Bible

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The written Word.

The Holy Bible

The God-breathed Word of God, written by many men over thousands of years with a central message that leads it to be treated as a book rather than a collection of books. It lays out God's plan of salvation and is all linked with the scarlet thread of the foreshadowing of and need for Jesus' arrival and sacrifice, the actual events of Jesus Christ's life, and the Holy Spirit who in-dwells every heir of salvation in His universal Church.

Split into the Old Testament and the New Testament, it's filled with the Law, history, the Prophets, the Writings, the Psalms, the books of poetry, the gospels, the epistles, and Revelation. Some people include the Apocrypha and apocryphal books. The two testaments are connected by Jesus and the assembly/church of God's covenantal people.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Bible by F.F. Bruce. Page 11-12)

Authorship of the Bible

Who wrote the Bible? God and Man.

Bibliography of the Bible

What documents are referenced within the Bible? History books, books of prophecy, poetry, a play, and even possibly a little Apocrypha.

Etymology

Bible is derived through Latin from the Greek biblia (books) for the books acknowledged as canonical. The earliest Christian use of ta biblia (the books) is maybe 2 Clement 2:14 (c A.D. 150): "The books and the apostles declare that the church...has existed from the beginning." Compare to Daniel 9:2 "I, Daniel, observed in the books," referring to the corpus of OT prophetic writings. Greek biblion (plural biblia is a diminutive of biblos (any kind of written document, but originally one on papyrus).

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. Section One: The Authority and Inspiration of the Bible. Page 3-4)

History

Moses wrote the Law around 1500-1400 B.C.

The Book of the Law was lost around 500-600 B.C. Hilkiah and Shaphan found it and reported it to King Josiah.

(Origin of the Bible class notes, March 1, 2023. Pink jaguar print composition book. Page 1-2)

The canon of the Hebrew Bible, the set of books that comprise my Old Testament, was closed by the synod of Jamnia or Jabneh in A.D. 90.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Canon of the Old Testament by R. T. Beckwith. Page 56-61)

Pope Gregory VII withheld a common translation for King Vratislaus of Bohemia in 1079 to prevent it being held in little esteem, disrespect, and error by mediocre learning. (Though, the Holy Spirit indwells all believers, and the clergy is not above error.)

(Origin of the Bible class notes, March 29, 2023. Pink jaguar print composition book. Page 2)

Languages

The Bible is written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. Biblical Languages by Larry Walker. Page 217)

Many languages have been reduced to writing for the first time to transmit the Bible.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. The Bible by F.F. Bruce. Page 10)

Organization, Structure

The Hebrew Bible is arranged into the Law, the Prophets, and Hagiographa. There are 24 or 22 books, depending on whether Ruth is appended to Judges and Lamentations to Jeremiah.

(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. Biblical Languages by Larry Walker. Section One: The Authority and Inspiration of the Bible. Page 5, 61)

Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria's festal letter for Easter 367 defined the 27 books of the New Testament without qualification. (Origin of the Bible notes)

My Bible is arranged into law (Genesis-Deuteronomy), history (Joshua-Esther), poetry (Job-Song of Songs), the major prophets (Isaiah-Daniel), the minor prophets (Hosea-Malachi), the Gospels (Matthew-John), Church History (Acts), the epistles (Romans-Jude), and prophecy (Revelation). There are 66 books.

(the poster in my old Sunday School room @ https://www.k12schoolsupplies.net/Books-Of-The-Bible-Learning-Chart-p/t-38702.htm)

Translations

Translation asks, "What did it say?" Interpretation asks, "What did it mean?"

Bibles should be translated regularly due to the constantly changing English language. Our words reverse in meaning to the point of confusion like how 'egregious' used to mean 'remarkably good.' (A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present by Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench and revised by A. L. Mayhew, 1890, Page. 90.) It's controversial (and obviously wrong) to use this as an excuse to accommodate modern cultural sensitivities, like by replacing gendered language with gender-neutral language.

Different translations have different approaches to translation, but most modern translations group around the same principles.

(Origin of the Bible class notes, March 29, 2023. Pink jaguar print composition book. Page 1.)

Usage

Church fathers developed the theology of how we approach the Bible today. Justin Martyr analyzed the Gospels, Tertullian derived the theology of the Trinity, etc.

Topics

Film

The bible is the document that describes the show, the themes, the characters, and lays out where the stories will flow from season one, and possibly more. It's similar to a game concept document (GCD). Ron Moore's bible for Battlestar Galactica contains mission statements, detailed histories of the world, and everything else one can imagine.

(Slay the Dragon: Writing Great Video Games by Robert Denton Bryant & Keith Giglio, 2015, page 171.)