The Heretic's Guide to Doctrine

By Daboniel Hereticus

This book is intended to open Christians' minds up to other Christians and to help improve dialog between them. It deals with where a lot of them are coming from doctrinally, and the problems to be dealt with on both sides. There is a core to all true Christians that should bind us, but we cannot do that as long as we cannot be open with our differences and open-minded enough to understand why some people believe what they do. Mature Christians should be able to talk about the elephant in the room. I am of the firm belief that if everybody was coming from the Bible with what they believed, we would have a lot more agreement. (And the world would hate us all the more.) I certainly do not expect every Christian to agree with me on everything. It is not for nothing I call myself Hereticus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098006075

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The

Heretic’s

Guide to Doctrine

Daboniel Hereticus

ISBN 978-1-0980-0606-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0980-1198-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-0980-0607-5 (digital)

Copyright © 2019 by Daboniel Hereticus

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All scriptures, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible version of the Holy Bible.

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Part 2

19

20

21

Part 3

22

23

Part 4

Nonbiblical Books and the Canon

24

25

26

27

28

Part 5

How Much Do You Have to Know?

Part 6

The Churches

Part 7

29

30

Part 8

31

32

Acknowledgments

To those who have helped me on my way:

Mickey Stevens who witnessed to me when I was very lost for a long time until I got saved.

Louis Seta and Tommy Brown who were the elders of the brother’s house I lived in when I first got saved and all the other brothers there in Boulder, Colorado.

Gerald Wilson whose church was an oasis of sanity and still full of the Spirit in the ’70s and for decades later in Jackson, Mississippi.

Pat Street who was my pastor and friend.

Brother Sharp whom I have mentioned in here before who took a crazy person seriously and had real answers from the Bible.

Neil Silverberg and Steve Fatow who co-pastored the church I was in and were as different from each other as you might be able to imagine but were very cohesive in bringing a church to the will of God.

David Castor who was my pastor and friend.

Bryan and Lynette Wilson with whom I finally had a church in my home town where I could feel at home.

Thanks to Steve Thornton, Buddy Abadie, Buddy Brooks, Warner Houston, Michael Rodgers, Quinn Crawford, Link Hudson, Ben Musclow, Chase Chad Young, and all my lifelong friends who could talk about anything with me and not just spout platitudes they had learned to parrot, who never shied away from talking about the elephant in the room. There is nothing like real fellowship.

Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another (Prov. 27:17).

If I could do one thing with this book, it would be to get people’s noses in their Bibles. I taught a Sunday school class once and brought up a subject that they had strong and diverse opinions on but very little Bible knowledge. It was a bunch of teenagers and they started delving into their Bibles to find answers. Even though I do not think they ever agreed 100 percent with each other, they learned that there was an argument for both sides and that they needed to learn more about it themselves. And they came to know their Bibles far better than they had before. I think it even brought them closer to each other in the end. I wish a whole lot of people would do that. I think if the only theological book we read was the Bible, and that was the only source we used for our version of Christianity, we would all agree a lot more. There might still be only one church (which is the case in the reality of the Spirit as opposed to the delusion of this world).

Grace to you in abundance and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Preface

This book is going to be about doctrine. Doctrine was a dirty word back during the charismatic renewal of the seventies, and many people would tell you they were not into doctrine while they carried tape after tape of some teacher(s) that they listened to continually. Such was their doctrine concerning doctrines, and they were quite fervent in their doctrine about doctrine, especially the doctrines they weren’t into.

Some doctrines are more important than others, certainly. And you must believe something, surely, to call yourself a believer. And if you do not believe some particular things, you certainly are not a Christian, but an unbeliever. Some want to use the term Christian to mean whatever they consider a nice person, by whatever their definition of that is, but Christian does have a more specific definition. Christian is a biblical term, and there is no indication in the Bible that it was coined by non-Christians as a derogatory term, though, no doubt, it was spoken derogatorily by unbelievers as it is now. It was in Antioch the term Christian was first coined (Acts 11:20–26) and without reference to non-Christians. But it was disciples who were called Christians, not interested bystanders who might or might not attend meetings. It is probable that either Paul or Barnabas coined the term since they were teaching there.

