Bible

WHAT IS THE BIBLE?

The Bible is a collection of books written by people who were uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit to write exactly what God intended them to
write. We recognize 66 books as sacred Scripture, arranged in two parts (39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament).

The Bible communicates the Word of God -- it is a definitive message from God. The original authoritative text of the Bible consists of the very
words from God and is thus the infallible standard by which all other claims of divine communication are to be measured.

WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE?

The basic message can be summed up in three sentences: (1) God, the Creator of all things, loves us. (2) We have rebelled against God, and are
unable to repair ourselves or to repay our moral debt to God. (3) God is able to forgive us and restore us through the ransom of Jesus Christ. The
Bible also tells about God's worthiness to receive our love.

The Old Testament states that God created all things. It tells how humankind lost perfect fellowship with God and fell into sinfulness. It describes
the commandments God gave to the nation of Israel. It records the history of Israel, including events in the lives of Abraham, Moses, David,
Esther, and others. It also records the prophetic hope that someday a special person would come who would be everything that an Israelite should
be: a prophet, a priest, and a king -- and, most of all, a deliverer.

The New Testament tells about the coming of that deliverer, Jesus Christ. It describes His teachings, His ministry, His death, His resurrection, and
His ascension. It also shows how Jesus' followers applied His message and changed the world by inviting people to make peace with God -- not
by trying to bribe God with good works, but by relying on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the sufficient payment for sins. The New Testament also
contains instructions about how Christians should glorify God by serving Him and their fellow-man, looking forward to the day when Christ shall
return to judge the living and the dead.

WHICH VERSION IS BEST?

Word-for-word translations are generally more reliable than paraphrases, and can be used for more purposes. The King James Version, the New
King James Version, the Holman Christian Standard Version, the English Standard Version, and the New American Standard Bible are all good
translations, although the KJV may be harder for some readers to understand. The New International Version is useful for devotional study. No
translation is superior to the original authoritative Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts.