A brief on The Holy Bible:
1. What exactly is the Bible?
The Bible (also called the Scriptures or the Sacred Scriptures) is a collection of books that the church believes are the inspired words of God. God chose certain men to write these books under the direction of the Holy Spirit for the benefit of all mankind.
The Bible is like a library of books that were written over the course of a thousand years, from about 950 B.C to 100 A.D. It is the most important book that has ever been written in the history of mankind. (N.B: The earliest writing began when symbols were scratched or pressed on clay tablets. The Egyptians refined this technique and developed an early form of writing known as hieroglyphics. The Bible tells us that Moses was “educated in all the learning of the Egyptians”, so he would have been familiar with the major writing systems of his time. We also read that God gave Moses “two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God”(Exodus 31:18). All this leads to the speculation that the earliest writings in the Bible were set down around 1400 BC).
However it is not important to remember when the Bible was written. The most important thing to know and believe is that The Bible is a sacred literature because it is the unique revelation of God, it is inspired by the Holy Spirit and it describes God’s plan for our salvation and eternal life. It centers entirely on Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate and the Savior of the world.
2. Why are there two parts of the Bible?
The Old Testament is a record of the old covenant between God and His chosen people. It describes mankind’s preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
The New Testament is a record of the new covenant made by God with the entire human race, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God.
The Old Testament leads up to the time of Christ and the New Testament flows from the time of Christ.
The life of Jesus Christ separates the Old and New Testaments and is the center and focal point of the Bible.
In fact, time itself is centered and measured on the life and death of Jesus Christ and is the basis of our modern day calendar.
3. What is the Pentateuch?
The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Old Testament, namely:
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Many well known Bible stories are found in these books including the stories of Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark as well as other stories which tell of the origins of the Israelite people and their escape under the leadership of Moses from slavery in Egypt .
The Ten Commandments and other laws governing the life and worship of the Israelite people are also found in the Pentateuch. Hence, the other name for this section of the Old Testament is the Law or the Torah.
4. What are the Historical Books?
The Historical Books are exactly what you would expect them to be, a history of the Israelite people and of God's intervention in their history. They include:
Joshua
Judges
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ruth
Ezra
Nehemiah
Tobit
Judith
Esther
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Stories of many well known men and women from Israelite history can be found in these books, including King David and King Solomon as well as Deborah, Judith and Queen Esther. The Historical Books reveal an interesting pattern in the relationship between God and his Chosen People. When the people are faithful to God and the law they are prosperous and God protects them from their enemies. When the people worship false gods and live immorally, in effect, saying to God, "We don't need you," disaster in one form or another overtakes them.
5. What are the Wisdom Books?
There are seven Wisdom books that are quite diverse in literary style and content. They include the Psalms, which are prayers written in poetic form. There are books about how to lead a successful life, like Proverbs and Sirach. The Song of Songs, one of the most sensual love poems ever written, gives us a sense of God's great love for his people. The Wisdom Books are:
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Wisdom
Sirach
6. What are the Prophetic Books?
The Prophetic Books contain the writings of Israel's great prophets. The role of the prophets was to keep the Chosen People faithful to the covenant they had made with God and to call them back when they strayed. These powerful writings richly describe the rewards of faithfulness and the punishments of betrayal. Additionally and mysteriously, the prophetic books foretell the coming of the Messiah and give information about him. Jesus' birth in Bethlehem to a virgin, his ministry to the poor, the downtrodden and the sick, and his violent death are all foretold in the prophetic books. The Prophetic Books include:
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Lamentations
Baruch
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obediah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
7. What is the New Testament?
The New Testament is composed of twenty-seven books which were written in Greek between 50 A.D. and 140 A.D. It consists of the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles or Letters and the Book of Revelation. The central theme of the New Testament, or Christian Scriptures, is Jesus Christ; his person, his message, his passion, death and resurrection, his identity as the promised Messiah and his relationship to us as Lord and brother.
8. Why was the New Testament written in Greek?
The New Testament was written in Greek because it was the most commonly spoken language of the Mediterranean world.
