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The importance of the Bible to Christians
Formation of biblical canon
The Importance of the Bible
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Bible comes from the Latin word biblia meaning group or collection of books. When the word “Bible” is heard many think of the Christian Bible, however, it is not the only one. It is, still, very prominent. Given this acknowledgment the Christian Bible is the most important book of the Christian faith. Despite a unity between the many books there is debate on which should be included for the proper worship and instruction from God. Different interpretations have led to some of these disagreements which also led to sects forming and creating a bible under that particular group’s beliefs. Due to this the Christian Bible has undergone different kinds of changes since its creation.
History
Creation Due to the multiple changes it is hard to pinpoint exactly when the Bible was established. The date and time frame depends on what is considered the creation. The books that were selected for the official publication were written over thousands of years. Even at that they were not collected and approved at the same time. Originally the scriptures were handed down orally. Each generation would tell the next who would continue to
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The Pentateuch tells the stories of the beginnings. This is of the world, humankind, and God’s promise to the Israelites (Genesis 1-50) ¬. The Former Prophets contain the history of the Israelites. This spans from Moses’s death to the fall of the nation in 587 B.C. The Writings are a collection of narratives, such as the Book of Esther. Many are books of poetry and wisdom (Bible: The Old Testament). The Latter Prophets are thought by some Christians to be older than the Former Prophets. The narratives include Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets. These prophets saw the coming of a Messiah, meaning anointed one. This man would be a king, and usher in a golden era of peace and
The Christian Scriptures is the entire Christian Bible. It is composed of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Testament. The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is composed of several books all containing stories about Jesus, and the Christian Testament (New Testament) which contains the stories of Jesus and the earliest Christian Communities. Although these stories cannot confidently prove to us that they are true there are several distinct similarities, which are contained in nearly all of the books. These similarities are so frequent that their constant occurrence seems more than coincidence. Although these similarities occur often in the books of the Hebrew Scriptures, there are four short books included in the Christian Testament, which we must rely on to understand Jesus’ ministry and life.
There are many different forms of covenants in the Old testament that the people of God agree to. The first one being looked at is between God and Abraham. God promised Abraham a great nation and God said he would bless Abraham (Gen 2:2). God also promised him the Promise Land (Gen 15:18) and said he would be the father of many nations (Gen 17:4). All God asked of him was devotion from him and his people and to have circumcision be the sign from the people (Gen 17:11). The promises of the covenant directly impact Abraham, but they also impacted the people who would follow. God would also use these vows in other covenants because they had historic meaning. The Mosaic covenant has several similarities to the Abrahamic covenant. God told Moses that he would make the people of Israel his treasured possessions (Exo 19:5), which corresponds with the promise of blessings in the first covenant. God also promises to bring the people into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Exo 6:8). God still expected the people to follow and adhere to his words and the sign he required was following the ten commandments. These covenants were made when the people were forced to be a nomadic due to persecution. The promise of blessings and nations and land was something the people needed. The next covenant God made was with King David, this covenant also resembles the Abrahamic covenant. After the people had settled into their land God talks to King David, through the prophet Nathan. God tells David he will have a child who will establish a kingdom forever (2 Sam 7:13) and the kingdom, as well as the house, will be forever and his child will not lose the throne (2 Sam 7:16). These promises are like the ones made to Abraham, both are promised nat...
This quote by Gene Nowlin in his book The Paraphrased Perversion of the Bible summarizes the composition of the Bible. Throughout life, Christians grasp tightly to these words of God in hopes to inherit the Kingdom of God one day. In order to do this, they must study the Bible closely and apply it to their lives daily. Without the proper Bible, this may become a difficult task to accomplish. Although the various translations of the Christian Bible are exceptionally similar in their message, some have quite a few differences and perversions that set them apart from one another. Many of them even leave out several potentially important verses in their revision. These variations contribute to the justification of one translation being more reliable and accurate than the other versions.
The Bible as a Historical Document MARK'S THEOLOGY REFLECTED IN WRITING Mark and the other evangelists used basically five ways to change, edit or enhance Jesus' sayings to reflect their own views of Christianity. According to the Five Gospels Book, plagiarism and changing of writing was not a crime, but actually very common Mark's time. Besides, Mark never knew Jesus first-hand, he somehow had to make a 'story' from basically Hearsay!
