DEFINITION OF THE BIBLE
‘Bible’ came from Greek word ‘Biblo’ which means ‘The book’.
The Bible comprises of a collection of books. The Christian church now uses over 200+ English translations of the Bible alone. Read more about the King James issue.
TESTAMENTS OF THE BIBLE
How many books are in the Bible?
- Old Testament (thirty-nine books)
- New Testament (twenty-seven books)
There is a total of sixty-six single books in the Bible.
Hebrews 9:15-19: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,”
Jesus is the mediator of the New Testament. New Testament cannot even happen until the testator (Jesus Christ) dies. Thus He can start a brand new testament.
The Old Testament came to effect because of the blood of the animals by Moses (The first 5 books in the Bible is by Moses).
(10) DIVISIONS IN THE BIBLE
- Law (Genesis – Deutronomy)
- History (Joshua – Esther)
- Poetry (Job – Songs of Solomon)
- Major Prophets (Isaiah – Daniel)
- Minor Prophets (Hosea – Malachi)
- Gospel (Matthew – John)
- History (Acts)
- Pauline Epistles (Romans – Hebrews (?) )
- General Epistles (James – Jude)
- Prophecy (Revelation)
NAMES OF THE BIBLE
- Scriptures
Transliterated from Latin word ‘scriptura’John 10:35: “If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;”
- Writings
John 5:47: “But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?”
- Word of God
Acts 17:11-13: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people.”
- Oracles of God
An oracle delivers a word from the divineRomans 3:2: “Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”
POSITION OF THE BIBLE
- It is more important than food.
Job 23:12: “Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
Matthew 4:4: “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” - It’s the only visible thing today that shows you what is true.
John 17:17 :”Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
- It is held higher esteem than God’s name.
Psalm 138:2: “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”
WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?
40 different authors have produced a list of books, totally 66.
- Moses
Genesis – Deutronomy, (possibly) Psalms - Joshua
Joshua - Ezra
Ezra, (possibly) 1, 2 Chronicles - Nehemiah
Nehemiah - Mordecai/Ezra/Nehemiah
Esther - David
at least 73 chapters of Psalms - Asaph
Psalms 50, 73-83 - descendants of Korah
Psalms 42, 44-49, 84, 87, 88 - Heman the Ezrahite
Psalms 88 - Ethan the Ezrahite
Psalms 89 - Solomon
Songs of Solomon, Proverbs, Eccle., Psa 127, (possibly) 72 - Isaiah
Isaiah - Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Lamentations, (possibly) 1, 2 Kings - Ezekial
Ezekial - Daniel
Daniel - Hosea
Hosea - Joel
Joel - Amos
Amos - Obadiah
Obadiah - Jonah
Jonah - Micah
Micah - Nahum
Nahum - Habakkuk
Habakkuk - Zephaniah
Zephaniah - Haggai
Haggai - Zechariah
Zechariah - Malachi
Malachi - Matthew
Matthew - Mark
Mark - Luke
Luke - John
John, 123 John, Revelations - Paul
Paul’s epistles (Roman – (possibly) Hebrew) - James
James - Peter
1,2 Peter - Jude
Jude
VARIETY OF THE BIBLE
Since the Bible is the inspired word of God, they are not to be seen as (human) Christian writings. The different authors, time periods, and languages of the Bible show that God has to be the one who is weaving the tapestry of the Bible.
- The different backgrounds of the writers
– Educated students (Moses: he was learning from all the wisdom of the egyptians)
– King (David)
– Tax collector (Matthew)
– Doctor/physician (Luke)
– War general (Joshua)
– Music artist (Isaac)
– Wise philosopher (Solomon)
– Government leader (Daniel)
– Ignorant fishermen (Peter, James, John)
– Ragged prophets (Isaiah – Malachi)
– Regular Christians (Mark, Jude) - Time periods
– 16 various centuries (Sumerian era, Babylonian era, Egyptian era, Persian era, Roman reigns)
– The first writer died 1450 years before the last writer was even born - Languages
– It has been translated into more than 1000 languages and dialects
(Masoretic Hebrew, Greek Receptus, Latin Vulgate, Syriac Peshitta, Luther German, Italian Diodati, French, Spanish Valera, Korean KJ, etc)
For further reading,
– Why apocryphal books are not biblical?
– Best argument for KJV onlyism
– Church fathers who shed blood to preserve the Bible for us today
– Manuscript evidence for KJV (King James Bible) only
– Seven crowning wonders of the Bible
– Too fanatic to believe every word in the Bible is perfect?