Understand Your Bible

by John A. Beck

Overview

Overwhelmed by God’s Word?

Then read Understand Your Bible!

 

See how the historical, geographic, literary, and other contexts of scripture can clarify confusing aspects of the Bible, and solve many of your frustrations when reading God’s Word.

            This brand-new guide is designed to remove obstacles to your understanding, giving you a greater desire for—and success in—daily Bible reading.    

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607424550
Publisher:	Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/01/2011
Series:	Value Books
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	2 MB

Read an Excerpt

Understand Your Bible

---

By John A. Beck

Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Barbour Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-61626-206-8

---

CHAPTER 1

What Is The Bible?

When we meet someone for the first time, our early exchanges are often governed by carefully choreographed questions through which we learn more about one another. Where do you live? Where did you go to school? What do you do for a living? The answers to these and other questions about family, interests, and hobbies provide the foundation for friendship and further interaction.

The information we gather when meeting someone new is similar to the information gathering we do when we pick up a book for the first time. We turn it over in our hands and examine the cover, the table of contents, and the author's biography to get some idea of what the book is all about and whether a sustained "conversation" with the author might be worth our time.

Our approach to the Bible is no different. To understand what the Bible says, we would do well first to ask, "What is it?" The Bible looks very much like any other book—whether it's one we've pulled from the shelf, downloaded onto a portable reading device, or opened on a computer screen. Yet the truth of the matter is that the Bible is different from the children's books in our kids' rooms; different from our college textbooks, our technical manuals, and our novels; and different from the cookbooks in the kitchen.

The Bible is a very unique book, because it has both a divine and a human side to its origins.

In this chapter we will see that the Bible is a very unique book, because it has both a divine and a human side to its origins. We'll take a look at the Bible's unique origins, see the important implications of those origins, and illustrate how knowing what the Bible is will change the way we read and engage with its contents.

The Human Side

Experience teaches that a well-crafted page of writing, with appropriately formed sentences and paragraphs, is not produced by plants or random animals. Neither is it the product of a strong wind blowing arbitrary words off the page of a dictionary. So when we look at the pages of the Bible, we can safely assume that a human author has been at work. The truth of the matter is that the Bible has many human authors, representing a wide range of times, places, occupations, and circumstances.

Moses is widely regarded as the author of the first five books of the Bible. He started writing in about 1450 BC. On a timeline, that's more than 2,800 years before the invention of the printing press, nearly 3,200 years before the signing of the U.S. Constitution, and more than 3,400 years before today. At the other end of the spectrum, the most recent books of the Bible date to the first century AD—closer to our modern day, but still nearly 2,000 years removed. To sum it all up, the sixty-six books of the Bible were composed by a variety of human authors between the fifteenth century BC and the first century AD—a span of more than 1,500 years.

The sixty-six books of the Bible were composed by a variety of human authors between the fifteenth century BC and the first century AD.

When they wrote they put pen to paper in many different locations, from Africa to the Middle East, and from Europe to Asia. As we might expect, some of the books were written within the borders of the Promised Land, Israel. Other writers of the Bible wrote in places as distant and distinct as Egypt, Babylon (modern-day Iraq), Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), and Corinth (which is in Greece).

The writers of the Bible also came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were leaders, such as Moses and Samuel; or prophets, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Obadiah. But also among the recognized writers we find kings, such as David and Solomon; a physician (Luke); a Roman tax collector (Matthew); fishermen, such as Peter and John; and Amos, who identifies himself as both a shepherd and a fig farmer (see Amos 7:14).

Coming, as they did, from across the timeline and geographical boundaries of the ancient world, the authors of the books of the Bible composed their poetry and prose from a wide range of personal circumstances. They knew both good times and bad. Some had celebrated the birth of children; others had experienced the heady rewards of business or political success. We also meet authors whose lives were beset by personal tragedy—the loss of a child, a wayward wife, or exile in a foreign country. We meet some who are struggling spiritually in the wake of serious sins like murder or adultery. Still others had to deal with rebellious children, personal depression, military invasion, or time spent in prison. As real people living in real places in real time, the authors of the Bible saw life in all its glory and all its disappointments.

As real people living in real places in real time, the authors of the Bible saw life in all its glory and all its disappointments.

