The Bible: 5 Things You Need To Know About It

Everyone knows what the Bible is, right? Most likely, you own one, or if you're a real American, you own 4.5! Having one on the shelf is easy, but reading it…well, you know. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t read it; most people haven’t. 

Listed below are 5 things you should know about the one tome that has made its mark in human history and has changed the lives of a multitude of peoples from various times and cultures.

1. The Word “Bible” Means “Library”

The Bible is more than a collection of dust…It is a collection of books! The Bible is a book of books. That is what tà biblía means, “library” or “the books.” Not all of the books are of the same genre. Some books are narrative (the Gospels, Acts), poetry (Song of Songs, Job), prophecy (Isaiah, Jeremiah), letters (Pauline Epistles, Hebrews) and other various types of literature. There are 73 books in total (66 if you’re from a protestant tradition; 81 if you’re part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church). So yeah, there are different “collections” or Bibles out there.

2. The Bible Has Two Parts

The Old Testament and New Testament. The OT is also known as the Hebrew Bible since those texts make up the Jewish Scriptures. The OT contains the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Usually, when people start reading the OT, they can make it through Genesis and Exodus, but when they get to Leviticus, it’s over! Amiright? The NT contains the Gospels, the Letters, and Revelation (that last book that everyone is crazy about). The NT is much smaller and easier to read, so most people recommend reading the NT first. The NT books basically tell us about Jesus Christ and the Church he founded. As a whole, the OT presents certain promises God makes to Israel and the NT shows the fulfillment of those promises in the person and life of Jesus Christ.

3. The Bible Has A Plot

Now, the Bible is not necessarily a book you read from cover to cover like you would with other books. For one, it’s not in chronological order and not all of the books are narrative. Nevertheless, there is a plot, and the plot is salvation. The Bible gives multiple accounts of God acting in history for, primarily, the salvation of mankind. This is “Salvation History” as we Christian-folk call it. The Bible starts with the creation of this world (Genesis 1:1) and ends with its passing and the formation of a new creation (Revelation 21:1). The climax is the coming of Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection. There is a lot of stuff happening in between. I’m just giving you the short-short version.

4. The Bible Is Old

The Bible wasn't invented during the middle ages (a glorious time in history mind you). There is a span of nearly 1500 years from the time when the first book of the Bible was written to the last. The entire OT, 46 books, were written before Christ; the NT, 27 books, were written shortly after Christ in the 1^st century. After the books were written, they were eventually collected into a single volume. Collecting the books into one single book was a lengthy and arduous task itself. Though, there was a common consensus on which books should belong in the Bible, not everyone agreed. Eventually, there were a series of councils, and by the early 5^th century AD, a bunch of Catholic bishops determined and presented what we now know as the Bible. Kudos Catholic Church!

5. The Bible Is Sacred

The Bible is a religious book and it cannot be separated from the public worship. Christians have read these texts within the liturgy since the beginning of the Church. The fact that they were copied by hand thousands of times over indicates some special religious value. Anyone who regards the Bible as sacred considers it to be “divinely inspired.” Though there are many human authors, God is the primary author. God used different human authors to write to a people who lived in specific times and places. So, when reading the Bible, it helps to keep in mind the historical and cultural context of the author and audience.

There you go: a brief introduction to the most popular (and puzzling) book of all time. Hopefully your feet are wet and now you can dive into the Bible for yourself. Or, maybe you read the Bible often and already know everything I posted here and wasted your time. But, my hope is that one day, we can all say, in the eternal words of King Curtis, “Bacon Bible is good for me!”