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.