The Implications of Human Authorship

Because the human authors of the Bible experienced life in all its fullness, we feel the humanness in what they've written. We resonate with their joys and feel the wrenching of their sorrows. We hear their laughter and see the tears that stained the pages on which they wrote. We rejoice in their victories and feel the disappointment of the losses that threatened to rob them of hope. In all these experiences and feelings—which are very real to us—we can quickly and easily immerse ourselves in the pages of this great book.

The Divine Side

What makes the Bible so unique is that it also has a divine side to its origins. The eternal God, who is both creator and ultimate ruler of our world, clearly has a passion to speak to us. Though He has spoken individually and directly to people in the past—or at least as directly as we mortals can endure—in most cases, God has chosen to communicate in writing, using a very unique process of composition that involves both a human and a divine author working in concert.

Within the Bible we find reference to this unique phenomenon, which has been called divine inspiration. Just as God animated the lifeless flesh of the first human being by breathing into his nostrils "the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7), so we are told that "all Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16). The human authors of the Bible who received this "breath of God" tapped into a knowledge base bigger than their own. The apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 2:13: "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words." At times we get the impression that these human authors were barely keeping up during this process. Peter says, "Prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

God has chosen to communicate in writing, using a very unique process of composition.

The phrase divine inspiration captures the essence and mystery of the process. The English word inspiration comes from the Latin inspirare, which means "to breathe in." In this case inspiration is not merely a brilliant flash of insight. It is more than the ability to scan the horizon of the human experience and capture the essentials with just the right words. The writing process that resulted in the Bible was both informed and directed by the Holy Spirit. In the end God communicated precisely what He intended to say, yet in ways that reflected the unique experiences, knowledge, perceptions, and writing styles of the human authors. God spoke through these writers, yet without abolishing the uniqueness of their human contribution.

The writing process that resulted in the Bible was both informed and directed by the Holy Spirit.

The Implications of Divine Authorship

If you're a bit confused by this description of the biblical writing process, that's not surprising. No one fully understands how God accomplished His purpose in giving us the Bible, but we can quickly see the implications and the importance of divine authorship. First of all, it means that what we read in the Bible is true. Left to their own devices, the human authors of the Bible were entirely capable of selecting the wrong word or of making a mistake in reporting the details of an event. God, on the other hand, is incapable of error. As the Holy Spirit directed the writing process, He made sure that these authors rose above the horizon of their mortal limitations so that what they wrote came to us in untarnished form.

If you're a bit confused by this description of the biblical writing process, that's not surprising.

When Jesus prayed for His disciples, He called attention to this striking quality of divine speech: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17). Though the Bible was written thousands of years ago, in a time before computers, cameras, and video recorders, we can be assured that these writers knew what they were talking about because their writing was overseen by God Himself. God's Word is true.

The Bible's truthfulness and reliability make it a "must read" book. Other books may rise quickly on the New York Times bestseller list and clamor for our attention. Such well-crafted books have the power to entertain, inform, and guide us. But every one of those books fails to rise above human limitations. Only in the Bible do we hear God speaking to us directly and candidly. Of all the books that have ever been published—or that ever will be published—the Bible is the only one we must read and understand.

Only in the Bible do we hear God speaking to us directly and candidly.

Illustration

Because the Bible has such a unique heritage, we read it differently than we do other books. When we read an ordinary book, we evaluate its integrity based on our knowledge of the author and his or her credentials—particularly when the author is challenging us to think or act in a certain way. For example, if I'm reading a book about raising my kids, I'm going to reserve judgment on the book's usefulness and value until I've evaluated the author's knowledge, expertise, and approach. If the author makes suggestions that fall outside the realm of what seems practical or credible, that book is likely to find itself on the resale shelf. The unique origins of the Bible, on the other hand, change the way we read and respond to its message and application. Because of its divine authorship, presented through the lives and words of human writers, the Bible can challenge us to believe the unbelievable and do the unthinkable.

The unique origins of the Bible change the way we read and respond to its message and application.

