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SPRING 2012
DIGITAL
MAGAZINE
Trusting and
Understanding
the Bible
God Revealed
Christian Bible Studies Digital is
published twice a year by Christianity
Today. © 2012 Christianity Today.
Managing Editor
JoHannah Reardon
Publisher
Carol Thompson
Art Director
Mary Bellus
Editorial Coordinator
Ashley Moore
Marketing
Cory Whitehead
Beatrice Rusu
Advertising
Peggy Gomez
Walter Hegel
Toks Olawoye
Production
Cindy Cronk
Theresa Phillips
Unless otherwise specified, Scripture
references are from the Holy Bible
New International Version®. NIV®.
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by
International Bible Society. Used by
permission of Zondervan Publishing
House. All rights reserved.
Contact us:
ChristianBibleStudies
@
ChristianityToday.com
www.ChristianBibleStudies.com
23
24
28
31
[Video]
The Skinny on the
Bible
[Article]
Put Your Bible Down
for a Day
By Dennis Stout
[Article]
Is That in the Bible?
From Kyria.com
[Resources]
Recommended
Websites
4
10
11
16
18
[Article]
Why You Can Set Your
Life by the Bible
By Elesha Coffman
[Video]
The Book
[Article]
How to Get the Most
Out of the Bible
By Donald E. Hartley
[Quotations]
Wise Thoughts
[Article]
4 Things to Keep in
Mind When Reading
the Bible
By Stan Guthrie
CONTENTS
W
elcome to ChristianBibleStudies.com’s first digital
magazine. As part of our ten-year anniversary, this
is our gift to you. Please peruse the articles, videos, and
resources and pass it on to one and all. We hope that it will
encourage your faith in the Bible and the God who inspired
it. ChristianBibleStudies.com is a site with over 1,000 Bible
studies that you can download instantly to your computer.
As a part of Christianity Today, our commitment to and
scholarship of the Bible is our hallmark. Come visit us today!
www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies

JoHannah Reardon, Managing Editor
Trusting and Understanding the Bible
God Revealed
SPRING 2012
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 4
H
ow can we be sure that
the words in the Bible
are really the words of
God? Common doubts about the
biblical text include:
• It’s so old—it must have
changed over time.
• Original copies of the
manuscripts don’t even exist
anymore. Anyone could have
made it up.
• If we knew what the original
texts really said, we wouldn’t
need so many different
translations.
The Bible invites these kinds
of arguments because it makes
such outrageous claims—that it
contains the words of Almighty
God, that it is absolutely true and
trustworthy, and that it is the
foundation for all Christian be-
liefs. Fortunately for us, the Bible
also has some incredibly power-
ful defenders: generations of
faithful scribes, an army of tex-
tual scholars, and God himself.
BIBLE TEXTS HAVE ALWAYS
BEEN IN GOOD HANDS.
Bible manuscripts were hand
copied from ancient times
Set Your
Life
why you can
by the Bible
by Elesha Coffman
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 5
through the Middle Ages. This
might sound like the textual
equivalent of the party game
“Telephone,” but these copyists,
called scribes, were
professionals, and they took
their job extremely seriously.
Jewish scribes, who kept up
the Old Testament scrolls for
centuries, had a nearly foolproof
system for making perfect
copies. First, a scribe would
count the number of letters on
the page to be copied. When he
had finished his copy, he would
count the number of letters on
the new page and make sure it
matched the original. Two or
three other scribes would then
check the copied page.
Christian scribes also took
great pains in creating and
proofing their pages. The
gorgeous lettering and elaborate
artwork in many medieval Bibles
attest to hours of intense effort.
Most scholars are amazed at
how well the scribes’ system
worked. With the momentous
discovery of the Dead Sea
Scrolls in the 1940s and ’50s,
some people looked forward to
exposing discrepancies between
the ancient Dead Sea manu-
scripts and the more familiar
later texts. In fact, while the
Dead Sea Scrolls have prompted
a few shifts in biblical scholar-
ship, they mainly served to
affirm that Christians already
had excellent texts.
Why did the scribes take such
good care of these texts?
Because God told them to.
Deuteronomy 6:4, the founda-
tional statement of Jewish belief
(called the Shema), is followed
by instructions for the treatment
of God’s Word (through verse 9).
Religious Jews still wear leather
pouches with scrolls inside on
their arms and foreheads when
they pray (see verse 8).
You don’t make mistakes with
something that valuable.
