Bible Basics
Recently my eyes were opened to something that was so shocking to me, I didn't even remember that it existed.When I was younger, of course when people asked me my religion I said "Christian". I went to church with my grandfather every time I was in Moncton! It wasn't untill pretty recently in my life that I discovered an entire other world of religion.
So I decided to post about some "Bible Basics" to try to encourage some of those people who may be confused about their faith, or people who have never really discovered anything about the religion they were brought up in. Here goes.
The Bible is divided into two halves, one called the New Testament and the other called the Old Testament. The New Testament is all about Jesus and His time spent here on earth. The Old Testament (which we share with the Jewish faith) talks all about God and His amazing powers and feats.
The Bible is also divided into books. They can be short or long, with one or more chapters. Within a chapter is a verse.
Okay, this can get pretty confusing, so here's an example.
The first book of the Bible is called Genesis. If you wanted to know what Genesis said in its first chapter, and the first verse of that chapter (the first words in the Bible), then you would write it like this : Genesis 1:1
Genesis, chapter 2, verse 17 would be Genesis 2:17.
There are many different translations of the Bible. Since the Bible was written so long ago, no one spoke English. So we had to translate the Bible from these old languages. Many different people and groups have printed their own translations over the years. The "standard" old translation (it's also TC's favourite) is called King James Version (KJV). Some other popular ones are New International Version (NIV), New King James (NKJV), and The Message (that one can sometimes be considered controversial, as it is mostly paraphrased).
So here's an example of one verse in some different translations:
Jerimiah 10:10
New International Version:
But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
The Message:
But God is the real thing—
the living God, the eternal King.
When he's angry, Earth shakes.
Yes, and the godless nations quake.
King James Version:
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
As you can see, they all say the same thing in a slightly different way. The entire reasoning for different translations is to make it easier for people to understand and really comprehend what God is trying to tell them through scripture.
(Scripture is another way to say "the Bible")
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the first books in the New Testament. Collectively they are called the "Gospels". I would suggest that if you want to start reading the Bible that you start off with the gospels, then move on to a later book in the New Testament like Acts, Romans or Revelation. After you could try an Old Testament book like Genesis or Psalms.
If you have any questions, make sure you leave a comment and I will do my best to try to answer them, and if I can't I'll make sure to point you towards someone who can.
All the best in your Bible endeavours.
Hannah.
posted by Hannah @ 6:15 PM
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