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The Bible

The “revealed Word of
Ta Biblia “The
God”
Books”
We also find God’s Word
So, the Bible is in: derivatively
Jesus’ words & deeds
“God’s word”
Jesus’ words & deeds in the proclamation of the apostles (= the kerygma) the Bible, a written record of the apostolic proclamation The Bible is God’s Word in human words
This is the official teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church
God did not write the Bible;
God “inspired” human authors to write the Biblical materials
“inspiration” = guidance, not dictation the authors aimed their messages so they would be understood by their own audience (i.e., the one at the time when it the text was written) their meaning may not be at all obvious to us now

Features:
It is a treasure chest of wisdom and inspiration that guided generations it contains some of the most profound insights into the meaning of life it is the single most important source of western culture it has the most profound influence on modern religious thoughts it is the most complete history of the ancient past that we possess

The Bible
“The Bible is God’s
Word” which means that by reading the Bible, we can come to know the God Who
Reveals

The Bible there were many human authors to the
Bible
each book of the Bible (and often even different passages within the same Biblical book) is a distinct composition written on its own and for its own unique purpose these writings were not produced for the collection we call the Bible (= “the books, the library”)

The Bible give us four things that we need and want most:
First, the Bible give us

truth

truth about God
Not abstract but something solid,
"tried and true" (see Ps 12:6),
"made true" or performed (see Ezek 12:25), the kind that "comes true" as the fulfillment of promises (see Mt 5:17-18).

If you let this Book speak to you, you will find that it shows you the true character of God and of yourself. It is a mirror.

Second, the Bible have power.
It uses images like a hammer and fire (Jer 23:29) for itself It calls itself "the sword of the Spirit" (Eph
6: 17).
It is not physical power but spiritual power, the power to change spirit, power over free hearts and minds

It is the power of goodness, and of love, and even of physical weakness and suffering and sacrifice.

Fourth, the Bible gives joy.
The Psalms are chockfull of expressions of joy in
God's Word (e.g., 1:2, 19:8, 1 19: 97, 119:103).
Jeremiah says to God, "Thy words became to me a joy" (15:16).

It is the joy that does not depend on anything earthly, The Joy bigger than the universe: it is God's love.
This Book is a love letter from God with your name on it.
God says, "I have called you by name, you are Mine" (Is
43: 1). The words I love you are magic words: they change us, they bring wonder and inner surprise, they bring us the greatest joy our lives can contain on earth. Old Testament speaks about the beginning before the coming of Jesus it tells us how the people of God were formed it speaks about great personages, the leaders of God’s people, and the prophets who speaks in behalf of God it contains stories, prayers, narratives, events and songs, laws, philosophy, riddles and proverbs

Third, the Bible gives life.
Jesus calls it a seed (Lk 8): a living, growing thing.
Hebrews 4: 12 says that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit ... discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Gives life.
Cuts open souls and heals them.
For a sword, though in itself a dead thing, can come alive in the hands of a swordsman; and this is "the sword of the Spirit".
What happened in Ezekiel 37, when the dry bones came to life, can also happen to you as you read this Book, if you let it–that is, if you read it prayerfully, in the presence of
God, talking to Him as you read it.

Covenant
Covenants involve, not an exchange of property, but an exchange of persons. You don’t give somebody your services or goods when you swear a covenant oath - you swear to give

them yourself.
When parties make a covenant, they swear oaths.
Oaths are more than promises because you swear by the highest name, by the name of God.
In the ancient world, covenants made families
The whole Bible can be outlined as a series of family-making covenants.

New Testament: it speaks about the common faith that Jesus of Nazareth represents a decisive turning point in Gods relationship to humanity this faith is expressed in different ways in these collections it provides a window into the emergence of the Christianity
It records the life, deeds and words of Jesus it contains parables, miracle stories, teachings, prayers, narratives and great deeds Derivation of the Canon

•73 ‘books’ (39 OT/HB, 27 NT)
•7 Deuterocanonical books
•The OT/HB was mainly written in Biblical
Hebrew and some words from other ancient languages such as Persian
•The NT was written mainly in Greek with the odd word in Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin.
•Different versions of the same text written in different languages

Derivation of the Canon
The Masoretic
Text
‘The traditional text of the Hebrew
Bible, revised and annotated by Jewish
Scholars
between the
6th and 10th centuries Anno
Domini’

The Septuagint
‘A Greek translation of the
Hebrew Bible made in the 3rd or
2nd centuries BC to meet the needs of GreekSpeaking Jewish people outside
Palestine. The
Septuagint
contains some books not found in the Hebrew
Canon’