THE BIBLE’S “GOOD HANDS
NETWORK” HAS ALWAYS
INCLUDED SOME PRETTY
DISCERNING MINDS, TOO.
At its best, textual scholarship
refines written works by
comparing different versions to
determine the most reliable
manuscripts, giving special
weight to older versions and
versions of which more copies
exist. At its worst, textual
scholarship undermines written
works by attacking them with
radical skepticism and biased
agendas. Sadly, some people
have used such bad scholarship
to suggest that the Bible is u
our
by the Bible
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 6
totally unreliable or that obscure
texts, particularly those that
support unorthodox beliefs, are
better than standard texts.
The average Christian will
never know enough about
textual scholarship to sort all of
this out. That’s okay, though,
because specialists have been
on the job for centuries—and it
hasn’t been easy. But we have
passages such as 2 Timothy
3:14–17 to reassure us.
Within decades of Paul’s
letter to Timothy, dozens if not
hundreds of Christian and
pseudo-Christian manuscripts
were circulating throughout the
Near East. Disagreements over
which manuscripts were the
best prompted church leaders to
begin ranking them, prizing
those written closest to the time
of Jesus, those written by
people with direct connections
to Jesus, and those that stayed
truest to the teachings of Jesus. In
A.D. 367, Bishop Athanasius of
Alexandria wrote an official letter
listing the 27 books that he and
other church authorities believed
should become the Christian
Scriptures. Those 27 books
became the New Testament we
still use today.
The next big moment in Bible
text history came a few years later,
with the efforts of a grumpy but
brilliant scholar named Jerome.
Lots of Latin translations of Scrip-
ture were floating around in his
day, not all of them good. Jerome
was asked to create a standard
version so all Christian churches
could, literally, get on the same
page. He nailed down the New
Testament, working from well-
known Greek manuscripts, then
took the extra step of learning
Hebrew to do the Old Testament.
(Latin scholars before him usually
worked from Greek translations of
the Hebrew, meaning they got all
of their texts secondhand.)
Jerome’s translation, the
Vulgate (meaning “common”),
remained the standard for more
than 1,000 years. Great as it was,
though, it wasn’t perfect. During
the Renaissance, when many
ancient manuscripts were re-
discovered in the West, scholars
like Erasmus (c. 1469–1536) went
The church
recognized the
books that the Holy
Spirit was using to
change lives.
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back to the originals and
improved on Jerome’s work.
A flurry of Bibles in common
European languages followed.
Some, like the King James
Version, were based mostly on
Jerome’s work. Others, like
William Tyndale’s Bible, were
based on a fresh reading of the
original texts. Debates over the
different versions grew bitter,
but there is no question that all
of this work brought Christians
closer to understanding what the
biblical writers actually wrote,
and what they meant by it.
GOD’S HAND REMAINS ON
THE BIBLE.
If the Bible were any other text,
the testimony of the faithful
scribes and textual scholars
would be enough to prove its
authenticity. But the stakes are
immeasurably high for the Bible
because Christians set their life
by it. People may still wonder,
Athanasius sounds like a great
guy, but how can we be sure he
picked the right books for the
New Testament? What if there
are other books, or older
manuscripts, or passages
that translators are totally
wrong about?
Let’s remember that
Athanasius didn’t make an
arbitrary
decision. The
books he listed
were already
commonly used
throughout the church, not in the
order he listed them, and not con-
sistently, but there already was
broad consensus on which books
were inspired by God for the
church’s use. Athanasius merely
solidified a movement that had
been developing for 300 years. The
church recognized the books and
letters that the Holy Spirit was
using to change lives for Christ.
Read Romans 1:1–6 and Galatians
1:1–11 to help you see the validity
of Paul’s letters.
Ultimately, of course, the re-
sponsibility for the Bible lies with
God. Only he knows his message
perfectly and can make perfectly
sure that his people receive it.
Christians take this on faith. The
Bible is amazing because it con-
tains God’s communication with
his people. Questions about the
text are important only because
the text’s message is so absolutely
vital. We need to know how to de-
fend the Bible from critics and
deepen our own understanding of
Christianity’s sacred text.
Elesha Coffman is an assistant professor
of history at Waynesburg University in
Waynesburg, PA.
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10 CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE
The Book
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Now I commit you to God and to
the word of his grace, which can build
you up and give you an inheritance
among all those who are sanctified.
—Acts 20:32
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 11
u
by Donald E. Hartley
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 12
H
ow can you get
maximum information
out of the Bible
applicable to your life? Here
are five tips:
1.
