1hotdawg
+1y
A friend of mine posted this up on a gaming site I enjoy, (gamers4God.com) and I thought I'd like to share it with you here. This NOT in any means meant to draw an arguement...so please let's not. I just know there are many people that don't know the history of the Bible and how it fits together and I think this dude did very nicely explaining it.
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The Bible is the very word of God. We all hold to that. Studying and knowing The Bible is the only way that we can get into the heart and mind of God, as much as our feeble "being" can. But, without The Bible - we are dead in the water. This post is not so much "why" we learn it. We know why. This is about the make up of it.
It is critical to KNOW the categories, writing styles and angles of the different sections of The Bible. This puts everything into context for a more accurate understanding of what God is trying to tell us and how we can accurately understand it as "man." None of it is contradictory or useless!
The Old Testament is broken down into 5 sections:
1. The Pentateuch: "The Law" and a historical account by Moses.
2. Historical books: The next 12 books record the history of Israel.
3. Poetic books: The next 5 books. These are just that - poetry.
4. Major Prophets: The next 5 books. Incredible insight of warnings to the Israelites of future disaster...and a looking towards the Messiah.
5. Minor Prophets: The last 12 books of the OT. "Minor" ONLY because they are shorter, not less important than the "Major."
New Testament: Divided into 5 parts.
1. The Gospels: The first 4. Tell about the life of Christ and His ministry.
2. Acts: The beginning and history of The Church.
3. Pauline Epistle and Hebrews: 13 books, and 14 if Paul wrote it, are "letters" to a particular group of Christians.
4. General Epistles: The next 7. They are named for the author - not the people they were sent to.
5. Revelation: Prophecy of the end times and the return of Christ.
That is the basic breakdown of The Bible. Another demanded perspective we need to have is some stats, or facts if you like, on The Bible:
1. 66 books broken down into 2 sections: Old Testament (39 books), New Testament (27 books)
2. Written by at least 40 distinct authors over roughly a 1600 year period. [The Old written approximatley between 1500bc - 400bc..The New apporximatley 40ad-90ad.]
3. Written on three different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe) in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).
4. All of the writers were allowed to use their own styles while under the control of The Holy Spirit.
ALL of this HAS TO BE taken into account while we study The Scriptures. The Bible is literal - but some "things" cannot be taken literal. And NOTHING can be taken out of context.
The Law and history of Israel is just that - and it is for the Israelites of the Pre-Christ era. NOT the "recorded facts", meanings, and principals - but the demands and commands.
The poetic books should NEVER be taken literally...well, for the most part. They are poetry, songs, praises and worship, prayers. The Proverbs are very much seen in the wrong light - they are NOT "guarantees of life". They are "timeless truths" that if followed CAN produce the result they claim. Most of the poetic books are like this.
The prophetic books are directly aimed at, and apply to, Israel - not "all believers." Although they tell of future events yet to come, the majority is not intended for us today. Why? They already happened. And again, the "timeless truths" of them CAN show us characteristics of God to be applied to us today.
The New Testament IS for us today. But if you don't read it while considering the "cultural aspects" of the time it was written - you fail to understand completely what it means...and utterly the most important thing is - you would incredibly apply it wrong to life. Revelation has very little portions that can be taken literal, meaning, the symbolic elements of it.
As for style of writing: We need to be careful! Any time you see the word "like" and/or a description or comparison of something, you have to pause and realize it is probably a "simile" or "metaphor". It could not be described in human terms and the author was either "guessing" or trying to use examples to illustrated it. The authors did the best they could to accurately record what God spoke while writing in their style, with their education level.
If someone has never read the Bible in this light - are they in error of what it says? NO! If someone cannot read at all, and have to rely on what people tell them about it, are they in error? NO! All you have to do is "check the fruit of their lives" - if the fruit is bad; they are in error. If the fruit is good, and you can know who they are by the love of God they provide - it is good. ONLY if it stacks up accurately with The Bible.
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Once again please let's not make this an argumentative thread. I only posted it for information sake.