The Bible Book

(Chris Devlin) #1

T


he Bible is the world’s
most famous book and a
keystone text of Western
civilization. It has been translated
into more languages than any other
text in history, and it remains the
most prolifically published book
since the invention of the printing
press. Christians worldwide look to
it as sacred scripture—the written
word of God, given by divine
inspiration. It has influenced art,
language, music, and literature for
more than 2,000 years: in fact, the
history of Western art cannot be
fully understood without at least
some knowledge of the Bible.
The Bible’s teachings have
also shaped social, economic, and
political developments, contributing
to Western civilization’s emphasis
on the value of the individual rather
than the state. It is the subject of
academic study by believers and
skeptics, and its words are the
source of comfort and challenge
from pulpits on every continent.

Moved by God
The Bible is a collection of 66
books, written by some 40 authors,
living on three continents (Africa,
Asia, and Europe), over 1,
years (c.1200 BCE– c.10 0 CE). These
authors understood themselves to
be “moved by God” to write “the

word of the Lord.” By the 1st
century BCE, most Jews had come
to recognize the 39 books of the
Hebrew Bible, written in Hebrew
and Aramaic, as God’s written
word—the scriptures (from
scriptura, Latin for “writings”).
Later, the Christian churches
of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE
similarly acknowledged the four
Gospels and a range of apostolic
letters, written in Greek, as the
word of God, alongside the earlier
Hebrew scriptures.
These texts communicate to
the modern reader through a system
of transmission and translation that
began with the ancient Israelites.
As early as the 3rd century CE,
scholars were comparing copies

and translations of the Hebrew
Bible. This process continues
among scholars today, who collect
and compare newly discovered
copies of biblical texts in order
to establish a “critical text” from
which translations are then made.
The most famous English
translation is the Authorized
Version, also called the King
James Version, published in 1611.
The Bible Book refers to the New
International Version, an English
translation from 1978 that aims to
make the text understandable
to modern readers.

Book of books
The 66 books of the Bible are
divided into two major sections.
The first in the Christian Bible is
the Old Testament (the Hebrew
scriptures of Judaism, known as
the Tanakh), comprising 39 books,
which were written for the ancient
nation of Israel. It begins with the
five books of the Law (the Torah:
Genesis to Deuteronomy), and
proceeds through the Historical
Books (Joshua to Esther). Although
these books are arranged in roughly
chronological order, the writing
of the books occurred at various
points along the timeline. For
example, Psalms was probably
written quite early, while Isaiah

12 INTRODUCTION


We did not follow
cleverly devised stories ...
but we were eyewitnesses
of His majesty.
2 Peter 1:

US_012-015_Introduction.indd 12 12/10/2017 17:

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