Introduction

The Holy Bible is a compilation of ancient Jewish and Christian texts. This collection of texts contains scriptures accepted by Christians as canon. The word "Bible" is derived from Býblos, a port city in Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon) where papyrus was prepared and exported.

The Bible is an account and explanation of God's covenant with his people, detailed in a collection of sermons, revelations and writings by prophets and apostles. It also contains faith-promoting stories of men and women who lived either in accordance with God’s law or apart from them. One of the important themes of the Holy Bible is that faith in God and obedience to his law brings happiness in both this life and in the afterlife.

History

Some areas of biblical history lack verifiable scientific or archeological evidence, and thus, many dates are approximate or conjectural:

• c. 4000 BCE: ²All dates listed are approximations that many Christians hold, although exact dates are not known.: The expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the beginnings of human history occur.
• c. 1500 BCE: The ministry of Moses occurs. Moses was believed to have composed the earliest books included in the Bible. His last book, Malachi, was believed to have been written during the 5th century BCE.
• 3rd to 1st Centuries BCE: The Septuagint or Koine version of the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew to Greek. Many early Christians used this version of the scriptures.
• 30-33 CE: The ministry of Jesus Christ occurs.
• 1st century CE: Books and letters comprising the New Testament were written. They were probably complied into the New Testament in the late 2nd century CE.
• 382 CE: The first Latin translation of the Bible was completed. This translation was later called the Vulgate³Vulgate , and the Council of Trent made it the official Bible of the Catholic communion in 1546. Many later revisions and retranslations are based on this version.
• 6th to 10th Centuries CE: Hebrew scholars compose the Masoretic text.⁵The Masoretic Text refers to the form of the Hebrew Bible written about 1,000 years after the Hebrew Bible obtained its final form in the First or Second Century CE. The Masoretic text contains consonants and songs in both Hebrew and Aramaic that focuses on both the liturgical use and singing pattern of the text. Biblical translations of the Old Testament were later based on this version.
• 1534: Martin Luther and collaborators translate the Bible into German, leading to numerous translations used by the Protestant communion.

Parts of the Bible

The Old Testament

Originally written in Hebrew, the Old Testament claims to be a record of the history of the world and God's dealings with the Hebrew prophets. These records prophesy of and prepare the people to receive the coming Messiah, the savior or redeemer of humanity. The Old Testament is usually divided into four parts:

• The Law is comprised of the books Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Many Christian theologians give authorship to Moses, although there are other authorship suggestions as well. Others suggest that these texts are oral records from Moses's era, which were later scribed by various authors. Genesis describes the creation of the world and its history from Adam to Moses. Exodus describes the life of Moses and the miraculous deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy outline God's commandments to Israel: the Mosaic Law, the ordinances and performances of the divine covenant, and the coming of Israel to their "promised land,” Canaan.

• The Historical Books contain Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ruth, Ezra and Esther. These texts are the narratives of the Israelite tribes, including information about their leaders and other prominent characters. Accounts of the conquest of Canaan (renamed Israel), the union of the tribes into one nation, their division into competing kingdoms, the conquest of those kingdoms by neighboring empires, and the return of some Israelites to the land of Israel after their dispersal are all included in the Historical books. Overall, these books tell the story of Israel’s monarchy.
• The Wisdom Books contain Job, The Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. The Wisdom texts consist of a variety of literary styles giving spiritual and practical advice for life within God's covenant. They are known for their poetry and for their emotive messages. Because of these qualities, they are often used for prayers and matters of practice in the Christian community.
• The Prophets are divided into the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi). These texts are the recordings of the sermons and prophecies of the prophets, who were believed to be the “mouthpiece” of God to his people. "Major" prophets are so called because their books are larger and some knowledge of their lives is available. "Minor" prophets are those whose records are shorter and whose lives are essentially unknown.

Summary of the Old Testament

The Book of Genesis describes how God created Adam and Eve, the first man and woman on the earth, and placed them in a paradise called the Garden of Eden.⁸Bible: Genesis 2:7-8, 20-22. According to the Bible, God’s purpose in creating Eden was to dwell in a delightful state with his creation. He gave Adam and Eve free reign over all of his creation, but specified one commandment to Adam: to not eat from the Tree of Life.⁹Bible: Genesis 2:16-17. Tempted by the serpent, whom Christians identify as Satan, Eve disobeyed God, eating from the Tree of Life. According to the Bible, her eyes were then opened to see both good and evil. Adam soon followed, also eating the forbidden fruit. This act is known in Christian circles as the "Fall of Mankind."¹⁰Bible: Genesis 3:1-7. As the eyes of Adam and Eve were metaphorically opened, they became sinful and thus unable to live in a perfect state of delight with God. God then placed a curse on the serpent,¹¹Bible: Genesis 3:14-15. on Eve (symbolically on all women)¹²Bible: Genesis 3:16. and on Adam (symbolically on all men).¹³Bible: Genesis 3:17-19. Finally, God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Christian theologians point out that Adam and Eve were no longer fit to live in paradise with a sinless God after having disobeyed him.

