A Female Jail Cell Of Satanists And The Origin Of The New Testament
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Acts 17:17-Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.
A group of female Satanists that I studied with in jail ministry one day truly despised the Bible.
They had all been raised in local Christian homes in Kentucky, but became disillusioned with the Bible over a few issues. At about the same time, they learned about Satanism in a local high school and all decided to go further. They got online at their high school, downloaded the information from the official website of the church of Satan, and became an official coven of Satanists!
Most of the coven had then gotten into some trouble with the law and been arrested, and ended up in the same cell. Then one day they got called out for church and decided to work over a Gospel preacher.
When we started studying, they made it crystal clear to me that they despised Christians, and they had a special hatred for the Bible.
At the root of their bitterness towards Christianity was their belief in the popular untrue conspiracy theory that the New Testament had been given to us by the Catholic Church in 325 A.D. at the Council Of Nicaea and could not be trusted.
Let’s think this through.
First, the idea that the Catholic Church decided which Books went into the New Testament is simply not true. The New Testament predated the Council of Nicaea by at least three hundred years! Furthermore, the Council of Nicaea was not about determining which Books went into the New Testament. Listen to the words of one former Catholic who carefully studied the matter:
“By the close of the first century, the 27 books that compose the New Testament had been accepted by the early church as canonical. The evidence for this is verified by early church history. (In case you desire to read a more thorough treatment of this subject, I’ve listed several books for further reference at the end of this chapter.) The Roman Catholic Church maintains that the collection of books that compose the New Testament canon was determined by them. This is incorrect. The purpose of this council was not to sort through dusty old scrolls that had been stored in some monastic attic and then announce to the Christian world which books were canonical and which were not. The council simply affirmed what the early church had long since affirmed-that the 27 books we know as the New Testament were canonical. We must not make the mistake of thinking that the Scriptures received their authority because some council made a public statement of their acceptance. The truth of the matter is that the early church accepted the Scriptures in much the same way as Israel accepted the Old Testament Scriptures-they believed the Scriptures to be inspired of God. The church rightly saw herself as subject to the authority of Scripture and not the other way around. Though the church existed before the New Testament was written, this did not give the church authority over Scripture or even authority equal to Scripture. The church must always be subject to the authority of God’s written Word. What enabled the early church to accept the canon of the New Testament so readily was the unique position of the apostles. They were the Lord’s companions for most of his ministry, and he trained them for a special mission: world evangelism. Not only were they eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, but they were endowed with the necessary credentials to establish themselves as God’s spokespersons. The miracles they performed testified to this role.” (Tony Coffey, Answers to Questions Catholics Are Asking, 325-336 (Kindle Edition); Eugene, Oregon; Harvest House Publishers)
The primary criteria for determining which Books went into the Bible was authorship. Was this Book known to have been written by a confirmed Prophet or Apostle of God? In the case of the New Testament, the Books that went into the canon were those Books known to have been written by the Apostles of Jesus and their close companions. These Books were considered authoritative, having been written by confirmed men that were inspired by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 16:13; Mark 16:17-20; Acts 2:22; 2 Corinthians 12:12). The Books they wrote were known as the “commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37), and they had the same authority as the spoken words of the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:14). In fact, they were identified as Scripture! Paul quotes from Matthew 10:10 and Luke 10:7 in 1 Timothy 5:18, and calls it Scripture. Peter refers to the writings of Paul as Scripture (2 Peter 3:16).
Second, keep in mind that the church fathers (the designation usually given to the Christians who lived after the death of the Apostles) quoted so often from the New Testament Scriptures that if we didn’t have any Greek manuscripts of the New Testament or any early versions of it into other languages, we could still reproduce almost the entire New Testament from their quotations!
“What is more, if we compile the 36,289 quotations by the early church Fathers of the second to fourth centuries we can reconstruct the entire New Testament minus 11 verses.”. (Norman Geisler, Baker Encyclopedia Of Christian Apologetics, 532 (Kindle Edition); Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Books)
If no one knew which Books belonged in the New Testament until 325 A.D., how is it that the Apostles and church fathers quoted from the New Testament more then 36, 000 times for two centuries before then?!
The Catholic Church did not give us the Bible.
When I shared these proofs with those ladies, along with other evidences that show the Bible is the Word of God, their reactions truly surprised me and touched my heart. As they learned that the conspiracy theories that they had placed their faith in were unfounded and not true, and that the evidence leads to the inescapable conclusion that Jesus is God’s Son Who had lived and died for them and been resurrected, they were stunned. A few of them wept openly and wondered if there was any hope for them. They renounced Satanism on the spot and declared that they wanted to serve God. What a joy it was to tell them of God’s love for them and His plan of redemption (Acts 2:37-47)!
A few final thoughts this morning.
First, there are a lot of lies propagated in the world about Jesus and His Word. These young ladies had heard about these conspiracy theories from the popular movie, The Da Vinci Code. I shared with them that Christians have nothing to fear by people examining the facts. Truth is like a diamond: the harder you rub it, the brighter it will shine. (Sadly, they had actually asked one or two preachers about these matters, and had been shushed). As Christians, we must do what we can to provide a logical defense to everyone who asks a reason of the hope that is within us, yet with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15). Non-Christians often have good questions: let’s help them see that the Bible has good answers.
Second, this should serve to remind us how grateful we all ought be for God’s Word. The Bible provides us what we need for all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Through Scripture, we have what we need to be made wise for salvation, be made complete unto every good work, and to receive the gift of eternal life.
2 Timothy 3:14-17-But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
1 John 5:13-These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
How blessed we are to have the Word of God!
Lord, thank You for Your Word and for the many evidences that You have given to show that the Bible is from You. We pray that You will bless us to better prepare ourselves to show our friends and neighbors that our faith is built upon words of truth and reason. Please help our friends whose eyes have been blinded by the god of this world. May our paths cross with theirs and may we point them to You. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.