<chapter id="h2-importance">
  <title>أهمية كلمة الله</title>
  <para>Understanding God's word is of great importance to all who call on God's
name. Study of the Bible is one of the primary ways that we learn to
communicate with God.</para>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-unique">
    <title>كتاب فريد</title>
    <para>The Bible stands alone in many ways. It is unique in:</para>
    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>popularity. Bible sales in North America: more than $500 million per
year. The Bible is both the all-time and year-to-year best seller!</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>authorship. It was written over a period of 1600 years by 40 different
authors from different backgrounds, yet reads as if written by one.</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>preservation. F. F. Bruce in <emphasis>Are New Testament Documents
Reliable?</emphasis> compares New Testament manuscripts with other ancient
texts:</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
    <table id="h2-importance-manuscripts-table">
      <title>مقارنة مخطوطات العهد الجديد بنصوص أخرى قديمة.</title>
      <tgroup cols="5">
        <thead>
          <row>
            <entry>العمل الأدبي</entry>
            <entry>متى كتب</entry>
            <entry>أقدم نسخة</entry>
            <entry>الفاصل الزمني</entry>
            <entry>عدد النسخ</entry>
          </row>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <row>
            <entry>هيرودوت</entry>
            <entry>448 - 428 ق.م.</entry>
            <entry>900 م</entry>
            <entry>1300 سنة</entry>
            <entry>8</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>تاسيتس</entry>
            <entry>100 م</entry>
            <entry>1100 م</entry>
            <entry>1000 سنة</entry>
            <entry>20</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>"الحرب الغاليّة" لقيصر</entry>
            <entry>50 - 58 ق.م.</entry>
            <entry>900 م</entry>
            <entry>950 سنة</entry>
            <entry>10</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>"التاريخ الروماني" لليفي</entry>
            <entry>59 ق.م. - 17 م</entry>
            <entry>900 م</entry>
            <entry>900 سنة</entry>
            <entry>20</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>العهد الجديد</entry>
            <entry>40 م - 100 م</entry>
            <entry>130 م مخطوطات جزئية 350 م مخطوطات كاملة</entry>
            <entry>30 - 310 سنة</entry>
            <entry>5000 يونانية و 10,000 لاتينية</entry>
          </row>
        </tbody>
      </tgroup>
    </table>
    <para>Ten copies of Caesar's <emphasis>Gallic War</emphasis> exist, the earliest
of which was copied 900 years after Caesar wrote the original, etc. For the
New Testament we have full manuscripts dating to 350 A. D., papyri
containing most of the New Testament from the 200s, and a fragment of John's
gospel from 130 A. D. How many manuscripts do we have to compare to each
other? 5,000 in Greek and 10,000 in Latin!</para>
    <blockquote>
      <attribution>Textual critic F. J. A. Hort, "The New Testament in the Original Greek",
vol. 1 p561, Macmillan Co., quoted in <emphasis>Questions of
Life</emphasis>p. 25-26</attribution>
      <para>"مع صحة وإكتمال الدلائل التي يعتمد عليها، يتفرد نص العهد الجديد تماماً بل
وبلا منافسة بين جميع الكتابات النثرية القديمة."</para>
    </blockquote>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-breathed">
    <title>كتاب كلام الله</title>
    <para>
    <emphasis>Heb.4:12</emphasis> "<emphasis>For the word of God is living and
active...</emphasis>" Jesus said <emphasis>(Mt.4:4),</emphasis>"
<emphasis>It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every
word that proceeds [lit., is proceeding] from the mouth of God.</emphasis>"
As we read the Bible, God's Spirit is there to speak it to our hearts in a
continually-fresh way.</para>
    <para>2 Tim.3:16 declares, " <emphasis>All scripture is inspired by God [lit.,
God-breathed].</emphasis>" Do you believe this? Before you answer, consider
Jesus' attitude toward the Scriptures.</para>
    <blockquote>
      <attribution>المؤلف: John R.W. Stott, "الكتاب: Christ the Controversialist", الناشر:
InterVarsity Press 1978, ص.93-95</attribution>
      <para>He referred to the human authors, but took it for granted that behind them
all was a single divine Author. He could equally say 'Moses said' or 'God
