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I saw a cool statistic that Bible sales were up 44% at one point during the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak, and they are still going up! In the time of crisis and uncertainty, people turn to hope. I thought this would be a great time to give the low down on what the Bible is, why you should read it, and where to even begin!
What is the Bible?
The Bible is the Word of God. It is the inspired word of God that was written across of span of 100 years and tells the story of life from creation to redemption. The Bible answers the timeless questions of, "Who are we?" or "Where did we come from?"
The Bible is our gift from God that continuously points us back to him. Everything that we may face in life is addressed in the Bible. Death? It's in there. Marriage? It's in there. Work? It's in there. When people say that it is the living word of God, it means that although these books were written thousands of years ago, it is still active today.
Why should you trust the Bible?
With all of the access to science and new technology, the Bible is proven to be historically accurate. Through historical site digs, details such as geography, and people are confirmed to be true. Another reason that we should trust the Bible is that for someone to write some of the things out, they would have been viewed as crazy. It's not like people were trying to write something that went with society and to make people happy. Some of the prophets put their lives in danger, and the eye witness accounts in the New Testament are provided by people who were sacrificing everything they knew and owned to share their story.
Why are there so many different translations?
The original languages of the Bible were Hebrew for the Old Testament and Greek for the New Testament. Translating the Bible into languages to be understood around the world started years ago so that everyone could access God's word. I am personally learning Hebrew right now, so I am so thankful for the people who have gone before us to translate these because it is hard!
There are two main reasons why there are so many different English versions of the Bible. The first one is that there are hundreds of different manuscripts of the Bible that, although they all have the same primary message, there are just a few words that are different here and there that make it translate different. The second reason is that the English language is an evolving language. Modern English reads differently than Old English. Our phrases and words have changed over time.
If you are thinking about getting a Bible or want a new one, but you go online and see that there are so many different translations, my recommendation is to start with NIV or CSB. These are complete personal preferences!
What is in the Bible?
The modern English Bible that is adopted by most denominations is composed of 66 different books. 66 books! All ranging in length, and they have different messages and stories. That is A LOT to read, absorb, and take in. The books are broken up into two primary parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and predicted the Messiah and lays the foundation of God's Law. The New Testament reveals the Messiah as Jesus and shows how Jesus fulfill the Law. There are so many parallels that run through the whole Bible that make it united even though it was written by different authors during different times and experiences.
This is how I split up my Bible!
In the Old Testament, there are 39 Books.
From Genesis to Deuteronomy are referred to as the Books of the Law.
Joshua to Esther represent History
Job-Songs of Solomon is Poetry
And then the remaining are the Prophets! Isaiah – Daniel is the major prophets, and Hosea to Joel are Minor Prophets.
In the New Testament, there are 27 Books.
The first four books of the New Testament are the Gospels- accounts of Jesus' time on Earth.
Following is the book of Acts, which builds off the Gospels as a historical account.
Next, come Paul's Letters from Romans – Philemon.
And then The Bible is concluded with General Letters from Hebrews to Revelation.
I highlight these different categories in the table of contents of all of my Bibles. Thanks, Pinterest. But I hope that by splitting these up, you can start to see the storyline throughout the Bible, and if you're opening it for the first time, hopefully, it looks a little less daunting.
Where do you even start?
You get this big book that can be heavy, take up a lot of space on your bookshelf, there are 66 books in it with little print… Where do you even start?
The Bible is not like any other book, and it does not need to be read from front to back like other books. I recommend starting by reading one of the Gospels, specifically Luke. After you read Luke, go to Acts to understand how the church was started. From there, if you feel like you're connecting and understanding the New Testament, you can continue to read through it, but eventually, you're going to have to make the daunting jump to the Old Testament. And when you're ready, go to Genesis.
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