The Bible Flashcards
Old Testament written in
Hebrew. - Hebrew Scriptures
And Aramaic
What is the Bible
Collection of 66 books written by different people in different styles over more than 1000 years
Sacred book of Christians
Inspired by word of God
New Testament written in
Greek
Old Testament contains
The Law
The Prophets
The writings
The law OT
First 5 books ie Genesis, exodus follows themes of people obeying God’s Law from Creation, the birth of Jewish nation under Abraham, slavery in Eygypt etc
The Prophets OT
Eg Isaiah , Jeremiah who declared the message of God. Theme is warning to those who turn their backs on God that there will be a time of judgement
Also reassurance that God continues to love them and wants them to return to him
The Writings OT
Included Psalms ( a collection of hymns and prayers used in worship) And the Books of Wisdom (eg Proverbs - popular sayings and rules for living)
New Testament
The Gospels (Good News)
The Acts of the Apostles
The Epistles
Revelations
What does Testament mean
Covenant or contract
The Four Evangelists
M,M,L, and J
When OT written
Job oldest book in the Bible, written by unknown Israelite about 1100BCE others think Genesis dates from 1450BCE
Book of Malachi is the youngest - about 400bC
When NT written
Oldest probably James - 45 AD
The Book of Revelation probably 95AD
What is a Canon
Comes from Hebrew word meaning measuring rod
Refers to the boys of writings which have been officially measured according to a standard and recognised as authoritative eg inspired by God a church or religious community
When was NT canonised
Agreed at Synod of Carthage Around 375 AD
Books were included according to what was helpful; written by the Apostles or based on their teachings; readable and truthful
Inerrant and infallible
Inerrant’ means there are no errors; ‘infallible’ means there can be no errors
Inerrancy
Biblical inerrancy is the doctrine that the Bible, in its original manuscripts, is accurate and totally free from error of any kind
Bible in Public worship
Readings, psalms for singing/chanting, New Testament honoured in some rituals eg procession in Orthodox Church
Bible in private worship
Private study for meditation and and education
Simple reading because it is God’s Word - homeschooling
Stimulus for action
Guidance
Comfort
Challenge
The Gospels
M,M,L, and J tells the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Gives an account of his life and teaching through the eyes of the faith
The Acts of the Apostles
Also written by Luke, tells history of the early Church.
The Epistles
Letts, mainly written by St Paul to Churches around the Mediterranean. Give insight into the early church, the problems it faced and how they dealt with.
Revelations
A description of a series of visions or revelations had by John. They are apocalyptic ie to do with the end of all things
Why Bible contains OT and NT
To understand NT need to understand the scriptures that he referred to in the OT
OT is the word of God and contains his first agreement with humanity
NT not something different but a fulfilment of the OT - Jesus said “I didn’t come to replace the Law but to fulfil it”
OT contains references about the Messiah to come
OT valuable resource as words of prophets contain insights that people can learn
Virtually everything we know about life and teachings of J come from NT
Apocrypha
To be done
How do Christians use the Bible
Look for underlying principles. Verses sum up a key principle. They are an example of a principle that Christians believe runs throught the Bible. Say for example
” Christians believe that life is sacred. The Bible supports this view in many ways, for example, the 6th commandment say ‘you shall not kill’ “.