I will try to put the most important doctrines first, though that is a major debate in itself. Some doctrines are worth breaking fellowship over and some are not. It seems to me that many have failed to discern where that line should be drawn, but I am a heretic, so what do I know? But I will seek biblical justification, and, of course, that brings us back to that dirty word, doctrine. What is your doctrine concerning doctrine? There is certainly no virtue in ignorance. Matthew 15:9 says, But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. The word doctrine only means teaching.

Have you ever been trying to have a rational conversation with someone about biblical concepts and heard them say, Well, I just believe… which could be followed by anything, no matter how lame, inane, or unbiblical? Some people like what they believe on their own and just don’t want the Bible to upset their faith! Faith in what? God? Not if they choose to ignore His word!

Sometimes a fine line has profound implication. We should be ready to realize that everyone believes they are right, whether for good reasons or lesser reasons. But those who seek truth must believe that it can be found and grasped. But there is just so much to know! God is not a simpleton.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would not accept my counsel, they spurned all my reproof. So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices. For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. (Prov. 1:7, 22, 29–32)

For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; Discretion will guard you, Understanding will watch over you, To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things; From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness; (Prov. 2:10-13)

The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding. (Prov. 4:7)

Do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might. (Eph. 1:16–19)

And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both. (Eccles. 2:13–14)

There is no justification for remaining a simpleton, but this I do advise: read the Bible continuously, all of it, not just your favorite verses, but read all of it. Read it praying for understanding. There is too much ignorance of it now. We have Bibles everywhere now, in this country at least, and I wonder what percentage of people is really that much more knowledgeable of it than when the Bible was only in churches or monasteries or the homes of the extremely wealthy, and you had to rely on someone else to tell you what was in there?

Get a good Bible that is as literal as you can stand. The KJV is decent but has its weaknesses. Divine inspiration should not be said to extend to any translation, but only to the original words as written, so a faithful and literal translation is better; several to compare is better still. I will be using a New American Standard Bible for the most part in this writing and all quotes will be from it unless otherwise noted, though I have also used interlinear Bibles and Young’s Literal Translation, ASV, KJV, and done countless word studies in the original languages also. Sometimes a hair’s difference in translation is a mountain of difference in implication. Do word studies!

All doctrine is important, Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened. A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.

Everything we really believe will affect to some degree everything else we believe even if our beliefs are inconsistent. It also affects our attitudes and the state of our hearts.

But we need to keep in mind: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2).

See? It does make a difference to know the truth and believe it! But no one knows everything yet, because Jesus has not yet appeared. Don’t put your faith in your own infallibility, as some have done, confusing their understanding of the Bible with the infallibility of God’s Word. But we must believe He will give us understanding of it as we seek it while reading it.

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil {one} comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road (Matt. 13:19).

You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you (Deut. 4:2).

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Rev. 22:18–19).

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies (1 Cor. 8:1).

We must consider love a higher calling, but it is important to know truth accurately. And let’s face it, if two people truly disagree, then at least one of them is wrong, maybe both! I tried explaining this to a humanist one time who argued with me vehemently over the issue, quite sure that I could not be right and they could not be wrong. Everyone believes they are right. Listen to people tell you why they believe what they believe. They might have a good argument. Heck, they might be right! My mind has been changed a few times. If the Lord can’t change your mind, you can’t learn. If you are not changing, you are not growing.

Some people are not lovers of truth and it is beyond some to go deep. The longest lasting and most intimate friends I have are the ones who have argued with me the most, calling me to account for every word, and still I knew they loved me and they have remained my friends for my entire life. Peace be to them, they know who they are. But that sort of thing can try relationships if they are not strong and the people strong too.

