About the Bible

21/07/2006
Is there a difference between the Catholic Bible and the Christian Bible and if there is, what is it?

Now, I could take a Catholic Bible and I could use a Catholic Bible to preach my sermons. I could use a Catholic Bible to lead somebody to the Lord because in the Catholic Bible, John 3:3 is the same as in my Bible. John 3:3 says, “Unless a man is born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” And so, for that purpose, I believe that it’s okay if someone’s reading a Catholic Bible. But just to be safe, you ought to read a Bible that is more accepted by the historians around the world. That is the Protestant Bible.

And again, I’m not coming against the Catholic Bible because it includes the entirety of the Protestant Bible, but it just adds some books that didn’t pass the criteria of the rest of the sixty-six books that are in the Bible. I hope that answers your question. And I hope I’m not offending my Catholic brothers and sisters because I certainly don’t mean to do that. And I’m not criticizing their Bible because it includes everything that my Bible includes.

About the Bible

12/04/2006
I’m taking a religion class in my university and we’re studying Catholicism and I was wondering why there are additional books in their Bible that aren’t in the New Living Translation.

First of all, there are 66 books in the Bible that are canonized in Scripture by the fathers of Christianity, by those who have studied and have researched and have actually compared to the original Hebrew manuscripts, the original Greek manuscripts. They’ve done an enormous amount of research, and study and every major translation of the Bible sticks to those 66 books.

Now, why do the Catholics add the books that they add? I don’t know, but here’s the most important thing: the books that they do add do not take away from the truth and the substance of the books that are scriptural and are considered by every other main source to be the tradition and history of Christianity. Those who agree that the 66 books are the books of the Bible are not contradicted by the Catholics having a few extra books.

I’m not saying that it’s good to have a couple extra books in the Bible, but I’m not criticizing the Catholics because that’s a part of their tradition. But it’s not a part of the canonization of Scriptures, the Scriptures that are considered to be Holy Scriptures by most of Christianity. The majority of Christianity sticks to the 66 books Why the Catholics add others, I can’t answer. But I can say that still you can find in the Catholic Bible John 3:3, “that unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

About the Bible

07/04/2006
I have read in the Bible that you’re supposed to be ready to give an account for your faith. What does that mean?

People are going to ask why you believe what you believe. What I would say to them is two things. Number one, “you can not deny the change that took place in my life when Jesus came into my life. That is unmistakable, it is irrefutable, it is undeniable and wild horses could not drag me away from Jesus Christ and His love for me. When He showed me that He was real and that He was alive, it changed me and I am totally convinced.”

The second way that I would give an account for why I believe what I believe is because the Bible has been tested. People have tried to drown it, tried to burn it, tried to deny it, tried to argue it away and no one has been able to put it down.

You cannot keep the Bible down because it is filled with too much truth and too much life and too much love for mere humanity to try to subdue it or try to erase its truth and erase its indelible mark that it leaves upon the heart of every man or woman that comes genuinely to seek for the answers that come from it. And so, there is a book that I would recommend that everybody get by Josh McDowell called Evidence That Demands a Verdict. And it will go through the convincing, absolutely assuring list of reasons why the Bible is undeniably the Word of God. And if you get that book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, it will give you ways to give an account for what you believe, not just emotionally because God has touched your life, but also intelligently with facts and evidences and demonstrations to prove that the Bible is true. Those are the two ways that I would give an account for why I believe what I believe.

About the Bible

21/03/2006
I read the NIV Bible, but while searching the Internet, I found that the King James Bible is the only version to read. Do you agree?

There are many versions, but the main thing is that you are reading a Bible that is derived from the original version. The old King James Bible certainly fits that standard, but it was written several hundred years ago in the language of the day. Today, there are several choices that are derived from the original version, including the New King James, New American Standard, Amplified Version, and others. They are still anointed and authorized by God. The New International Version that you have is good, but the other choices are better.

About the Bible

21/03/2006
Who put the Bible together?

Let’s start with 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” All of the Scripture in both the Old Testament and New Testament is inspired by God. Jesus, in the Book of Revelation, said, “Do not add to it; do not take from it.”

What happened was there was a series of tests 2,000 years ago for letters to be canonized, to be considered authoritative and authentic, and to be classified as Old Testament and New Testament Scripture. That process was lengthy. There were dozens of men of various backgrounds who went into a time of seclusion and prayer . . . they went into different rooms and came out with the same interpretation of which letters were inspired by God and should be considered Holy Scripture.