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Q: What is the Bible?
We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, meaning that it was inspired by God. Over a span of several thousand years, several different men--about 40 in all--from differing backgrounds wrote various historical accounts, records, poetry, letters and other writings that presently make up the Christian Bible. In essence, the Bible is the account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation.
Q: How is the Bible structured?
It is split into two parts; The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is comprised of 39 separate "books", while the New Testament is comprised of 27 "books". Each book has been (somewhat arbitrarily) split up into chapters, and each of those chapters is split up into verses, making it a little easier to pinpoint particular sayings and passages.
In Jewish terms, the Old Testament is usually viewed as being divided into: The Torah or Pentateuch (also known as the 5 books of Moses), the Kethuvim (known as the writings or wisdom literature), and the Nevi'im (known as the prophets-major and minor).
Some Christians refer to the Old Testament divisions in those terms, but others refer to them a little differently: the seventeen Books of History, the five Books of Poetry, and the seventeen Books of Prophecy.
The New Testament begins with the 4 gospels, and follows with Acts (often called the acts of the apostles or early Church). Following are various letters from the apostle Paul, the apostle Peter, James (the brother of Jesus), Jude (the brother of Jesus), and the apostle John. The author of Hebrews is traditionally believed as being unknown.
Q: Can you summarize what I will find if I read the Bible?
The Bible provides many stories about the lives of good and bad people, about battles and journeys, about the life of Jesus in addition to letters written to different groups of Christians that met in homes. It comes to us in narratives and dialogues, in proverbs and parables, in songs and allegories, in history and prophecy.
The Bible also addresses many basic issues of life and death, of the present and the future, and so it is difficult to select just one theme as the main one. Students of the Bible have generally grouped the leading topics treated in the Bible under two main heads. Let's look briefly at both of them. The first school suggests that the main message of the Bible is the wonderful presentation of salvation. The good news of salvation in Jesus Christ is the fundamental message of the Scripture. Under this head there are many basic truths: God created a majestic universe and crowned it by forming the first man and woman in sinless perfection.
803 N 7th St
San Jose, CA 95112
ph: (510) 585-7558
sanjosec