What is the Bible
Our word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia, meaning "book." The Greeks got this word from the name Byblos, a port city in what we now call Lebanon where papyrus for making books was produced.
The Bible tells the story of God, God's people, and God's creation and reveals God's will for humanity. The Bible is about the human condition, our tendency to sin, God's willingness to forgive, and the promise of eternal life with God. Societies and writing styles have changed since the first books of the Bible were written. Most of us are not sheep farmers and have never seen a mustard seed. Yet the Bible still speaks to us in our world of high-speed Internet and on-demand movies. The story of God's unconditional love for us does not expire.
An introduction to the Bible:
• The Christian Bible is divided into two parts - the Old Testament and the New Testament.
• The books of the Bible were written by about 40 different people, including prophets, poets and historians.
• The Old Testament books of the Bible were composed during a period of time that lasted about 1000 years. That period of time began with Moses, who lived about 3400 years ago. It ended about 2400 years ago, which is about the time that the prophet Malachi lived.
• The New Testament books of the Bible were written sometime from about 50 AD to about 95 AD (that's about 1950 years ago to about 1900 years ago). Jesus was crucified by the Romans in about 30 AD.
• The New Testament contains the "four Gospels," which refers to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also contains "epistles" or "letters" that were written by Peter, Paul, James and other followers of Jesus. It also contains the book of Revelation.
The Old Testament:
Books 1-5: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
These books were written perhaps as long ago as 3400 years ago, by Moses. These five books are sometimes called the Pentateuch or the Torah.
Books 6-16: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah.
These books explain the history of Israel from the time that the nation was established about 3400 years ago. It includes information about the time when the nation was conquered by the Assyrians about 2700 years ago, and when it was conquered by the Babylonians about 2600 years ago. The Assyrians and Babylonians forced many Jews out of their homeland. But, many Jews returned during the next few centuries, shortly before the time of Jesus.
Books 17-22: Ester, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
These books are sometimes called the books of Writings, or the books of Poetry, or the books of Wisdom.
Books 23-27: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel.
These books contain prophecies that were delivered by prophets named Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. These prophets lived about 2700 to 2500 years ago. Some of their prophecies found fulfillment more than 2500 years ago. Christians believe that many of the prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus about 2000 years ago. And many of their prophecies have found fulfillment during the past 200 years.
Books 28-39: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
These books are sometimes called the books of the "minor" prophets. They are called "minor" because their books are short in length.
The New Testament:
Books 1-4: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
These four books are sometimes called the Gospel, or the Gospels. They were written about 2000 years ago by the followers of Jesus. These books contain details about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Books 5-26: Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude.
These 22 books are sometimes called Letters or Epistles. They were written by followers of Jesus. They often were sent to other people to help explain Christianity. Sometimes they were written to counter heresy, or wrongful interpretations of the teachings of Jesus.
Book 27: Revelation.
This book was written by John about 1900 years ago. He was shown visions of the future by Jesus. This book contains many prophecies about the End Times, or the Apocalypse.
