SCRIPTURE
A collection ofsacred writings
• All that God has taught us is called Revelation
• Revelation is contained in scripture and tradition
• The Bible is a collection of writings held sacred by Christians
• “bible” comes from the Greek word for “book”
• There are 73 books in the Bible
• The Bible is separated into two main divisions: The Old Testament and the New Testament
- The Old Testament = Hebrew Scriptures- Contains 46 books- Completed about 100 years before the
birth of Jesus
• The New Testament = Christian Scriptures- Contains 27 books- Completed about 100 years after Jesus’ Resurrection
• Christians believe that the Bible is the Word of God
• This means that through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors who then told and wrote down the stories (divine inspiration)
• Because of divine inspiration, God is the primary author of the Bible
• The writings in the bible are meant to reveal the truth about God and His relationship to His creation
• The authors of the OT were not concerned with historic or scientific facts
• Each story in the OT contains a religious truth
• Along with scripture, we learn about God through tradition
• Tradition refers to beliefs and practices that have been passed down through the ages
Reading the Bible:
Types of books in the Old Testament and New Testament:
• Old Testament:1. - The Torah or Pentateuch contains the first 5 books in the OT
- Torah means “law”; these books contain the Law of Moses
2. The Historical Books – there are 16 Historical Books
3. The Wisdom Books – 7
4. The Prophetic Books - 18
• Christians study the Old Testament because the history of the Jewish people is our history too.
• OT history is the history of Jesus and the generations of his family
• The OT help us to understand Jesus’ faith, culture and upbringing better
• The New Testament tells about the life and mission of Jesus and the early Church.
• In the New Testament, there are four types of books:
1. Gospels – 42. Acts of the Apostles – 13. Epistles (Letters) – 214. Revelation (Apocalypse) - 1