1. The Bible HRE 10

2. What is the Bible? The term “Bible” means the books. Each book is in turn divided into chapters and verses. It was written by many people who were guided by divine inspiration that comes from God (God’s Spirit). The Bible contains two major parts. Christians identify the first part as the Old Testament. This section teaches us about God’s love. Jesus and the Apostles learned from the teachings in these books.

3. The second part of the Bible is known as the New Testament. This part of the Bible tells us about Jesus’ love. Through the gospels, the letters, and the Acts of the Apostles, we learn the story about the early followers of Jesus and the early days of the church. What is the Bible?

4. How was the Bible Developed? The Bible is based on the religious experiences of the people of Israel. It demonstrates their growing understanding of their relationship with God. The Bible contains three types of history that were developed simultaneously (at the same time) – oral, written, and edited

5. How was the Bible Developed? Oral history is composed of told stories, songs that were sung, and history that was recounted and memorized. Written history is composed of written stories, recorded history, instructions, and guides. Edited history is a selection of the best of what was written and told.

6. What is important to believe about the Bible? We give special respect to the Bible because Jewish and Christian people believe that God communicates with people in a special way through the Bible. God speaks to us through people, places, and things in our conscience. The writers of the Bible experienced God in their lives and wrote about these experiences. If the Bible is read as an inspired book, then it becomes God’s special revelation. God leaves us free to hear or to ignore these revelations.

7. How do we find a scriptural reference? First we need to remember the Bible is divided into books. These books are then divided into chapters and the chapters are made up of verses. A scriptural reference gives us the name of the book, the chapter, and the verse where it is located. Ex. Genesis 1:31 This reference tells us the book name is Genesis, the chapter is the 1 st chapter, and the verse is verse 31. Note that the chapter and verse of the scriptural reference are separated by a colon.

8. Biblical Terms Literalist – a person who reads and interprets the Bible passages word for word, based on what is meant by each word. Contextualist – a person who reads the Bible and puts the words together to interpret the meaning of the scriptures Patriarch – one of the founders of the ancient Hebrew families in the Bible (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) Covenant – a binding and solemn agreement made by two or more individuals, including the promises made by God to people as recorded in the Bible Testament – an agreement or last will, an affirmation of beliefs or convictions.

9. Biblical Terms Gospel – the Good News about what God has done in and through Jesus and the cross. In the new testament = the Gospels tell fullfillment/realization of the expectations that were promised in the Old Testament. Christ – derived from the Greek word christos, meaning anointed one Resurrection - the rising of Jesus from the dead after his death on Good Friday and his burial. His manifestation was a different form and no longer human

10. Biblical Terms Apostle – from the Greek meaning one sent out, these people act in the place of the one who sent them as the followers of Jesus did after his resurrection – Teacher of Jesus. Disciple – means student, a follower of a particular teacher. These people went out in pairs to prepare for the coming of Christ after the Ascension where Jesus went bodily into heaven

11. Biblical Terms A.D. – Anno Domini or the Year of the Lord. The term that was formerly used to represent the period of time since Jesus’ birth. C.E. – Common Era – the term now used to refer to the period of time since the birth of Jesus. B.C. – Before Christ – the term that was formerly used to represent the period of time before the birth of Christ B.C.E. - Before the Common Era – term now used to represent the period of time before the birth of Christ

12. Is Scripture True? As Catholics we believe in two important rules: Inspiration – Those who wrote the Scriptures were influenced by the divine – the Holy Spirit worked through the writers and therefore their words are believed to be inspired by God. Inerrancy - while some of the dates and names in the Scriptures may contain minor errors, there is no error in the messages that scriptures send.

13. Inspiration in the Bible It is important to note that God did not simply whisper to those who wrote the Bible. We are unsure about how God inspired these authors, and this uncertainty is known as a mystery. We concentrate on the end result which is the written record of God’s revelation. – (what God revealed to his people) There may be limitations in these writings, but there is still religious truth in them. The Bible is the Word of God written by humans.

14. Inspiration in the Bible The Old Testament is the recorded history of God revealing Himself to the Hebrew people. When we discuss revelation through the Scripture, we refer to inspiration. God works through the authors of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures to communicate religious truth, therefore making the Bible inspired.

15. Six Types of Truth Religious –God communicates to people to inspire them to live virtuous lives through their actions and deeds towards others. Moral – “Thou shalt not kill” Symbolic - “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out” Proverbial – “The early bird gets the worm.” Historical Actualities – Jesus was born in Bethlehem and lived his young life in Nazareth Scientific Actualities – 2+2 =4

16. Literary Forms in the Bible Myth – a traditional story that focuses on the deeds of gods or heroes, often used to explain some natural phenomenon List – an itemized series of names, words, usually recorded in a set order Prophecy – a prediction made under divine influence and direction Law – a rule of conduct, moral principle, derived from a recognized concept of universal justice. Sermon – a speech of a serious or solemn kind of pronouncement

17. Literary Forms in the Bible History – a record or account (usually written in chronological order) of past events, especially those concerning a particular nation or people Letter – a written or printed message, usually of a personal nature or concerning a specific subject Proverbs – prose or poetic statements or maxims for instruction Parables – short allegorical stories told to bring out a moral or religious truth Psalm – a sacred song or poem

18. Books of the Bible The Old Testament is composed of 39 books that are divided into 4 major sections The Pentateuch – these are the first five books of the Bible that cover the creation of the world through the start of the nation of Israel – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy History - the next twelve books tell the story of Israel Poetry – there are six books of poetry (Psalms, Song of Songs, Proverbs, etc.) Prophecy – the remaining books are the books of the prophets, known as major and minor prophets based on the length of their writing

19. Books of the Bible The New Testament contains 27 books that are divided into 4 sections Gospels – these are the first four books of the New Testament meaning Good News. They tell us about the life death and resurrection of Jesus. The four writers tried to reach a different audience Matthew wrote mostly to the Jews and the Life of Jesus Mark wrote to the Christians in Rome Luke tried to teach the Gentile Christians John wrote to the new Christians

20. Books of the Bible History – these books are commonly known as the Acts of the Apostles, and they tell the early history of the Christian church Epistles - these are a collection of letters; Paul wrote 13 of these letters with the intent of giving advice and encouragement to the new church Revelation – this is the last book of the Bible. It is an apocalyptic book of prophecy that uses powerful images to show how the story ends. God is victorious and anyone who believes in Jesus will live with Him forever in a new heaven and earth.