I am not going to dwell on the authority of the Bible a whole lot in this preface. It is evident that the Lord and the apostles also accepted the Old Testament as authoritative for all doctrinal proof and He placed the apostles in charge, which put authority in their words. I will have a section that deals with the authority of the Bible. It is hard to find a starting place; everything is interrelated.

One thing I have always been impatient with is people who imply that the Bible didn’t mean to say what it said. Such people make themselves the standard by which the Bible is judged. May God have mercy on us all.

If you love your church, your standing in your church, the respect of your fellowman, if you are afraid to be called a heretic for the danger of losing the above for the sake of the truth, then your god is not He who said, To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn (Isa. 8:20).

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no {firm} root in himself, but is {only} temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. (Matt 13:19–22)

Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’ (John 14:6).

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so (Acts 17:11).

And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved (2 Thess. 2:10).

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints (Jude 1:3).

All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him (Matt. 11:27).

Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering (Luke 11:52).

Some people are going to be mad at me for what they read in here. Some may not love me anymore. I hope they realize that, exactly how wrong they think I am, that’s how wrong I think they are. I hope their minds will be open to what is of the Lord and blocked to what is only of me. May He open His truth to us. If you do not want your thinking challenged on anything, do not read this book. But I would say that it is highly likely the Lord is going to challenge your thinking anyway, and if you intend to follow Him, you should learn to get used to it. You can disagree with me all day long, but you had better listen when He corrects you; though maybe you, unlike me, or anyone else I know, have always believed everything that is correct.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him (Eph. 1:17).

God bless!

Part 1

1

The Bible

I put this second originally, but this should be first since the rest will be predicated on the Bible. I don’t believe the Bible to be more important than your relationship with Jesus, but if you are going to understand it and talk about it, the Bible is extremely important.

Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam (Eccles. 8:1).

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law (Deut. 29:29).

The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall observe to do forever; and you shall not fear other gods (2 Kings 17:37).

So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever (Ps. 119:44).

In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years (Dan. 9:2).

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn (Isa. 8:20).

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished" (Luke 18:31).

Because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled (Luke 21:22).

Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled’ (Luke 24:44).

Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes?’ (Matt. 21:42).

But Jesus answered and said to them, ‘You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God’ (Matt. 22:29).

How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way? (Matt. 26:54).

Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27).

They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’ (Luke 24:32).

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me (John 5:39).

Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? (John 7:42).

If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came [and the Scripture cannot be broken] [Exod. 7:1] (John 10:35).

I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me’ (John 13:18).

For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words? (John 5:46–47).

It is fairly evident even from a light reading of the New Testament that they consider the Old Testament to be the Word of God. The amount of verses I could have listed would be exhausting. And we can see from the references in Isaiah and by Daniel to Jeremiah how seriously they took it.

But some cannot accept something strictly on its own testimony. Have you ever witnessed to someone and they said they didn’t believe the Bible? Did you try telling them they should because the Bible says so? We cannot tell if someone is honest because they say so. This will be a rational argument for accepting the Bible as credible, but ultimately it will be up to you to go to God for faith to believe. He can be very convincing.

The scriptures of the Jews were famous far beyond their own borders. Consider the Ethiopian eunuch: So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah (Acts 8:27–28).

The copy of Isaiah cost him a pretty penny. Scriptures were not cheap when they had to be copied by hand and were only valuable as far as they were accurate. This copy was going to the royal court of Ethiopia. The fact is, Ethiopia became the repository of many Jewish Scriptures. Why?

