The Bible

By Dr. John E. Russell

The English Bible is the Summa Bonum ("highest good") of English literature. In a time of skepticism and relativism, it is comforting to know that God has given us something as an anchor of the soul: His Word.

Let us accept His Word into our hearts. Someone has said it well:

Believe The Bible

The Old Testament (Jewish and Christian Scriptures) is a library of 39 books, written by about 30 writers over a period of about 1,000 years. It was written primarily in Biblical Hebrew. It was carefully written and accurately transmitted down through history by Jewish scholars.

The New Testament (Christian Scriptures) is a library of 27 books, written by about 9 writers over a period of about 60 years. It was written in Koine (common) Greek, the universal language of Jesus' time. There are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts (partial or whole) of the New Testament, making the New Testament the most well-authenticated document in human antiquity.

There are no known autographs (original writings) of the Bible in existence. Until the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg in about 1455, each Bible was laboriously copied by hand. (The first book printed by moveable type was the Gutenberg Bible, a Latin Bible printed in Mainz by Gutenberg sometime before 1456). Through the science of Textual Criticism, the various Greek manuscripts are studied and the original is reconstructed. This reconstruction is very accurate. Translations are made from the reconstructed text. Biblical Hebrew and Greek are "dead" languages. That is, they are no longer spoken, and therefore do not change in meaning. This factor makes for a more accurate base for translation.

New translations are necessary because "living languages" (languages that are used) change. The meanings of words change and new words are added to represent new concepts.

There have been many translations in many languages down through history. In this short work, we will limit ourselves to recent English translations.

<><