About the Bible

Ever wondered what the Bible is?

Think of it as a library of love letters from God to his people.

Each book tells about the same subject - Jesus. He said "These are the Scriptures that testify about me" (John 5:39). Every book relates to God's loving plan to enter our lives and change our relationship with him.

Still with 66 books - it can be confusing. What is each book about? What is the main point? How is timeless truth related to modern life? Help is only a click away.

NAMES FOR THE BIBLE

The word "Bible" comes originally from an ancient Phoenician city on the Mediterranean Sea in what is now the country of Lebanon. The name of the city was Byblos. The city of Byblos exported the paper on which ancient scrolls were written. "Biblia" became the Greek word for "books" or "scrolls." From the Greek word "biblia," comes our English word Bible. Strictly speaking, our Bible is not just one book but many books put together in one volume. There are 66 books altogether in our Bible. The Bible is also known by other names. We may call it the Scriptures or Holy Scripture. The word "scripture" comes from the Latin and refers to "writings." You may also hear the Bible called Holy Writ, the Book of Books, or the Word of God.

WHAT IS THE BIBLE?

As these various names for the Bible show, the Bible is not just an ordinary book like all the other millions of books in the world. The Bible is unique; it is one of a kind. It is indeed the Book of Books. There is no other book like it. What is it that sets the Bible apart as a book without equals? It is the fact that God himself is the real Author of the Bible. The Bible is the written word of God in which God reveals the true religion to us.

WHO WROTE THE BIBLE?

We have already mentioned that God is the real Author of the Bible. However, God did not simply drop the Bible down from the heavens and deliver it to man. God made use of human writers. The Old Testament portion of the Bible was written by Moses and the Prophets. The New Testament was written by the pens of the Evangelists and the Apostles. About 40 men were involved in writing the Bible. When we ask the question, "Who wrote the Bible?", we really have to give two answers. First we will answer that God wrote the Bible; and then we will answer that God used humans to write the Bible. As an exercise check each of these verses for yourself and see whether each verse speaks about (1) God being the Bible's Author (2) the human authors of the Bible or (3) both the divine (Godly) and human authorship of the Bible:

[2 Timothy 3:16] [2 Peter 1:21] [1 Thessalonians 2:13]
[Mark 7:10] [Mark 7:13]

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