“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Understanding the Bible
The Bible is God’s written revelation of His will to humanity. Its central theme is salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Bible contains 66 books, written by 40 authors, covering a period of approximately 1600 years.
The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew. About 100 year (or more) before the Christian Era the entire Old Testament was translated into the Greek language. Remember, our English Bible is a translation from these original languages.
The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word biblos, meaning “book.”
The word “testament” means “covenant,” or agreement.
The Old Testament is the covenant God made with people about their salvation before Christ came. The Old Testament Books (39):
– Law (5)
– Historical (12)
– Poetical (5)
– Prophetical (17) [Major (5); Minor (12)]
The New Testament is the agreement God made with people about their salvation after Christ came.
The New Testament was written to reveal to us the character and teaching of Jesus Christ, te mediator of the New Covenant, by at least eight men, four of whom [Mathew, John, Peter and Paul] were apostles; two [Mark and Luke] were companions of the apostles; and two [James and Jude] were brothers of Jesus. The books were written at various times during the second half of the first century.
The books (27) in the New Testament may be grouped thus:
– Gospels (4)
– History (1)
– Prophecy (1)
– Epistles (21) [Pauline (13); General (8)]
The Old Testament begins with God (Genesis 1:1)
The New Testament begins with Christ (Mathew 1:1)
From Abraham to Christ we have the history of the chosen race.
From Christ on we have the history of the church.
In the Old Testament we find the covenant of law. In the New Testament we find the covenant of grace that came through Jesus Christ. One led into the other (Galatians 3:17 – 25).
– The Old commences what the New completes.
– The Old gathers around Mount Sinai – the New around Mount Calvary.
-The Old is associated with Moses – The New with Christ (John 1:17)
The authors were kings and princesses, poets and philosophers, prophets and statesmen. Some were learned in all the arts of the times and others were unschooled fishermen. Other books soon are out-of-date, but the Bible spans the century.
