TEACHING NOTES Introduction ‌In this session we’re going to focus on a few popular Bible myths. Ever since the Enlightenment period people began to seriously doubt the validity of the Bible. The dawn of science and evolution brought new criticisms to ancient religious claims. In modern culture as well several myths about the Bible became popular. ‌ Myth #1: Science has disproven the Bible. ‌ Claim: Since science has proven that everything evolved from a single organism, there is no reason to believe the Bible’s primitive claims. ‌ Response: Science has not proven the original nor evolution of life. The Bible does not claim to do science. The theory of evolution has no impact on the existence of God. Science has no methods or tools to study something outside of nature. Science has proven that the universe had a beginning but has no idea what caused the beginning. Science has proven that all life contains intricate information (design). Information cannot be programmed without a mind (Designer). ‌‌ Myth #2: There’s no evidence to support the Bible’s claims. ‌ Claim: The Bible describes historical people and events of which there is not enough evidence to support it. ‌ Response: Archaeology has and continues to find evidence to support, and even prove in many cases, the historical claims of the Bible. Only 5% of biblical places have been excavated. None of that 5% has disproved any of the Bible’s claims. The Bible has the most written evidence of any other collection of books. Supernatural claims cannot be proven/disproven by natural means. ‌ Myth #3: The NT canon was decided by Constantine in AD 325. ‌ Claim: The Roman Emperor Constantine decided which books would be included and excluded from the Bible at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. Therefore, the NT cannot be trusted because it was corrupted by the church. ‌ Response: Even atheist scholars debunk this claim as false. The written records of the Council of Nicaea show that there was no discussion about which books would be included in the New Testament. The NT canon had been settled long before AD 325. ‌ Myth #4: Ancient, illiterate people couldn’t have written the Bible. ‌ Claim: The Bible couldn’t have been written by the claimed authors because they were illiterate and most people were illiterate. ‌ Response: If almost everyone was illiterate in biblical times, where did all these writings and thousands of ancient copies come from? Moses was raised in the family of Egypt’s Pharaoh. Paul spoke and wrote Greek and Hebrew (and possibly Latin). Matthew was a tax collector. Luke was a medical physician. Ancient authors used scribes to produce texts. An illiterate apostle could still produce writings by dictating to a scribe. ‌ Conclusion ‌People who have not studied the Bible—its history, its original languages, and its original context—are bound to misunderstand the Bible and are not qualified to make thoughtful critiques.