Introduction to the Bible
What is the Bible and Why Is It Important?
Our word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia, meaning "book." The Greeks got this word from the name Byblos, a port city in what we now call Lebanon where papyrus for making books was produced.
The Bible tells the story of God, God's people, and God's creation and reveals God's will for humanity. The Bible is about the human condition, our tendency to sin, God's willingness to forgive, and the promise of eternal life with God. Societies and writing styles have changed since the first books of the Bible were written. Most of us are not sheep farmers and have never seen a mustard seed. Yet the Bible still speaks to us in our world of high-speed Internet and on-demand movies. The story of God's unconditional love for us does not expire.
Who Wrote the Bible?
The Bible has not always been in book form. The earliest stories in the Bible were passed down through the generations by word of mouth. People would gather together and listen to storytellers talk about Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, and so on. Scribes eventually collected these stories (along with poems and songs, genealogical records, and other important documents) and wrote them by hand on scrolls.
In Jesus' day, centuries later, scrolls still were in use. But by that time the Jewish people had put together a set of sacred writings that they considered authoratative. This collection was similar to what we know as the Old Testament. The early Christians would add several books and letters to create a canon of their own. And instead of keeping a collection of scrolls, Christians eventually compiled their sacred writings into one big collection, giving us the books of the Bible that we know today.
Introduction to the Old Testament
Introduction to the New Testament
