All About the Bible
8 - The Unity of the Bible
One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is its unity. The staggering thing is that there is such a perfect unity in so much diversity. The Bible contains sixty six books. The Bible is not just one book, it is a collection of many books. There are thirty nine in the Old Testament and twenty seven in the New Testament. This collection of books is called the "Canon" of scripture. The word 'Canon' translates the Greek word 'kanon' meaning a rule which serves as a measure. When applied to the Bible it refers to the limit of the literature accepted as inspired. The sixty six books fall within the measured boundary of inspiration. The writers were inspired by the Holy Spirit, believers are illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and they were given discernment by the Holy Spirit to recognise which books were truly inspired by God. The litmus test was whether the books were written by the Prophets and Apostles. Any writing that broke the consistency of the message of the Bible was rejected. This is why a book like the gospel of Thomas was rejected. It wasn’t consistent with the writings of Paul and other Apostles. It was written by Gnostic heretics and given the title of a famous Apostle to give the writing credibility. Jesus said in John 10:3-4; and 17, "The sheep hear His voice (the voice of the good Shepherd) ... the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice". Here Jesus shows that there would be an infallible instinct that would guide the church. This discernment enabled the Church to assemble the correct books to form the complete canon. Each book carried an inherent authority.
The sixty six books display a wonderful harmony. This is remarkable when you consider the background to all of them. The Bible was written over a period of sixteen hundred years by forty different authors. Most of them lived at different times and never met each other. David, who wrote many of the Psalms, lived three hundred years before Isaiah. The authors lived in different places. Some lived in Babylon, others in different parts of Israel. They all came from varied backgrounds. Amos was a Shepherd, David was a King, Isaiah was a statesman, Ezra was a priest, Paul was a scholar, Luke was a doctor, Matthew was a tax collector, and Peter was a fisherman. Yet despite all this variation the message of the Bible is consistent throughout. The central message is God`s love for a dying world and the provision of redemption in Jesus Christ. The great theme of the whole Bible is Jesus Christ the promised saviour of the world. On the resurrection morning Jesus met with two of His disciples. They were on their way home to Emmaus from Jerusalem. They were despondent because they thought that they had lost Jesus forever. Jesus walked with them and taught them from the Old Testament.
This must have been the most wonderful Bible study in history! They'd forgotten that the Bible's main theme was the coming of the redeemer who would suffer and die.
We read in Luke 24:25 – 27, "Jesus said to them, `how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory? ` And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself"
The Bible contains unity of doctrine. Man was created by God. We read in Genesis 1:27 in the Old Testament, "So God created man in His own image". The same truth is found in the gospel of Mark 10:6. We read, "God made them male and female". Mankind is sinful. We read in Psalm 51:5 in the Old Testament, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me". This is echoed in Romans 3:23 in the New Testament. We read, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Mankind is redeemed by Jesus Christ the promised Messiah and redeemer. We read in Genesis 3:15, where God speaks to the Devil, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head and you will strike his heel". This is often referred to as the 'Pro-Evangelium', that is, the first preaching of the gospel. Here is the first announcement of a deliverer who would deal with man’s sin and overthrow Satan. The same theme is picked up in the New Testament. We read in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons".
The view that the Bible presents of God is one. Consistently God is portrayed in the same way with the same characteristics. The writers never got it wrong over sixteen hundred years. He is revealed in scripture as sovereign. We read in Daniel 4:35, in the Old Testament, "He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No-one can hold back His hand or say to Him; `what have you done? `". This same truth is found in the New Testament. We read in Romans 9:20-21, "But who are you O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, `why did you make me like this?` Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?". He is revealed as a God of love. We read in Deuteronomy 7:8, "It was because the Lord loved you". We read in John first letter chapter 4 verse 10, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins".
How do we account for this unity within the sixty six books of the Bible? There can be only one explanation for this uniform consistency. There is one author. God inspired the writers so that what they wrote was consistent with His own character, and with His plan and purposes for this world. Although the authors are many, the revelation is one.