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About the Bible

Greetings !

There are two main reasons to read the Bible. The first is if you want to know more about God and how He relates to human beings, including you. The second main reason is to develop a deeper personal relationship with the God who loves you and who created you.

Wait! Aren’t we evolved from a one-cell organism way back in history somewhere? Did God really create us? Yes, God created all of us. However nowhere in the Bible does it say how He did it. So, don’t get hung up on the method. However God chose to create us, create us He did.

The Bible is a compilation of 66 books written from circa 1440BC to 90AD. The Bible itself claims to be “God-breathed”. In other words, God worked through human beings to write down the things He wants us to know about Himself, His work in history, and the many great things He has done for human-kind since the creation of the world.

The Bible claims to be “God-breathed”. The meaning of this idea is that all of the Bible is the written Word of God. This is what Christians believe about the New Testament and the Old Testament. This is why we, at New Church Austin, work very hard to study and analyze the Bible to make sure we understand what it says and how to apply it to our lives. The Bible is not difficult to understand. The difficulty is in not injecting 21st Century American understanding into ancient writings.

It may be helpful to you at this point if we give an overview of the Bible. This is fun, short and informative. As always, if you have detailed questions, email us.

The earliest five books (known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers) tell about the beginning of the earth, the creation of mankind, and the first 3000 years (more or less) of human history. In these books we see the tremendous love and care God has for all people. We also see God’s character and nature. The central point of these five books is that people can never be good enough to get to heaven on their own. We need God’s forgiveness and His mercy andd grace. This is because we have all broken God’s laws. None of us is perfect.

The next section of the Bible deals with more detailed history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Then we get some awesome wisdom writings and some beautiful songs. After that, the Bible gives us the books of specific prophets. The prophets were sent to give messages directly from God to various nations. The Old Testament ends with the Book of Malachi, written around 400BC.

The next part of the Bible is called the New Testament. It contains 27 books, all written sometime between about 50AD and 90AD. Whereas the Old Testament was written over a period of at least 1200 years, the New Testament was written in 40 years or less. Because the New Testament deals with a short time period, it contains much more detail about daily living than the Old Testament.

The links below will take you to the different timelines, so you can get a better idea of how the Bible is laid out.

New Testament Timeline and Order of Books

Order of Books in the Old Testament

The New Testament and Old Testament belong together, and they are intricately interwoven with one another. This is why we read both Testaments.

The most important part of the Bible for understanding Christianity are the Gospels. These four books tell the story of Jesus and what He did for all of us. The genre of Gospel is unique in all of human literature. They are a mixture of biography, history, and prophecy of future events. All four Gospels quote from the Old Testament.

Introduction to the Four Gospels of Jesus Christ

WHAT ARE THE GOSPELS?

The term 'gospel' means 'good news'. The Gospels are so called because they record the good news that a way of salvation has been opened to all mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1; I Cor. 15:3-4).

Biography as we know it was unknown when the Gospels were written, and they are not really biographies as we understand that literary form today. They were written that people might know who Jesus was and believe in Him (John 20:31).

WHY DID THE GOSPELS NEED TO BE WRITTEN?

The rapid spread of Christianity precipitated the need for written accounts of the life of Christ. Too, as major figures in the stories and eyewitnesses began to die, there was an increasing need for written accounts of what they had seen and heard. These written Gospels were used to evangelize, to catechize new converts, and probably were part of early Christian worship (Luke 1:1-4). In the introduction to each gospel we shall try to show its distinctive purpose.

WHY FOUR GOSPELS?

Although there were numerous other gospel accounts written, only four were deemed worthy to be included in the New Testament. The other gospels were written later and are of doubtful reliability. Although they contain some of the information that is in the four canonical Gospels, they also add much that is obviously fanciful and legendary (like the story of Jesus' condemning a boy to die because he had knocked Him down, as reported in an apocryphal Gnostic writing known as I Infancy). They also often tried to bolster heretical or sectarian viewpoints.

The early church distinguished these gospels from the true ones and regarded the apocryphal ones as of much lesser importance. One of the reasons was that the Four Gospels were written by apostles or by a close associate. Later church councils confirmed the authenticity of these books and included only the four in the canon, or collection of books recognized as inspired and authoritative.

The Gospels were written to the four general groups of people in the first century: Matthew was written for the Jews; Mark for the Romans; Luke for the other pagan Gentiles; and John for Christians.

WHAT ARE THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS?

Matthew, Mark, and Luke present much similar material about the life of Christ, as even a quick examination of a harmony of His life will show. They have a common view of His activities and teachings and of the chronology of events. They are therefore called the synoptic Gospels (from synopsis, a viewing together). For example, all but thirty-one verses in Mark have parallels in either Matthew or Luke. On the other hand, much of the material in John's gospel is unique, and it is organized according to long discourses. The differences in the Four Gospels supplement each other without contradiction and the similarities complement each other. The result is a comprehensive fourfold record of the redemptive ministry of Jesus Christ.

Comparison of the Four Gospels

All four gospels were written so that every person on earth could have access to the truth about Jesus Christ. The gospels are written to different audiences so that no matter who you are, at least one of the four gospels will be easy for you to understand.

Matthew (written by the apostle Matthew, a Jewish tax collector) - Presents Christ as God and King, written to the Jews, 28 chapters, quotes the Old Testament 53 times.

Mark (written by a wealthy friend of the apostle Peter)- Presents Christ as God and Servant, written to Gentiles, especially the Romans, 16 chapters, quotes the Old Testament 36 times.

Luke (written by a physician) - stresses the humanity and divinity of Christ, written to the Greeks, 24 chapters, quotes the Old Testament 25 times.

John (written by the apostle John) - Presents Christ as God in the flesh, written to Christians, 21 chapters, quotes the Old Testament 20 times.

Prophecies about the Savior/Messiah

The Miracles of Jesus

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