You wouldn’t expect a book that recorded Words from the Creator to be like any other book. And it’s not.
First, it’s not one book.
The Bible is a collection of 66 “books” or documents.
There’s not one author, but as many as 40 different authors from a variety of backgrounds. Kings, peasants, military leaders, philosophers, fishermen, poets, and shepherds are among the list of authors. For instance, Moses was trained in Egypt, Joshua was a military leader, Amos was a Herdsman, Peter was a fisherman, and Luke was a doctor.
The books were written over a period of about 1500 years. The authors lived in many different locations.
The 39 books of the OT were written mostly in Hebrew.
The 27 books of the NT were written mostly in Greek.
This leads us to the second amazing characteristic. The Bible tells one story! It’s united.
The books have been grouped according to topics.
The OT is divided into books of law, history, poetry and prophecy.
The NT is divided into books of gospel, history, letters, and prophecy.
Despite the diversity of authors and subjects the Bible shows tremendous unity.
It’s one story of how God is redeeming man. The OT paints the background and tells us that God will send a Savior. The NT explains how Jesus is that promised Savior.
The Bible begins with God creating the heavens and the earth.
The Bible ends with God creating a new heaven and a new earth.
The only way this can be explained is the Divine authorship the Bible claims. It’s meant to be read and understood. It only takes hours to understand the main points, but it will take a lifetime to master.
Sign up for our Missions Newsletter
Subscribe to receive email updates with the latest news.