Bible study n.2

Biblical Outlook

1. Is the Bible true?

The Bible is the Word of God. It is true and it teaches us, comforts us, reprehends us and shows us the plans that God has for our lives; it introduces us to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our way to God our father, our only way to heaven. (as seen in the previous study).

“All Scriptureis God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and trainingin righteousness, so that the man of God may be thouroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Thimothy 3:16-17

a) The bible is true because the author is God:

As 2 Thimothy says above – ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED;

b) The Bible is true because its promises were accomplished. Some of them:

- About the Messiah (Jesus Christ) 700 years before Christ – Isaiah 42, 45, 53 etc.

- The fulfillment with the Holy Spirit – Jeremiah 33, Ezekiel 36, etc.

- Daniel and the empires around the world – Daniel

c) The Bible is true and archeology can prove so. Some archeological findings:

- The dead Sea Scrolls (in 1948);

- Ebla tablets (in 1964) – 350 clay tablets that attests the writing about Abraham;

- Egypt – The Amarna letters. In the tomb of a little girl (year 90) Psalms writings were found dated of 450 B.C.

d) The Bible is true because it has been changing lives:

Through the Bible, God has transformed lives in a real, clear and definitive way. What can change one’s personality? Becoming a Christian is a mystery to psychology.

2. The division of the Bible

The word Bible means many books. The Bible is divided in books. The books are separated in two big collections:

a) The Old Testament:

    Books that narrate the history of the creation of the world, of the Jewish people up to 

    the birth of Jesus. It was written before the birth of Jesus.

b) The new testament:

    Books that narrate from the birth of Jesus to the Revelations about the future. It was

    written after Jesus’ resurrection.

The division of the Bible takes place at the time of the birth of Jesus. This fact is responsible for the separation between the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT), for Jesus is the main theme in the Bible.

The word testament means alliance or pact.

3. Books in the Bible – General outlook

The books are divided in chapters (big numbers), and the chapters are divided in verses (small numbers)

a)      Old Testament (OT): 4 divisions:

N.	Division	# of books	Books
1	Pentateuch (book of laws)	5	Genesis,Exodus,Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
2	Historical books	12	Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I e II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
3	Poetic books	5	Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
4	Prophetic	17	a)      Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel; b)      Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

The catholic Bibles also include Apocrypha.

b)      New Testament (NT): 4 divisions:

N.	Division	# of books	Books
1	Gospels	4	Mathew, Mark, Luke, John
2	Historical books	1	Acts
3	Letters	21	a)      Letters from Paul: Romans, I and II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I and II Thessalonians, I and II Timothy, Titus and Philemon b)      Other Letters: Hebrews, James, I and II Peter, I, II and III John, Jude
4	Prophetic	1	Revelation

4. New Testament

a)   Gospells – Mathew, Mark, Luke and John – These books show us the story of Jesus, his    ministries, his teachings, his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. The books are narrated by four different disciples of Jesus, with four different points of view of the same situation. They are the most studied books in the world for they teach us to have a life that pleases God. Written by: Mathew – tax collector; Mark – actually named John Mark, travelled with the apostle Paul in his missionary trips, helping as an interpreter; Luke – Doctor, helped the apostle Paul in his missionary trips as a doctor and a scrivener; John – also called the beloved disciple, was a fisherman and used to fix fishing nets.

b)   Historical books – Acts – These books narrate the history of the primitive church, meaning the first church after Jesus’ ascension. They narrate the coming of the Holy Spirit over the first Christians after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven.  They were narrated between the years 80 and 90 after Christ (A.D.) by Luke. These books teach us how we should live and grow as a church, the bride of Christ.

c)   Letters – Because of the many missionary trips by Paul and other apostles, they way they found to send messages come from the heart of God to the newly converted Christians in various cities was the letter. Paul himself wrote to many brothers from many cities such as: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. Some of these cities have more than one letter and that is why the numbers I and II, because they were written in different times. Other letters were written for a specific person like Timothy, Titus and Philemon. All the letters had the purpose of teaching the Christians how to live their new lives. Some other letters were written by other apostles like James, John (3 letters), Jude (not Jude Iscariots). Hebrews is a book which people are not sure who the writer is, but many researchers believe it was written by Paul.

d)    Prophetic – Revelation: This book was written by John, about a vision he had of the future   that we still don’t know. This book is about the 7 years of tribulations, about the Millennium.