A few years ago I started, then dropped the ball on, a survey of the bible. I thought I’d pick it back up. Some folks are so new to the bible, they really need to start from scratch. So here goes.
Bible is an old English word for “book.” Nowadays it means “authoritative book,” like a fishing bible or an investment bible or a cooking bible. But when we refer to the Holy Bible, or just the word “bible” by itself, we usually mean the sacred writings, or scriptures, of Christianity. (Most Christians tend to capitalize it, ’cause we over-capitalize everything.)
Sacred, or holy, means dedicated to God and his service, which the bible is. It’s about God. Specifically, it’s about how God revealed himself to the Hebrew people, indirectly through Moses and the prophets, then directly through Christ Jesus. It tells us God wants a covenant, or close personal (but very detailed) relationship, with his people. It spells out what God’s covenants look like. And it describes what happened when God’s people followed them… and what happened when they didn’t follow them.
For this reason, the bible is the most important and valuable book in Christianity. We need it whenever we want to say anything objective, or authoritatively factual, about God. Yes, I can tell you what God personally told me yesterday, but big deal; how do you know whether I understood him properly? (Or whether I’m not making the whole thing up?) Whereas with a bible, you can find chapter and verse where God said or did something, and point to that. And we can debate about whether you’re interpreting it correctly… but still, we have something which everyone can look at, and which Christians throughout history have agreed is a valid starting point.
A lot of Christians refer to the bible as our instruction manual about life. The old joke is BIBLE is an acronym for “basic instructions before leaving Earth.” In many ways, it is. But that‘s not actually its purpose. Its purpose is to let us know what God has done for humanity, and what he expects of us. It doesn’t really have all the answers, despite what many Christians claim: It only answers certain questions about God. And again, not every question about God: He hasn’t revealed everything about himself. He’s only told us what he wants us to know. Everything else, we either don’t need to know, or God wants us to figure them out for ourselves. He gave us brains, you know.
Christians believe the bible is infallible: It accurately, authentically describes God. We debate as to how far it accurately describes God. Some Christians believe the bible is so accurate, it’s inerrant: It has no mistakes of any kind… and if you think you found a mistake, there must be a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, because there are no mistakes. Other Christians believe the bible is entirely mythology: It consists of fictional or exaggerated stories which are all based on useful ideas, and what we’re meant to do is study the stories and pull truths out of them, and not take any of them literally. Both these groups accuse the other of being naïve, self-focused, scripture-twisting, devil-following fools. Me, I figure people who hold to either extreme miss the point, and don’t trust the Holy Spirit enough to direct their interpretations. (And by saying so, I suppose they’re gonna accuse me of being a naïve, self-focused, scripture-twisting, devil-following fool too. Oh well.)
The bible isn’t actually one book. It’s a book collection. There are two main groupings: The Old Testament consists of the Hebrew-language books (which are older, hence “old”), and the New Testament consists of the Greek-language books (which are 19 centuries old, but still newer than the Old Testament). In Protestant bibles you’ll find 66 books. In Orthodox, Catholic, and Anglican/Episcopal bibles, you’ll find 73 or more. Why this difference? I discuss that elsewhere.
The bible comes in dozens of translations. Is there a “best” translation? No. There are many good translations, which interpret the original languages properly, and clearly enough for you to comfortably read it. And there are bad translations, which interpret it poorly, or are hard to read and understand. There are very popular translations, like the King James Version, the New Living Translation (which I tend to use most), the New International Version, or The Message. Translations have their fans… who sometimes insist it’s pointless (or even wrong) to read any other translation. When they do so, it’s because they’re practicing bibliolatry: They worship their favorite bible, and that’s why they’re jealous for it. I’ve found many present-day translations are just fine, so don’t panic that you might have a “wrong” one. Chances are you don’t.
If you don’t have a bible, you can read it online. Bible Gateway, which I link my scripture references to, hosts the bible in a whole lot of translations, and not just English translations either. Other bible sites are Bible.com, Bible Study Tools, the World Wide Study Bible, Blue Letter Bible, and Search God’s Word. The King James Version is copyright-free in the United States, and you can download copies of it from Google Books or Project Gutenberg. I regularly find copies of it at dollar stores, and of course The Gideons International gives away free copies. But you can go to any church and ask for a free bible, and they’ll get you one. (If they won’t, they suck. Go to a different church.)
For that matter, you can probably ask a neighbor for a spare copy: The bible is the most published book on the planet. Many Americans don’t just own one bible; they own dozens. I easily have more than ten. I give my spares away. More than likely you know someone who has bibles to spare. And if you’re one of those folks who are hoarding bibles: Start giving away your extras.
Can you write on, or in, a bible? Absolutely. Think of your bible as a textbook. Highlight or underline important bits. Make notes in the margin. Put sticky notes and bookmarks in it. If it’s too marked up to use, get another. A pristine bible means it’s an unused or under-read bible. I own a few pristine ones myself, but that’s only because I put most of my notes into my computer bible, which is far and away my main bible.
Well, that’s my brief introduction to the bible. If you have further questions, email me.