From God To Us Revised and Expanded: How We Got Our Bible

by Norman L. Geisler

The Bible was written in multiple languages by dozens of authors whose lives spanned a period of more than fifteen hundred years. How did it all come together? Best-selling authors Norman Geisler and William Nix thoroughly answer this question and many more in this revised and expanded edition of a classic which has sold more than 78,000 copies. Helpful charts, photos, and indices have been added, rendering this book ideally suited for Bible students, pastors, and professors. Major topics addressed theories of inspiration, the process of canonization, major manuscripts and recent discoveries, textual criticism, Greek and Latin translations, and modern English translations. The entire field of general biblical introduction is covered. This is a long-trusted resource for understanding why we can trust the Scriptures really are God's word.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Christianity, Nonfiction, History, Religion, School

416 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1974

About the author

Norman L. Geisler (PhD, Loyola University of Chicago) taught at top evangelical colleges and seminaries for over fifty years and was a distinguished professor of apologetics and theology at Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Murrieta, California. He was the author of nearly eighty books, including the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics and Christian Ethics. He and his wife lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Christian STANKOVITS · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a student of scripture this book will equip, surprise, and challenge you. Dr. Geisler educates his reader on four separate topics related to the history of the Bible:

1. Why we believe books of the Bible are divinely inspired. (Inspiration)
2. Why certain books have been included in the Bible vs. excluded. (Canonization)
3. The path of transmission from the original languages to us through history. (Transmission)
4. The process, history, and course of the actual translations.
(Translation)

I found the book extremely enlightening. It is easily approachable in most sections, although some material does require more scholarly depth.

When it approached the topic on Bible translations (#4) I found myself getting lost due to the sum of translations. He does a good job of keeping neutrality in his book, which leaves the reader to wonder “which translation is best?” NIV? KJV? NLT? ESV?

If you’re hoping to get a good foundation in where our Bible came from, how it differs from one translation to the next, and why—this book is an excellent resource.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one lost me at the first "the Bible is inspired because it says it inspired." The book is a well written treatise and well organized for someone who wants their belief/faith confirmed. For someone searching to find the answers, there is far too much self confirmation and assumption of belief. My opinion anyway.

Honestly, belief that any scripture is inspired is a matter of faith. The author does give a good synopsis of the different beliefs and history, but when it comes down to it, it takes faith to believe that there is a God and it takes faith to believe in the inspiration and authority of scripture.

Trying to "prove" this in my opinion is a bit of a futile exercise. Better to "live" what you believe and let the results of your life be the proof of concept.

As for me and what I believe, well...that's for a different post.

Simply,

Tim

[Adam Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an overview about how we got the English Bible. It explains the the different Greek manuscripts and the background behind the different English translations.

It was interesting to see how often politics were involved in translation efforts, and the different biases behind the translators…

[Taylor Vegge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first section on inspiration was good, but required pre-existing faith. But the sections on the canonization, transmission and translation were very helpful and grew my faith to see the processes put into restoring and maintaing the authenticity of the manuscripts

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent look into the transmission of God's Word. Instead of starting out with material proofs or by appealing to ones feelings regarding the inspiration of the Bible, Geisler and Nix hold the Holy Scriptures as the ultimate authority and use the Bible as the main and first proof of its own inspiration and authenticity. Their method reminds me of a quote I read once that went something along these lines: "The Scriptures revolve on their own axis. They do not disdain indirect assistance, from secular investigations; but they mainly depend on their own inexhaustible resources and treasures."(E. W. Grinfield) The authors of this examination use the prophets and apostles own references and quotations of each others God given Scriptures as evidence. And in regards to the Old and New Testaments they use Christ's quoting and referencing it as special proof. They first emphasize belief in the God of the Bible and in Jesus' divinity, and then demonstrate that Christ's usage of Scripture as God's Word leads to a logical imperative conclusion that the Scriptures are therefore the Word of God. "Jesus said, 'Scripture cannot be broken' (John 10:35). On numerous occasions our Lord appealed to the written Word of God as final arbitrator for faith and practice. He claimed Scripture as His authority for cleansing the temple(Mark 11:17), for rebuking the tradition of Pharisees(Matt. 15:3, 4);.. for settling doctrinal disputes(Matt. 22:29).."

After letting the God's Word be its own proof, the authors then move on to secondary matters, other logical reasons as to the Bible being the truth. I like that with these secondary proofs, such as Archaeological evidence supporting the Bibles claims, the authors make sure to point out that this evidence is merely supporting evidence, this evidence does not make the Bible true, the Bible is true regardless. This is the same way they treat the development of the Canon, "Canonicity is determined by God and discovered by man." The Words of God are inspired whether or not man has come to the conclusion that they are inspired. I like those points.

Moving on to the development of the Canon, the collection of books that we hold as God's Word, they then look into its transmission and translations down through the centuries. This is not a high level overview of the Bible, it is an intricate look at how God has chosen to preserve and compile His Word by means of human beings copying, translating, and collecting it, examining older copies of it and collating its manuscripts. It gets quite detailed about the various old manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments we have to work from. But I found those details very interesting. Also, Geisler and Nix keep repeating what various manuscript symbols mean, they don't just assume you'll remember them after merely seeing them one time. And having short-term memory I appreciate that.

