How Did God Made The Holy Bible? (part 4)

May everybody have a blessed Sunday and may the name of Jesus Christ be glorified always. It is Sunday once again and we are now on the fourth part of this series. And I would like to take this space to thank you for following this series.

THE TEST OF THE HOLY BIBLE

Various books of the Holy Bible especially those of the New Testament, were submitted to certain rigid tests by the early church. These tests included:

1. AUTHORSHIP- who wrote the book or the epistle?

2. LOCAL CHURCH ACCEPTANCE- had it been read by the various churches? What was their opinion?

3. CHURCH FATHER'S RECOGNITION- had the pupils of the disciples quoted from a book? As an example, a man named Polycarp was a disciple of John the apostle. Therefore one test of a book might be, "What did Polycarp think of it?"

4. BOOK SUBJECT MATTER (content)- what did the book teach? Did it contradict other recognized books?

5. PERSONAL EDIFICATION- did the book have the ability to inspire, convict, and edify local congregations and individual believers?

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NOTE: It should be stated that it was a combination of these five steps, which helped determine whether a book was inspired or not.

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This series is from my hand-out notes during our six months Church Membership Class in LWCM , Banilad, Cebu, Philippines. The class was conducted by our Senior Pastor Mel Caparros.