What is the Bible?

• The word Bible comes from a Greek word ‘biblos’, which means ‘book’ or ‘books’.
• Not a single large book. It’s a collection of books.
• Christians believe the Bible comes from God
• Sometimes Bible is also called the Holy Book or Scripture.
• Includes poetry, legal documents, songs, letters, eyewitness accounts, people stories,
historical documents and advice literature.
What is the Bible?

Christians believe the Bible is like these things.

What these things and the Bible might have in common?

Books of the Bible

• Many Christians agree that the Bible contains a total of 66 books, which includes 39 books
in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.

• However, there are some disagreements on whether other books should form part of the
Old Testament.
• Catholic and Orthodox Christians include other books in the Old Testament, which means
they have more books in their Bibles in total (73 or more).

• The Bible is made up of two collections: the Old Testament & the New Testament

• Testament means a covenant, and agreement, a promise.

 How to look up a Bible verse?
● Each Bible book is divided into chapters each is divided into verses

● e.g. Mark 4:35-41

the number or numbers
that follow tell you which
the reference tells verse or verses to read
you which Bible the first number
book to locate tells you which
chapter to find
 name of the Bible book

chapter
number verse
number

● now try
yourself:
2 Timothy
3:16
Group work
Look up the Bible verses and see which animals are mentioned in the
passages.
What is the Bible about?

● many parts of the Bible are narrative

● full of human stories – of love, hate, greed, loss, grief – and offers real insight
about these things that will be around as long as people are.

● is about God and what He is like.

● introduces God and His words to the reader
● helps the readers to know God.
● tells us what kind of people God wants us to be, and the kind of life He
wants us to lead. (‘Your word is a lamp to guide me and a light for my
path.’ -- Psalm 119:105)
• The Old Testament
– texts written before Jesus Christ was born
– the story of God’s promise to be with His chosen people, the Israelites
(‘The whole creation is mine, but you will be my chosen people.’ -- Exodus 19:5)
– prophesizes the coming of the Messiah --- Jesus Christ

• The New Testament

– writings following the death of Jesus
– covers Jesus’ life and teachings (the Gospels)
– the establishment and spread of the Christian church, after the death and resurrection of
Jesus
– shows the new covenant between God and all people
Authors of the Bible
● The Bible was written by over 40 different authors at different times in
history, e.g. Moses , Samuel, David, Luke, Matthew and Paul.

● Why did they write the Bible?

They wanted all men in the world to know what God says to us and
what wonderful things God has done for us.
 ∙ How did they write the Bible?
-- They were guided by the Holy Spirit to write all these things down.
(Therefore, the Bible is also called ‘the words of God’.)
-- ‘ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error,
correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living.’ (2 Timothy 3:16)

• English word ‘inspiration’ comes from Greek word ‘theopneustos’, which means
‘God-breathed’.

≠ the writers asked God for creative ideas in writing

= God had a hand in the process of writing the Bible. The biblical authors were inspired by
God to write .
 Old Testament New Testament
Kinds of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
The Law Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Books in Numbers, Deuteronomy

the Bible Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel,

2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1
History Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther
Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Poetry Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel,
Prophecy Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
History Acts
Romans, 1 Corinthians,
2 Corinthians, Galatians,
Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, 1 Thessalonians,
Letters 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy,
2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon,
Hebrews, James, 1 Peter,
2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John,
Jude
Prophecy Revelation
Languages of the Bible

• The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrews.

Hebrew alphabets

Joshua 1:1 –
After the death of the Lord’s servant Moses the
Lord spoke to Moses’ helper, Joshua son of Nun.
• The New Testament was originally written in Greek.

Luke 11:2 ( in Codex Sinaiticus)

-- Jesus said to them, ‘When you pray, say this: ‘Father: May
your holy name be honoured; may your Kingdom come.

• Greek was the common language of

the Roman Empire and a lot of
people living around the
Mediterranean Sea.
• Later, Latin became the main language of the Roman Empire.

• A Christian leader, Jerome （耶柔米）translated the Bible into Latin.

The Gospel According To John

(Vulgate Bible)
Translation of the Bible into English
• 14th century, A.D.
• John Wycliffe

Different versions of the Bible in English, e.g.

• King James Version (KJV)
• New International Version (NIV)
• Good News Bible (GNB)
 John 1:19-21
King James Version (KJV)
19
And this is the record of John, when the
Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him, Who art
thou? 20And he confessed, and denied
not; but confessed, I am not the
Christ. 21And they asked him, What then?
Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not.
Art thou that prophet? And he answered,
No.
Good News Bible (GNB)
19
The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some
priests and Levites to John, to ask him, “Who are
you?”
20
John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out
openly and clearly, saying: “I am not the Messiah.”
21
“Who are you, then?” they asked. “Are you
Elijah?”
“No, I am not,” John answered.
“Are you the Prophet?” they asked.
“No,” he replied.
• Between the 15th and 19th centuries, translation and production of the Bible really took off,
because of the invention of printing
• Before that, the Bible was copied by hand onto vellum
• Mass production was slow and expensive.

《西乃抄本》
Codex Sinaiticus
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/themes/asianafricanman/codexlge.html
• Invention of printing meant that the Bible could be produced quickly at a much lower cost..
• Bible could now be seen or even read by many more people.
• The first printed Bible was in Latin. It became available between 1450 and 1456 in
Germany. It was printed by Johannes Gutenberg, who invented a process for printing from
movable type.

The Gutenberg Bible

Only 48 are left in the world
Translations of the
Bible

As of October 2019 the full

Bible has been translated
into 698 languages, and
3,384 languages have at
least some portion of the
Bible.
 For children

In contemporary world, Bible is translated into different languages, and is

edited into different categories, for the needs of different people. E.g.

Bible in English Bible in Thai

For teens For women

和合本 現代中文譯本 Bible in Korean

Why do we read the Bible?
∙ To hear God and to develop a growing relationship with Him.
∙ The Bible changes Christians’ lives and values
∙ Non-Christians can also benefit from the Bible too. They can learn the
differences between right and wrong, good or bad.
∙ The Bible contains promises and gifts that God wants to give those who believe in Him.
E.g.

i) ‘For God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes
in Him may not die but have eternal life .’ (John 3:16)
Salvation
ii) ‘When the true message, the Good News, first came to you, you heard the hope it offers.’
(Colossians 1:5) Hope

iii) ‘But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will

forgive our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.’ (1 John 1:9)

Forgiveness
iv) ‘But if any of you lack wisdom , you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because
God gives generously and graciously to all.’ (James 1:5) Wisdom

v) ‘They will reach Jerusalem with gladness , singing and shouting for joy . They will be happy
for ever, forever free from sorrow and grief.’ (Isiah 35:10) Joy

vi) ‘Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you
rest .’ (Matthew 11:28)
Rest