The Septuagint was a translation into Greek that began with the Law and was commissioned by Ptolemy, king of Egypt, through a Jew in his service, Aristeas. This was because he wanted all famous books of great significance to the world in his library in Alexandria, a major hub of learning and later a major Christian hub. Because it was so important, he set free the Jewish captives (over a hundred thousand) under his authority to encourage the High Priest at that time, Eleazar, to cooperate, and paid for seventy-two of the elders of Israel to translate it into Greek, the universal language of the time. This certainly was not cheap. It is surprising today to hear of someone who was likely of another religion giving so much credibility to someone else’s scriptures.

Why had he done so much? The Jewish scriptures were famous. Made so partially by the captive Jews taking them into the lands to which they were carried, prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel who prophesied to kings of empires. And once known, the people of those lands could see that their prophets foretold the events they saw unfolding before their eyes. The Law was incredibly fair and just especially for that time in history. Keeping in mind what Jesus said, that Moses tolerated some things for the hardness of people’s hearts, it was still a stretch at that time! But it was the Law that said to love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself, and that is what we as Christians are called to today.

All the empires—Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and finally the Roman Empire—were foretold in correct sequence generations and centuries before they rose and fell. Isaiah had even named Cyrus, a king of Persia, by name (Isa. 44:28, 45:1) though Isaiah was dead before Jerusalem fell to Babylon, and Jeremiah had prophesied of what he would do as well, and Jeremiah’s scriptures were being read after he had died by Daniel in Babylon while it was still the big empire.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian had sent out proclamations about the God of Israel.

Herod inquired of the scriptures through the chief priests and scribes (Matt. 2) to know where the Messiah was born and they gave him the correct answer from the prophet Micah 5:2.

The magi had shown familiarity with the scriptures of the Jews. This may have been some of Daniel’s legacy since he was the chief magi of Babylon (Dan. 4:9, 5:11) and also served Persia.

There can be little rational doubt of the fame of the Jewish Scriptures. And there is little doubt of the exclusivity claimed by the writers of those scriptures for the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob being the only true God.

For prophets that speak for other gods:

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you. (Deut. 13:1–5)

For prophets that speak in the name of the Lord as well:

It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Deut. 18:19–22)

It was the ones who passed these tests that became the Bible prophets writers though they were not the only prophets. Elijah had no book though the Kings 1 and 2 was likely been maintained by the sons of the prophets.

It used to be thought they had no formal writing in ancient times, but they discovered writing on stone tablets that predates Abraham. The first five books of the Bible are attributed to Moses though it is obvious that someone scribed Deuteronomy since it records his death—Joshua perhaps? Either he or one of the priests likely scribed the book and possibly scribed the others. But maybe also it was one of the scribes. It’s hard to say who scribed Judges, except perhaps they were records kept by either the priests or by the judges themselves of whom Joshua would have been the first. Ruth, no doubt was included as a history of the family of David, but likely kept by the same ones responsible for 1 and 2 Samuel—Samuel, prophet, priest, and judge, being the leader of the prophets. The term sons of the prophets seems to have been formalized by the time of 1 Kings 20:35, 2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, and 15 and 2 Kings 4:1 and 38, 5:22, 6:1, 9:1, but no doubt would be from the same group as is mentioned in 1 Samuel 10:5–12 and 19:20–24. The Kings are simply the next books in sequence to the Samuels.

These sons of the prophets were probably responsible for the records at this point. The records may have been picked up again by the prophets after David. But the scribal records of the kingdom was likely started with Saul. I have seen an old KJV that simply lists the Samuels and Kings as 1, 2, 3, and 4 Kings. It is all one book. After the kingdom divided, the history of the northern kingdom, Israel, is recorded more in the Kings books than in Chronicles because of the prophets. Consider these verses:

Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer (1 Chron. 29:29).

Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? (2 Chron. 9:29).

Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, according to genealogical enrollment? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually (2 Chron. 12:15).

Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in the treatise of the prophet Iddo (2 Chron. 13:22).

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first to last, behold, they are written in the annals of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel (2 Chron. 20:34).

As to his sons and the many oracles against him and the rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the treatise of the Book of the Kings. Then Amaziah his son became king in his place (2 Chron. 24:27).

Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel (2 Chron. 32:32).

Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh even his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of Israel (2 Chron. 33:18).

His prayer also and how God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai [Hozai = Seers or Prophets] (2 Chron. 33:19).

Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of devotion as written in the law of the Lord (2 Chron. 35:26).

And his acts, first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chron. 35:27).

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim and the abominations which he did, and what was found against him, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiachin his son became king in his place (2 Chron. 36:8).

Notice how the writings are beginning to be more in the book of the Kings? But Chronicles is more strictly about Judah. I think that what we have today is a reliable compilation of these writings. They were becoming formalized as we get later into Chronicles. They are kind of like the Gospels, two witnesses talking about the same thing, each contributing details.

The Chronicles were scribal records compiled by Ezra, a scribe of the kingdom of Judah (though from the dispersion), right on through the book of Ezra which is obviously a continuation of the same record since the first verses are the same as the last verses of 2 Chronicles. They do not mention the mysterious group of prophets, unless the following is a reference:

Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm (1 Chron. 16:22).

The prophet Elijah is mentioned only once in the Chronicles, concerning a letter of prophecy he sent to the king. Elisha, his successor, is not mentioned at all, but we should remember that the prophets spent a lot of time in Israel when Judah and Israel were two different kingdoms, and so it makes sense that the scribal records would be mostly about Judah and the prophetic record would have more about Israel.

The scribal books are a historical record kept by Scribes in the fear of God. There were official scribes of the kingdom. The esteem Ezra had by the Jews was higher than might be realized. But his records were considered faithful by all involved and agree with the one kept by the prophets. Same with Nehemiah, though he probably never reached the same status Ezra did. Ezra brought about a revival of the law of God equivalent to what it would be like in the USA if everyone here decided to obey the Bible. Scribes who were involved in copying the scriptures became very familiar with them which explains their involvement in biblical debates during Jesus’s time and in teaching. The Chronicles and the Kings can be looked at like the four Gospels in the New Testament.

Esther is a book about a Jewish girl who was living as an exile in the Persian Empire and whose real name was Hadassah. She was being brought up by her uncle, Mordecai, who was faithful to the Persian king for whatever reason, but when the queen got uppity, the king held a beauty contest (and seemingly a sexual talent contest) and Esther won. They named her Esther after their fertility goddess (Ishtar) from whence we get the name Easter and from whence the Masons get the name of their female auxiliary Eastern Star, which is just the translation of the name Isthar. She was probably one hot mama! But she was also a brave and faithful Jewish woman.

Some have viewed this book askance because it never mentions the Name of God Proper (YHWH), but that is probably because it was scribed in Persia. Hers and Mordecai’s faithfulness and courage and how God used them is probably why this is in the Bible along with the fact that it is the origin of the Jewish holiday of Purim. You may not get any great doctrines out of this book, though you might learn wise behavior and be encouraged. It is mostly for inspiration. But it was also a history of the Jews while under the dominion of Persia after Babylon fell and before they returned to Jerusalem. Athanasius left it out of his canon but said it was good for reading.

The books between here and the prophets are considered literature. Some would say this means they are not to be taken literally, but there is no reason not to take them literally. Honesty seems to be a character trait required for anyone writing something to be taken as biblical scripture by those who preserved the records.

Job is the answer to pain and suffering, though it may not be the one you want. What is really good in this book is that it is like God’s answer to all the false explanations of pain and suffering. I disagree with those who say God never gives Job a straight answer. I think most of it is found at the last in the preaching of Elihu, whom God did not rebuke. And there is prophecy in Job (19:25–26).

Psalms is a collection from several authors as you can tell by reading through it. The prophecy in it is profound in places, and that is one reason to consider it scripture. Of course there is much inspiration and comfort in it and it helps us to understand what we may expect in a relationship with God as people like David bare their souls to God.