LEARN HOW TO READ
BETTER. Purchase How
to Read a Book by Mortimer
Adler. It tells you how to read
various genres of literature and
introduces you to essential skills
for conducting in-depth
research. Essentially, book
study methods are the same
whether one applies them to
Descartes’ Discourses or to
Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians.
Acquiring this skill is
important because the Bible has
many books and genres. There
is historical, poetic, prophetic,
gospel, epistle, and even
apocalyptic literature in the
Bible. Each has its own
language, expectations, and
assumptions. Sometimes these
genres are mixed in one book.
You might have poetry in an
epistle or prophecy in a gospel
or apocalyptic passages in a
prophetic book.
Helpful companions to
Adler’s book include Fee and
Stewart’s How to Read the Bible
for All It’s Worth and How to
Read the Bible Book by Book.
2.
READ MULTIPLE
VERSIONS. Which
particular translation you use
is not as important as having
several at your disposal.
Different translations uti-
lize various translational
philosophies, but it’s not
necessary for you to know the
technicalities of these various
approaches in order to learn
from the differences. For any
passage or book of the Bible, it
is critical, especially if you don’t
know the original languages, to
get a broad spectrum of
translational options. Without
knowing Greek, for example,
you can see various differences
in John 3:16 by comparing the
KJV with the NET Bible.
The KJV reads, “For God so
loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have
everlasting life.”
The NET reads, “For this is the
way God loved the world: He
gave his one and only Son, so
that everyone who believes in
him will not perish but have
eternal life.”
One difference you may notice
is that the KJV advances a
quantitative aspect to God’s love
(“God so loved the world”), but
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 13
the NET emphasizes manner
(“this is the way God loved the
world”). Again, you might not
grasp the Greek rationale
behind these differences, but
you can clearly see a differ-
ence emerging and ask why,
helping you to think through
what the verse actually means.
Another difference is the
translation “whosoever
believeth” in the KJV versus
“everyone who believes” in the
NET Bible. The emphasis goes
from the universal “whoever” to
the particular “everyone.” Is this
passage referring generally to
whoever, or more specifically to
everyone who believes?
So, have a half dozen or so
Bible translations at hand. Two
books that may help you
determine which English
translations you might prefer
are Bruce Metzger’s The Bible
in Translation: Ancient and
English Versions and Paul
Wegner’s The Journey from
Text to Translation.
3.
THINK
THEOLOGICALLY.
Reading different versions may
help you think theologically or
alert you to significant
theological ideas, giving you
opportunities to ask questions
of the text. Don’t be afraid to ask
questions. Write them down.
Keep a journal. Get a good Bible
dictionary or use an online tool
such as Biblos.com.
If we go back to John 3:16, for
example, we might ask what the
KJV signifies by the translation
“only begotten.” On the other
hand, what does “one and only
Son” suggest and how does this
differ from “only begotten”? And
in what sense are we “sons of
God” in a way that differs from
how Jesus is the Son of God?
4.
BE CURIOUS. No
translation of any
language (including English) is
inspired. Only the original
autographs are inspired, and we
possess approximately 5,700
Greek copies of the originals
dating as early as A.D. 125. These
can be deciphered (through the
science of textual criticism) to
approximately 99.9 percent
accuracy in terms of recovering
the wording of the original
autographs. This is to say
nothing of early versions and
quotations of church fathers.
By looking at several ver-
sions, you can take advantage of
the wisdom that went into
translating each one. You may
initially be fearful of conflicts u
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 14
arising from differing versions.
But this ought not to be a source
of confusion, fear, or withdrawal
into a world of one English
translation. Learn from many
of them.
5.
BE PRACTICAL. When
reading or studying a
biblical text, it is easy to get
caught up in particulars and
lose the big picture or the
practical application. But life
change is the ultimate reason to
study the Scriptures.
Back to John 3:16. How do we
know God loves us? We can
point to a concrete fact in
history. Love is an action based
not on how much we say we love
someone or how much we feel
or how much passion we exude.
The bottom line is what we do.
The phrase that says Jesus is
the “one and only” or “unique
Son of God” will inevitably lead
you to his particular relationship
with the Father and his intrinsic
deity. The Son is unique because
he is God. As someone has said,
it took the unique Son of God to
become the Son of Man so that
sons of men might become the
sons of God. Jesus was not
simply a great creature or even
the greatest of creatures. He
was God the Son in a way that
no one else could be a son. But
nevertheless, I am a son in a
way that makes me part of the
family of God.
