What is the Bible?

Chapter 1

What is the Bible?• Though the bible is made of many

books, the Bible tells ONE story of God’s love for his people and his plan for their salvation.

• Ultimately scripture is a love story!

1

The Bible was Inspired• Was written by inspired human authors

– Inspired - comes from the word meaning “God-Breathed”. God himself guided the authors who wrote the books of the Bible.

– They wrote only what God wanted them to write and no more.

– God used their unique and personal writing styles.

• Eg: poets wrote poetry…etc.2

Memory Verse• All scripture is inspired

by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work. – 2 Tim 3:16-17

3

The Bible is Inerrant• Has God as its main author

• Since it was written under the Holy Spirit scripture is without error.– Inerrant - it does not err; to be without

error.

• Scripture is inerrant because it has God as it’s author

4

The Bible is Inerrant• Unlike other human

books, the bible is free from error.

• Everything contained in Scripture is True

5

The Bible is Historical• Biblical history is written differently than

our history

• The Bible is an historical account of the world from God’s point of view

• The most important characters of this history are those who carried God’s message or furthered God’s plan of our salvation. 6

The Bible is Historical• The history in the Bible is called

“Salvation History” because it is the story of our salvation– Salvation History - the history of how

God’s plan to save us from sin unfolded through the ages.

• Salvation history includes the past and the future; We are part of this history

7

Salvation History• We can look at Salvation history as a

series of “Covenants” made between God and mankind– Each covenant was mediated by a person– The covenant mediator represented all of

humanity

8

Salvation History• Covenant: An

agreement that establishes a sacred family bond forever– If one member does

not uphold their end, the other is still bound to the covenant

– Example: Marriage

• Contract: temporary business agreement – If one person does

not uphold their end, the other is not required to uphold their end.

– Example: business agreements

9

Salvation History:Mountains and Mediators

• Let’s learn who mediated each covenant

The “Canon” of Scripture

The “Canon”• Canon: the list of inspired books.

• The word canon comes from the Greek word meaning “measuring rod”

• There are 73 books in the “canon”– 46 Old Testament– 27 New Testament

10

How do we know which books belong in the Bible?

• In order for a book to be included in the canon it had to be divinely inspired

• Sacred Tradition helped us determine which books were divinely inspired– Remember: Without Tradition, we would

not have Scripture

11

How did we know which books were divinely inspired?

• The Holy Spirit guided the Church in writing a list of divinely inspired texts

• Three Criteria used in determining which books to include:

1. Apostolic origin: written by Christ’s apostles (remember OT was already chosen)

2. Agreement with Christ’s teachings

3. Used over time in Liturgy12