Now as I say(or at least think) with regards to any book I have read besides the Bible, there are things that I do not agree with in this book, but overall it was very informative. Speaking of not completely agreeing with any other book, the quote I want to end with from this one fits very well:

"No article of faith may be based on any noncanonical work, regardless of its religious value.
The divinely inspired and authoritative books are the sole basis for doctrine and practice. Whatever complimentary support canonical truth derives from other books, it in no way lends canonical value to those books. The support is purely historical and has no authoritative theological value. The truth of inspired Scripture alone is the canon or foundation of the truths of faith."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this
review. Thanks Moody Publishers!

[Pat]

Thanks for the gift, Joe and Caroline (I think!). It's been a long time since I read this one. Great history of textual sources and canonization, but some of the reasoning for inspiration seemed a bit shaky, if I remember correctly. This one will go on the read-again pile.

[Justin Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earlier this year, I read about book about William Tyndale and his daring mission to translate the Bible into English. Before I started that book, I had been reading this one by Norman Geisler which presents a pretty significant layman’s scope of the area of theology called bibliology.

One of the biggest threats to Evangelicalism today is the disdain for the Bible. Liberal scholars as well as Atheists and Agnostics have been putting pressure on this traditional thought for several years now and with good reason: when you discredit the Bible, everything after it falls as well. The inerrancy debate, I believe, will be one of the most pivotal arguments for Christians as we enter into the greater 21st century.

That’s why Geisler’s book is so important. People of all walks of life will look at the Bible and wonder if what we are reading is really what the original authors wrote. What they do not realize is that there is a plethora of evidence given to defend the position of inerrancy. Geisler starts with the inspiration of the texts; the thought that God, through the Holy Spirit, inspired men to write down His very words in the style of the writer. Then he moves to explain the transmission of the texts; in the New Testament, how they forwarded Paul’s letters or the in Old, how the Masoretic Texts were meticulously copied for each successive generation. Lastly, he explains the translation of the texts; how the Greek and Hebrew was translated into English and how we got our modern Bible.

This is a very interesting study for the Bible scholar, layman, or even the skeptic. At the end, you will find that textual criticism is a very important study, much more than I realized. Further, you will believe that the scripture we have is indeed the inspired Word of God as taught in the scriptures.

One criticism of the book: if you didn’t know, textual criticism is the study of different fragments of the Bible that are various ages. The Dead Sea Scrolls are an example of such fragments. Each of these pieces are labeled a certain way. For example, Codex Washingtonianus I is labeled as “W, 032” and then each page has a specific number tied to it. Using this terminology when not a textual criticism scholar can be tedious and proves to be a little confusing at times. Other than that, this is a worthwhile read.

[Gene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book able to still hold my interest after 30+ years. It is dated, especially in terms of the last chapter's review of modern English translations. It provided a good review of the meaning of the inspiration of Scripture, and it made clear what canonization is and what it isn't. I was especially interested in the way the Apocrypha was dealt with, and I felt it gave a fairly even-handed evaluation from a Protestant perspective. I find it interesting that Catholics tend not to mention how marginally this group of books was accepted as canonical until the need was felt to cement them at the Council of Trent to make sure they provided a Biblical basis for prayer to the saints. On the other hand, even Geisler and Nix tended to overlook how much credence was given to Jews who opposed Christ and the church in weighing whether or not these books should be received as part of Holy Scripture. The book didn't specifically address the KJV only debate among Fundamentalist Christians, but the overview of all manuscripts and translations shows that to claim inspiration for one particular translation in one particular language seems a bit extreme and parochial.

[Todd Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially in our day, church leaders must understand something related to the development of the Bible. As children are further influenced by teachers who are antagonistic towards God and His Message to us, it is pertinent that church leaders be able to explain the reliability of the text of Scripture. This book provides a solid foundation for answering critics.

This book paints with a broader brush than books like The Canon of Scripture (F.F. Bruce) and especially Canon Revisited (Michael J. Kruger). Because of that, this is probably the best introduction to the subject of Canon that I've read. Though, it goes far beyond that—even offering specific information about scores of translations since the first century. This is a book that even a layman could read and comprehend. I highly recommend this book.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and was hopeful that I would finally find a book that adequately told the story of how we got the Bible. Alas, I was sorely disappointed. It was overly long, sparsely footnoted, far too surface level in surprising areas (like canon), and overly in depth in others (like the history of Bible translations), and quite outdated in others (like in textual criticism). I read the updated edition of 2012, and, having not read the first edition, there seems to be a disconnect in how updates were made. Tone changed and what I presume are additions needed quite a bit of editing.

If there is nothing else, this is a serviceable introduction, but I found myself repeatedly frustrated by how this book was presented and its general layout.