Adam and Eve then had children, following God's command to multiply and fill the earth. Because they brought sin into the world, their descendants were likewise with sin. Because of the disobedience of these people, God sent a great flood to destroy the world and all of the sinful and wicked people upon it. The Bible explains that the only survivors of this flood were a man named Noah and his family. He survived after receiving direction from God to build an ark and fill it with two of every unclean animal and seven of every clean animal¹⁴Bible: Genesis 6:19-20; Genesis 7:2-3 in the world. Noah and the animals aboard his ark are believed to have repopulated the world after the catastrophic flood.¹⁵Bible: Genesis 6-9.

A covenant between God and his people was not firmly established until the time of Abram (an eleventh-generation descendant of Noah). Being of old age and having no heir, Abram offered to adopt a servant and had a child, who was named Ishmael, by his concubine. God later allowed Sarah to bear children, and gave her a son named Isaac, through whom God established the covenant of his people.¹⁶According to Genesis 17, God promised, "As for Ishmael, I have heard you; I will bless him and make him fruitful and exceedingly numerous; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation." Members of the Islamic faith believe that Muslims are descendants of Ishmael, who because he was the first-born son of Abraham, has inheritance rights. However, Christians cite Genesis 17: 21 in which God declares that he will establish a new covenant with Isaac, who is the firstborn between the marriage of Abraham and Sarah. Later, God called to Abram, and told him that with his obedience would come great blessings:

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."¹⁷Bible: Genesis 12:1-3

God granted Abram a new name, Abraham, and promised vast posterity. God also promised that Abraham’s descendants would be given the land later called Canaan. Abraham's obedience was tested by God, who asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Not requiring the actual sacrifice, God determined that Abraham was willing to do as God asked. Praising Abraham’s devotion, God declared that Isaac, and then Isaac’s son, Jacob, would carry on the covenant with God. Jacob, later renamed Israel, had twelve sons who were eventually said to have fathered the Twelve Tribes of Israel.¹⁸Bible: Genesis 10-50.

The Bible demonstrates an exhibition of what Christian's believe to be God’s power over all creation¹⁹There are many biblical stories in which monotheists believe that God’s creation is used as a means to demonstrate the power of God. One of these stories is found in the Book of Exodus, in which God sent a plague upon Pharaoh and the land of Egypt each time the Pharaoh denied freedom to the enslaved Israelites. God sent ten plagues in total. The Tenth Plague was the killing of all the first born sons in the land of Egypt God instructed those that believed in him to sacrifice a lamb and spread its blood over their door. All houses with this blood were spared, while those that did not have it were not. through the prophet Moses, who had been enslaved during a sojourn in Egypt. Fighting for the freedom of his people, Moses brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians. Moses also parted the Red Sea so that the Israelites could leave Egypt and return to the land of Canaan, promised to them by God. Moses then led the Israelites into the wilderness, where they received God's law.

Early on their journey to Canaan, Moses climbed atop Mount Sinai and had an experience in which he met God. When he descended the mountain, he was in possession of ten laws written on stone slabs. These laws, called the Ten Commandments, formed the basic tenets of what later became Judaism. However, the whole Law of Moses actually comprised an extensive, strict and exacting series of ordinances and performances intended to draw the Israelites away from idolatry and polytheism of their day and to renew and reinforce their covenant with God. Because their faith was weak and their obedience was inconsistent, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years until God delivered them to the "Promised Land", or Caanan.²⁰Bible: Deuteronomy 1:8

Under Moses and his successor, the prophet-general Joshua, Israel invaded Canaan. God gave Israel victory and they forced most of the locals out of the land, formally receiving from God the land he had promised to Abraham four centuries earlier.²¹Bible: Joshua.

