Fluent Essays

Part 1 View video session one (three hours) as live or archived. Take notes for your online notebook (must be typed and submitted no later than Sunday 11:59pm). Part 2 Read pages 13-57 in Lightfoot (your text) and place an outline of key points in the online notebook.  https://zoom.us/rec/play/MuFhDzjV2gB8O7Ycwd1yrHQx5Vjz_XQ46lq5ibdlB9LMeIh4X7ZQne6Qjsmy5_Pj3loPXCQzk87FinK6.eDAT7rGFhpg18pLc ( 13 ) The Making of Ancient Books writing are known to have existed in the general area of Syria- Palestine when Moses lived.1 All of this means it can no longer be assumed that it was impossible for Moses to have written the books ascribed to him. Writing Materials Ancient peoples of Palestine and adjoining countries adopted many kinds of materials for writing purposes. The Bible itself makes reference to a number of these. 1. Stone. In almost every region the earliest material on which writing has been found is stone. In Egypt and Meso- potamia the earliest inscriptions are on stone. In Babylonia and elsewhere, legal and religious laws were inscribed and erected for public display. Hammurabi (c. 1750 B.C.), one of the well-known Babylonian kings, set up his stele (an upright stone monument) in order that any oppressed person might read his 250 laws and be granted justice. The oldest substantial portions of Hebrew writing found in Palestine are also on stone. The best examples of these are the Gezer Calendar and the Siloam Inscription. The Gezer Calen- dar is a kind of poem having to do with various agricultural activities during the months of the year. Scratched on a small piece of white limestone are twenty words of an early Hebrew alphabetic script, dating from the time of Solomon (c. 925 B.C.). The Siloam Inscription goes back to about 700 B.C., when King Hezekiah had a tunnel constructed to convey water into Jerusalem (2 Kings 20:20; 2 Chron. 32:30). The inscription tells of the successful completion of the S-shaped tunnel dug from opposite ends.2 Another well-known inscription which has survived is the Moabite Stone, found in the area east of the Dead Sea. Con- taining thirty-four lines of “Canaanite” script, written in the ninth century B.C., it was erected by King Mesha of Moab to commemorate his revolt against Israel (2 Kings 3:4–27). It is the only inscription outside of Palestine proper that mentions the Divine Name (YHWH) of Israel’s God.3 Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 13 3/18/03, 7:52:31 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 14 ) How We Got the Bible That these early specimens of writing exist on stone is in remarkable agreement with the Bible account, for the earliest writing material mentioned in the Old Testament is stone. The Ten Commandments, as almost everyone knows, were first written on stone. The Book of Exodus reads, “And he gave to Moses, when he had made an end of speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God” (Exod. 31:18; cf. Exod. 34:1, 28; Deut. 10:1–5). Connected with stone are texts that were written with ink on plaster. Moses had said to the Israelites, “On the day you cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones and cover them with plaster. You shall write on them all the words of this law. . . .” (Deut. 27:2–3). And Joshua had done this (Josh. 8:22). Two inscriptions of this kind, ink on plaster, have been dis- covered rather recently. One of these is of particular interest. It is an Aramaic text from the plaster of a temple wall in the Jordan valley. The first line of the text reads, “This is the record of Balaam, son of Beor. . . .” Although this clearly is a refer- ence to the Biblical Balaam (Numbers 22–24), the inscription is noteworthy for another reason. Consisting of a number of straight lines, its appearance is like a column of a scroll. Its upper and left margins are ruled and its headings are in red ink. Dated about 700 B.C., this is something of what a book looked like in the time of the prophet Isaiah.4 2. Clay. The most common writing material in Mesopotamia was clay. The moist clay was made into tablets, then written upon and baked in an oven or allowed to dry in the sun. This is the kind of material referred to in Ezekiel 4:1 when the prophet is commanded to sketch a plan of Jerusalem on a brick. Clay tablets were so durable that a half million or more of them have survived to modern times. Clay tablets were written upon in cuneiform (wedge-shaped) letters. Tablets were made in all shapes and sizes and were used for all types of literary purposes. Historical texts, often in the shape of a barrel, were placed in the cornerstones of buildings, and clay nails were stuck in the walls, inscribed in the king’s Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 14 3/18/03, 7:52:31 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 15 ) The Making of Ancient Books name in whose time the building was erected. Long literary texts were continued from tablet to tablet, sometimes requiring numerous tablets to make one “book.” The tablets were kept in special archive rooms, stored on shelves or in baskets or boxes or clay jars (cf. Jer. 32:14).5 The use of clay tablets spread to other parts of the world. Recently, Ebla in Syria has drawn much attention. In Ebla a whole library of some 16,000 tablets has been