Savage Street Church of Christ

Investigating and Defending the Gospels #6 and #7

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11112015InvestigatingAndDefendingTheGospels#6DonRuhl

Investigating and Defending the Gospels #6 

Learn What Is Evidence 

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • November 4, In the year of our Lord, 2015

Prelude: 

1. What shall we do with the following passages? 
   1. Mark 16.9–20
   2. Luke 22.43–44
   3. John 5.3b–4
   4. John 7.53–8.11
   5. Acts 8.37
   6. First John 5.7
2. Do you know of other passages? 

Persuasion: 

1. Use the Same Translation
2. Will It Present a Problem? 
3. Find Out What a Scribe Did 
   1. What do the oldest manuscripts say?
   2. Did a scribe try to harmonize with another text?
   3. Did a scribe add details that he knew existed?
   4. Did the scribe interpret?
   5. Does the margin provide insight?
4. Is the Message Changed by Including or Excluding the Text? 

Exhortation: 

1. What if you clean up some of my books. 
   1. You would find some very old books
   2. that are coming apart.
      1. Could you figure out which part of a book went with another part?
      2. If you found a part that did not belong, would that nullify the whole book?
   3. What is the meaning and application of John 7.17?
2. Does this affect the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible? 
   1. God gave us His word.
   2. Now we choose what to do with it.
      1. John 7.17 guarantees that we will have what we need.
      2. However, even as God provides food for our bellies and
         1. some food is bad,
         2. does not negate the good food,
            1. so it is with the word of God.
            2. Someone’s tampering with it does not negate the valid parts.
3. No manuscript variation affects any doctrine!