Bible

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Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16
Bible
An open Bible.
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List of Books of the Bible

Old Testament

New Testament

The Bible is the collection of documents acknowledged by Christians to be inspired by God. The Protestant Bible contains 66 books (Catholic and Orthodox contain 73, while the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible recognizes the most books: 81 in total) and is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. It tells of the story of the creation of the universe and man by God, the rebellion of man against God and his rescue plan for humanity through his Son, Jesus Christ.

The word Bible comes from the Greek word for book, biblion.

Books of the Bible

The Bible is divided up into two main sections - the Old Testament and the New Testament. Before 1804, practically all protestant Bibles were divided into three main section - with the additional section being between the Old and New testament: the Apocrypha. By the mid 1820s, a vast majority of protestant Bibles did not include the apocrypha due to controversies surrounding them as well as to make a Bible cheaper to produce.

Old Testament

The Old Testament tells the story of ancient Israel and God's intervention in their history. There are three main sections that make up the Old Testament - The Books of the Law, History and Poetry, and the Books of the Prophets. The books of the Law tell the very early story of the history of Israel and lay out the covenant or agreement between God and his people with their laws for living. The books of history and poetry continue the story of the people of Israel starting with their invasion into Canaan and ending with their kingdom splitting into two and being conquered and exiled. The books of the prophets describe some of the visions and words of the prophets who continually called the people to account for their abandonment of God.

New Testament

The New Testament tells the story of Jesus and the early church. The New Testament contains different categories as well including the Gospels which describe the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the book of Acts which tells the story of the formation of the early church. The New Testament also contains a number of letters or epistles to various early Christian communities. It finishes with the Book of Revelation which is apocalyptic prophecy that paints a picture of the final victory of Christ, calling on his followers to persevere despite persecution.

Extra-Biblical texts - Apocrypha

A number of books are not considered to be part of the Bible by Protestant Christians, but are by other denominations - these books are referred to as apocryphal literature. Although not considered canon by Protestants, generally they are not regarded as heretical either (although there are exceptions). The reasons some of the apocryphal books were omitted from the original Hebrew Bible used by the Jews, was due to their original language not using the Hebrew Script (as Hebrew and Aramaic does). The Books of the Maccabees was written in Greek so it was regarded as divinely inspired but not scripture.

Protestants generally point to the fact that Jesus Christ did not approve of the 46 canonical books used in the Old Testament, neither did He ever quote from the additional 7 apocryphal books. Catholic and Orthodox Christians place less value on Scripture and instead Tradition which is why this fact doesn't seemingly bother either of those Christian branches.

Formation of the Bible / Biblical Canon

Though the Early Church used the Old Testament, the apostles did not otherwise leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead the New Testament developed over time. All New Testament scripture was wrote during the first century AD. By the fourth century the books included by today's Protestants in the Bible were roughly agreed upon and officially in 382 AD, the Council of Rome was held which canonized the Bible as having 66 total books: 39 in the Old Testament (which the Jews agreed upon in the 4th century BC), and 27 in the New Testament.

The dispute over the Old Testament would wage on for over a millennia and the Catholic Church agreed at the end of the Council of Trent in 1563 that the Old Testament would be comprised of 46 books with some books being added onto. The books officially added included the following: Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch; and the books altered are Esther (additions) and Daniel (additions). The controversial decision at Trent was brought upon due to the Protestant Reformation, which created Protestantism. All branches of Protestantism don't recognize the decision that was made during the Council of Trent.

Translating the Bible

The original languages of the various books of the Bible were Hebrew (for Old Testament books) and Koine Greek (for New Testament books). A small amount of the book of Daniel was originally written in Aramaic.

In the first few centuries after Christ the Bible was translated into a few other ancient languages (for example Latin) but it wasn't until the Protestant Reformation that widespread translation of the Bible into many languages (such as German and English) really began to occur.

In recent years there has been lots of activity in translating the Bible into many of the minor languages of the world.

Interpreting the Bible

Interpretation of the Bible is a complex issue. How a person interprets is dependant partly upon that person's presuppositions about the Bible. If a person comes to the Bible with the view that it is simply an ancient text full of mythology then his interpretation will be vastly different from someone who views the Bible as God's revelation.

Biblical Hermeneutics is the technical term for the study of interpreting and understanding the Bible and applying it to today's context. It is closely related to exegesis which is the study of understanding what the Biblical author's meant and what their audience would have understood.

Some Christians hold a literalistic or inerrant view of the Bible. Biblical inerrancy is the view that the Bible, as the inspired Word of God, is without error and is accurate in all aspects, including in aspects of history and science. Biblical infallibility on the other hand is the view that the Bible is free from errors on issues of faith and practice, but minor contradictions in history or science can be overlooked as insignificant to its spiritual purpose.

Protestant Christians generally hold to Sola Scriptura which is the teaching that the Bible is the final authority on matters of faith and that it alone gives sufficient information for all matters of faith. This stands in contrast to Orthodox and Catholic Christianity which accept tradition as playing an equally important role in matters of faith.

Bible Commentaries

Bible Dictionaries

Quotes

Abraham Lincoln

I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.

Patrick Henry

The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation.

Charles H. Spurgeon

Defend the Bible? I would just as soon defend a roaring lion.

Isaac Newton

There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.

Isaac Asimov

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.

Immanuel Kant

The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.

Goethe'

Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires, beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the gospels, it will not go.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in your reading have been like the blast of triumph out of Shakespeare, Seneca, Moses, John and Paul.

Lord Tennyson

Bible reading is an education in itself.

Thomas Huxley

The Bible has been the Magna Carta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with It.

2 Timothy 3:16

Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness,

Links

Bible Study Links


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