writing and books as the way to preserve and spread His message to generations of people?

Bibliology is the study of books. Specifically, sixty-six books which together form one great book: The Bible.

Why the Bible?

LOGIC tells us that if there is a God, it stands to reason that He would want to reveal Himself to His creation. If God wanted to reveal Himself, then obviously, He would use some means to do so. There is only one means that God could have