Proverbs, like Psalms, has more than one author and is a collection. But you might be surprised to find prophecy in Proverbs: Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son’s name? Surely you know! (Prov. 30:4).

Ecclesiastes, aside from giving Pete Seger the words to the song Turn! Turn! Turn! is a book of perspective. One should keep in mind the catch phrase in it, under the sun, which occurs twenty-seven times in this book and only once elsewhere in the Bible, which is saying this is how it is in the world. And that can be depressing. But it is comforting to know God does not approve of the evil we see in this world also.

Song of Songs, or Canticles, or Song of Solomon (is there anyone who can make a case for what this book should be called?) is a book about passionate physical love. This has its place in marriage and should not be disdained. It is also applicable to your relationship with the Lord, and it has a physical and spiritual application. Consider that when Paul likens a marital relationship to that of the Church and Christ, is he saying that marital relationships don’t count? Only the spiritual? But even our spiritual relationship with Christ should be fleshed out, and we should really praise Him, not just appreciate Him in our minds. There is a place for passion in worship like a marital relationship.

Like a parable, there is a physical reality to which the spiritual reality is compared for understanding. You don’t give a false physical reality in a parable to compare the truth of a spiritual reality to. There cannot be a spiritual relationship with God based on Song of Solomon that is good and acceptable unless the physical reality between a man and wife as expressed in this book is good and acceptable. In fact, I wonder if there is not a strong link between the two. If your attitude toward one is negative, how will your attitude toward the other be?

In this book, we are encouraged to let our love out and to express it fully. We should do the same with God and not hold back. If we really love Him and are not ashamed, what is holding us back from expressing it? We are supposed to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—not just pick a couple of these but all of them.

The prophets are the easiest part of this discussion. They are confirmed by the fulfillment of their prophecy and their mission. They are accepted by Jesus Christ Himself as being prophecy from God.

The books of the Old Testament were accepted by the prophets, whose authenticity is proven by their accuracy. They were accepted by Jesus Christ Himself and the apostles and even by those who opposed them. It was the common ground in every confrontation Jesus had with the religious people of His day. It would be wearying to list the times Jesus and the apostles quoted them as proof texts, and the times they said, It is written… If we do not accept the Old Testament as the Word of God, we do not believe what Jesus and the apostles believed.

This brings us to the New Testament.

The New Testament is basically a collection of apostolic writings. The original twelve or those recognized by them. The original twelve had some specific qualifications when they replaced Judas: Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us. Beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us--one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection (Acts 1:21–22).

First, they had to have been in on it beginning with the Baptism of John. They had to have been there when Jesus ascended. They had to have witnessed Jesus as resurrected. They had to have accompanied Jesus from the beginning.

If not for this, they were not qualified to be one of the twelve. Paul was not one of the twelve. For this reason, he goes back to Jerusalem and submits his Gospel to them (Gal. 2:2, also Acts 15). This does not mean Paul was not an apostle, but it does mean he was not one of the twelve, and he seems to acknowledge this distinction in Acts 16:4 and 2 Corinthians 12:11 where he coins a term over-apostles.

Paul does seem to list having seen the Lord as a requirement for apostleship (1 Cor. 9:1–2). And though he did not get his Gospel from the other apostles, but from the Lord, they confirmed it. Peter even refers to his Epistles as scripture (2 Pet. 3:16) And Paul himself did see the Lord.

Because there were many false texts going around, Paul starts marking his epistles with his own signature (he used scribes—Rom. 16:22). This was an issue in the early church and they quickly began to concern themselves with the authenticity of letters (2 Thess. 2:2). Most of the time, the letters themselves were carried by members of their own congregations who had come to Paul with support or for guidance, and the letters Paul sent back by their hands were passed around (Col. 4:16).