unearthed—royal edicts and letters, treatises, hymns to gods, and so forth. The tablets, which may date as far back as 2400 B.C., are written in cuneiform in the “Eblaite” language.6 Previous discoveries of large numbers of tablets have proved to be of great importance. At Tell-el-Amarna, in central Egypt, a native woman found several hundred tablets inscribed in cuneiform. From about 1350 B.C., the tablets turned out to be the official correspondence between the pharaohs of Egypt and rulers in Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, and other places. At Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) in Syria, hundreds of cuneiform tablets were found, dating from about the same time. The chronicles of a number of kings mentioned in the Old Testament have been preserved on clay tablets. Sargon II claims the capture of Samaria (721 B.C.), while a little later (701 B.C.) Sennacherib details the siege of Hezekiah in Jerusalem. Ashur- banipal, known as Osnapper in the Old Testament (Ezra 4:10), boasts that he had learned “the entire art of writing on clay tab- lets.”7 It was he who sent out his scribes to copy and translate into Assyrian all the books they could find, thousands of which have survived and are now housed in the British Museum in London. Nebuchadrezzar II, usually known as Nebuchadnez- zar, relates how he rebuilt the city of Babylon. Of his writings that remain, most of them relate to his extensive building accomplishments (cf. Dan. 4:28–30). Belshazzar, mentioned in the Book of Daniel, left clay cylinders of prayers and tablets on various subjects. 3. Wood and wax. The Old Testament makes specific refer- ence to writing on wooden rods and sticks (Num. 17:2–3; Ezek. 37:16–17). In Greek and Roman times a whitened board was used for public notices, and this was called an “album.” At the Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 15 3/18/03, 7:52:32 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 16 ) How We Got the Bible death of Jesus, the inscription on the cross was probably writ- ten on a whitewashed board. Wooden tablets often had an inlay of wax, which could be written upon or erased as occasion demanded. The Assyrians used such tablets, and they were especially popular with the Romans. These were their “notebooks.” They could be used singly or fastened together and turned like pages of a book. The Romans called a tablet bound together a “codex” (plural “codices”), the term that was later employed for a book with many sheets. Isaiah 30:8 and Habakkuk 2:2 may well refer to these wooden writing boards. 4. Metal. Gold as a writing surface is referred to in Exodus 28: 36. Cuneiform writings were made on gold, silver, copper, and bronze, on plaques or tablets of these metals. In Greece and Rome government records of treaties and decrees were frequently inscribed on bronze tablets. Roman soldiers, at the time of their discharge, were presented with small bronze tablets called “diplo- mas,” granting them special privileges and citizenship. Of special interest are two small silver scrolls worn as amulets around the neck. One contains the priestly blessing that reads, “May the Lord bless and keep you. May the Lord cause his face to shine upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:24–26). The inscription in old Hebrew letters is from the sixth century B.C. and is the earliest known that contains words of Scripture.8 5. Ostraca. In contrast to expensive metals was the wide- spread use of ostraca or potsherds as a writing material. Broken pottery was readily available and was used in antiquity very much as we use scrap paper. Large numbers of ostraca have come from Egypt, representing many stages of its history. Two sherds have been found with the name of Narmer, the first Pharaoh of Egypt (c. 3100 B.C.), on them. In Palestine, one sherd has been discovered with the name of Pekah, king of Israel about 735 B.C., on it. Another sherd has been found and dates back to about 1100 B.C. It contains, with minor differences, the Hebrew alphabet of twenty-two letters.9 Likewise, the Samaria ostraca and Lachish letters are of special importance. The Samaria ostraca are notations of goods received at the royal palace, probably from the time of Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 16 3/18/03, 7:52:32 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 17 ) The Making of Ancient Books Jeroboam II (c. 750 B.C.). The Lachish letters are part of the correspondence of an officer at Lachish and a subordinate elsewhere, when the little kingdom of Judah was under attack by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letters frequently employ the Divine Name. One letter begins, “May YHWH cause my lord to hear tidings of peace.”10 Ostraca as writing surfaces have proved to be practically indestructible. Twenty-five or more ostraca have been found with short passages of the New Testament inscribed on them. Earlier, in the fifth century B.C., the people of Athens “ostra- cized” their unpopular fellow citizens by writing the names of those to be banished on ostraca. 