The tribes formed a loose confederation, led, but not ruled by, a series of judges of varying righteousness and ability. The tribes experienced freedom or captivity, depending on God's judgment of their obedience to his law. After several centuries, the people demanded that God replace the judges with a king, so they could be like other nations. Monotheists often believe that God took this as a personal rejection of his law. He warned them of the consequences, but the people insisted, so God granted them what they wanted.²²Bible: Judges, 1 Samuel 8

Three kings––Saul, David, and Solomon––ruled a mostly-united kingdom that became a political power in the East. At the time of the death of Solomon, the tribes divided into two nations, fighting each other and their neighbors. Numerous prophets consistently warned the Israelites they must obey God's law or be destroyed. As a group, the Israelites usually chose disobedience, despite the miracles performed by the prophets.²³For example, Elijah’s fight against the priests of Baal as seen in 1 Kings 18:17-40. Many Israelites converted to polytheistic religions of neighboring or foreign nations that occupied their land, such as the Canaanite religions and their prominent god, Baal. The northern nation, Israel, or Ephraim, was conquered and disappeared from history around 720 BCE. They became known as "the ten lost tribes." The southern kingdom, Judah, continued until approximately 590 BCE, when the Babylonian Empire conquered them and took them into captivity where they were not allowed to practice their own religion. Some Jews rose to positions of great authority in the Empire.²⁴Bible: Daniel, Esther, etc. After seventy years, the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem, but they were never again a wholly free nation.²⁵Bible: 2 Samuel through Malachi.

The New Testament

Originally written in Hebrew and Greek, the New Testament is the record of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, God’s promised messiah, and the records of the early leaders of the church founded by Christ and led by his apostles. It consists of the following parts:

• The Gospels (named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John²⁷At the time of their composition, all four Gospels were written anonymously. Early Christian leaders ascribed the four Gospels to different authors at various times in history. Until modern times, these ascriptions remained virtually unchallenged. However, few present day biblical scholars accept these attributions as valid.) are spiritual biographies of Jesus Christ written by his disciples; they purport to record his life, his preaching and his atoning sacrifice and resurrection. The details they include vary, as each author directs his writing to a different, yet specific audience.
• The Acts (written by Luke) records the early years of the Christian movement. It includes the expansion of the covenant between God and the Israelites to include all of mankind.
• The "Pauline" Epistles (largely written by Paul) are letters sent by the apostle Paul to correct heretical views that were creeping into the Christian community and to give general instruction on doctrine, church organization, and practices.
• The "General" Epistles (written by the apostles Peter, John, James the Lesser and Jude) are so called because they give general instructions and were written to the general membership of the church.
• The Apocalypse/Revelation (thought to be written by John) is a vision of the period just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. This period is described in terms of the last days of the world, and is written in heavily symbolic language. It also includes a few references to a few earlier biblical events such as the "war in heaven," as well as events that have been interpreted in many ways. There are four main views are held regarding the book of Revelation, which are: Dispensational Premillenialism, Historical Premillenialism, Postmillenialism, and Amillenialism.

The Apocrypha

The Apocrypha specifically describes several groups of writings included in the Septuagint but no longer considered to be of divine origin by most Christians. Some Bibles included them alongside the Old and New Testaments as late as the 19th century. Other versions still attach them to biblical scripture as appendices today.

They include: Baruch, additions to Daniel (the Prayer of Azariah, the Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon), additions to Esther, Ecclesiasticus (or the Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach), the Letter of Jeremiah, Judith, the First and Second Books of Maccabees, Tobit and the Wisdom of Solomon are accepted as scripture by the Catholic communion.

The Orthodox communion also accepts Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus as scripture.

As a general term, "Apocrypha" may also include numerous other books that have never been part of the Bible, but may date from the biblical era and are written in scriptural style: The Pseudepigrapha are ancient Jewish writings that were not written by the supposed authors. The Dead Sea Scrolls the Nag Hammadi Library and other collections containing such texts were discovered in the Middle East in the 20th century.

The Bible Today

While opinions on the Bible among Christians run a full spectrum, most Christians accept it as the perfect, revealed word of God. The most common scholarly terms used to discuss these views are "inerrant" and "infallible." Still, some believe that the Bible is only a collection of fables with no historical basis, used to teach useful lessons to society. Critics, and those who do not believe in the Bible’s divine authority, cite a lack of scientific evidence, the fact that no original manuscripts exist, and similarities between early Christianity and nearby pagan religions as evidence of what they believe to be the Bible's less-than-divine origins. Christians that believe the Bible is inerrant believe that the Bible is without error in all literal and historical matters. Christians that believe the Bible is infallible believe that the Bible is without error in matters of faith and practice. Both groups believe that the Bible is a complete and trustworthy guide for salvation and Christian faith.

Popular Versions

The Bible is the most frequently translated book in the world. Some versions attempt to translate the original language as literally and exactly as possible; others strive to make scripture more readable, by updating the language into the modern vernacular.

Some translations are authored by specific churches for their membership. Others result from the collaborative efforts of clerics, scholars, linguists and other experts. It is likely the list will expand as other translations are made and gain popularity.