The Bible/Holy Scriptures

THE DIVINELY INSPIRED WORD OF GOD

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

Thisis 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.
 MostCatholics 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.
 BibleSociety’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.
Bible Facts
About
50 Bibles are sold every minute.
A shepherd boy discovered old clay
jars in a cave by the Dead Sea in 1947.
The old jars contained dusty scrolls,
which turned out to include ancient
copies of the Old Testament.
The shortest book in the New
Testament is 2 John with 13 verses.
TheNew Testament has about 8,000
verses.
The word Christian is first
mentioned in the Bible in Acts 11:26.
The word Christian is found in only
two other places in the Bible: Acts
26:28 and 1 Peter 4:1
The Old Testament has more than
60 passages which Christians
believe are prophecies of Jesus.
'Do not be afraid' appears around
365 times in the Bible (depending on
the translation).

 THE OLD
TESTAMENT
Two Major sections
THE NEW
TESTAMENT
The Old Testament
The Pentateuch (Books of Moses)

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
 The Pentateuch is the term commonly applied to the first
five books of the Bible.
 ThePentateuch was the first collection of literature
acknowledged as Scripture by the Hebrew community.
 Thewriting of these books has been ascribed to Moses. It
holds supreme rank in the Old Testament canon in respect
and holiness.
 Exodus 33:11 Numbers 12:8

 “The LORD would  “With him I speak face to face,

speak to Moses face to     clearly and not in riddles;
face, as one speaks to a     he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
friend.”     to speak against my servant
Moses?”
Numbers 12:3

 “NowMoses was a very humble man, more

humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”
Historical books

Joshua 1 Chronicles
Judges
2 Chronicles
Ruth
1 Samuel Ezra
2 Samuel
Nehemiah
1 Kings
2 Kings Esther
Poetry Books

Job
Psalms
Proverbs ]
Ecclesiastes ] Wisdom books
Songs of Solomon ]
Books of the Prophets (Major prophets)

Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Minor Prophets

Hosea Nahum
Joel Habakkuk
Amos Zephaniah
Obadiah Haggai
Jonah 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.
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
 The Gospels
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts of the Apostles
(also known as Acts of the Holy Spirit)
 The Epistles
 Romans 1 Timothy
1 Corinthians
2 2 Timothy
Corinthians
 Galatians
Titus
 Ephesians
 Philippians Philemon
 Colossians
 1 Thessalonians Hebrews
 2 Thessalonians
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
The Revelation
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.
 Thatis 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.
 Inthe Bible, we meet the Lord Jesus and learn
why God has and always will pursue us.
Assignment (25 points) (1-2 pages)

 1.Discuss why the Bible is the most important book in the whole
world?

 2. Write
down at least 5 influences/contributions of the Bible to
humanity, society, and to the entire world.

 3. Include references/sources.
Academic standard of writing:

 1. Times New Roman

 2. 12 font size
 3. double-space
 4. proper margin
 5. short-size bond paper
The Bible’s Impact ASSIGNMENT
to the World
Class Activity
Group work

 1. What contributions did the Bible or the Holy Scriptures

give to the world?

 2. Share your assignment with your seatmate/groupmates.

 3. Each group will share their answers to the class.

 The Lord Jesus Christ Art
 Personal salvation of one’s soul Architecture
 Knowledge of God Sculpture
 Personal transformation Language
 Daily sanctification Literature
 Everlasting life
Movies/Films
 Abundant life
Music
 Law(s)\Morality
 Constitution
http://www.icr.org/article/teaching-bible-
public-schools/

 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.
 No one could rightly claim to be educated today, or to be a true intellectual, who has
never read this powerful and exciting book that has transformed innumerable lives,
influenced kings and presidents, and guided entire nations. To what can we compare it?
 Such vast amounts of writing and art contain Biblical allusions that ignorance of the Bible
cripples any meaningful study of literature or the arts.
 Even the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy states that, "The Bible, the holy book of Judaism
and Christianity, is the most widely-known book in the English speaking world.... No one
in the English speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the
Bible"
 Since the Bible and religion are extremely valuable components of the study of our history and the development of
civilization, they offer much toward attaining a comprehensive, world-class education.
 The objectives of a "Bible Literature" class are:
 To equip students with literary forms and symbols in the Bible that are constantly referred to in art, music, and
literature.
 To give the student understanding of the influence of the Bible on history, law, community, and cultural life.
 To give insight into the founding fathers' worldviews taken from the Bible promoting human rights, women's rights,
social justice, etc.
 To provide knowledge of Middle-Eastern history (Jewish-Arab), conflicts, geography, and religions.
 To teach students how to learn, and use, multiple and complex reference skills.
 Enforce the importance of religion in world and national history, without teaching or imposing any doctrinal belief.
 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.

