Introduction to Religious Scriptures
Senior 4 · General and Religious Studies
Introduction to Religious Scriptures
Lesson 2 of 5
40 min
The photograph below shows a Kinyarwanda Bible, Bibiliya Ntagatifu, published by the Bible Society of Rwanda. It looks like one book. In fact it is a library: 66 books in Protestant Bibles, 73 in Catholic ones, written by many authors over many centuries, in three languages. Its name comes from the Greek ta biblia, "the books".
This lesson explains how the Bible is organised, who wrote it according to Christian belief and to historical study, and how it was gathered into one canon and translated into the languages of the world, including Kinyarwanda.
Definition
Bible: the sacred scriptures of Christianity, made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Testament: covenant. The Old Testament contains the scriptures of Israel (the Tanakh); the New Testament contains the writings about Jesus Christ and the early Church.
Gospel: "good news"; one of the four accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).
Epistle: a letter, especially those of Paul and other apostles to churches and individuals.
Inspiration: the belief that God guided the human writers so that their words are also God's word.
Deuterocanonical books: seven Old Testament books (and some additions) found in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles but not in Protestant ones; Protestants often call them the Apocrypha.
Vulgate: the Latin translation of the Bible made mainly by Jerome, begun in 382.
| Section | Books | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Law (Pentateuch) | Genesis to Deuteronomy | Creation, the patriarchs, the Exodus, the covenant and law |
| History | Joshua to Esther | Israel in the land, the kings, exile and return |
| Poetry and wisdom | Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs | Prayer, praise and reflection on life |
| Prophets | Isaiah to Malachi | God's word through the prophets |
| Gospels | Matthew, Mark, Luke, John | The life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus |
| Acts | Acts of the Apostles | The spread of the early Church |
| Letters | Romans to Jude | Teaching for churches and Christians |
| Prophecy | Revelation | A vision of God's final victory |
Christians believe the Bible has two kinds of author. God inspired it: "Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). And human writers wrote it in their own styles and situations. Luke openly describes his research: "it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order" (Luke 1:3).
| Feature | Old Testament | New Testament |
|---|---|---|
| Languages | Hebrew, with some Aramaic | Greek |
| Writers (traditional) | Moses, prophets, kings such as David and Solomon, scribes | The evangelists, Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude |
| Period written | Over many centuries before Christ | Within about a century after Jesus; Paul's letters are the oldest |
Historians also study how the texts were written, edited and copied. Christians differ in how they hold the two views together, but nearly all agree that the human writers were real authors and that the message is God's.
Worked example: counting the books
Paul's letters make up a large share of the New Testament:
Almost half of the New Testament's books are letters traditionally attributed to one man, Paul, who had once persecuted Christians. By number of pages the share is smaller, because many of his letters are short: counting books and measuring length can give different pictures.
Warning
Common mistakes
Important
Discuss. Luke says he "traced the course of all things accurately" before writing, yet Christians say the Bible is "God-breathed". Can a book be both carefully researched by humans and inspired by God? Compare how Muslims understand the Qur'an (Lesson 3).
National Geographic: "The History of the Bible, Animated", about 4 minutes. Note the stages from oral tradition to written books, translation and printing.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the opening, Figure 2, the tables, the worked example and the exercises.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Match each book to its section of the Bible.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