Pseudepigrapha (books written under someone else’s name) were common in those days, and so genuine apostolic writings that were confirmed as coming from the apostles were highly valued and treated as Holy Scripture. No one accepted a letter as being apostolic just because someone found a piece of paper somewhere that purported itself to have been written by an apostle, though most of the writings with fraudulent apostolic claims were written hundreds of years after the apostles when their fame was well known. The miracles they worked gave them authority that others wanted as well.

See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand (Gal. 6:11).

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you (Col. 4:18).

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write (2 Thess. 3:17).

I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it [not to mention to you that you owe to me even your own self as well] (Philem. 1:19).

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book (Rev. 22:18–19).

Careful scribing in the fear of God and the use of tools like grids resulted in faithful text copying. The words were numbered to verify authenticity. Faulty copies were trashed.

The apostles established hub churches at main cities and there were bishops overseeing these churches that were in contact with each other and before long copies of apostolic writings had been dutifully distributed among them. Our final canon came from Eusebius, who had been commissioned by Constantine. Constantine was the Roman emperor who legalized Christianity. He was not the one that made it the state religion. He was not perfect, but he was not guilty of a lot of the things said about him.

Eusebius was the bishop of Caesarea.

Jesus Himself had been there (Matt. 16:13).

He sent His disciples into the surrounding villages (Mark 8:27).

Philip the Evangelist settled there after the revival in Samaria and giving the Gospel to the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:40).

Paul escaped to there from Jerusalem (Acts 9:30).

This is where Cornelius was when Peter was sent to him and the Gentiles first received the Gospel and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:1–11:18).

Peter goes there after God busts him out of prison (Acts 12:19).

Paul visits the church there, evidently with Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:22).

Paul visits Philip and his prophetess daughters who are still living there and some disciples leave from there to travel with Paul (Acts 21:8, 16).

Paul is carried there on his way to Rome and testifies to Felix and Drusilla, Festus, King Agrippa, and Bernice (Acts 23–26) and spent years there with access to his friends.

This city had a strong Christian witness and an established church in it from the beginning. Eusebius was a church historian who had suffered persecution and remained faithful and traveled widely throughout different areas and churches. His church had been taught by Jesus and whatever apostles He had sent there originally, Philip, Peter, Paul, Barnabas and Priscilla, Aquila, and Luke who traveled with Paul. Eusebius was a church historian eminently qualified for the task.

He sorted what was available into four categories. Some of the books supposedly left out of the Bible had not yet been written. He had the following: (1) those universally accepted (these are all in our New Testament). (2) The disputed books are James, 2 Peter, Jude, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation. Obviously the second category made it into our New Testament as well. Then there were (3) the spurious books. These include the Epistle of Barnabas and the Didache. I would consider both of these books genuine Christian, but having read them, I would not put them on a level with the New Testament we have. Then (4) the forgeries of heretics.

The third category can make some interesting reading, but I wouldn’t consider it inspired. The Shepherd of Hermas is fiction writing like our modern fictional Christian authors. The Epistle of Barnabas (does not claim to be the Barnabas, though that itself might imply it was from the Barnabas) is pretty interesting as a reflection of early Christian thinking, but the author needs to check his science facts like concerning Hyenas in 10:7 and weasels in 10:8. This is a mark that it is not inspired.

I have read all the texts that Halley’s Bible handbook mentions as being listed by Eusebius in this fourth category, forgeries of heretics, and I have to say I agree. For one thing, they definitely contradict outright the books universally accepted; they seem to be based on fantastic stories with no relevance. They also change the character and nature of Jesus Christ. And there is no evidence of their existence for hundreds of years after Jesus. Eusebius’s church history is a good read. I recommend it. Though people will say some books were banned by the church! it was actually the church that preserved them so that we have them today.

Augustine speaks of when he was a Manichean and believed that he could not offer food to the poor, because food contained angels that were released through the passing of gas, and to give food to those common poor was like condemning those angels to hell. If you want to find a book to support just about any belief no matter how bizarre, they are out there now and they were out there then.