Teaching Literature HTTPS://WWW.MBU.EDU/TEA
from a Biblical CHING-LITERATURE-
BIBLICAL-WORLDVIEW/
Worldview
 From the famous lines of “Hamlet” to the renowned scenes of Moby Dick, literature fills
the classrooms of Christian schools across the globe. Poems, letters, short stories, and
novels offer an infinite world of knowledge that grows students mentally and challenges
them academically. Yet many Christian teachers struggle to define the role of literature in
growing students spiritually. What can Christians learn from the timeless words of the
classics? What about authors who openly present views or ideas that contradict the Bible?
How can a teacher present such material in a way that instructs students not just in their
academic knowledge but also in their Christian lives?
 Nathan Huffstutler has been teaching literature at Maranatha since 2005. In his years of
experience, he has found that, in order to formulate a philosophy of teaching literature, it
is necessary first to define the nature and purpose of literature itself. He asks some
probing questions, such as “What is the purpose of literature? Why does it exist in this
world that God has created? What is our purpose as human beings in terms of using
language, in terms of understanding what it means to be a human being created in the
image of God?” Biblical answers to these questions will provide the foundation for a
Christian worldview of teaching literature.
 Mr. Huffstutler provides some answers to these questions in an essay that he wrote for
students, “The Value of Studying Literature.” Of the six purposes of literature that he
presents, he spends the most time on the first: to help students understand “what it means
to be a human being created in God’s image.” He says, “Literature tells us how human
beings think, what human beings find important. It helps us understand how human
beings have searched for meaning and how they have found meaning. It helps us
understand that all human beings have a sense of morality.”
 But how does this philosophy translate into teaching? In the classroom, Mr. Huffstutler
explains that for “every author, every work we look at, we try to answer questions like this:
what does this work show us about what it means to be a human being created in the image of
God? . . . What should a Christian think about this work? What can we affirm, what do we
need to critique about this work?” As he adds later, “Considering those kinds of questions
with the works you teach is a big part of teaching with a Christian worldview.”
 Yet teaching with a Christian worldview includes so much more than just answering deep
questions in class. Mr. Huffstutler recognizes that “teaching from a Christian worldview is a
whole lot more than praying before class. It’s thinking about the big picture.” What big picture
does he mean? He says, “If your habit of life is to study the Bible daily, is to try to surrender
every part of your life, mind, heart, to Christ—it just flows out naturally.” He takes a moment
to reflect, “I hope it just flows out of who I am.”
 What exactly does this worldview look like in his class? In response to this question, Mr.
Huffstutler lays out one of the principle assumptions that affects his presentation of
literature:
 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.
 Texts of all kinds hold meanings for Christian students. In his classes, Mr. Huffstutler
selects works by authors such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton who adhere to a
biblical, Judeo-Christian worldview. “These authors,” he says, “have so much material for
us to learn from about what it means to be human beings created in God’s image.” But he
doesn’t stop there. He also includes works by “authors who have a very different
worldview from us as Christians,” authors such as Doris Lessing, Virginia Woolf, and
James Joyce. Even though their material or worldviews may contradict the Bible, Mr.
Huffstutler still teaches them because “they do have a lot of insight in certain ways; they
do show us certain truths in human nature.” Virginia Woolf, for example, committed
suicide because she never found the meaning in life that she sought. Because of this, even
Mr. Huffstutler acknowledges that her works hold “a great sense of despair.”
 So why teach such pieces? Why expose students to such darkness? What could they learn
from it? Mr. Huffstutler again references the Christian worldview when he explains, “As
Christians, this reminds us that there are people out there with despair. It helps us
empathize with them, helps us examine their lives from a Christian worldview. . . .
Reading writers with different perspectives is very good for understanding other people
[because] we’re going to have conversations with people who have other worldviews.” He
concludes with saying that literature is “like a laboratory,” exposing students to different
worldviews and helping them to understand how people think. With this knowledge,
students can walk out of class well equipped to go, serve, and lead in a community that
they will better understand thanks to the insights of literature.
 If you would like to read more on teaching literature from a Christian worldview, Mr.
Huffstutler recommends (in general, with a few minor caveats) the following resources:
 The Christian Imagination: The Practice of Faith in Literature and Writing by Leland
Ryken
 Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview by Albert M. Wolters
 Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living by Cornelius
Plantinga
 Reading Between the Lines: A Christian Guide to Literature by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
 Article contributed by MBU student writer and published author Melissa J. Troutman.