What
is the Bible?
Throughout the ages, God has given instructions to man concerning how he should
live and how to find the way to paradise.
The
word Bible is of Greek origin and simply means the book. It is a
collection of sixty-six books written by about forty authors, in three
different languages, over approximately 1600 years (between 1500 B.C. and 100
A.D.). It is the most widely circulated book of all time, and it has now been
translated, in whole or in part, into well over 2000 languages and dialects.
The
Bible is inspired and without error. God spoke through His Holy Spirit to men,
and they wrote as the Holy Spirit breathed upon them. The Bible says, “No
prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came
by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke of God as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit” (Injil, 2 Peter 1:19-21). The apostle Paul said, “All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness” (Injil, 2 Timothy
The Bible contains many different styles of writing, such as poetry, narration,
history, law and prophecy. It is the foundation of the Christian faith. It
teaches the Christian how to apply God’s Word to his life.
The
book, the Bible is divided into two major sections: The Old Testament was
written before the birth of Jesus Christ in Hebrew (with a few passages in
Aramaic), before the birth of Jesus Christ. The second part is the New
Testament, written in Greek in the first century after Jesus died.
The Old Testament Books
These were written by prophets such as
Moses, David and Isaiah. There are 39 books:
Torah (Tawrat) - 5 books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy.
Historical
- 12 books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, First Samuel,
Second Samuel, First Kings, Second Kings, First Chronicles, Second Chronicles,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
Poetical - 5 books: Job, Psalms
(Zabur), Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
Prophetical
- 17 books: Major Prophets - Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel; Minor Prophets - Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi.
The New Testament Books
The
second part of the Bible is often known as the Gospel, a word taken from Greek
which literally means Good News. In the singular (the Gospel), it
refers to the message of Jesus Christ. The plural, however, (the Gospels) is
used to indicate the four books which give accounts of Jesus’ life on earth.
Thus the Gospel of Jesus is told in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John, as well as in the rest of the New Testament writings.
The New Testament contains 27 books that
were written in Greek by people who knew Jesus or who were under the guidance
of those who did. They are listed as follows:
The Gospels - 4 books: Matthew, Mark, Luke,
John.
The Acts of the Apostles Written by Luke, it
describes the early Christians and the beginning of the Church.
The letters written by the apostle Paul - 13 books: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon.
Other letters
- 8 books: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John,
Jude.
Revelation This
was written by one of Jesus’ disciples, John (the same John who wrote one of
the Gospels). It is the last book of the Bible, which recounts a vision given
by Jesus to John. It describes the opposition and sufferings that Christians
will meet and encourages them to keep their hope alive, by fixing their eyes
upon what will take place at the return of Jesus Christ.
The overall message of the Bible
The
Bible starts by addressing the question, ‘where do we come from?’ It ends with
‘where are we going?’ It describes the
origin of man in the Garden of Eden, along with his fall into sin and out of
fellowship with God. It then describes how God called out a special people
through Abraham to Himself, the Israelites. He promised that through the
Israelites would come a future Messiah, a Saviour who
would restore mankind's relationship with God.
The
Bible is the account of the work of God in history, bringing to fruition His
prophetic declarations concerning Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of a virgin. He
died on the cross, bearing the punishment that our sins deserve, just as was
promised in the Old Testament. For example, seven hundred years before the
birth of Jesus, a prophet called Isaiah foretold what the coming Messiah would
do and why He would come. “Surely He (Jesus) has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we
are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to
his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a
lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He
opened not His mouth...And they made His grave with the wicked-But with the
rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His
mouth” (Isaiah 53:4-9).
Just
as Isaiah prophesied, Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life. He remained silent when He was falsely
accused. He died amongst wicked people; crucified between two criminals. He was
buried in a rich man’s tomb. All this took place, as Isaiah foretold, because
of our wickedness. After Jesus’ death, the apostle Peter wrote to Christians,
saying that Jesus, “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died
to sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed. For you
were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and
Overseer of your souls” (1Peter
Jesus
didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead. He is alive and one day He will return
as the great Judge. He will reward those who trust in Him and will punish those
who rejected His offer of salvation. Both the Old and New Testaments focus on
the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
The
following anonymous paragraph well summarizes what the followers of Jesus
believe about the Holy Bible:
This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way to salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller’s map, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword and the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory. It will reward the greatest labour and condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents. It is the Book of books - God’s book – the revelation of God to man.