Articles
The Bible
The Bible
By Mike Willis
Men hold a variety of views about the Bible, depending upon their preconceptions (supernaturalist or naturalist). My approach to the Bible is to understand what it says about itself, then to weigh those claims to see if they are true. There is no doubt that the Bible presents a supernatural view of the world, beginning with a Creator who created the heavens and the earth and ending with a second coming of God’s Messiah to judge the world, giving out rewards and punishments. I accept that view of the Bible and my explanations come from this perspective.
The word “Bible” is derived from the Greek word βιΒλος which means “book.” Most copies of the Bible have the title “Holy Bible,” indicating that this book contains writings held to be sacred by different people (Jews, Samaritans, Christians), although these groups are not in agreement about which books should go in the Bible. Most Bibles contain the books accepted by the Jewish community in the Old Testament plus the New Testament, those books accepted by Christians as sacred writings.
Therefore, the Bible consists of 66 individual pieces of literature which are divided into two groupings, designated as The Old Testament (OT) and The New Testament (NT). The OT contains 39 books and the NT includes 27 books. The two main divisions OT and NT can be divided into the following sub-divisions:
Old Testament
Books of Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy)
History (Joshua – Esther)
Poetry (Job – Ecclesiastes)
Prophecy
Major Prophets (Isaiah – Daniel)
Minor Prophets (Hosea – Malachi)
New Testament
Gospels (Matthew – John)
History (Acts of the Apostles)
Pauline Epistles (Romans – Philemon and possibly Hebrews)
General Epistles (James – Jude)
Prophecy (Revelation)
The writing of the Old Testament spans from Moses (1446 BC) through Malachi (ca. 433 BC), a period of 1000+ years. The New Testament was written from ca. AD 48–96, about fifty years. So the Bible was written over a period of about 1500 years.
The book was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic (a few chapters) and Greek (the entire NT). It background is Middle East Mediterranean cultures, from Egypt on the south to Palestine (controlled at different times by people of different ethnicities, Canaanite, Amorite, Jebusite, Israelite, etc.), including the Tigris-Euphrates river valley, through Anatolia (modern Turkey), into Greece and Roman territories.
The authors of the different books of the Bible did not have opportunity to collaborate with each other, because they lived at different time periods. They also had different backgrounds including shepherds, farmers, political statesmen, clan leaders, military officials/leaders, advisors to political leaders, fishermen, tent makers, physicians, etc. One is surprised to find that these people from so many different places, times, and occupations were able to write a book with a developing unified message about the redemption of mankind from sin. Its unity is one of the evidences of its unique authorship.
From the time Moses wrote the first book, the text was revered, being placed in the Most Holy Place of the Jews’ central place of worship beside the ark of the covenant (Exod. 25:16; Deut. 31:26; 1 Kings 8:9; 2 Kings 22:8). Commandment was given that it should be read to the people (Deut. 31:7-13). As new books were added, they were added to the sacred books given to Israel. What defined these books was that they were the writings of men whom God inspired. New Testament authors express their understanding of the Old Testament in such words as these: “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David. . .” (Acts 1:16). The quoted verse, though written by David, were the words of the Holy Spirit, divinely inspired words. Paul wrote to the young preacher Timothy about the Scriptures saying, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
The Bible claims for itself to be the product of divine inspiration: God inspired hand picked men to communicate His will to mankind. The final product of their work was the Holy Bible.
