What Do You Know About the Bible?

My last 26 blog entries followed an alphabetical pattern, each blog title focused on one letter of the alphabet beginning with “Anxiety” on July 22, 2013 and ending with “Zebras” on January 13, 2014.  Some of the letters were a tad bit difficult to use, especially “X,” which I fudged on, using “X-ercise” in place of a word that ACTUALLY begins with the letter X.

So now that I have finished my alphabetical series, I was faced with the dilemma of what to write about next, and next, and next. . .  Thanks to my husband and one of his favorite songs, I think I have the answer -- I want to introduce a series of 66 entries that will talk about Jesus as the thread that runs through each and every book of the Bible, beginning in Genesis and ending in Revelation.  This is a huge commitment of time and energy, so I hope you will pray for me:  that I will be faithful to my promise to complete this series; that I will be faithful to God and accurate in my presentation of His word; and that my words will be accurately read and received by my readers.

Today I want to introduce you to the Bible as a whole, and next week I plan to begin my series with Jesus in Genesis.

Some people think that the Bible is full of contradictions, and that it could not possibly be the infallible, inerrant Word of God.  They may believe parts of the Bible, but not all of it, and some people fail to see how it all fits together to tell one cohesive story of God’s love for each and every one of us.  The question that always comes to my mind when someone expresses an opinion like that is, “What part of the Bible is true, and what part is not?  And who gets to decide?”  I hope that over the next 66 weeks you will come to agree with me that those doubts about the Bible are invalid.

The Bible contains a total of 66 individual books -- 39 in the first portion of the Bible called the Old Testament, and 27 in the second portion called the New Testament.  The Old Testament was written entirely before the birth of Jesus Christ, and the New Testament after He came.  The Bible was written by about 40 writers in 3 languages over a span of 1500 years.  Though it is mostly narrative, it also contains poetry, parables, hyperbole, allegories, metaphors, and other figures of speech.  A good example of this is when Jesus said in Matthew 26:6 and Mark 14:22, “Take, eat; this is My body,” He was not saying that the unleavened bread was actually His flesh.  He was using a metaphor.  Some of the books of the Old Testament are classified as law, some history, some poetry and wisdom, some prophecy.  Some are a combination.  The New Testament contains four books classified as gospel, one history, several letters, and finally, Revelation is prophecy.

The vast amount of research over the years has proven that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is true in its entirety, and every word contained in it should be considered to be true.  However, it is important to understand that language evolves.  The Bible has been translated from its original manuscripts many, many times.  Some of the older translations contain words that are hard for us to understand and that might even have different meanings today than they did when that translation was made.  Some of those translations are more accurate than others.  There are even versions of the Bible that are merely translations of earlier translations and some that are paraphrases, not translations.  So it is important to compare one version of the Bible with other versions to be sure you are reading what the writer actually wrote.  For the same reason, it is of utmost importance to compare one passage from the Bible with other passages from the Bible.  The Bible NEVER contradicts itself, so it is important to know that any passage will be supported by other passages within the Bible without changing its true meaning.

As with any other piece of literature, it is important to consider the obvious meaning of the text, the context of the particular passage (including when it was written and to whom it was written), the meaning that the writer intended, and the way the original readers would have interpreted and understood it.  In other words, although the Bible was written FOR us, it was not written TO us, in our language, or with our current knowledge.  For this reason, it is often helpful to read more than one translation of the Bible, along with several Bible commentaries.  Commentaries can help us understand the customs and environment of both the writer and the original readers of any given passage.  They can also help us cross-reference other scripture that will help clarify the writer’s meaning and intent.

I hope that you will read God’s Word with an open mind, giving it the benefit of the doubt until you can prove its error.  If you read a passage that contradicts your own views or beliefs, don’t ignore it.  Ask yourself why it says what it does or why you believe the way you do.  If you need clarification about the meaning of a passage, look for other Bible passages on the same subject, look to commentaries, ask God in prayer to explain Himself, ask your pastor or another student of the Bible.  God gave us His word as one way to reveal Himself to us.  As He reveals Himself to you through reading the Bible, don’t be afraid to allow God to change your mind about what you believe about Him!

If you don’t have a Bible of your own, you might consider going to BibleGateway.com.  There you will find several different versions of the Bible.  You can look up specific verses or do a subject or word search. You can find commentaries, reading plans, and daily devotionals.

Another site you might consider is FaithFacts.org.  It further explains everything I have given you here, but in much more detail, with lots of documentation.  It will answer a lot of questions that you may have about the Bible, Christianity in general, and why we believe what we believe.

If you are new to reading the Bible, I would suggest that you begin reading in Psalms or Proverbs, perhaps one chapter per day.  You might even re-read one chapter every day for a week until you feel like you understand it.  You might add one chapter in one of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) each day.  The gospels are history books, each written by a different author, but about the same subject, the life of Jesus Christ.  Each is written from a different point of view, and each contains some of the same subjects, but not every subject is contained in each book.
 
Consider the following verses (New King James Version):

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths...Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her." (Proverbs 3:5-6, 13-18)

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (II Timothy 3:16)

I hope you will join me in this prayer this week, trusting God to bless your study of His word.  It is taken from Joshua 1:8 (New King James Version):  "This Book. . .shall not depart from (my) mouth, but (I) shall meditate in it day and night, that (I) may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then (I) will make (my) way prosperous, and then (I) will have good success."