BIBLE BASICS

		       For Smart People
		 Who Do Not Want To Be Dummies
		    About God and the Bible
  
LESSON 2 - What About the Bible? (Cont'd.)

Scripture References: 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:19-21; Isaiah
55:11; Matthew 5:17-19; 24:35; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119. 

1. What Is the Bible? 

   	Our English word for Bible comes from a Greek word "biblia,"
   the plural of "biblion," meaning book, writing, or scroll.
   Therefore the word, Bible, means books. It is a collection of
   66 books of various sizes, making one book. 
   	The Bible is different from any other book because it is God's
   Holy Book, written by holy men of God as they were moved
   by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1: 19-21). 
   	The first five books are said to have been written by Moses,
   who lived about 3,500 years ago. Parts of those books record
   history from about 2,500 years before Moses, such as the
   creation, history from Adam, the first man to Noah at the time
   of the great flood, histories of 9 or 10 generations to
   Abraham, and then from Abraham to Moses, a period of 500
   to 600 years. 
   	The last part of the New Testament was written about 1900
   years ago, within the first century after Christ. 
   Therefore, the Bible was written over a period of about 1,600
   years, by about 40 different writers. It was written in a number
   of different countries, like, Israel, Babylon (now Iraq), Persia
   (now Iran), Italy, and Greece. 
   	The writers were of many different occupations: shepherd,
   military leader, king priest, farmer, tax collector, fishermen,
   tent maker, physician, prophets and apostles. 
   	Can you imagine what a miracle of God it was for that many
   people, in that many countries, from that many occupations,
   over that long period of time, writing a book without previous
   planning or without being able to consult with each other, that
   is not contradictory, that is scientifically accurate before
   many of those facts of science were known. Only God could
   be the real author behind the writers. 
   	The Bible contains history, law, poetry, prophecy, prayers,
   praises, wisdom, important instructions for success and
   living. IT IS GOD'S MESSAGE TO MANKIND. 
   	It is divided into two parts -- the Old Testament contains 39
   books and was written before the birth of Jesus Christ. The
   New Testament contains 27 books and was written after the
   birth of Christ. 

2. Why Is The Bible More Important Than Any Other Book?

 1.God has created us with a conscience to tell us right from
   wrong, but many things can happen to the conscience that
   make it not to always be a reliable guide. Because of
   background and teaching, some can even kill a Christian and
   think he is doing God a service (John 16:2). 
 2.Some things seem right in some cultures but not in others. 
 3.One person might consider his opinion as good a that of
   someone else. 
 4.God is all-wise and knows what is best. Just as the maker of
   an automobile or other machine knows what is best for the
   maintenance and use of his product, so our maker knows
   what is best for us and He has told us in His Book, the Holy
   Bible. 
 5.Just as it is absolutely necessary to follow instructions for
   knowing how to do various things, like putting something
   together or operating a computer or a computer program, we
   need God's instruction book, the Holy Bible. 
 6.Because that after death there is the judgment, we need to
   know how to be prepared before we get there and it is only
   from the Bible that we know how to be prepared. If we wait
   until that time, it will be too late to prepare. If we want 
   to earn rewards to be received at Judgment Day, we have to 
   know how to do that here in this life. 
 7.Many other books have been written on these subjects but if 
   they do not agree with the Bible, we would be deceived to 
   follow their instructions and would meet with disaster in 
   the end and perhaps long before the end.

"Please tell me more."

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