The Nature of the

Bible

TRED3GROUP 1

Shared Memories

• The Bible is an account of the Jews and Christians’ journey with God who shares his life with his people and draws them together towards their eternal destiny.

• It is a record of people’s past experiences woven into a life-story.

Shared Memories

• Unity among Jews and Christians

• Uniqueness, identity…”their story”

• Memory re-enacts in our lives the values found in those great events. It gives us hope.

Shared Memories

Word of God

• What kind of a reality is the Bible?

• It is divine revelation in human expression, i.e., God’s word expressed in human words

• Work of God and the work of human hands written in faith and can be understood only in faith

Word of God

• For a believer, divine revelation is understood as God’s self-gift to human beings which reaches its goal in a shared life

Word of God

• The Vatican II document, Dei Verbum(21) affirms that it is through the Bible that God speaks

• Through the Bible, God discloses Himself inviting us to interiority through mutual self-disclosure

Word of God

• When a believer reads and contemplates on the word of God, the proper attitude is: “Speak, O Lord, Your servant is listening”

Word of God

• The Bible is a Divine Revelation. In the Bible we find out what God wants mankind to know about Himself and His plan.

• The Bible is the only written revelation of God to man

Word of God

• No one has ever successfully refuted the Bible. Many mock the Bible but avoid challenging it point by point. No one who has done in-depth research, honestly examining the evidence for the Bible's inspiration and truthfulness, has been able to disprove the Bible.

Word of God

• History records many who set out to disprove the Bible, who instead became believers.

Word of God

Divine Revelation

• What is Revelation?

• Revelation is supernatural communication from God to man, either oral or written, though usually restricted to its written aspect, that is, to the whole contents of Holy Scripture.

Divine Revelation

• What is Divine Revelation?

• The comprehensive reality of God's self-gift to humanity and human acceptance of it.

• God is revealing Himself to people and people are subjected to accept what God is telling them

Divine Revelation

• The Bible therefore becomes a symbol of God's revelation to people.

• The Bible serves as a means for people to have a deeper encounter with God's self-gift.

Divine Revelation

• The Word of God may not be reduced to only "written texts", because doing so would lead to us being rigid and close-minded about the Bible.

• The Bible, as God's means of divine revelation to us, calls us into personal communication and involvement with Him.

Divine Revelation

Library of Books

• The Bible is a library

• 66 books

• divided into 2 main sections: The OT and NT

• Testament = promise, contract or agreement

Library of Books

• OT 39 books: Pentateuch (5), Historical (12), Poetic (5), Prophetic (17)

• 3 parts: Torah (“Law”), Pentateuch (“5 books of Moses”), Nevi’im

• (“Prophets”) and Ketuvim (“Writings” or Hagiographa)

Library of Books

• originally written by Jewish people in Hebrew, later on Aramaic language of Palestine

• promises or contract made by God

Library of Books

• NT what had happened to Jesus and to the people who believed in Him.

• about New promises, New contract that God had made, not only for Jews but for everyone who believed

• NT books: Historical (5), Pauline Epistles (13) & Non-Pauline Epistles (9)

Library of Books

• Difference to the OT: this agreement did not depend on keeping the law but it depended on a person being so sorry for the bad things they had done (“repenting”)

• It depended on them asking Jesus to forgive them and be their special friend and leader.

Library of Books

• Contains various literary genres

• Written across history, at different times and places

• Written by diverse authors

Library of Books

Naming the Bible

Naming the Bible• Papyrus and parchments – ancient

writing materials

• Finished writings were bound on two rods and this roll was called biblion.

• Biblion - denotes any kind of written document originally those written in papyrus; diminutive of biblios.

Naming the Bible•Bible – a collection of many individual books, different in size, style, and content•Ta biblia – The Books•During the New Testament period the Bible is referred to as hai graphai (the Scriptures) by Matthew and ta grammata ( the sacred writings) by Paul.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for

reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. - I Timothy 3: 16

References• http://www.believers.org/believe/bel191.htm

• http://www.tecmalta.org/tft102.htm

• http://www.beyondthisplanet.org/bible/bible_a_library%20_part_1.htm

• http://www.google.com.ph/search?hl=tl&q=books+of+the+new+testament&btnG=Maghanap&meta=

• http://bible.cc/2_timothy/3-16.htm

• Kaloob

• Optional:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deNj4nET8lE