Also, God demonstrated his
love for us by sending his unique
Son, the eternal Son—God the
Son—to die on our behalf so
that either “whoever” or
“anyone” might be enabled to
trust him and have eternal life.
By following these five
suggestions, you may go from
just reading the Bible to
transforming your life. There
may be some bumps in the road,
but that is what makes any trip
memorable and meaningful.
Donald E. Hartley is assistant professor
of Bible & theology at Southeastern
Bible College in Birmingham, AL.
When studying
a biblical text, it
is easy to lose the
big picture. Life
change is the
ultimate reason
to study the
Scriptures.
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CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 16
wise
thoughts
Read the Bible, read the
Bible! Let no religious book
take its place. Through all
my perplexities and dis-
tresses, I seldom read any
other book, and I as rarely felt
the want of any other.
—William Wilberforce
The Bible without the Holy Spirit is a
sundial by moonlight.
—Dwight L. Moody
Man shall not live on bread
alone, but on every word that
comes from the mouth of God.
—Matthew 4:4
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.
—Isaiah 40:8
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than
any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing
soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and
attitudes of the heart.
—Hebrews 4:12
An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is
sure to find out what is wrong with him very quickly.
—A. W. Tozer
Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who
take refuge in him.
—Proverbs 30:5
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 18
M
any of us revere the
Bible, but there is a
disconnect between
what we say about Scripture
and how—or if—we actually use
it. The Bible might be the
world’s least-read bestseller.
Yet even if we manage to ac-
tually crack open this book, we
have not yet overcome the dis-
connect. That’s because we read
it not as God’s Word, allowing it
to transform us on its terms, but
for what we can get out of it. Or
we allow our academic bent to
crowd out what God is saying to
us. We need to read Scripture as
God intends—in a believing
community, looking to Chris-
tians who have grappled with
these issues before, and with
Christ at the center.
So how do we allow Scripture
to judge us, rather than the
other way around? Keep in
mind these principles.
4
Things
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 19
1.
THE BIBLE TAKES
WORK. Far too often
we either look at the Bible as
an answer book for our pet
issues or study it academically
but forget to apply it to our
lives as God’s authoritative
Word. We need to combat
both tendencies.
Either way, we have to
intentionally work hard at
interpreting and applying the
Bible. Paul instructed Timothy
in this two millennia ago, in 2
Timothy 2:15. And verses 11–13
keep the focus on Christ and
should affect how we live.
2.
THE BIBLE JUDGES
US. Author J. Todd
Billings notes two approaches
many Christians have to the
Bible: the blueprint and the
smorgasbord. In the first, we’re
just looking for confirmation of
our prejudices. With the u
by Stan Guthrie
to Keep in Mind
When Reading
hings
the
Bible
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 20
second, “the Bible becomes
the answer book for our
felt needs and personal
perspectives. With both the
blueprint and smorgasbord
approaches, we end up using
Scripture for our own
purposes.”
1
We need to put
Scripture in the driver’s seat.
Hebrews 4:12–13 makes
clear that Scripture should not
be used for selfish ends. Verse
12 helps us overcome a selfish
hermeneutic and verse 13
forces us to recognize our
spiritual nakedness before
God. We must let God’s
“sword” slash us without
becoming mortally wounded.
Billings also says we need
“to regain a sense of the place
of Scripture in God’s drama of
redemption, and to enter into
the task of reading Scripture
with openness to being
reformed and reshaped by God
on our path of dying to the old
self and living into our identity
in Christ.” Second Timothy
3:15–17 lists the benefits
available to those who study
the Word. It reveals that the
Word provides what we need to
be reformed and reshaped.
3.
THE BIBLE IS FOR
GOD’S PEOPLE. Often
we think that the best way to
read the Bible is individually—
and certainly there is nothing
wrong with learning and
reading the Word this way. But
an individual cannot interpret
Scripture alone. Billings says,
“While sometimes the slogan
‘sola scriptura’ is used to
justify such an approach, it is a
serious distortion of that
Protestant principle.”
In 1 Timothy 4:6–13, Paul
emphasizes the communal
aspects of Scripture. He tells
Timothy that if he has been
“nourished on the truths of the
faith and of the good teaching
that you have followed,” he will
be a good teacher of others in
the church (v. 6). There is a
relationship between what
goes in and what goes out.
What Timothy was taught, he
is to teach others.
1
“How to Read the Bible,” by J. Todd Billings,
Christianity Today, October 2011
How do we allo
us, rather than the other w
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 21
4.
