Here is the text of the letter I sent (sorry about the text being so squished…I had to edit the original lesson a bit and minimize spacing to fit most of the devotional):
Hello! I want to share another lesson with you and a photo of the Dead Sea Scrolls: "Many scribes have worked diligently over thousands of years to protect the accuracy of God’s Word. -- WRITING: The Bible is a collection of 66 separate books, written over a period of about 1,500 years by 40 different authors. These writers included kings, military commanders, fishermen, poets, musicians, scholars and shepherds. They wrote in different time periods, different styles, different languages and even in different countries. What makes the Bible unique is that every book was inspired by a single author—God. And each of the 66 books points to the same central message: God created you, loves you and has a plan to save you through His Son, Jesus. -- PRESERVING: The Bible has outlasted kingdoms, cultures and eras. It has survived wars, threats and book burnings. God promises His Word will last forever: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:31). Early in the history of God’s Word, the Scriptures were kept safe in the Ark of the Covenant, the most holy place in all Israel. For thousands of years, scribes, priests and specialists on the Scripture guarded biblical writings, carefully copying and counting every word, syllable and letter. -- SHARING: John Wycliffe first translated the Bible into English in 1382. Before this, only churches owned Bibles, which were written in Latin. They were kept locked away, and the people had to rely on priests to hear God’s words. Today, translators continue to work diligently so that someday every person will be able to read the Bible in his or her own language. In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. Fifteen years later he printed the Bible, making the distribution of God’s Word faster and more affordable. In the last two centuries, an estimated 6 billion Bibles have been printed! -- YOU: Every time you open a Bible, you’re opening a message from God. This message was written to you and carefully protected, copied, saved, translated and printed by people who loved and treasured it. -- DOES THE BIBLE HAVE MISTAKES? Bible experts who study the thousands of existing Old and New Testament manuscripts have concluded that the Bible we have today is 99.99 percent accurate to the authors’ original writings. More than 14,000 Old Testament manuscripts still exist. Although copied by hundreds of different scribes, the manuscripts are virtually identical. More than 5,300 New Testament manuscripts in Greek that exist, some date as far back as A.D. 60! The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in caves near the ancient ruins of Qumran in the Middle East, provided Scriptures from every Old from every Old Testament book." ~ Hannah
Feel free to copy and paste this letter to your kids also!
Very interesting! I learned a lot from that letter. Thank you for posting!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you enjoyed it! I learned a lot also!
DeleteLOVE this letter, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI recently taught on this topic at our church, and this is an excellent summary of a vast amount of important information confirming the accuracy & reliability of God's Word. Many believers don't know that the Word has so much scientific support, and therefore cannot share with those who have questions or stand firm in the face of skeptics. I encourage everyone who reads this to not only share it with their sponsored kids, but also their own families and at their churches.
How neat that you taught about this at your church! When I read this devotional, I thought this would be such a great topic for our sponsored kids! And I know that most of our kids share their letters with their friends and family. Thanks for reading!
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