[Luke Seibert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. I was amazed by the scope of the book and the details included about the various translations. Because of the variety of information included, I would probably recommend this more as a reference book rather than one you would sit down and read all the way through. Though you could ( I did). The book covers everything from why there are only 66 books in the Canon, to the manuscript traditions, to the variety of modern English translations. Another note that is that it does not go into a whole lot of detail about any one part, so this is a good over-view book. Definitely glad to have read it.

[Joshua Chipchase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized and intensive explanations of inspiration, inerrancy, canon, textual criticism, and translations. The last third of the book was rather dry reading, but the book addressed a lot of in depth issues well.

[Dave Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

In many ways, From God To Us offers very little that you won't find in countless other books. What sets this apart as an excellent, worthwhile read is the kind of typically Geisler-like approach: clear, logical and well organized, without getting lost in the weeds (too much).

Highly recommended.

[Erika Nederveld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal in-depth analysis! This is not a casual read, and is semi-technical. Many vacuous assertions questioning the accuracy of the transmission of Scripture can be refuted with this information. We can have confidence, that we have the true words of God.

[Gene Ziesel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very technical and is a great resource as to how be got our Bible.

[Nicholas Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry and informative. Unbiased and rigid.

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

From God To Us is a fascinating account of the history of the Bible. This enormously comprehensive book (some 432 pages) covers a vast array of topics, such as:

-The structure of the Bible and order of the books, including the traditional Hebrew arrangement of Old Testament books

-An in-depth look into the definition & nature of “inspiration”, as well as Old Testament and New Testament claims of inspiration

-Evidences for inspiration

-The history of the canonization of the Bible

-The discovery of the dead sea scrolls in the caves of Qumran, and their effect on our knowledge of the reliability of Old Testament texts

-Many disputed books of the Old Testament and New Testament, including the Apocrypha

-The many languages, writing materials, and preservation methods of the Bible

-Charts, including my favorite- which compares the reliability of New Testament documents to other ancient texts

-Several pages of black and white photos of ancient tablets (several of which mention Israel), the caves of Qumran and the scrolls which were found inside, and many other scripts and texts, including some of the oldest complete Bibles.

-Many other non-biblical texts which agree with and prove the historical accuracy of the Bible

This book also covers textual criticism, variants within the text, and different translations of the bible including the septuagint and other greek translations, as well as latin, early english, and modern english translations.

For the casual reader, From God To Us may be a little dry, but it is absolutely indispensable as a reference source. This book is loaded with relevant, compelling information which will help to solidify your surety in the reliability and inspiration of God’s word, and would make a valuable addition to any serious scholar’s library!

I received a free copy of this book through Moody Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Check out this review on my blog:EpicBookQuest.wordpress.com

[Shane Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a disappointment. I borrowed it hoping it would have some good evidence as to how the Bible came about. It does have a lot of stories and a lot of information, but unfortunately, there are no references, no bibliography, and no actual proof that anything said therein can actually be substantiated. Even if it can, they don't reference how or where and as one reviewer pointed out, they use the Bible as evidence of itself. Rather poor logic and reasoning. That being said, I do believe the Bible, and appreciate what it teaches about Christ and his gospel. I just think this is a poor help if you are looking for solid evidence as to what we know about the origins of the book(s) and the writings therein. I must be clear that I did not read the book in its entirety either. I read from the beginning until I became disenchanted with it's lack of evidence, then I bounced around reading several chapters to get a better understanding (or I hope) of particular subjects that were of interest to me. Please keep that in mind when reading this review.

[Sean Cavender · Rating 2 out of 5]

The organization and general outline of the book is what first intrigued me about this book. I thought it had a unique approach to this subject compared to some "simpler" books on the same subject. However, I felt that the writing was sub-par. At some parts it felt repetitious and many times there were areas where ideas and concepts were introduced that were never set up or revisited for further study. The final section on translations was very disappointing to me, personally.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used it as a textbook in Bible Intro class at Moody. Good treatment of the necessary information. Really like that they cover inspiration, where others don't. It's slightly repetitive in places though - needs an update.

[Italo Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente livro. Nos dá informações sobre a crítica textual, origens e história dos manuscritos....

Só não concordo muito com os argumentos em defesa da inerrancia bíblica.

Vale a pena a leitura!

[Sean McGowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good intro. This seems to be an abbreviated version of the massive work "Introduction to the Bible". I would recommend reading this book along with Rene Pache's "Inspiration and Authority of Scripture".

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this particular book for a class that I took. I am not a great Geisler fan, however the book was pretty good. I do think that there are other books that do a better job.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite dry at times, but answers pretty much any question you would ever have concerning the history of the Bible.

[Jim Haw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book if you want to know how the Bible came about. Written for students of the Bible but understandable for the average reader.

[David Haines · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my review, see my blog. philosopherdhaines.blogspot.ca.

[Judith]

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most uplifting. Know the author personally...friend of the family...I used to call him and/ or his brother BillBob!

[Mark Mcintyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find my review of this book at http://wp.me/p2vDNc-1Oa

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on my blog: http://wp.me/pf2RR-vJ

[Rob Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on the inspiration, origin, and compilation of the Biblical books and their canon.