The Bible can seem overwhelming, especially to new believers. The two testaments, the 66 books, and the thousands of names — individuals, people groups, nations, locations, not to mention the names of months, objects, plants and trees, rivers, mountains, and so on. Then there are the parables, proverbs or dark sayings, as well the non-linear aspect in the prophetic books.
On top of this are a myriad of modern-day Pharisees and Sadducees, those who have attached themselves to a denomination and who are now teaching the particular false doctrine of that denomination. They are the blind leading the blind, and both shall fall into the ditch.
To clarify, false doctrine doesn’t have to be only false in what it teaches, but can also be false in what it doesn’t teach, the inconvenient scriptures that are glossed over, sidestepped or ignored.
This book aims to cut through the confusion of false doctrine and false dichotomies by searching the scriptures to get to the foundational matters of who God is, the distinctive nature of his word, and the straight path the runs from Genesis to Revelation.
As such, the focus is squarely on the word of God, with each chapter leaning heavily on scripture rather than my own words, both for illustrative purposes and for the reader to more easily follow the thread. Of course, it’s every reader’s responsibility to check the scriptures themselves, reading around them to be sure I haven’t cherry-picked scriptures out of context.
In addition to the focus on scripture, there’s an emphasis on language and the meaning of particular words in order to better understand certain verses. Paying attention to words and phrases is important because the Bible narrative is whittled down to the bare bones with no room for superfluous words.
Finally, some portions of this book might challenge pre-existing beliefs. If this is the case for you, ask yourself if you are willing to change your belief if the scriptural evidence points to a place you had previously not considered or even disregarded out of hand. God is not the author of confusion. His word is one complete whole and is intended to be understood as such.
God has warned us, through Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, that all who believe not the truth will be damned. That’s a stark warning to all of us, especially anyone who holds rigidly to a particular doctrine simply because they’ve so fully absorbed whatever they’ve been taught without critically examining whether the thing being taught actually holds up against the light of scripture.
Such folk tend to hold onto certain doctrines so vehemently that any suggestion there might be another way to understand the scripture is taken personally and perceived as a threat.
Such is the power of indoctrination.
Let us, therefore, heed the warning in 2 Thessalonians, while also following the example of those in Berea.
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 KJV)
These [the Bereans, KM] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)
Bible and Textual Abbreviations
BES: Brenton English Septuagint BYZ: Byzantine Greek New Testament CTB: Charles Thomson Bible ESV: English Standard Version NKJV: New King James Version KJV: King James Version LXX: Greek Septuagint (Alexandrian Greek Old Testament) MT: Masoretic Text SPE: Samaritan Pentateuch in English
Brenton English Septuagint
Translation of the LXX Greek text by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, published in 1844.
Byzantine Greek New Testament
Also known as the Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text.
Charles Thomson Bible
Translation of the LXX Greek text and the ???? New Testament text, published in 1808.
English Standard Version
Translation of the Masoretic Old Testament text and the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament text.
King James Version
Translation of the Masoretic Old Testament text and the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament text.
New King James Version
Translation of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (modern critical edition of the Masoretic Old Testament Text) and the Textus Receptus Greek New Testament text.
Greek Septuagint (LXX)
Translation of the Paleo-Hebrew between 250 B.C. and 150 B.C., and 1,200 years older than the Masoretic Text.
Masoretic Text
The result of the work of a group of Jewish scribe-scholars known as the Masoretes (aka “Masters of the Tradition”), who developed the text (using a combination of manuscripts and oral tradition), between the 7th and 11th century — that is, between 600 and 1,000 years AFTER Jesus walked the earth. Two important points concerning the Masoretic Text:
- Oral tradition is inherently problematic.
- The Masoretes rejected Jesus as the Christ and, therefore, had every reason to obfuscate certain scriptures. Praise God, however, that, despite their corruptions, the key message of the Bible remains intact for the many believers who never learn of the issues with the text that underlies the overwhelming majority of Bible translations from the 15th century onwards.
Samaritan Pentateuch in English
Translation of the Paleo-Hebrew circa 122 B.C.
Other Textual Matters
Verse References
For the sake of those not intimately familiar with Bible book abbreviations, all references include the full book name, such as 2 Thessalonians, rather than 2Th.
Non-contiguous verse references are handled in the following way:
- Verses within the same chapter are separated by a comma. For example Genesis1:1 and Genesis 1:3 is written as Genesis 1:1, 3.
- Verses within different chapters of the same book are separated by a semicolon. For example Genesis 1:2 and Genesis 2:1 is written as Genesis 1:1; 2:1.
Bracketed Text in Verses
Brackets are used in the following two cases:
- Any text that has been added by translators. If you use Blue Letter Bible you will be familiar with brackets to denote translator additions. Many Bibles use italics, such as the KJV, while others make no distinction between translated words and those which have been added by the translators, such as the ESV.
- Anything inserted by me as a comment or for clarity. This will be denoted by the addition of my initials, such as in Acts 17:11.
These [the Bereans, KM] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)
The Holy Spirit
As you might well know, the KJV often translates the Greek work πνεῦμα (G4151 pneuma) as ghost rather than spirit. The word ghost, from the German geist, is a misleading word given the connotations it has today. For this reason, I have replaced the word ghost with spirit in any KJV verses that translate πνεῦμα as ghost rather than spirit.
Capitalisation
As was the style of writing at the time, the original Greek manuscripts were written entirely in capital letters. Thus, every instance of capitalisation in every English Bible is the result of a translational decision and is not reflective of the original text. This practice, referred to as reverential capitalisation, is not employed consistently across different translations. For example, here are three translations of John 14:15-17, each with different capitalisation.
King James Version: Three Nouns
[15] If ye love me, keep my commandments.[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
New King James Version: Three Nouns and Eight Pronouns
[15] “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
[16] And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— [17] the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
New International Version: Two Nouns
[15] “If you love me, keep my commands. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
For the sake of simplicity, I tend towards minimal capitalisation as it’s more aligned with the original texts which didn’t make a distinction. In particular, I don’t capitalise pronouns, nor the adjective holy nor the noun spirt when talking of God’s holy spirit, as capitalising these two words lends credence to the idea that God’s holy spirit is a separate person from God himself. This subject is discussed fully in “God’s Holy Spirit”.