The Bible:

The Divinely inspired Word of

God
• The word “Bible” comes from the Greek and Latin
words which mean “books” and “the book”.

• This is because the Bible is a collection of books as

well as a single book.
• According to Ethnologue, there are currently 6909
living languages in the world.
• The New Testament is available in 1,333 languages.
• The entire Bible is available in at least 553
languages.
• At least one book of Scripture has been translated
for 2932 of these languages.
• Originally, some of the Bible was written in Hebrew,
some in Aramaic and some in Greek.
• However, over 4,500 languages still wait for even
one book of the Bible. This means millions either
have no access to the Bible at all or can only
encounter it in something other than their ‘heart’
language.

• The process of producing a translation of the Bible

is slow, difficult and lengthy. Recently, computer-
aided programs have now reduced the time
involved.
• Although Christians largely agree on the number of
books in the Bible, the exact number varies from one
Church tradition to another.
• Most Protestant Christians recognize 66 books in the
Bible.
• Most Catholics recognize the 66 plus 7
deuterocanonical books, bringing the total to 73
books.
• Greek Orthodox Bible has 75 books.
• Ethiopian Orthodox Christians recognize 81 books in
the Bible.
• The Bible is by far the best-selling book of all time.
However, no one can be absolutely sure exactly
how many copies have been printed, sold or
distributed.
• Bible Society’s attempt to calculate the number
printed between 1816 and 1975 produced the
figure of 2,458,000,000 – almost 2 and a half
billion.
• Another survey, for the years up to 1992, put it
closer to 6 billion.
• The Bible is the most shop-lifted book in the world.
 •The word Christian is first
Bible Facts mentioned in the Bible in Acts
11:26. The word Christian is
•About 50 Bibles are sold every minute. found in only two other places
in the Bible: Acts 26:28 and 1
•A shepherd boy discovered old clay Peter 4:1
jars in a cave by the Dead Sea in 1947.
•The Old Testament has more
The old jars contained dusty scrolls,
which turned out to include ancient than 60 passages which
copies of the Old Testament. Christians believe are
prophecies of Jesus.
•The shortest book in the New
•'Do not be afraid' appears around
Testament is 2 John with 13 verses.
365 times in the Bible (depending
•The New Testament has about 8,000 on the translation).
verses.
•
Two Major sections

 The Old Testament

(From Genesis to the
Book of Malachi)

 The New Testament

(From the Gospel of
Matthew to the Book of
Revelation
The Old Testament
 The Pentateuch (Books of Moses)
The Pentateuch is the term commonly
applied to the first five books of the
Bible.

The Pentateuch was the first collection

of literature acknowledged as Scripture
• Genesis by the Hebrew community.
• Exodus
The writing of these books has been
• Leviticus
ascribed to Moses. It holds supreme
• Numbers rank in the Old Testament canon in
respect and holiness.
• Deuteronomy
These books span the
history of the people of
Israel -- The Jews
 Poetry Books
• Job
• Psalms
• Proverbs ]
• Ecclesiastes ]
Wisdom books
• Songs of Solomon
]
 Books of the Prophets
Minor Prophets
Hosea Nahum
Major prophets
Joel
Habakkuk
Isaiah Amos
Jeremiah Zephaniah
Lamentations Obadiah Haggai
Ezekiel Jonah
Daniel Zechariah
Micah Malachi
• The Old Testament
prophets tended to be
revealed during times
of crisis.
• God used the prophets
to provide direction
and wisdom during
times of crisis.
• They were also used by
God to remind the
people of their
covenantal promises.
 On Biblical Prophecies
• The relevance of biblical prophecy is not only the
information revealed to the audience about the
circumstances being faced in their time or in a time to
come, but also what the message reveals about the
nature of God.

• Prophecy in the Bible is part of God's self-revelation,

by which we come to know God through what he has
done in the past and what He plans to do in the
future.
The New Testament
covers books from
gospels to the Book
of Revelation.
 The Books of The New Testament
I. The Gospels
• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John
II. The Acts of the
Apostles
III. The Epistles
( Letters to the Christian
Churches)
IV. The Book of
Revelation
 The Epistles
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
• HebrewsJames
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
 The Bible - God’s Inspired Word
• We all search for purpose. Why did God make us? What’s
in His heart for us to be and to do? Where do we fit in His
plans? What is my place in this world?
• But no one truly discovers or understands their own story
until they learn about God’s. And that’s what the Bible
does. It tells His story so you can understand yours.
• That is the purpose of the Bible. It is God’s story of His
love for mankind. It’s His love letter to mankind. It’s His
guidebook for everyone who seeks Him and who will follow
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Mankind has an enemy – Satan, or
Lucifer – who is doing everything he
can to deceive us. But God has not
left us in the dark. Long ago, He told
His story and began inviting us in,
one by one, until His story became our
story. It’s the greatest story ever told,
a living story – so much so that our
hearts and minds and lives are
changed when we read it.
• Through reading the Bible, we get to
know who God is, and we develop a
deep connection with Him and learn
His purpose.
• In the Bible, we meet the Lord Jesus
and learn why God has and always
will pursue us.
• Patrick Henry said, "The Bible is a book worth
more than all other books that were ever
printed." Thomas Jefferson was the first
President of the Washington D.C. school board
which adopted the Bible as a primary reader.

• Students have been denied their constitutional

rights long enough. And they have not been
given all the facts of history and of the
influence of the Bible. Most do not know that
the Bible has been the number one best-seller
each year since the invention of the Gutenberg
printing press in 1456. Last year, the Bible
outsold its nearest modern rival by more than
five times.

Source: http://www.icr.org/article/teaching-bible-
public-schools/
According to Ethnologue, there are currently 6909 living languages in
the world. At least one book of Scripture has been translated for 2932
of these languages. The New Testament is available in 1,333
languages, with portions in 1045. The complete Bible has been
translated into 553 languages.*

• *Statistics courtesy of Wycliffe Global Alliance, Oct. 2015.

• Images from biblia.com, overviewbible.com, pinterest.com,
biblestudytools.com, youtube.com and bibleblender.com
• There are ideas out there in the realm of literary
study that a work of literature means whatever you
think it means. It’s the reader’s response to it. Or
there’s another idea—deconstruction—that a work
of literature doesn’t really mean anything. But
certainly here at Maranatha, we think completely
differently. Truth here is something that we believe is
founded in the Word of God, and so we look at
literature that way, that there is a meaning to this
text.
- Patrick Henry