6. Papyrus. A long list of other writing materials used by the ancients could be drawn up, but all of these materials, includ- ing those discussed thus far, have distinct disadvantages. Some could bear only a few words, others were bulky and heavy. In the case of clay, for instance, a lengthy text would require a wheelbarrow of tablets. It is no wonder, then, that the ancient world came to rely more and more on a light, flexible writing material known as papyrus. The Book of Job asks, “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?” (8:11). In Egypt, along the Nile River, where marshes and swamps remained after the river’s annual flood, this was the ideal place for papyrus to grow and flourish. For long cen- turies the papyrus plant was the symbol of Lower (Northern) Egypt. Its eminent position is represented today in tomb paint- ings and by temple columns beautifully shaped like flowering papyrus stalks. The Egyptians used papyrus as a writing material from about 3000 B.C. They used it for many other purposes as well, for fuel, food, boats, ropes, baskets, sandals, clothing, and even for tables and chairs.11 The Bible speaks of “vessels of papyrus” (Isa. 18:2); “skiffs of reed” (Job 9:26); and, in reference to the infant Moses, “a basket of bulrushes,” which probably refers to papyrus. “Civi- lization,” Pliny said, “depends on the use of papyrus.” Pliny lived in the first century A.D. and has left an impor- tant account of how strips of papyrus were transformed into “paper.” “Paper is made from the papyrus plant by separating Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 17 3/18/03, 7:52:32 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 18 ) How We Got the Bible it with a needle point into very thin strips as broad as possible. The choice quality comes from the center, and thence in the order of slicing.”12 Pliny goes on to relate how strips of papyrus were laid crosswise, trimmed and pressed together, and then dried in the sun. When rough spots were smoothed out, the result was a polished paper of different qualities. The popularity of papyrus spread from Egypt to surrounding countries, and its use was so general that it became the univer- sal medium for the making of books in Greece and Rome. We are quite sure the letters and books of the New Testament were written at first on papyrus. This is clearly the case in 2 John 12 where “paper” (Greek, chartes) refers to papyrus. From the world of the once flourishing papyrus has descended to modern times a vocabulary of terms that remains. Papyrus, of course, is the origin of our word “paper.” “Papyrology” is the science that deals especially with writings on papyrus. The Greek word chartes denotes a sheet or roll of papyrus, with the term appearing in Latin as charta, and in English as “chart,” “charter,” and “card.” The word biblos was a Greek term for papyrus. Bib- lion, the related word, was the ordinary word for “papyrus roll”; biblia, the plural for “papyrus rolls,” meant simply “the books.” It was but another step to refer to “the books” as “the Books” and then to “the Book” of Sacred Scripture. Thus the word “Bible” itself goes back to the papyrus plant. 7. Leather and parchment. It used to be common to credit Eumenes II, king of Pergamum shortly after 200 B.C., with the invention of parchment. Eumenes was building up his library to rival the great library of King Ptolemy in Alexandria. The king of Egypt moved to cut off the supply of papyrus to Per- gamum, and in response Eumenes was forced to develop “parchment.” This story is untrue if taken in the sense that Eumenes was the first to make use of parchment or leather; for long before the second century, animal skins for writing were unquestionably in use. In Egypt, for example, mention is made of leather documents as far back as 2500 B.C. Many leather rolls have been found in Egypt and in other countries as well. So Eumenes was by no means the first to use animal skins for writing, although he may have developed and perfected a better Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 18 3/18/03, 7:52:33 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 19 ) The Making of Ancient Books process for treating the skins. Whatever the case, Pergamum and parchment are indisputably connected, the word “parch- ment” being derived from the Greek term pergamene. There is a difference, however, between leather and parch- ment, depending on how the animal skins are treated. Both leather and parchment are dehaired and soaked in lime water, but leather is tanned by the application of chemical reagents, while parchment is stretched and dried on a frame. The skins are mainly from small animals such as sheep, goats, and calves. Strictly speaking, “vellum” (related to the English word veal) refers to calfskin, but the term is also applied to other fine skins. Generally, however, “vellum” and “parchment” are used interchangeably to describe a smooth, thin writing surface of any skin. The Old Testament makes no direct reference to writing on leather. In recent times numerous manuscripts from the Dead Sea area came to light, and most of them were written on leather.13 The Jewish Talmud, a code of traditional laws, required explicitly that the Torah (Law) be copied on animal skins, a regulation that undoubtedly embodies an ancient tra- dition. It is safe to conclude, therefore, that the Old Testament writings were regularly copied on prepared skins. When in New Testament times the Apostle Paul requests that “the parch- ments” be