Scribes and Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible
There are many common questions and misconceptions surrounding the formation and history of the Bible: Why is the Bible composed of the current 66 books instead of others? Why are there so many translations? How are we to understand both the human and divine elements of the Bible? In Scribes and Scripture, scholars John D. Meade and Peter J. Gurry answer these questions and give readers tools to interpret the evidence about God’s word. Beginning with the history of the Bible—from the invention of the alphabet to the most recent English translations—the book focuses on three main areas: the writing and copying of the Bible, the canonization of the Bible, and the translation of the Bible. Using Old and New Testament scholarship, Meade and Gurry help God’s people better appreciate the story of the Bible as a way to better appreciate the stories in the Bible.
Publisher: Crossway
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781433577895
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John D. Meade (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is professor of Old Testament and codirector of the Text & Canon Institute at Phoenix Seminary. He is the coauthor of The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity: Texts and Analysis and the author of A Critical Edition of the Hexaplaric Fragments of Job 22–42. He and his wife, Annie, have four children and are members at Camelback Bible Church. Peter J. Gurry (PhD, University of Cambridge) is associate professor of New Testament and codirector of the Text & Canon Institute at Phoenix Seminary. He is the author of A Critical Examination of the Coherence-Based Genealogical Method in New Testament Textual Criticism. He and his wife, Kris, have six children and are members at Whitton Avenue Bible Church.
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“Many Christians love the Bible and yet know little of the fascinating story of what happened between its original composition and the book we can hold in our hands today. In Scribes and Scripture, John Meade and Peter Gurry provide a succinct and yet amazingly detailed overview of how the Bible was written and copied, canonized, and translated. This book will enable Christians to understand why Protestants have a different canon than Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. It will teach them how to respond to secular critics who claim the Bible has been hopelessly corrupted over time or that the process of canonization was the arbitrary result of power struggles in the early church. And it will encourage them that we can trust our Bibles without ignoring or downplaying the messy realities of scribal errors, variant manuscripts, or disagreements about canonicity in the church. Properly considered, these ‘human’ elements in the story of the Bible in no way detract from the Bible’s authority as the word of God. I enthusiastically recommend this timely, unique, wise, and God-honoring book to anyone who wonders how we have received the Bible we have today. It will be the first book I recommend on the subject to any curious inquirer.” Gavin Ortlund, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Ojai, California; author, Finding the Right Hills to Die On and Why God Makes Sense in a World That Doesn’t