1. The Bible

2. The word Bible comes from….  A Greek word, “biblia” meaning Books  It is a collection of ancient writings about God and God’s relationship with His people  There are TWO parts to the Bible: a) The Old Testament (The Hebrew Scriptures) b) The New Testament (The Christian Scriptures)

3. When was the Bible written?  Over a period of 1000 years  The earliest writings date back to 900 B.C. (or B.C.E.) and the latest ones in 100 A.D. (or C.E.)  A.D. stands for “in the year of our Lord”  B.C. stands for “before Christ”  B.C.E. stands for “before common era”  C.E. stands for “common era”

4. The Hebrew Scriptures include…  Histories  Codes of Laws  Orations  Reflective Literature  Poetry

5. The First Five books are called  The Pentateuch which means “5 books” (Greek word)  The Torah which means the Law (Hebrew word)  The first five books are….  Genesis  Exodus  Leviticus  Numbers  Deuteronomy

6. Genesis: beginnings  How the world began (starting with TWO creation stories)  Origin of the Jewish people (God’s chosen people and how they became the chosen people)

7. Exodus: To leave  The story of the Israelites fleeing Egypt  Moses receiving the Commandments (or Laws

8. Leviticus:  This book is basically the laws for the priests to follow:  A) Sacrifice rules  B) Consecration of the priesthood  C) Laws on what is clean and unclean  D) the Holiness code

9. Numbers  It is a book with the census of the people

10. Deuteronomy  Second telling of the story of Moses  Repeats for a second time all the Laws  The word Deuteronomy means  Second Law

11. A number of the books are called “The Prophets”  There are 6 historical books about prophets ( In these books are myths, fables and real history of some of the Jewish peoples greatest leaders)  There are 3 major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel  There are 12 minor prophets  Add them up, there are 21 books in this section

12. The third section of the Hebrew Scripture is called the Writings  This section has history books, poetry books and philosophy books all in it. History books like I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ruth and Esther Poetry books like Psalms, Lamentations, Song of Songs Philosophy texts like Proverbs

13. We believe the Bible contains truth….but what is truth?  Religious truth: proclaims the presence of God  Moral truth: how we should act with/toward one another  Symbolic truth: read between lines to get the message  Proverbial truth: wise sayings  Historical truth: History of the Jewish people  Scientific truth: Not too scientific but was written before the great discoveries.

14. The New Testament (Christian Scriptures)  First four books are called….  The Gospels (a word meaning “Good News” ) which are the stories of the life and teachings of Jesus They are….a) Matthew b) Mark c) Luke d) John

15. After the four Gospels comes  The Book of Acts of the Apostles by  Written by  LUKE  It is the only early account of the Christian community and how it spread from Israel to Rome. Here is my second book, I call it Acts…

16. Then come the Epistles  Epistles means  “letters”  There are 21 Epistles, most of them written by Paul.  Paul’s letters were actually written BEFORE the Gospels.

17. Ladies and Gentleman, the Beatles… As I Write this letter…..

18. The Last book of the Bible is  The Book of Revelation (written by John…the Gospel writer)  A book that talks about the struggles, but in the end, the Kingdom of God will be triumphant. Paul writes letters, but I am here to say, in the end, all you need is love, and God is love

19. Identifying Scripture Passages  Book: Genesis  Chapter: 6  Verse: 24-28  Gen 6: 24-28

20. Find The Following Scripture Stories  2 Creation Stories  2 Places we find the 10 Commandments  Where we find the story of Joseph  Where we find the story of Noah  2 Birth narratives of Jesus  The Resurrection Narratives