Introduction to the Bible

The Bible is the written Word of God and has two major parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament The definition of the word ‘testament’ is (according to the Merriam- Webster Dictionary): - a covenant between God and the human race - a tangible proof or tribute or - an act by which a person determines the disposition of his or her property after death The word ‘covenant’ is (according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary) a binding agreement; a covenant cannot be broken, rather than a ‘contract’. The old covenant could not bring righteousness, the new can. The old covenant was mediated by Moses, written on stone tablets and was conditional. The new covenant was mediated by Jesus, unconditional and is written on living human hearts The Old Testament refers to the ‘old covenant’. The New Testament refers to the ‘new covenant’.

The Bible’s composition The Old Testament has 39 parts, also called ‘books’. It was written between 1500 and 450 BC. The New Testament has 27 ‘books’. It was written between 20 and 60 AD. All together the Bible was written by 40 authors, who lived during 40 generations for 1500 years. Were these authors scientists or professional authors? No. Moses was a political leader trained in Egypt, Peter was a fisherman, Amos was a herdsman, David was a king, a warrior and musician, Daniel was an exile and prime minister, Luke was a medical doctor, Paul was a tentmaker and teacher of the Jewish faith, etc. Were these books all written in the same country? No. The authors wrote their books in three continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe) under different circumstances: in the desert, in the king’s palace, during travel, in prison, etc. Were these books all written in the same literary style? No. The authors wrote their books in several styles: historical narrative, law, covenant, poetry, prophecy, song lyrics, letters, biography, parables and allegory, etc. Were these books all written in the same language? No. The authors wrote their books in three languages: 1. Hebrew, the language of the Israelites: most of the Old Testament 2. Aramaic, the common language of the Near East from the 6th through the 4th centuries BC.: parts of the books of Daniel and Ezekiel and a few statements in the New Testament. 3. Greek, the international language of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus: almost all the New Testament.

The 39 books of the Old Testament contain the story of creation, the history of the people of Israel, and how God used them in His plan to redeem the human race. Bible content The 27 books of the New Testament contain the life of Jesus and the story of the early church and teaching what God did to save us, how to become a Christian and how to live as God’s people.

The Old Testament can be divided into four groups 1. Books of Moses and the Law Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Δευτερονόμιον=second law) 2. History books Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther 3. Wisdom books Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon 4. Prophets’ books Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

The New Testament can be divided into five groups 1. Gospels (Good News; life of Jesus and the way of salvation) Matthew, Mark, Luke, John Acts of the Apostles 3. Paul’s letters Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews 4. Other letters James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude 5. Apocalypse Revelation 2. History of the early church

Where took the events place?

Navigation through the Bible books, chapters and verses The original Bible books didn’t have chapters and verses. Around 400 AD when the Bible was complete the canon was closed. John 3:16 means: the book of John in the New Testament, chapter 3, and verse 16. Please, try to find this very important verse in your Bible. What does it say? Canon of scripture is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture in Judaism and Christianity. The canon is considered to be "closed" reflecting the belief that public revelation has ended and thus the inspired texts may be gathered into a complete and authoritative canon, where books cannot be added or removed. Then the ‘publishers’ of the Bible added chapters and verses to the text, to make references and navigation easier. Also headings of paragraphs were added. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Bible translations In the 4 th century the first translation was the Vulgate Bible in Latin. In the 13 th century this version was renewed. There are 6,900 known languages in the world. As off today translations of parts of the Bible have been completed in 2,479 languages. Translations of the full Bible have been completed in 451 languages. Just after the time that printing technique was invented Bible translations came out in the 16 th century after the Reformation, such as the Luther Bible in German (New testament), the first Dutch complete Bible translation (Statenvertaling), and the King James Bible in English.

Hundreds of times in the Bible we find “this is what the Lord says” or God is said to speak through the prophets. The Bible claims to be the Word of God The New Testament contains the words of Jesus, the Son of God, and Jesus says that all of the Old Testament is God’s word. The other books of the New Testament are claimed to be from God. Moses was given the law by God (Exodus 19:25-20:17). Isaiah says at least 40 times that his message comes from God (Isaiah 7:10); Ezekiel 60 times (Ezekiel 27:1-2); Jeremiah 100 times (Jeremiah 37:2).

God used men to convey His Word Example 1 2 Timothy 3:16 says “all scripture is inspired” or literally “God-breathed”. God “breathed out” the message of the Bible, inspiring those whom He chose to write down what God wanted us to have. Example 2 2 Peter 1: Those who wrote did not just write their own ideas or opinions. God revealed His truth to them and worked in them to write what God wanted written

Accuracy of the Bible The Old Testament Copied by hand by scribes. If one error was found the entire copy was destroyed. Both the number of words and the number of letters were counted and the middle word and letter compared with the copy to be sure of its accuracy. Comparison of the all the copies in existence today confirm their accuracy. The New Testament Over 5,000 manuscripts exist, far more than any other ancient writing. The copies we have are closer to the date of the original than any other historical writing.

Scientific accuracy of the Bible The Bible accurately relates to scientific facts that were unknown at the time it was written Example 1 Job 26:7 states that the earth floats in space, at a time that people believed that there was some kind of support Example 2 Deuteronomy 23:12-13 gives sanitation practices before anyone knew that germs cause disease

Archeological accuracy of the Bible The Hittites were unknown to history (except in the Bible in Gen. 10:15) until archeological finds in today’s Turkey in the late 1800’s uncovered their existence. See more evidence at The discovery of the Ebla archive in northern Syria in the 1970s has shown the Biblical writings concerning the Patriarchs to be viable.

Accuracy of biblical prophecy Ezekiel 26:3-14 prophecies the destruction of the city of Tyre and that it will never again be rebuilt. That is true to this day. Jeremiah prophesied that the people of Israel would be captives in Babylon for 70 years. This is what happened. Psalm 22:14-18 prophesied that the Messiah (Jesus) would be crucified, 400 years before crucifixion was invented. Psalm 16:10 predicts that the Messiah (Jesus) would be raised from the dead. That’s what happened.

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