A small group at church studied this book in early 2023. We met Wednesdays and covered an entire section each time. The pacing was like an involved university course, no joke.
Course Material
We worked primarily out of a book, but the leader also brought supplemental books and handouts and encouraged us to bring in our own. She led lectures and discussions, delving into additional topics beyond the book.
- The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020
- The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Philip R. Davies, George J. Brooke, and Phillip R. Callaway.
- The leader's February 8th handout had terms and definitions.
- One of the leader's March 22 handouts covered the Bible manuscripts that modern translations are built upon.
Wiki Notes
- Feb 8 handout complete.
- Personal notes complete.
- March 22 manuscripts handout
- There's 2 other handouts
- Page 171/350 of the book
Origin of the Bible Summary
Answers questions like...
- What is the Bible and what kind of authority does it have?
- How did we get the Bible?
- What about the Apocrypha?
- What other literature was concurrent with the Bible?
- What about the literary character of the Bible itself?
- What literary forms are in the Bible?
- How do we use manuscripts to verify the Bible's text as being the same as the original?
Councils
- Synod (Jewish synod of Jamnia or Jewish synod of Jabneh)
- International Congress on Biblical Inerrancy
- Third Council of Carthage (A.D. 397)
- Nicene Council of 787
- Council of Trent (1546)
- Second Vatican Council
- 1646 Westminister Assembly
Denominations
- Christian
- Church of England
- Essene
- Evangelicals
- Greek Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox Church
- Hebrew, Jews in Alexandria, Jews in Palestine
- Lutheran Church
- Neoorthodox
- Protestant, Reformers
- Reformed Churches
- Roman Catholic Church, Church of Rome
- Sadducee
- Samaritans
- Syriac Church
Biblical, Apocryphal, and Church Texts
- Acts
- Aleppo Codex, Crown of Aleppo
- Apocrypha of the Greek and Latin Bibles
- Apocryphal Acts
- Apocryphal books
- Apocryphal epistles
- The Assumption of Moses
- Augsburg Confession (1530) of Lutheranism
- Baptist New Hampshire Confession of 1832
- Baruch
- Bel and the Dragon
- Belgic Confession (1561)
- The Book of Jubilees
- The Book of the Law
- Cairo Geniza Fragments, Cairo Genizah Fragments
- Codex Cairensis
- Codex Leningradensis, Leningrad Codex
- Codex Veronensis
- Daniel
- Dead Sea Scrolls
- Decalogue, The Ten Commandments
- Ecclesiastes
- Ecclesiasticus, the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach
- Enoch, 1 Enoch
- 1 Esdras
- 2 Esdras
- Esther
- Ethiopic Bible
- Genesis
- The Gospel of Thomas
- Hagiographa
- Hebrew Bible
- Hexapla
- Infancy Gospels
- John Rylands papyrus
- Jude
- Judith
- Ketef Hinnom scrolls, Ketef Hinnom amulets, KH1, KH2
- Lectionary
- The Letter of Jeremiah
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
- 3 Maccabees
- 4 Maccabees
- Masora
- Masoretic Texts
- Muratorian Canon, A.D. 170. An 8th century copy of this document was published in 1740 by librarian L. A. Muratori.
- Nash Papyrus
- New Testament
- Old Testament
- Passion Gospels
- Pentateuch
- Peshitta, Syriac Version, Syriac Bible
- The Prayer of Azariah
- The Prayer of Manasseh
- The Prophets
- Protestant English Bible
- Proverbs
- Quinta
- Samaritan Pentateuch, Samaritan Torah
- Septima
- Christian Septuagint, LXX
- Sexta
- The Song of the Three Young Men
- Susanna
- Aramaic Targums
- The Testament of Levi
- the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (1563)
- Tobit
- Latin Vulgate
- Westminster Confession of Faith
- The Wisdom of Solomon
Figures
- Aaron ben Moses ben Asher
- Rabbi Akiba
- Alexander the Great
- Antiochus III of Syria, Antiochus IV Epiphanes
- Aquila
- King Ashurbanipal
- Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria
- Syrian Archbishop Athanasius Samuel
- Augustine
- Barnabas
- Karl Barth
- Ben Asher family
- William Blake
- Rudolph Bultmann
- Fritz Buri
- John Calvin
- Umberto Casuto (1883-1951)
- Bernard Childs
- Emperor Constantine I
- Clement of Alexandria
- Roland G. de Vaux, Roland Guérin de Vaux
- K. Elliger
- Epiphanius
- Erasmus
- Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea
- Ezra
- Northrup Frye
- Frank E. Gaebelein
- Cyrus H. Gordon
- G. Lankester Harding, Gerald Lankester Harding
- Hasmonean Family, Hasmonean Dynasty
- Herod, Herodian dynasty
- Herodotus
- Homer
- John Hyrcanus
- Irenaeus
- Jerome
- Jesus Christ
- Josephus
- Judas Maccabeus
- Justin Martyr
- David H. Kelsey
- R. Kittel
- Harold Lindsell
- Syrian regent Lysias
- Robert Longacre
- Martin Luther
- J. Gresham Machen
- Marcion
- Melito
- Montanus
- Moses
- Nehemiah
- Origen
- Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis
- Philo
- Francis Pieper
- Clark S. Pinnock
- Bishop Pole
- Polycarp
- Pompey
- Jacob A. O. Preus
- Ptolemy I, Ptolemy V, Ptolemaic Dynasty
- John T. Robinson
- Jack Rogers
- W. Rudolf
- J. C. Ryle
- Francis A. Schaeffer
- Scipio Africanus
- Seleucus I
- Shaphan
- Butrus Sowmy, librarian and monk of Saint Mark's Syrian Orthodox Monastery in the Armenian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem
- Symmachus
- Tatian
- Tertullian
- Theodocian
- Paul Tillich
- Timothy I
- John C. Trever, acting director of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)
- Valentinius
- B. B. Warfield, Benjamin B. Warfield
- William H. Brownlee, ASOR fellow
- John D. Woodbridge
- Yigael Yadin
Languages
- Akkadian
- Aramaic
- Canaanite
- Egyptian
- Greek, Koine Greek
- Hebrew, biblical Hebrew
- Latin
- Moabite
- Phoenician
- Semitic family of languages
- Sumerian
- Ugaritic
Topics
- 1Q, cave one
- Adiabene
- Alexandrian canon
- Antagonist
- Apostrophe
- Authority, Apostolic Authority, Biblical Authority, Church Authority
- Authorship of the Bible
- Autograph
- Battle of Magnesia
- Bedouin
- Bible
- Biblical manuscript
- Biblical narrative
- biblion
- Canon, Canonization of the Hebrew Bible, Christian Canon (Christian use of the Septuagint vs Hebrew Bible), Canonization of the New Testament, Palestinian canon
- Character
- Christological formulations, Christology
- Church
- Church Fathers
- Codex
- Conflict
- Covenant
- Creed
- Cuneiform
- The Damascus Document
- Dead Sea community
- Diary of Merer
- Divine Encounter
- Doctrine
- Dynamic Infallibility
- Ebla
- Egypt
- Epic
- Epistle
- Epistemology
- Exegesis, exegete
- General Revelation, General Divine Revelation
- Gnosticism
- Greek period
- Hellenization, Hellenic, Hellenistic, Hellenizer,
- Hero story
- hiera grammata
- Higher Criticism
- Holy Spirit
- Poetic idiom
- Inerrancy
- Infallibility
- Inspiration
- Intertestamental Period, Inter-testamental Period, 400 Years of Silence
- Irony
- J-E-D-P hypothesis, JEDP Theory, Documentary View of Scripture
- Jerusalem
- Judea
- Justification by faith
- Hellenism
- Lament psalms
- The Law
- Literature
- Literary analysis
- Literary approach to the Bible
- Literary forms of the Bible
- Literary genre, literary type
- Lyric poem
- The Maccabean Revolt
- The Manual of Discipline
- Manuscript
- Masorete, Masoretes of Tiberias
- Montanism
- Mount Ebal Curse Tablet, Mt. Ebal Curse Tablet
- Mothers of reading (matres lectionis)
- Nag Hammadi
- Old Testament quotations in the New Testament
- Oracle of Judgment
- Oracle of Salvation
- Oral Tradition
- Oratory
- Palestine
- Papyrus
- Parable
- Parallelism
- Parchment
- pasa graphe
- Patristic Period
- Pharisee
- Plenary Inspiration, Verbal Inspiration
- Plot
- Poetry
- Proverb
- Psalm, lament, complaint, praise psalm, nature poem, worship psalm (songs of Zion), penitential psalm, historical psalm, royal psalm, meditative psalm, encomium, imprecatory psalm, and epithalamion
- The Prophets
- Protagonist
- Puritans
- Rationalism
- Reformation
- Renaissance
- Roman Empire
- Roman Republic
- Romantic Movement, Romanticism
- Satire
- Scribe
- Scroll
- Second Jewish Revolt (A.D. 132-135)
- Seleucid kingdom
- Special Revelation
- Spirit
- Story
- Story of origins
- Suffering servant
- Suzerainty treaty
- Suzernation
- Syria
- Temple Scroll
- Testament
- Textual criticism, lower criticism
- Theme
- The Thanksgiving Hymns
- The Trinity, The Triune God
- Ugarit
- Vellum
- Visionary writing
- The Word of God
- Writing
Origin of the Bible Works
Either relevant works discussed in the Origin of the Bible or entries from its bibliography.
Origin of the Bible Vocabulary
Words used in Origin of the Bible that I didn't know.