Everything about the Bible is questioned constantly by believers and nonbelievers. Bibliology discusses topics such as inerrancy, inspiration, and illumination. The Bible is looked at not only as a source for wisdom and meditation but an authoritative source. The authority behind the Bible is God. Scripture was “God-breathed” and “God-Inspired”. Handwritten by human authors which sometimes may leave people to question if it is truly the word of God or not.
The gathering of books of the New Testament was arisen in the end of the second century, A.D. The church influential established books they believed were built on eyewitness versions of the events we read today, while discarding many Christian texts.
...her diverse literature. The Christian Old Testament organizes the books according to their type of literature: the Pentateuch, corresponding to the Torah; historical books; poetical or wisdom books; and prophetical books. Some have perceived in this table of contents a sensitivity to the historical perspective of the books: first those that concern the past; then, the present; and then, the future. The Protestant and Roman Catholic versions of the Old Testament place the books in the same sequence, but the Protestant version includes only those books found in the Bible of Judaism. The New Testament includes the four Gospels; the Acts of the Apostles, a history of early Christianity; Epistles, or letters, of Paul and other writers; and an apocalypse, or book of revelation. Some books identified as letters, particularly the Book of Hebrews, are theological treatises.
The biblical narrative is one that is still going on to this day. The biblical narrative tells the story of God and how he reveals himself to us. Rhodes points out that “God comes to each through a historical event or series of events” (2). It is in this way that God reveals himself to us and this maintains the relevance of the biblical narrative in our lives. God reveals himself through formative stories in the bible such as Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall of Man, The Flood, God’s Covenant with Noah, and the Tower of Babel. From the very beginning of the biblical narrative we see that God relates to us on a personal level. He created us, he formed us, he created the world in which we live, and he has been an active participant in the narrative since before it began.
Centuries ago, shortly after the death of Jesus Christ, Christian leaders gathered together to formulate what we now call the New Testament. Thousands of books and scriptures from countless different countries, and time periods were gathered, examined, and carefully selected into groups of what these religious leaders found the most valuable in telling the story of Jesus Christ and his Ministry. Each gospel, letter, or scripture selected confirmed and testified the life of Jesus as the Messiah and were considered divinely inspired by the church . Roughly 60 years and 27 canons later, and the New Testament was founded and distributed to the Christian community.
Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit various authors composed a collection of 66 books that today we call the Bible. Written around 300 BC the earliest Bible translation was of the Old Testament. The Hebrew scripture was translate into the Greek language. This translation was known as the Septuagint. Today the Bible has been translated into over 550 different languages and over 2,900 languages have at least
relevant to life, such as do not kill and do not steal. The bible also
In another attempt to defile the integrity of scripture, critics have found what they believe to be flaws in the Old Testament. One example of this is a theological flaw. They propose that Christians create an entire idea or philosophy based merely on a singular verse or phrase. A great example of this is that the idea of original sin can only be supported by Psalm 91:5. (Suttile, 2008) This notion proposes that the Bible is not supportive of itself and also leads many to jump to conclusions and make uninformed assumptions. The idea marking its consequence by creating the stereotype of bigotry and uninformed decision making which deters credibility for the Christian religious institution as a whole. Another attack, and a very threatening
The Bible is the bestseller in many English speaking countries today. The reason for this is especially the US, whose founding base still lies behind religion. The first efforts of translating the Bible into English began about two millenniums ago. Partial translations of the book can be traced back to the 7th century. There are many manuscripts written in Old English, Middle Age English and the language we use today. When we sum up all these, we reach a number like more than 450 different copies of the biblical writings.
As a child, I was raised to know there is a God. Any problems in your life can be solved by praying to "our father '. The Bible to me is a guide through life as a cheat sheet is helpful to a test. In life, you will overcome multiple obstacles and also tests. The only way I know how to get through the laborious times in life is to reach out to God. To me, the Bible is a hands on learning experience about how to get through life itself The Bible teaches you how to get through every season in your life. The Bible has an answer for every issue in your life such as depression, financial hardships, losing a loved one, relationships , and strength. In life, you always have to have faith the size of a mustard seed. When
The bible is what helps keeps our faith alive as it contains a rich amount of history that tells us of God’s revelation and the ways how our faith works. Although the bible contains numerous works of different people, it is still a work of God that helps our faith remain constant and grow, as everything written was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In some way, I was able to understand the value also of the other books, as before I did not really take interest of the other books included bible, aside from the likes of the Gospels, Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Proverbs. Nevertheless, I realized that the books are all part of the bible as each has a purpose to serve and stands as a testament to the infidelity of humanity, and of God’s unfailing love for