said' (Mk.7:10). He could quote a comment of the narrator in Genesis 2:24 as
an utterance of the Creator Himself (Mt.19:4-5). Similarly He said, 'Well
did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written', when what He went
on to quote is the direct speech of the Lord God (Mk.7:6 &amp; Is.29:13). It
is from Jesus Himself that the New Testament authors have gained their
conviction of the dual authorship of Scripture. For them it was just as true
to say that 'God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets' (Heb.1:1) as
it was to say that 'men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God' (2
Pe.1:21).  God did not speak in such a way as to obliterate the personality
of the human authors, nor did men speak in such a way as to corrupt the Word
of the divine Author. God spoke. Men spoke.  Neither truth must be allowed
to detract from the other.  ...</para>
      <para>This, then, was Christ's view of the Scriptures. Their witness was God's
witness. The testimony of the Bible is the testimony of God. And the chief
reason why the Christian believes in the divine origin of the Bible is that
Jesus Christ Himself taught it.</para>
    </blockquote>
    <para>2 Tim.3:16 goes on, " <emphasis>and profitable for teaching, for correction,
for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, equipped
for every good work.</emphasis>" If we accept that the Bible really is God
speaking to us, it follows that it will be our authority in all matters of
faith and conduct.</para>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-works">
    <title>كتاب يعمل</title>
    <para>What will studying the Bible do for you? 1 Thess.2:13 says that the Bible "
<emphasis>performs its work in you who believe.</emphasis>" Beside each
scripture, write down the work the Word performs.</para>
    <table id="h2-importance-results-table">
      <title>في ماذا تفيد دراسة الكتاب المقدس المسيحيين؟</title>
      <tgroup cols="2">
        <thead>
          <row>
            <entry>الشاهد</entry>
            <entry>العمل</entry>
          </row>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <row>
            <entry>أفسس 5 : 26</entry>
            <entry>تطهر -- "لكي يقدسها مطهرا اياها بغسل الماء بالكلمة."</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>أعمال الرسل 20 : 32</entry>
            <entry>builds up -- " ...the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and
to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. "</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>رومية 15 : 4</entry>
            <entry>تشجع -- "حتى بالصبر والتعزية بما في الكتب يكون لنا رجاء." </entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>رومية 10 : 17</entry>
            <entry>تعطينا الإيمان -- "اذا الايمان بالخبر والخبر بكلمة الله." </entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>كورنثوس الأولى 10 : 11</entry>
            <entry>تنذر -- "فهذه الامور جميعها اصابتهم مثالا وكتبت لإنذارنا" </entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>متى 4 : 4</entry>
            <entry>تغذي -- "فاجاب وقال مكتوب ليس بالخبز وحده يحيا الانسان بل بكل كلمة تخرج من
فم الله."</entry>
          </row>
        </tbody>
      </tgroup>
    </table>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-liberates">
    <title>كتاب يحرر</title>
    <para>Jn.8:32 " <emphasis>and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free.</emphasis>"This is usually quoted by itself. Is this a conditional
or unconditional promise? Would it apply to all kinds of knowledge? Find the
answers by examining the first half of the sentence, in v.31. " <emphasis>If
you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine...</emphasis>"</para>
    <para>We see that this is a conditional promise, specifically speaking of the
truth of God's word.</para>
    <para>The Greek word for "wind" used in Eph.4:14 means a <emphasis>violent
wind.</emphasis>" <emphasis>As a result, we are no longer to be children,
tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of
doctrine...</emphasis>"One thing studying the Bible does for us is to ground
us in the truth, with the result that we won't be easily "blown away."</para>
    <para>
    <emphasis>But Jesus answered and said to them,</emphasis>" <emphasis>You are
mistaken [KJV Ye do err], not understanding the Scriptures, or the power of
God.</emphasis>" Mt.22:29</para>
    <para>ما الذي نحتاج لمعرفته كي يحفظنا من الوقوع في الخطأ؟</para>