The Vulgate
‘A Latin version of the
Bible
produced by
Saint Jerome in the 4th
Century Anno
Domini’
(from the
Latin word vulgatus meaning
‘public’ or ‘for the public’)

Various Codex's
‘A collection of manuscript texts, especially of the Scriptures, in book form’
Examples
include:
•Codex Sinaiticus
•Codex
Leningradensis
•Codex Bezae
•Codex
Vaticanus
•Codex Ephraemi
Rescriptus

The Formation of the Hebrew Canon
•The Old Testament/ Hebrew Bible By 400BC the five
‘Books of Moses’ (known properly as the
Pentateuch/Torah)
•By 200BC the ‘Major Prophets’ and the ‘Minor
Prophets’ were also recognised as scripture.
•As more writings appeared in Greek e.g. Maccabees
(~100 B.C.) about the trials and tribulations of the
Jewish warrior Judah Maccabee resisting the rule of the Greek leader Antiochus.

Developing the New Testament
All of the NT books were written in less than 100 years.
These books were being used and read by the early and
Christian Church along with the Hebrew Bible.
Things worked well for the Church and the concept of universal truth across the books available wasn’t really an issue (even though there other writings like ‘The
Infancy Gospel of Thomas’, ‘The Gospel of Thomas’,
‘The Acts of Pilate’, ‘The Gospel of Peter’ and ‘The
Gospel of Nicodemus’ with conflicting portrayals of
Christology and the Historical Jesus).

The Formation of the Hebrew Canon

Maccabees accepted as DeuteroCanonical/Apocryphal,
Between 75-95 AD - Jewish Scholars met at
Yavneh to draw up a list of the 39 books that would become known as the OT and would constitute the Jewish/Hebrew Canon.

Developing the New Testament
In the Early Church the term ‘scripture’ usually referred to text that belonged to the Hebrew Bible, but this changed when the epistle of II Peter referred to some
Pauline text as ‘scripture’.
Soon after this Christian writers such as Justin Martyr
(c. 100-165 AD, a famous Early Church theologian) referred to Early Church texts as ‘scripture’.

New Testament continued
New Testament continued
About 150AD, - Marcion left the Roman church and declared that he had a ‘new idea’ about the
Christian message based on his unique selection of
‘divinely accepted books’, most of which were rejected by the Early Church leaders.

As there were so many factions of the Christian
Church (e.g. Catholic, Pauline, Greek Orthodox,
Armenian, Messianic Jewish etc…), for example, the
Armenian Church did not accept the book of
Revelation until 11th-12th C.E.

Marcion’s challenge prompted a decision about a definitive Christian Canon.

However, it was through ecumenical councils (all the denominations sending scholarly representatives and working together) and a wise Bishop that a decision was eventually made.

The task of deciding what should or shouldn’t be included was difficult.

Canonization

Canonization

In 367AD, Bishop Athanasius, the ‘Patriarch of
Alexandria’ and ‘Primate of Egypt’ wrote an
Encyclical Letter outlining what he believed should be the accepted 27 books of the New Testament.
He proposed a complex set of criteria as to what made a book suitable for inclusion, but one of the most powerful was that the book was written by an apostle - someone who experienced the life of Christ first-hand or that lived during the days of Christ.

Religion and Human Experience

Old Testament History

Song of
Songs
Ecclesiastes

Proverbs

Psalms

Job

Esther

Nehemiah

Ezra
II Chronicles

I Chronicles
II Kings

I Kings

II Samuel

I Samuel

Ruth

Judges

Joshua

Deuteronomy

Numbers

Leviticus

Exodus
Genesis

The Pentateuch
(Judaism: Torah)

Wisdom and Poetry

Acts of the
Apostles
John

Luke

Mark

Matthew

Malachi

Haggai

Zechariah

Zephaniah

Habakkuk

Nahum

Jonah

Micah

Obadiah

Amos

Joel

Daniel

Hosea

Ezekiel

Jeremiah

Isaiah

The Prophets
The Gospels and Acts

Revelation

Jude

II John

III John

II Peter

I John

I Peter

Hebrews

James

Titus

Philemon

II Timothy

I Timothy

Colossians

II
Thessalonians
I Thessalonians

Philippians

Galatians

Ephesians

I
II
Corinthian s Romans

Writings of the
Apostles

When deciding the definitive Christian Canon, the aim of the Church was not to create a list of writings that were to be deemed as ‘authentic’, but to confirm the existing practice of the churches in reading them.
Eventually, in 397AD the Council of Carthage decided upon and issued a definitive list that outlined and detailed the 27 books that constitute our New Testament.