"The Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures, some, all of which, or a variant of which, are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, Baha'i'ism and many other religions."
An overview of the two main divisions of the Christian Bible and the different books they contain.
Biblical History: The events, people, and places that are significant in the Bible.
Biblical Interpretation: Principles and methods of interpreting the Bible.
Overview of the Old Testament: The structure, themes, and key figures of the Old Testament.
Overview of the New Testament: The structure, themes, and key figures of the New Testament.
The Documentary Hypothesis: A theory that explains the composition of the Torah.
The Septuagint: An ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.
The Apocrypha: A collection of writings that are excluded from most Protestant canons but are included in the Catholic and Orthodox canons of Scripture.
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Ancient Jewish texts discovered in the Qumran caves.
The Gospels: The first four books of the New Testament that recount the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Paul's Letters: A collection of letters written by the Apostle Paul to various early Christian communities.
The Book of Revelation: The final book of the New Testament, which contains apocalyptic visions of the end times.
Types of Literature in the Bible: The various genres of literature found in the Bible, such as narrative, poetry, prophecy, and apocalyptic literature.
Jewish and Christian Sects: The different branches of Judaism and Christianity that have various beliefs and practices.
Church History: The history of Christianity from its origins to the present day.
Theology: The study of the nature of God, humanity, and the world, as well as beliefs and practices related to these concepts.
Ethics: The principles and values that guide human behavior, particularly in the context of religion.
Liturgy: The rituals and practices of worship in Christian churches.
Sacraments: The sacred rites and practices of the Christian church, including baptism, communion, and confession.
Christian Mission and Evangelism: The spreading of the Christian message and faith to others.
Comparative Religion: The study of other religions in relation to Christianity.
King James Version (KJV): Also known as the Authorized Version (AV), this is one of the most popular and widely read versions of the Bible. It was first published in 1611 and is known for its distinct archaic language.
New International Version (NIV): This is a modern translation of the Bible that uses contemporary language and is often used in Protestant circles.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV): This is an ecumenical version of the Bible that is often used in mainline churches and seminaries.
English Standard Version (ESV): This is a modern translation of the Bible that seeks to retain the literary beauty of older translations while using contemporary language.
New American Standard Bible (NASB): This is a literal translation of the Bible that seeks to be as faithful to the original Greek and Hebrew as possible.
Revised Standard Version (RSV): This is an ecumenical version of the Bible that was first published in the mid-20th century and is often used in mainline churches.
Catholic New American Bible (NAB): This is the official English-language Bible of the Catholic Church in the United States.
Good News Bible (GNB): This is a simple and easy-to-read version of the Bible that seeks to make the text accessible to a wide audience.
Amplified Bible (AMP): This version of the Bible seeks to clarify and expand upon the original text by providing alternative translations and explanatory notes.
New Living Translation (NLT): This is a modern translation of the Bible that seeks to express the original meaning of the text in clear and easy-to-understand language.
"The texts of the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek."
"These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, and other genres."
"The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon."
""Tanakh" is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible composed of the first letters of those three parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah ("Teaching"), the Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings")."
"The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh, in Hebrew and Aramaic, that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism."
"The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BC; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible. Christianity began as an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism, using the Septuagint as the basis of the Old Testament."
"The early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books."
"The gospels, Pauline epistles, and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament."
"The Bible is the best-selling publication of all time. It has had a profound influence both on Western culture and history and on cultures around the globe."
"The study of it through biblical criticism has indirectly impacted culture and history as well."
"With estimated total sales of over five billion copies..."
"Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration."
"But the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies."
"The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections."
"The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible. It is called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning five books) in Greek."
"The second oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im)."
"The third collection (the Ketuvim) contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories."
"Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration."
"The Bible is currently translated or is being translated into about half of the world's languages."