    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>كلمة الله</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>قوة الله</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-wars">
    <title>كتاب يحارب</title>
    <para>في أفسس 6 : 10 - 18 صورة عن سلاح حربنا الروحية</para>
    <table id="h2-importance-armor-table">
      <title>سلاح الحرب الروحية</title>
      <tgroup cols="2">
        <thead>
          <row>
            <entry>سؤال</entry>
            <entry>جواب</entry>
          </row>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <row>
            <entry>كم سلاح دفاعي مذكور هنا؟</entry>
            <entry>5</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>كم عدد الأسلحة الهجومية؟</entry>
            <entry>واحد</entry>
          </row>
          <row>
            <entry>وماهو؟</entry>
            <entry>الكلمة - ( باليونانية)</entry>
          </row>
        </tbody>
      </tgroup>
    </table>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-exhortations">
    <title>النصائح</title>
    <para>2 Tim.2:15 (KJV) " <emphasis>Study to show thyself approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.</emphasis>"</para>
    <para>Col.3:16 " <emphasis>Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you; with
all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to
God.</emphasis>"</para>
    <para>عندما تكون غنياً في شيء ما، ترى كم يبلغ مقدار ما لديك منه؟</para>
    <para>ليس بالقليل!</para>
    <para>Eccl.12:11-12 " <emphasis>The words of wise men are like goads, and masters
of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one
Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is
endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the
body.</emphasis>"</para>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-once">
    <title>ملحق: "مرة واحدة من أجل الجميع"</title>
    <blockquote>
      <attribution>John R. W. Stott, <emphasis>Christ the
Controversialist,</emphasis>InterVarsity Press 1978, pp.106-107</attribution>
      <para>The truth regarding the finality of God's initiative in Christ is conveyed
by one word of the Greek Testament, namely the adverb
<foreignphrase>hapax</foreignphrase>and
<foreignphrase>ephapax</foreignphrase>. It is usually translated in the
Authorized Version once, meaning once for all. It is used of what is so done
as to be of perpetual validity and never need repetition, and is applied in
the NT to both revelation and redemption. Thus, Jude refers to the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3), and Romans says, "
<emphasis>Christ also died for sins once for all</emphasis>" (Rom.6:10, see
also 1 Pe.3:18; Heb.9:26-28).</para>
      <para>Thus we may say that God has spoken once for all and Christ has suffered
once for all. This means that the Christian revelation and the Christian
redemption are both alike in Christ complete. Nothing can be added to either
without being derogatory to Christ... These are the two rocks on which the
Protestant Reformation was built -- Gods revealed word without the addition
of human traditions and Christ's finished work without the addition of human
merits. The Reformers great watchwords were <foreignphrase>sola
scriptura</foreignphrase>for our authority and <foreignphrase>sola
gratia</foreignphrase>for our salvation.</para>
    </blockquote>
  </sect1>
  <sect1 id="h2-importance-supplement">
    <title>ملحق: برامج قراءة الكتاب المقدس</title>
    <para>Here are some easy programs to systematically read your Bible. You can do
more than one at a time if you like, for instance #1 with #4, or #2 with
#5. Vary the program from year to year to keep it fresh!</para>
    <orderedlist numeration="arabic">
      <listitem>
        <para>العهد الجديد في سنة: اقرأ اصحاح واحد كل يوم، 5 أيام في الأسبوع.</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>سفر الأمثال في شهر: اقرأ اصحاح واحد من سفر الأمثال كل يوم، بالتوافق مع اليوم
المقابل له في الشهر.</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>سفر المزامير في شهر: اقرأ 5 مزامير بفارق 30 مزمور بين كل منهم في كل يوم، على
سبيل في اليوم ال20 تقرأ مزمور 20، 50، 80، 110، و140.</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>المزامير والأمثال في 6 شهور: اقرأ بالترتيب في سفر المزامير والأمثال بواقع
اصحاح واحد كل يوم.</para>
      </listitem>
      <listitem>
        <para>العهد القديم بدون المزامير والأمثال في سنتين: إذا قرأت اصحاح واحد من العهد
القديم كل يوم، وتخطيت المزامير والأمثال، ستتمكن من قراءة العهد القديم في
سنتين وأسبوعين.</para>
      </listitem>
    </orderedlist>
  </sect1>
</chapter>