Heavenly Math

God makes every effort to reveal His true identity within the pages of the Bible. Yet we can have difficulty understanding what He is telling us. In some places the Bible clearly declares that God is one: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). In other places God speaks of Himself in the plural (see Genesis 1:26), and Jesus calls for the recognition of God as three distinct persons: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).

So is God three or is God one? Our earthbound math limits us to one of those two options. But the God who created our world—and mathematics—lives beyond such limitations. That's why He can describe Himself as both three and one at the same time: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. If I were reading any other book, I might quickly dismiss that idea as preposterous. Yet, because I know that "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:25), I read the Bible in a different way. When I recognize the Bible as God's own book, I can ponder these equations and nod my head in agreement, marveling at a mystery that exceeds my comprehension.

Radical Love

The Bible not only calls for us to believe the unbelievable, but it also can call us to do the unthinkable. Each day, we make decisions—both consciously and unconsciously—about how we will treat the people around us. As we interact with other drivers on the roadway, with salesclerks at the store, and with our family members, we naturally fall into patterns of extending varying degrees of kindness and courtesy to those who cross our path. If we are honest with ourselves, we tend to reserve the best treatment for those who have proven themselves worthy. In the Bible Jesus calls for us to rethink our habits of interaction. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:43–45). Common sense might suggest that this is an unthinkable course of action. Should we not reward those who treat us well with the best treatment and withhold kindness from those who mean us harm? But here the Bible encourages us to take God's perspective—to lavish sunshine and rain on those who treat Him well and those who do not. As the Bible calls for us to believe the unbelievable, it also calls for us to do what at first blush seems unthinkable.

The Bible not only calls for us to believe the unbelievable, but it also can call us to do the unthinkable.

The Bible encourages us to take God's perspective.

Bible References

As a book the Bible is somewhat unique in that it has a tiered set of divisions, which allows quick reference to even its shortest parts.

First, the Bible is divided into two testaments. Generally speaking, the Old Testament is the collection of writings that introduce us to God and to His plan to rescue the world from sin. The New Testament speaks about the realization of the promises made in the Old Testament, focusing largely on the life of Jesus and the history of the church that took shape around His teachings.

The Old Testament is the collection of writings that introduce us to God.

Each of the two testaments is divided into books—thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament, for a total of sixty-six. When a Bible reference is given, the first element in the reference is to one of these books.

Each book in the Bible is further divided into chapters, and each chapter is subdivided into verses. If someone wishes to call attention to a specific sentence or paragraph in the Bible, he or she will typically not use a page number (which varies from one version of the Bible to the next), but will point to the reference by identifying the book, chapter, and verse(s). It will look like this: Matthew 5:1–12. In this case, the reference is to the New Testament book of Matthew, chapter 5, verses 1 through 12.

English Versions

The human authors of the Bible expressed themselves in three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—all of which are unfamiliar to most modern readers. That means our English versions are translations from those languages.

If you read the same Bible passage in more than one English version, you will likely find some differences. English translations differ from one another in two ways. First, the Bible translators worked with principles that guided their translation efforts for a particular version. Sometimes the goal is to remain as close as possible to the language structure of the parent text, even if that makes the translation sound somewhat less natural to native English speakers. Alternatively, the translator may have sought to produce a translation that sounds very natural in English, even if it diverges from the original images and language structure of the parent text.

The human authors of the Bible expressed themselves in three languages—Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

Bible translations also vary from one another in that they are targeting the vocabulary and style of a particular group of English speakers. Vocabulary and grammar change with time and location and within subgroups that live within a certain time and place. For that reason the translators must choose a particular form of English to use, to make their translation readable by their intended audience. So, for example, the King James Version of the Bible was written in the style of English used in Great Britain in the seventeenth century, and the New Living Translation is written in more contemporary, modern English.

Each type of translation has its place. If you would like to learn more about the translation philosophy that guided your English translation, read the preface of your Bible. This is where the Bible's publisher typically discusses the translation philosophy that guided their version of the Bible.

(Continues...)

---

Excerpted from Understand Your Bible by John A. Beck. Copyright © 2011 Barbour Publishing, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Barbour Publishing, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction,
What Is the Bible?,
What Is God Talking About?,
How Is God Speaking?,
What Is Going On behind the Scenes?,
What Are They Doing?,
Where Am I?,
Conclusion,