Background to the Bible

Christians make the claim that the Bible, as we know it today, is actually God's word written to us. They also claim that it's God's only word to us. But how did the Bible we know today come to be?

Speaking the Same Language

Bible This word comes from the Greek word Biblos, which means "book".

Covenant

This word refers to an agreement made between two parties. A covenant can be unconditional or conditional. In the Old Testament, there were quite a few covenants made between God and people. The two most important were the covenant between God and Abraham, and the so-called "New Covenant", spoken of in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Both these covenants were unconditional. Early Christian writers correctly recognised that Jesus, as the promised Saviour, was the centre of the New Covenant. And so, the biblical writings before Jesus were termed the Old Testament. Naturally, those writings after Jesus were termed the New Testament. Today, a testament is the written will of someone. In early Christian times, a testament was interchangeable with a covenant.

Old Testament

The collection of 39 books written between about 1500 B.C. and 400 B.C.

New Testament

The collection of 27 books written between about 45 A.D. and 95 A.D.

Apocrypha

Seven books which were written during the same time as the Old Testament, but which 1st century Jews recognised were not part of God's word.

Gospel

This word comes from a Greek word meaning "good news".

Inspired

By this word, Christians mean "God-breathed". The idea is that rather than a piece of writing simply being the product of a human mind, an inspired piece of writing is the product of God writing through the conscious efforts of a human. This is how some writings can be seen as the inspired Word of God.

Old Testament Overview

Today, we tend to categorise the Old Testament into five sections:

1. The Law

2. History

3. Psalms and Wisdom Writings

4. Major Prophets (called "major" only due to the length of these books)

5. Minor Prophets

However, the Jews simply categorised them into three sections:

1. The Law

2. The Prophets

3. The Writings

Whichever way you view the books of the Old Testament, there are 39 in all. Here is a summary of each book in the Old Testament, under the five headings of law, history, psalms and wisdom writings, major prophets and minor prophets.

The Law

Genesis

This word means "beginnings", and in many ways, Genesis sets the foundation for the rest of the Bible.

Exodus

This word means "way out". The book describes the rescue of God's people from their slavery in the land of Egypt.

Leviticus

The name of this book comes from the Levite family, one of the 12 families of Israel. The Levites were the priests of the nation, and were responsible for the law between God and the people, as well as between the people themselves. This book contains detailed laws for the nation.

Numbers

This book is, as it sounds, a book of numbers. There are some historical stories, but it is mainly records of the families of Israel.

Deuteronomy

This words comes from the words deutero, meaning "second", and nomos, meaning "law". The book is mainly an address from Moses to the people of Israel, outlining the law to them, before they entered the land of Canaan.

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