The Bible

September 10, 2017

Back to Basics

The Bible

In it’s most basic form, the Bible is not a boring collection of rules and regulations, it’s the story of God’s love for us.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Books of the Bible

66 books of the Bible
- 39 in the Old Testament
- 27 in the New Testament

The Old Testament is broken up into:
- Pentateuch (mosaic law)
- History
- Wisdom
- Major Prophets
- Minor Prophets

The New Testament is broken up into:
- Gospels
- History
- Paul’s Letters to churches
- Paul’s letters to individuals
- General letters
- Prophesy

Languages

The Bible was written in 3 languages:

Most of the Old Testament - Hebrew
Parts of Daniel and Ezra in the Old Testament - Aramaic
New Testament - Greek

Translations

Word-For-Word: Takes the Hebrew/Greek word, converts it to english, puts it in a sentence

Thought-For-Thought: Takes the Hebrew/Greek meaning of the phrase, sentence, or paragraph, and converts that into something that makes sense in English

Paraphrase: Takes the idea of the story as a whole and re-writes it into something that makes sense

While the Bible itself is perfect, a translation is not perfect.  Translations were written by people,
 not through people by God like the scripture itself.

2 Peter 1:21
21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

How to Read It

The Bible is not something that you should try to “conquer” - it’s a life book, showing how much God loves you. Use it to personally connect with him.

How to Study It

Every time you study a passage, you should look at 3 things: observation, interpretation, and application.
- Observe what the verse is saying
- Interpret what it means at a deeper level
- Apply what it says to your life

Observation -
What does the verse say?
What does that mean in that culture?
Is this a command or simply telling a story (descriptive vs prescriptive)?
How should that thing be done?

Interpretation -
What does this mean?
What does it not mean?
Could it mean something else based on context?

Application -
Do I do what is being described?
How do I do that?
What steps will I take to make sure I do that?

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Communication Card
- I am going to start reading the Bible daily for the first time.
- I am going to get in the Bible more than I have in the past.
- I will start walking through the Bible with someone else.

Downloads
- Old Testament Information
- New Testament Information
- Translations of the Bible
- Reading time for books of the Bible