Tag: Bible Study

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What are the Divisions of the Sixty-Six Books of the Bible?

The Bible is divided into two major divisions: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament consists of thirty-nine books and the New Testament is made up of twenty-seven books, a total of sixty-six books all together.

Both testaments, or covenants (old and new) are divided by a grouping of the various books into different kinds of literature, time frames of history, poetry and wisdom literature, prophecy and so forth. So, lets’ begin with the Old Testament division or grouping of books . . .

Old Testament

The Old Testament was written over roughly a thousand-year period and is divided into five sections:

The Pentateuch

Pentateuch is a Greek word that  literally means “five books” or “five scrolls”. It refers to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus. Continue reading “What are the Divisions of the Sixty-Six Books of the Bible?”

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Did God Write the Bible?

 

Is the Bible a human book or is it a Divinely inspired book?  Admittedly, the Bible was written by human authors, 40 of them over a time period of 1500 years. But according to Scripture, these human authors were all led and inspired by God as to the subject matter that they wrote. Scripture is explicit about this . . .

  • II Peter 1: 20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
  • II Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Continue reading “Did God Write the Bible?”

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Is Your Favorite Bible a Translation, Version or a Paraphrase & What is the Difference?

According to the “Guinness Book of World Records”, the Bible is still the best-selling book of all times. And it has been translated in more languages and dialects than any book ever written. “Wikipedia” records that “The full Bible has been translated into 670 languages, the New Testament has been translated into 1,521 languages and Bible portions or stories into 1,121 other languages. Thus at least some part of the Bible has been translated into 3,312 languages.”

And have you noticed the great number of translations of the Bible in  modern English on the market today? Since 1900, there have been over 200 + New Translations of the full Bible or  only of the New or Old Testament. The most common and most popular include . . . Continue reading “Is Your Favorite Bible a Translation, Version or a Paraphrase & What is the Difference?”

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Does God “Lead” us Into Temptation?

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them a model prayer. We often refer to it as the “Lord’s Prayer.” Matthew and Luke both record it: Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4. And both record Jesus as teaching them to pray, “And lead us not into temptation.”

Through the years lots of folks, including some in the Roman catholic Church have had a problem with this phrase, “lead us not into temptation.” God wouldn’t lead us into temptation, would He? Pope Francis I went on record to say that the phrase, “lead us not into temptation” is not a good translation. “The one who leads us into temptation,” he says, “is Satan.” So he suggests that it should rather be rendered, “abandon us not when in temptation”.

Continue reading “Does God “Lead” us Into Temptation?”

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Three Steps to Reading the Bible for Proper Understanding

No preacher or teacher can adequately preach or teach God’s Word without having adequately read God’s Word. Paul advised his young son in the ministry to “accurately handle the Word of Truth” for “all Scripture,”writes the Apostle, “is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 2:14; 3:16-17

Three Steps to Reading the Bible . . .

1 Read the Bible in in its proper context: You can prove almost anything you want to Biblically, if you take Scripture out of context. Read what the Bible is saying before and after the text. Read other Scriptures that relate to the text and topic that you are preaching or teaching. Be careful that you are saying the same thing God is and that you are not contradicting His Word.  What you preach and teach must agree with the whole Bible.

2 Read the Bible bi-focally:That is, read it first as it is reflects the day and age in which it was written. What was the writer saying to the recipients of his day, i.e., what was Paul saying to the church in Corinth when he wrote about eating meat sacrificed to idols (I Corinthians 8)? Secondly, what does it say to us today?

3 Read the text prayerfully: Allow God to speak to you. The Holy Spirit led the mind and heart of those who wrote it (II Timothy 3:16) so, allow God to lead you in the understanding of it.

If other thoughts or recommendations for a proper reading and an adequate understanding of God’s Word come to your mind, please share them. I welcome your comments!