sent to him (2 Tim. 4:13), perhaps he is speaking of portions of the Old Testament. Parchment as a writing surface gained ground slowly, yet its final triumph over papyrus was inevitable. Papyrus is not as durable as parchment and in time became less and less available. So from the fourth century through the Middle Ages the princi- pal receptacle for the written Word of God was parchment. Summary The history of writing leads back to the remote past. Writing was being practiced widely hundreds of years before the time of Moses. It is not a foregone conclusion that Moses could not have written some parts of our Bible. As in our day, people Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 19 3/18/03, 7:52:33 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 20 ) How We Got the Bible wrote long ago on almost all kinds of materials, depending on their locale and situation in history. For the Old Testament the most important writing material was leather. At the time when the New Testament was penned, papyrus was in general use. In about the fourth century, parchment displaced papyrus, and so the vast majority of ancient New Testament manuscripts that survive today are written on the handsome and durable material of vellum or parchment. For Discussion 1. What information is available to show that writing was generally practiced before the time of Moses? Of what significance is this information on the authorship of the first five books of the Bible? 2. What were some of the main materials used in ancient times for writing? Which of these materials was the most important for the Old Testament? 3. The Bible makes reference to a number of writing materials. Check back over these references. What discoveries men- tioned in this chapter shed light on what we know about the Bible? 4. Illustrate the importance of papyrus for the ancient world. What is its significance for the early history of the New Testament? 5. What is parchment? What is the story behind its devel- opment? What is vellum? Is it to be distinguished from parchment? Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 20 3/18/03, 7:52:34 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 21 ) 2 The Birth of the Bible I t is impossible to say how or when and under what circumstances the Bible had its origin. As through hundreds of years ancient literary works took shape in many forms, so also from century to century the many books of the Bible were coming into being separately and under varying conditions. The Bible is a collection of books, which is indicated whenever we use the term Bible. The term, as we have seen, is derived from biblia, literally “the books.” But the Bible is more than an ordinary collection: it is a treasure- house of sacred books which has grown through the centuries until it has attained its present stature. And it is the firm belief of the Christian that the Bible is honored today because in the past it grew under the favorable and directing influence of Him who is the Author of all things. The Codex Before going further, however, something more needs to be said about the form of ancient books. Wherever the use of papyrus and leather prevailed, for many centuries the form of the book was the roll or scroll. In the case of papyrus, the roll was made by gluing the sheets end to end. Usually all the writing was done on one side, although at times a scribe might Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 21 3/19/03, 11:03:07 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 22 ) How We Got the Bible make use of both sides of the roll (cf. Rev. 5:1). The writing was arranged in columns, each about three or four inches wide. The rolls varied in size, ordinarily no longer than thirty-five feet and about nine to ten inches high. The length of a roll has some importance for the New Testa- ment. A roll of thirty-two to thirty-five feet would be needed for a more lengthy book such as Matthew or Luke or Acts. (That rolls rarely exceeded this length might account for Luke and Acts being written as separate volumes.) It follows, then, that so long as the roll remained in use, each of the Gospels and Acts, and perhaps some of the longer letters, would have to circulate individually. But just as the use of papyrus gave way to parchment, the roll form of book gave way to the codex. “Codex,” as we have seen, was the term for the Roman writing tablet, and it is also the term that came to be used for a book with leaves—a “book” in the modern sense of the term. It has been said that the inventor of the codex belongs with other nameless benefactors of mankind such as the inventor of the wheel and the deviser of the alphabet.1 The reader of a roll held the roll horizontally, unrolling it with one hand and rolling it up with the other. In the best hands the procedure was somewhat awkward. The codex was much more convenient to use. In the making of a codex, the sheets were placed together, folded in the middle and stitched, then opened in separate pages. The result was a book that could be easily read, easily referred to, and easily carried about. It could be written on both sides of the pages and could even be bound to include several books in one. For these reasons, Christians especially found the codex advantageous, for it allowed them, say, to