The Bible – what is it?

The shape of the Bible

The Bible is in two parts – the Old Testament and the New Testament

In a nutshell, the Old TestamentT looks forward to the Messiah (or Christ,, which is the Greek word meaning Messiah), who will come and save God’s people. 

The Old Testament starts with a poetic description of the Creation and the Fall, and takes us through the early history of God’s people right up to a time a few hundred years before the birth of Christ.  This includes the books of the prophets, who look forward to the promised coming of the Saviour, the Messiah.

Then the New Testament describes the coming of Jesus Christ and the effect of his life and death on the world.

The gospels tell of his birth and infancy, but devote most of their accounts to Jesus’ adult life, especially his death and resurrection. 
 
Other books in the NT (many of them letters), concern themselves with the spectacular growth of the early Church, after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the way in which the many new churches all around the Eastern Mediterranean developed.  

In one sentence, the Bible points us to God’s great plan of salvation for the world, and holds within it the promise of new life with God.

Some brief points about the Gospels

There are four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  All of them tell of the life and death of Jesus.  But they are not all the same.

The first three - Matthew, Mark, Luke -are similar in many ways.  They tell the story of Jesus in vaguely chronological order. They include some stories about his birth and infancy, and are keen to create a history of Jesus, including his itinerant ministry, and relate many of his parables, teachings, healings and miracles. 

John is somewhat different.  He is less interested in biography, and offers a more mystical reflection on Jesus, while still focussing on the importance of the events at the end of Jesus’ life.  There is an emphasis on the themes of light and life.  And the gospel is punctuated by Jesus’ seven I am sayings: I am the Light of the World, I am the Good Shepherd etc.

A QUICK OVERVIEW OF BIBLICAL HISTORY

Before 1050 BC, it’s not possible to put any reliable dates on events, but after that, we have a reasonable idea of when critical events took place.

OLD TESTAMENT

• King David (1010-970)
• King Solomon (970-930)
• Division of Solomon’s kingdom into two parts (930)
• Fall of Northern Kingdom (722)
• Fall of Jerusalem & Exile to Babylon (586)
  return to Israel (538 >>)

NEW TESTAMENT

• King Herod (37-4BC)
• Jesus’ birth (c. 4 BC)
• Jesus’ death (30 AD)
• Conversion of St Paul (c. 35)
• St Paul’s 1st missionary journey (46-48?)
• Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans (70)

Reading the Bible is one of the most rewarding thing we can do.  But it can be a bit difficult without help.  It can be hard to know where to start.  And some parts, especially in the Old Testament, can be quite impenetrable if you come at them ‘cold’.

The best way to do it is to use Bible reading notes.  There are all sorts of these, published by

Scripture Union,
Bible Reading Fellowship
Reflections for Daily Prayer - Bible notes following the Common Worship Lectionary of the Church of England
... . and other organisations.
 
They work like this: each day they will suggest a passage from the Bible to read, and give some background explaining the context and purpose of the book and the particular passage, to make it come alive.  Because the Bible is God’s living Word, any passage can still speak to us today, in our own situation.  Then the notes may give a short prayer for you to use that day.  In this way, the Bible becomes not just intelligible, but relevant, helpful and inspiring.

Of course there are all sorts of books about the Bible, and commentaries on specific parts of it too. 

In church, we read the Bible and explore it through sermons and prayers as part of our services.
 
There are groups at St Paul’s which meet regularly in people’s homes to learn about and discuss our faith, including Bible study. 

Any of the church leaders are always ready to help with suggestions for Bible reading notes or other literature, or to help with any other specific problems or queries you may have.

We hope you will find great satisfaction and blessing through the Bible – the most important and dynamic book in the world!

Letting the Bible Challenge us

Read passage from Ezekiel 3:1-3

In his vision – Ezekiel ate God’s message and found this spiritual food not only good for him, but also as sweet as honey.

• If you digest God’s word, you’ll find that not only does it make you stronger in your faith, but its wisdom has the potential to sweeten your life.
• Need to feed ourselves spiritually just as we do physically…
• Means doing more than just giving God’s word a casual glance – we must make digesting God’s word part of our lives.

A manual for life…

• St. Paul wrote about the inspiration of the Bible: (2 Timothy 3:16-17) He said, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
• If we accept that the Bible is inspired by God, we must accept it as authoritive for what we believe and how we act.
• The Bible is God’s revelation of his will for us, the more we discover his will and put it into practice, the more freedom we will experience, but we need to hear what he has said.

God Speaks…

The Bible is more than a well thumbed manual for life…

The word of God has great power…Hebrews – “The word of God is living and active…sharper than any two edged sword…penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (4:12).

What the writer is impressing on us here is that God’s word is not simply a collection of words, or a vehicle for communicating ideas; it is living, life changing and dynamic as it works in us.

God’s word reveals who we are and what we are not. It penetrates the core of our moral and spiritual life, but we must not only listen to God’s word; we also need to let it shape our lives.

The Bible shows us how to enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ

Putting it into practice…

• Set aside time to read the Bible - plan ahead.

• Don’t be over-ambitious - start with a few minutes each day.

• Increase over time - find somewhere quiet to be alone.

• Start by asking God to speak to you through the passage you are reading.

As you read, ask three questions…

1. What does it say?

• compare with other translations
• refer to study guide or supplementary notes.

2. What does it mean?

• put into context
• what did it mean to those who  wrote it or first read it?

3. How does it apply to me, my family, my work, the society in which I live?

• this is where we see the relevance of the Bible to our own lives
• this is where we become conscious that we are hearing God’s voice.

Some useful online resources

• Bible Gateway
  look up Bible passages in almost any version and language.
• 
  New Testament Gateway
  Comprehensive guide to resources for studying the New Testament.
• 
  Little Bible Handbook
  A basic introduction to the Bible designed to get people to read the Bible for themselves.
• 
  Anglicans Online : Biblical Resources
  excellent list of resources from a website aimed at all members of the Anglican community.
• 
  Oxford Reference Online Premium: online versions of The Oford Dictionary of the Bible, Companion to the Bible, Guide to People and Places of the Bible as well as other reference books on religion. Free access to these is available from many public library websites, e.g.Tameside Public Libraries - all you need is your library membership number. Check out your local librry website for more information.
  
  
• Codex Sinaiticus: the earliest complete copy of the New Testament dating from the fourth century. See it online here. The significance of Codex Sinaiticus for the reconstruction of the Christian Bible's original text, the history of the Bible and the history of Western book-making is immense.