The Bible is a book that is very famous, and yet many people do not know a lot about it. It remains a best seller even in the twenty-first century, and many people try to guide their lives by its message. What is the Bible? Why is it so important? What is its message?

Why the Bible?

The Bible claims to be the written message of God to human beings to teach them regarding themselves, their condition, His work, and what He would have them to do (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21).

We understand that there is more to this world and to this universe than what we can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, and that there is a power greater than ourselves out there. We can see the hand of a Creator in the splendor and complexity of the world around us (Romans 1:19-20), and we may wonder if this Creator has provided us with any other messages.

Men of old like Moses, David, and Isaiah were given messages by this Creator, and they spoke His message to Israel and other nations (2 Peter 1:20-21). In the first century CE, God took on the form of a man in His Son Jesus and taught us about God through His life, words, and deeds (John 1:1, 1:14, 1:18, 14:6-11). Jesus’ messengers, the Apostles, later taught Jesus’ message about His Kingdom and how people were to serve Him (Acts 2). The messages of the prophets, Jesus, and the Apostles were recorded in the books that now make up the Bible. As God’s completed revelation to mankind, the Bible, also called the Scriptures, provide us with the ability to know about God and His work and how He would have us serve Jesus His Son and do His will (1 Corinthians 13:8-10, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 John 2:1-6).

What is the Bible?

The Bible is really a collection of 66 books. The first 39 books are called the Old Testament, and the last 27 are called the New Testament.

The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew with a few small sections of Aramaic between 1450 and 420 BCE. The New Testament was written in Greek between 48 and 96 CE.

Many people think that the Bible has been corrupted or has been translated too many times. These ideas are not true! The most popular English translations of the Bible are based on the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Thousands of portions of copies, and many full copies, of the Bible have been discovered, some dating back to the days of Jesus and immediately afterward. While there are some differences (called variants) among the copies, none of them significantly change any part of the message. We can have complete confidence that the Bible we have today accurately provides God’s message to mankind just as it did thousands of years ago.

There are many different translations of the Bible out there, and it is easy to get confused as to which one to choose. We recommend a New English Translation (NET), English Standard Version (ESV), or a New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). These translations are very faithful to the original languages. If you have another version of the Bible, that is fine for now; you can understand the basic message and truths of God from them.

What does the Bible teach?

The basic message of the Bible is God’s eternal plan (Ephesians 3:11). The Bible shows how this plan develops throughout time.

The Bible begins with the creation, man’s first sin, the Flood, and God’s choice of Abraham (covered in lesson 2). It continues with the story of Israel and their land (lesson 3), King David and God’s promises for him and the future (lesson 4), the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (lesson 5), the Apostles, the church, and the Kingdom (lesson 6), and Jesus’ return and the eternal fate of mankind (lesson 7).