The Bible, Part 1

“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man ... But for this Book, we could not know right from wrong ... Take all you can of this Book upon reason, and the balance on faith, and you will live and die a happier man.”

Abraham Lincoln

Kirk Cameron’s Comment

A good understanding of what makes the Bible unique is very helpful in witnessing to others. These next few lessons will help you understand the Bible better yourself.

Questions & Objections

Lesson

The Bible doesn’t attempt to defend its inspiration. But here is an interesting thing: Genesis opens with the words “God said” nine times in the first chapter. The statement “Thus says the Lord” appears 23 times in the last Old Testament book, Malachi. So you have “God says” from Genesis to Malachi. “The Lord spoke” appears 560 times in the first five books of the Bible and at least 3,800 times in the whole of the Old Testament! Isaiah claims at least 40 times that his message came directly from the Lord; Ezekiel, 60 times; and Jeremiah, 100 times. What could therefore be more important than discovering what God reveals to us in His Word?

In this lesson we begin a series on the authenticity of the Scriptures. What exactly is the Bible and is it reliable? The following lessons contain a brief look at these questions. Most of the content of this lesson was taken from Don Stewart’s book The Bible.

Our English word “Bible,” from the Latin biblia and the Greek biblios, simply means “book.” From the second century A.D., the Christian church has used the term “Bible” to refer to the sixty-six books that they hold to be Scripture. The Bible is made up of two testaments: the Old Testament (containing 39 books) was composed from about 1400B.C. to 400B.C., and the New Testament (containing 27 books) was written from approximately A.D.50 to A.D.90.

The Bible declares that it is the Word of God, His communication to humanity. Within its pages we learn about the existence and nature of God—a personal, infinite God who created the entire universe and created man in His image. We also discover the identity and purpose of man. For centuries people have turned to the Bible for answers to the basic questions of life: Where did we come from? Why are we here on earth? What will happen to us when we die?

The Bible also gives a purpose for history. History is not merely a series of unrelated events. The Bible tells us the beginning and shows a progression to an end, and promises that the world in which we live, with all its corruption, will one day be made into a new world without sin.

The Bible served as a basis for modern scientific pursuits. Modern science was born in the seventeenth century because of a belief in an unchanging God of order, purpose, and consistency—the God portrayed in the Bible.

In addition, our modern concept of law and order are based on the Bible. The Bible says that God has set standards of right and wrong behavior. Many of our current laws are based upon biblical morality.

Some have questioned why a written record from God is important. Is it possible that man can know God apart from a revelation that was committed to writing? The answer is a resounding no. There are several reasons why a written revelation is necessary.

If we were given only an oral communication from God, then we would have a message that could be changed and misinterpreted when repeatedly told. The more a story was repeated orally, the more the story could be changed. This would not give us much confidence in the message. If the message began to differ considerably, how would anyone know what version to trust?

A written revelation therefore solves doctrinal controversies. If there is a question of Christian belief, the written Bible can be studied as an authoritative source. Once a revelation is committed to writing, it can also be translated into different languages. This allows the message to be spread and copied with the assurance that the original thoughts will stay intact. All of these factors demonstrate the necessity of a written revelation from God.

Interesting Bible Statistics

Number of books in the Bible: 66

Chapters: 1,189

Verses: 31,101

Words: 783,137

Letters: 3,566,480

Longest word (and name): Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah 8:1)

Longest verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)

Shortest verse: John 11:35 (2 words: “Jesus wept”)

Middle books: Micah and Nahum

Middle chapter: Psalm 118

Middle verse: Psalm 118:8

Shortest book (number of words): 3 John

Shortest chapter (number of words): Psalm 117

Longest book: Psalms (150 chapters)

Longest chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)

Number of times the word “God” appears: 3,358

Number of times the word “Lord” appears: 7,736

Number of different authors: Approximately 40

Number of languages the Bible has been translated into: more than 1,200

Number of new Bibles distributed (sold or given away) in the U.S.: about 168,000 per day

The Middle of the Bible

Psalm 118 is the middle chapter of the entire Bible. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible; Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. The Scriptures have 594 chapters before Psalm 118, and 594 chapters after Psalm 118. If you add up all the chapters before and after Psalm 118, you get a total of 1188 chapters. Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse of the entire Bible. It goes without saying that the central verse has an important message: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”

Feathers for Arrows

A young man once received a letter from a lawyer stating that his grandmother had left him an inheritance. To his astonishment, it was $50,000 plus “my Bible and all it contains.” The youth was delighted to receive the money. However, he knew what the Bible contained, and because he wasn’t into religion he didn’t bother to open it. Instead, he put it on a high shelf. He gambled the $50,000, and over the next fifty years he lived as a pauper, scraping for every meal. Finally he became so destitute, he had to move in with his relatives. When he cleaned out his room, he reached up to get the dusty old Bible from the shelf. As he took it down, his trembling hands dropped it onto the floor, flinging it open to reveal a $100 bill between every page. The man had lived as a pauper, simply because of his prejudice. He thought he knew what the Bible “contained.”

Questions

1. What does the word “Bible” mean?
2. How many books are in the Bible?
3. When were the Old and New Testaments composed?
4. What are some of the topics the Bible tells us about?
5. What are the benefits of having a written communication from God?
6. What important message is contained in the central verse in the Bible?

Answers to these review questions are provided in the back of the printed book / source PDF.

Memory Verse

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.”

2 Timothy 3:16, 17

Last Words

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894), Scottish novelist and poet, was one of the greatest storytellers of his day and a master of beautiful language. Stevenson died at his beloved Samoa at age 44 from his lifelong disease of consumption. Just before he breathed his last, he gathered his household together and prayed: “Behold with favor, O Lord, the weak men and women gathered together in the peace of this roof. When the day returns God would call them with morning faces and morning hearts, eager to labor, eager to be happy if happiness should be their portion.”

Robert Louis Stevenson