9. What are the Gospels?
The word gospel comes from the Old English word god-spel which means good news. There are four Gospels. Each Gospel is an account of the life, teachings, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospels are:
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke together are referred to as the synoptic gospels. "Synoptic" is derived from a Greek word meaning "one eye,' because these gospels look alike in structure and content. The Gospel of John, while not in conflict with the synoptic gospels, differs in structure and contains some stories and sayings of Jesus that are not found in them.
Many familiar Bible stories about Jesus can be found in the gospels, including the story of his birth in Bethlehem, the many stories about his healing of the sick, and parables like the story of the Prodigal Son.
10. What are the Acts of the Apostles?
The Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke about 70 A.D. to 75 A.D. It describes the faith, growth and way of life of early Christianity. The story of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pentecost, the martyrdom of St. Stephen and the conversion of St. Paul can all be found in this book.
11. What are the Epistles?
The Epistles or Letters make up the largest part of the New Testament. They are usually divided into two categories: the Pauline Letters and other Apostolic Letters. All the letters follow the format of letter writing in the ancient world. Each letter usually begins with a greeting and an identification of the sender and the recipients. This is followed by a prayer, usually in the form of a thanksgiving. The body of the letter is an exposition of Christian teaching, usually responding to the circumstances of the recipients. It may be followed by a discussion of the author's future travel plans and conclude with practical advice and a farewell.
The Pauline Letters were written by St. Paul or one of his disciples; not long after the death and resurrection of Jesus, between 54 A.D. and 80 A.D. They indicate early developments of Christian theology and practice. Included in the Pauline Letters are:
Romans
1 & 2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philipppians
Colossians
1 & 2 Thessalonians
1 & 2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
The Apostolic Letters are thought to be addressed, not so much to a particular community or individual, but to a more universal audience. They were written by various authors between 65 A.D. and 95 A.D. The Apostolic Letters are:
James
1 & 2 Peter
1, 2 & 3 John
Jude
12. What is the Book of Revelation?
The final book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelation, was written sometime after 90 A.D. In highly symbolic terms it presents the struggle between the church and the forces of evil and the eventual triumph of Jesus Although it contains some dreadful warnings about the future, it is essentially a message of hope to the church.
13. Who is the author of the Bible?
The author of the Bible is God. He revealed Himself throughout mankind’s history by communicating to human beings His merciful plan of salvation.
The Bible is a written record of God’s revelation of Himself through the messages and events that occurred throughout mankind’s history. God revealed who He is, through the words in the Bible, but also through the events that occurred in the lives of the people whose stories are recorded in the Bible.
We know who God is, through both His words and His actions.
14. Why do we think the Bible is the inspired word of God?
The Holy Spirit’s supernatural inspiration motivated the writers of sacred scripture to record the truth that was conveyed to them, in such a manner that could be interpreted correctly and understood by the people of their time and ours as well.
The Bible is like a love letter written by God for His people, through the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
15. Is the Bible free from errors?
The words of the Bible are always true in the sense intended by their human authors. The words that are recorded in the different books in the Bible may contain minor errors born from the culture in which the author lived, or their limited knowledge of the world (such as whether the earth was flat or round for an example).
Many of the stories in the Bible were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth and were not written down until much later, but this too validates the importance of the words recorded in these books.
The Catholic church has studied these sacred texts for over 2,000 years and understands the historical time periods in which they were written, as well as the background and culture of the biblical writers themselves.
This is why we should rely more on the church’s interpretation of the sacred scriptures, than our own. However, the church does encourage us to read and reflect on the Bible for ourselves as well.
16. What are the Apocrypha Books?
Non-Catholics usually call the Deuterocanical Books of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha. These are the seven “extra” books that the Catholic Bible contains, but the Protestant Bible does not.
The reason the Catholic Bible has seven extra books is because when the Catholic church originally put together the 73 books of the Bible, these books were included as part of the canon.
However, when the Protestant reformation occurred, Martin Luther removed these books from the Catholic Bible because he did not believe they were divinely inspired. In recent times, however, many Protestant editions of the Bible now include these books and call them the Apocrypha.
The seven books that the Protestant Bibles do not include are:
Sirach, Wisdom, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees.
(Some also exclude: Longer version of Daniel & Longer version of Esther)
(Taken from various Catholic Sites)