THE BIBLE IS ABOUT
JESUS. Finally, we need
to read Scripture Christologi-
cally. The risen Jesus showed
the way to two downcast dis-
ciples who failed to see their
Lord in the Hebrew Scriptures
(Luke 24:25–27). Jesus repri-
manded those who read the Old
Testament but do not see him
there (v. 25). The Old Testament
is filled with foreshadows and
direct prophecies of Jesus. He is
written of throughout the whole
Bible and we must read it that
way to understand it.
So to sum it up, we need to
read the Bible in a way that en-
sures our head knowledge finds
its way down into our hearts. We
often approach the Word for what
it can do for us. But the Word is
meant not just to comfort and
help us (though often it does) but
to transform us. It will not be
easy, but it will be worth it.

Stan Guthrie is a Christianity Today
editor at large and blogs at
stanguthrie.com.
TRY IT
we allow Scripture to judge
ather than the other way around?
Set aside 30–60 minutes
this week to inductively
study John 1:1–18,
applying the above points.
Use a study Bible or some
other study tool, such as
Biblos.com. If you are stuck
on what a passage means,
contact your pastor or a
Bible study leader you
respect. Consider the
following questions:
• What does this passage
tell us about the Word
made flesh?
• Who is the Word?
• Why is he called the
• What are the two basic
responses to the Word?
• What are some of
the blessings of the
Word, and how do we
receive them?
Word?
>>
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE
The Skinny
on the
Bible
”The Skinny on the Bible” from Skit Guys is
available at PreachingToday.com.
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful
ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word
of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly
we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the
sight of God. —2 Corinthians 4:2
Do your best to present yourself to God as one
approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and
who correctly handles the word of truth. —2 Timothy 2:15
23
by Dennis Stout
Don’t forget to live
what you learn,
which is the point of
all Bible study
Bible D
put your
for a day
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 25
A
t Duke Energy Center in
Cincinnati, the entire
west facade is a sign
comprising 77 lights that spell
out the word Cincinnati. The
sign can be seen for miles as it
adorns the skyline and has
become somewhat of an icon of
the city. Upon further inspection,
I noticed that the lights were not
lights at all. In fact they are just
flat panels angled to reflect the
light below. The result is a huge
sign that impacts the surround-
ing community.
Isn’t this our call as
Christians as well? Aren’t we
supposed to be shining? Jesus
tells us that we are the “light of
the world.” However, we are
merely reflections, because
Jesus is the true light of the
world. We’re just mirrors. But
here is the catch. In order to be
mirrors for Christ, we must be
clean, focused on him, and in
the world. Obviously, a mirror is
much more effective if it
doesn’t have dirt and grime
impeding its ability to reflect
light. I know at my house or on
my car, cleaning the mirrors is
a regular activity. The spiritual
parallel is also true in that we
must continually work to keep
our mirrors clean. Second, we
must focus on Jesus if we want
to reflect him. We can have the
cleanest mirror in the county,
but if it is not trained on Jesus,
the reflection will be in vain. In
fact, it will be reflecting
something else, because you
can’t turn off a mirror. It always
reflects, so take care in
focusing yours. u
by Dennis Stout
get to live
earn,
t of
e study.
Bible Down
for a day
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 26
Finally, get in the world.
If you want to shine light on
something, you must get reason-
ably close to it. Distance makes
light less effective, so if you want
to give light to a lost world, get in
there and do it. You can’t cook
dinner by staying in the living
room. You must go into the kitch-
en where the stove, pots and
pans, pantry and such are. You
can’t take light to a place into
which you don’t go. It is impor-
tant to note that Jesus left his
safe, comfortable, and holy place
to go into a dark world with the
gospel of love. If God considered
it necessary to respond in this
manner, shouldn’t we?
Let me encourage you to try
something. For a day, lay down
your Bible, pick up a tool, and go
“live” the Bible. I’m not saying
“don’t study the Bible.” But you
may be the only Bible that
someone reads—go live it for
them, and live it well. The Bible
does mention Jesus reading
Scripture and even expounding
on it. However, the Gospels are
not about how well Jesus read,
studied, prayed, or even spoke.
The Gospels are about the new
covenant. God knew that this
new covenant would be mis-
understood so he brought in the
big gun—Jesus. Well, today
Jesus is back on his throne and
God chooses to use us as his
hands, feet, and light. The religious
leaders of Jesus’ day did not
impress God with their knowledge,
smooth talk, or strict adherence to
the laws. He was impressed by a
boy with fish and bread, a
centurion with simple faith, and a
leper’s genuine appreciation.