make one book for the Four Gospels, another for Paul’s letters, and later one book for the entire Bible. At first the codex was of papyrus, then subsequently of parch- ment. The early codex was quite simple in form, all the sheets being folded clumsily together. Later, four sheets were put together to make a “quire,” a term that now stands for any number of sheets gathered together. Parchment sheets were arranged for a desired visual effect, with the coarser “hair side” Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 22 3/18/03, 7:52:35 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 23 ) The Birth of the Bible facing another hair side and the smoother “flesh side” facing another flesh side. When did the codex displace the roll? And who was respon- sible for it? The whole subject has been thoroughly explored in recent years.2 More and more it seems that the codex may very well be a Christian innovation. If not, we know at least that Christians were the first to make extensive use of the codex.3 Our earliest extant texts of the New Testament characteristi- cally are written in a codex. By the time of the second century, the use of the codex among Christians was so universal that its introduction must have taken place by or before A.D. 90. The Early Form of the Bible The Bible has reached its present stature through gradual and almost imperceptible stages of growth. According to the Bible, at first God’s communication with humankind was oral; God spoke directly to such men as Adam and Noah and Abra- ham. But the time came when it was necessary for the divine will to be put into more permanent form and that a record of God’s revelations be made for succeeding generations. In other words, it was God’s purpose that by means of a written record he would be revealed to all ages and tongues as Creator and Redeemer. The first person mentioned in the Bible as writing anything is Moses, who lived perhaps as early as 1500 B.C.4 In the early books of the Bible six distinct writings are attributed to his hand: (1) the memorial concerning Amalek (Exod. 17:14); (2) the words of the covenant made at Sinai (Exod. 24:4); (3) the Ten Commandments (Exod. 34:27–28); (4) the journeys of the children of Israel in the wilderness (Num. 33:2); (5) the Book of the Law, which was to be kept with the Ark of the Covenant (Deut. 31:9, 24); and (6) the Song found in Deuteronomy 32: 1–43 (Deut. 31:22). In addition, Moses is held by strict Jewish tradition as being the author of the first five books of the Bible known as the Pentateuch. Other writers of the Bible, and the Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 23 3/18/03, 7:52:35 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/amridge/detail.action?docID=3117196. Created from amridge on 2021-09-03 13:10:54. C o p yr ig h t © 2 0 1 0 . B a ke r B o o ks . A ll ri g h ts r e se rv e d . ( 24 ) How We Got the Bible Lord himself, give unvarying support to this view (cf. Josh. 8:31; 2 Kings 14:6; Ezra 6:18; Mark 12:26; Luke 2:22; John 7:19). When divine revelation was put in writing, it was natural for other revelations and events to be recorded. So the successor of Moses, Joshua, also wrote words “in the book of the law of God” (Josh. 24:26). This in turn became the practice of other men of God who wrote both history and prophecy (cf. 1 Sam. 10:25; Jer. 36:2), with the result that later generations are found consulting the writings of their esteemed predecessors (cf. Dan. 9:2; Neh. 8:1). In this way the Old Testament Scriptures grew gradually and came to be assembled into an accepted collec- tion about the time of Ezra (c. 400 B.C.). The Jewish authority, Josephus, said that no book was added to the Hebrew Scrip- tures after the time of Malachi.5 The New Testament came into being gradually also, although the books themselves were written in a comparatively short period of time (A.D. 50–100). The books were mostly letters penned by inspired men and addressed to different churches and individuals. From the first, however, they were looked upon as distinctively authoritative writings; thus they were received with respect and read in the public assemblies (1 Thess. 5:27). Soon afterward came the interchange of extant letters among the churches (cf. Col. 4:16), the individual churches in this way profiting from an exchange of apostolic instructions. The next step was the embodiment in writing of the central events of the life of Jesus. At first oral accounts of his work by eyewitnesses filled the needs of the infant church, but as years passed eyewitness accounts became few and insufficient. Now the demand was for authoritative written narratives, and in fulfillment of this demand Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John sent out their witness to Jesus (cf. Luke 1:1–4; John 20:30–31). The logical outgrowth of the Four Gospels was the Book of Acts, which told the story of the primitive church. As a kind of climax to the whole came Revelation with its prospect of a triumphant Christ. The result of it all was that a new community of people, just like the people of the Old Covenant, had as a cherished treasure their own writings as “Scripture.” Lightfoot_Bible_Ca_BB 24 3/18/03, 7:52:36 AM Lightfoot, Neil R.. How We Got the Bible, Baker Books, 2010. ProQuest Ebook Central, …