|
|
| Christianity Explained |
God, Jesus Christ, The Trinity, The Bible, Prayer, Worship, The Church
|
||||||
| The Bible - What is It? | ||||||
 The Bible: is the name given to the Christian Holy Book. The word 'Bible' comes from the Greek word 'Biblia' and just means 'The Books' because the Bible is a collection of 66 separate books bound into one large volume, written by many different authors over many centuries. (Return to top)
Holy Bible: Because Christians believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, it's often called The Holy Bible. (Return to top) The Word of God? You can buy several versions of the Bible with slight differences - how can it therefore be "The Word of God?" Some religions believe their holy book was inspired by their god at a point in time, and doesn't change (eg: Islam). Christians generally believe that God reveals more to us through the Bible as humanity progresses and so is able to understand and receive more. Over time, we learn how to read and interpret the original manuscripts better, plus the meaning of our own words change (see 'Translations' below). Consequently, the Bible is the 'Living' Word of God and it's therefore reasonable to expect small changes over time. (Return to top) |
||||||
| The List of Books | ||||||
 The Bible has two main parts known as 'The Old Testament' and the 'The New Testament', plus a small third part called The Apocrypha' which is included in some versions.
'The Old Testament' covers the time from creation of the universe up to about 500 years before Jesus was born. It describes creation of the world, the revealing of God to humanity including the rules by which he expects us to live, and the 'old' relationship between God and his 'chosen people' - the ancient Hebrews - as they tried to live to those rules. It's comprised of the ancient Hebrew scriptures, except they're arranged in a slightly different order in the Christian Bible. (Return to top) 'The New Testament' is an account of the life and teaching of Jesus and his followers, including the events immediately after his crucifixion, and describes our 'new' relationship with God which Jesus brought about. 'The Apocrypha' is a third section between the Old and New Testaments, at one time thought of as 'hidden' because it wasn't included in most older versions of the Bible, and the Greek word for 'Hidden' is 'Apocrypha'. (Return to top) The number of books and the order in which they appear is slightly different in Bibles printed for Roman Catholic, Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians because of slight differences each has in their understanding of God and their interpretation of the Christian faith. (Return to top) For Protestants, the Old Testament is divided into 39 books and the New Testament is divided into 27, a total of 66. In addition, there are a number of other books which were not included in earlier versions of the Bible as they were not thought to add anything to our understanding of God. These books are now sometimes included in modern Bibles in the third part called "The Apocrypha". (Return to top) |
||||||
| Why Different Translations and Versions? | ||||||
| The Old Testament comprises the scriptures of the ancient Hebrew people which were, of course, originally written in Hebrew! The New Testament was written at a time when Greek was the preferred language of educated people, so the New Testament was mainly written in Greek. This gives us several problems: (Return to top)
Agape: means feeling good about something or holding it in high esteem. As scholars learn more about ancient languages and cultures, so it's possible to make better interpretations of old writings. Also, words and phrases change their meaning over time (eg: 'nice' now means agreeable but used to mean over fussy). As a result, new versions of the Bible are published from time to time with better interpretations made form the original Hebrew and Greek texts, or using currently meaningful English. Generally they are only small changes, the main point doesn't change but its original context is reinstated. (Return to top) One of the most famous translations was made for the English king James I, who authorised its use, so it became known as 'The Authorised Version'. This was written in the language of the 17th century yet remains in use in many churches today because, although the language of that time and meaning of many of the words has changed making it difficult for many to understand it today, the poetry of the language is obvious and retains its appeal for many. (Return to top) |
||||||
| The Word of God.... Yet Different Understandings? | ||||||
| All Christians believe that the contents of the Bible are inspired by God, but there is a difference in the way they understand this. Some Christians believe that the authors were directed by God, so the contents are literally the "Word of God" and consequently all true. However, most Christians believe that the authors were inspired by God, yes, but that they're limited by human intelligence and human language. The contents therefore contain God's fundamental truths, but are limited by the culture of their time and need to be interpreted in each new generation as our knowledge of God and his creation increases. It's in this way that the Bible represents the 'living' word of God to each of us today. (Return to top)
Most Christians accept the concept of evolution, that the world was created billions of years ago and has been evolving ever since. They see no real conflict with the Bible account in Genesis that says God created it in 6 days if you take the 'days' to be epochs of time. In fact, given that the Bible account of creation was written so long ago, it's remarkable that it's description is so close to the modern scientific knowledge. This latter group would also argue that it's OK for us to question and investigate God's creation as that's precisely what the Bible tells us he wants us to do - "Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it" (Genesis chapter 1: verse 28). (Return to top) |
||||||
| Critique and Analysis Lead to a Better Understanding | ||||||
In modern times, scholars have applied the analysis techniques developed from modern scientific research in the period known as 'The Enlightenment' (17th century onwards) to analyse the Bible in order to learn more about it and its message. At first there was some reluctance to question the Bible but gradually by applying these techniques scholars have deduced who may, or may not, have been the author of each passage, the points that were important to them (eg: who were they writing for, Jews or Non-Jews?), and consequently why did they edit the material the way they did to give different emphasis in different books (eg: differences in the accounts of Jesus in the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). (Return to top) In this way our understanding of the Bible increases and God is able to reveal more and more to us. It's good for a Christian to regularly read the Bible on their own and to let God speak to them through it, but also to attend a 'Study Group' where people can share the different understandings they've each been given. (Return to top) |
||||||
| How to Read Bible References | ||||||
| When it was originally written, the text of each book was not sub-divided into chapters and verses as it is now. It was divided like that for ease of reference - that is, to make it easier to read and to refer to a specific passage. Several schemes were developed at different times. The Old Testament was first divided by the Jews before Jesus was born, and our modern division follows much of their early scheme. The New Testament is known to have been divided before the 'Council of Nicaea' in 325AD, but the divisions into the chapters which we use today was made between 1227 and 1248. The further division into verses was made in 1551 and the first Bible to incorporate the modern Chapters and Verses was published in 1560 (the so called 'Geneva Bible' because it was printed in that city). Virtually all modern Bibles use this reference system. (Return to top)
Bible references are written in the form "Book Name, Chapter Number : Verse Number", eg: Gen 1:5 means the Book of Genesis Chapter 1 : Verse 5. If several verses are required they are written "Gen 1:1-14" which means the Book of Genesis Chapter 1 : Verses 1 to 14 inclusive. (Return to top) |
Ancient Hebrew: The ancient Hebrews 
Greek: Translating anything from one language to another 
The first group usually believe that the world was created by God in just six days, about 5,000 years ago, with all the creatures we know now, because that's how the first book 