What Is the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of 66 ancient documents, letters and histories. The earliest record dates to as early as 2500 B.C. (possibly even earlier) and the latest to no later than 100 A.D. Approximately 44 different people authored these books. As you can see, the Bible is not one source but many. (See: Using the Bible to Verify Itself)

The Bible is broken up into the Old Testament (the first 39 books) and the New Testament (the last 27 books). The Old Testament is comprised of 4 basic parts:

* The Book of the Law

The first five books (Genesis-Deuteronomy) are called the Pentateuch, or "five scrolls". This is actually one book broken up into five parts. In it you will find the history of God's people from Adam to Moses. The Ten Commandments and very detailed instructions on early Judaic living are also included. The Jews call this section "The Torah" or "The Book of the Law".

* Old Testament History

The next twelve books (Joshua-Esther) are history texts. They start at the story of Joshua as he led the Israelites into battle to gain possession of the Promised Land (Canaan) and end with their defeat at the hands of the Babylonians and their eventual return from exile.

* Poetry & Wisdom

The next five books (Job-Song of Songs) contain drama, poetry, worship songs, wise sayings and even a racy love poem.

* The Prophets

The last seventeen books (Isaiah-Malachi) record important messages from God to His people. The prophets encouraged the people to worship and obey God and warned them of the dangers of turning to idols. God enabled some of them to see and record future events. These prophesies are astounding in their detail and many of them were written a full 1000 years before the fulfillment of the event. To date none of the prophesies of the Bible have been shown to be in error.

The New Testament is comprised of 3 basic parts:

* New Testament History

The first five books (Matthew-Acts) comprise this section. The first four (Matthew-John) are the first-hand, eye-witness accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are called the "gospels", meaning "good news". The book of Acts relays Paul's missionary journeys, the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Church's early history. A great deal of fulfilled prophesy is contained within these first five books.

* The Letters

The next 21 books (Romans-Jude) are a collection of letters (a.k.a.: epistles). They were written by Christian leaders to the early churches throughout the Middle East. They contain teaching, encouragement and even rebukes to Christians who were acting in ungodly ways.

* Revelation

This book is a book of prophesy written in poetry and word pictures. It is a series of visions of the future and of the end times.

The Bible stands out among all other books because it is also a book of great truth and great mystery. (See: Why is the Bible So Confusing?) The Bible is God's Word to mankind—written by many men and by God Himself. That is not to say that God dictated the Bible word for word, but rather, He inspired the men to write the truth. God then miraculously preserved the Bible throughout history, despite many attempts to rid the world of His message. (See: How Has the Bible Survived?)

For more detailed descriptions of the individual books of the Bible, go to Overview of the Old Testament & Overview of the New Testament. (Links to be added soon.)