BIBLE 101

"Misted window with question mark" (Photo by Julia Filirovska from pexels.com)
What is the Bible? How would you define it in one sentence?
 
Answering this question, without falling into clichés, is a lot harder than it sounds, trust me! It took a while, but I finally managed something that I could work with. Warning: it's not a "spiritual" definition at all. In fact, you could use the format to describe most books, not just the Bible.
 
In the words of Bible scholar Fenton John Anthony Hort
X FENTON JOHN ANTHONY HORT (1828-1892)

Hort (1828-1892)was a key figure in the field of Biblical textual criticism who, with his partner Brooke Foss Westcott, produced the Westcott and Hort Greek New Testament in 1881, a foundational text for modern New Testament scholarship for many decades. Hort understood that approaching the work of creating the best possible text of the Greek New Testament with a "pious" attitude could easily lead to a sub-standard document – what was needed was the rigorous objectivity of serious scholarship as it was applied to any other ancient document.

:
"We approach the Bible like any other book, to find that the Bible is unlike any other book".
 
I'm not nearly at Hort's level of scholarship, but I decided to try and remove the blinkers of traditional "Christianese" as much as I could. I wanted to look at the Book from a new angle, and see what I would find. And I was convinced more strongly than ever before that we are dealing with a book like no other.
 
If such an unorthodox approach worries you, consider the following description of what we need urgently in the fight against climate change:
"Self-replicating, solar-powered machines that synthesize carbon dioxide and rainwater into oxygen and sturdy building materials on a planetary scale."
X
I found this description in a meme on the interwebs, no idea whose work it is. If you wrote this, please let me know and I'll credit you.



It's not science fiction, we have these machines. We call them trees. But reading a description like this makes us see them with new eyes, as the incredible entities they are, and why they should be protected.

In the same way, looking from a new perspective might just revolutionise our view of the Bible: it's not just a book, it's a book like no other, with a message like no other.

So here's my definition of the Bible: The Bible is the selective written record communicating the intent, origin, history, and development of the relationship between God and humanity.

We'll use this as a roadmap for the rest of this study, pulling it apart and looking at every part in detail, hoping to get a clearer understanding and a renewed appreciation of this awesome book. So join me in discovering, or rediscovering, the most incredible Book in existence. We'll try to steer clear of traditional Christian jargon and theological terms, and look with fresh eyes at this age-old book that's still new to every generation!
 
 
>>This is a work in progress, and I will announce new material here as it becomes available.
 

¤ NEW CONTENT
 
A lot has happened during the last few weeks, mostly a bit behind the scenes, but here it is now:

The Resources page has been updated to link to all the new content, and now includes a link to the Lists & Tables section. (Lists & Table are still available here — links in the Study Units will take you to this page.)


The most important is the addition of a substantial list of printable content (all links are on the resources page):

¤ Timelines, prophecies, etc., relating to Jesus Christ.

¤ Various essays about the Bible.

¤ Outlines of all Bible books, intended as companion guides for Bible reading.

¤ Biographies of Bible characters and authors.

¤ Write-ups on Bible translations.

¤ Biblical Greek cheat sheets.

¤ Various other items.

HOW TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE - A Practical Guide for Followers of Jesus
A practical guide for non-academics, to learn how to interpret the Bible.
Detailed explanations of 10 different methods, with case studies, practical exercises, and self-tests for each chapter, as well as a final self-test covering the whole course.

Note that expanded content is no longer on different pages, but is included as a hidden pop-up text box, looking like this:  
X TEXT BOX

This is what a pop-up text box with extra content looks like.
 
Close it with the "X" in the top right corner of the box.
 
Beware: If you just click the "Back" button of your browser, you might end up on the page before the one you were reading, or another place in the current page - what happens depends on the quirks of various browsers. I'll try to fix it someday, but for now remember to use the "X"!
 Click on it to open the extra content in a pop-up box.
Click on the button above to see how it works.

Please come back often, and journey along.