Today, we have the Good News,
but what do we do with it? Hide it
under a bushel? No, I’m gonna let
it shine, let it shine, let . . . hmm,
sorry, I digressed there. But wait,
aren’t those our instructions? If we
are the light of the world, shouldn’t
we be shining? And if we are not
the true light but simply sharing
the light of Christ with others,
doesn’t that make us like mirrors
and our light merely a reflection of
his light? Like that sign on the
Duke Energy Center, shouldn’t our
impact on the community be great,
visible, and even iconic? If we put
the great commission into today’s
vernacular, it might go something
like this, “Go light your world—with
my light. Be a mirror of me to your
community. Go make a difference.”

Dennis Stout is a 15-year youth
ministry veteran.
Jesus left his safe,
comfortable, and holy place
to go into a dark world.
Answers (the Scriptures quoted are all from the King
James Version, from whence these phrases originally came)
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 28
1. OUT OF THE
MOUTH OF BABES
• True
• False
2. GOD SAVE
THE KING
• True
• False
3. FEET OF CLAY
• True
• False
4. THE
MILLENNIUM
• True
• False
5. AT THEIR
WIT’S END
• True
• False
6. FALL BY
THE WAYSIDE
• True
• False
1. True. “Out of the mouth of
babes . . . hast thou ordained
strength . . .” (Psalm 8:1–2).
Jesus also makes reference in
Matthew 21:16 to this passage.
2. True. You may think the
British coined this one, but it’s
actually the shout of the
Israelites in 1 Samuel 10:24
when Samuel introduces Saul,
their first king.
3. True. In Daniel 2:31–33, God
gives a detailed description to
the Jewish captive of the
bigger-than-life figure in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream who
had, among other things,
“feet . . . part of clay.”
4. False. Although Revelation
20:1–5 mentions a period of “a
thousand years,” the word millen-
nium never appears in the Bible.
5. True. Psalm 107:27 depicts sail-
ors caught in a storm as “at their
wit’s end;” true of anyone facing a
seemingly hopeless situation.
6. True. The words introduce the
sower in Jesus’ parable (Matthew
13:3–9), who “when he sowed,
Is That
in the
Many modern-day phrases are direct or slightly modified quotations from the Bibl
are assumed to be biblical when they actually are not. Can you detect the true biblic
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE 29
7. A HOUSE DIVIDED
AGAINST ITSELF
• True
• False
8. PUT WORDS IN
ONE’S MOUTH
• True
• False
9. HASTE
MAKES WASTE
• True
• False
10. A DROP IN
THE BUCKET
• True
• False
some seeds fell by the way side.”
Unlike the modern meaning of the
phrase, which indicates something
forgotten, the sower’s seeds were
noticed and eaten by birds.
7. True. Abraham Lincoln, running
for the U.S. Senate in 1858,
reiterated the wisdom of Jesus’
words to the Pharisees in Matthew
12:25, effectively using them to
point out the impossibility of
uniting slave states and free.
8. True. When King David’s son
Absalom disappeared after
murdering his brother Amnon,
Joab (Israel’s commander-in-
chief) hatched a scheme with the
woman from Tekoah to bring
father and son back together.
As 2 Samuel 14:3 explains, “Joab
put the words in her mouth.”
9. False. It may sound like one of
Solomon’s proverbs, but Ben
Franklin penned, “Take time for
all things: great haste makes
great waste.”
10. True. How powerful is the
Lord? According to Isaiah 40:15,
hostile nations are “as a drop of a
bucket” to him, i.e., inconsequen-
tial in the grand scheme of things.
Though the meaning remained the
same, the phrase was later
changed to “a drop in the bucket.”
Adapted from Kyria.com.
Is That
in the
Bible?
om the Bible. But some familiar sayings
ect the true biblical phrases below?
KEEPING
SCORE?
1–3 correct:
Read your
Bible more.
4–6 correct:
Not bad.
7–10 correct:
Outstanding.
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE
Resources
recommended
websites
Over a thousand downloadable, ready-to-use Bible
studies for small groups, Sunday school classes,
or personal devotions from the editors of Christianity Today.
Everything a small group leader needs to inspire
life-changing community.
u
31
CHRI STI AN BI BLE STUDI ES DI GI TAL MAGAZI NE
Everyday discipleship for Christian women.
To unite all Christian men from every
denomination to stand with one another and
to lift up the name of Jesus Christ.
Resources
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