Concept
Bible
Overview
The Bible is an anthology of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and important in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The texts include instructions, stories, poetry, letters, prophecies, and other genres. The religious texts, or scriptures, were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections, called biblical canons. Believers generally consider the Bible to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and how they interpret the text varies.
The Hebrew Bible, originally written in Hebrew, with some parts in Aramaic, is divided into three sections: the Torah ("Teaching"), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings"). The acronym Tanakh (Hebrew: תָּנָ״ךְ, romanized: Tanaḵ) is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible. The Masoretic Text, a medieval edition of the Tanakh, is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by all branches of modern Rabbinic Judaism. The oldest parts of the Bible may be as early as c. 1200 BCE.
The Christian Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament contains the books that correspond to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and, according to the Christian tradition (Catholic, Orthodox, etc.), also the deuterocanonical books. Its form and content were strongly influenced by the use of the Septuagint in early Christianity. The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation from the third and second centuries BCE. Christianity began as an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism and the early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books. The gospels, which are narratives about the life and teachings of Jesus, along with the Pauline epistles and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament, originally written in Koine Greek, mostly in the 1st century CE.
With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, the Christian Bible is the best-selling publication of all time. Biblical texts have had a profound influence both on Western culture and history and on cultures around the globe. The study of these texts through biblical criticism has also indirectly impacted culture and history. Some view biblical texts as morally problematic, historically inaccurate, or corrupted by time; others find it a useful historical source for certain peoples and events or a source of ethical teachings. The Christian Bible is currently translated or in the process of being translated into about half of the world's languages.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
14. How many canonical books of the Bible are there? 15. In what languages was the Bible originally written? 16. Tell what you know about the English Bible? 17. Into how many languages has the Bible in whole or in part been translated? SCRIPTURE VERSES.--II Tim. 3:16, 17.
Martin Luther, An Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism
Names Bible several times; states what Bible is.
The Bible was written by _holy men of God._ These holy men did not write the Bible of their own will. _"Holy men of God spake"_ (and wrote) _"as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."_ 2 Pet. 1,21. God Himself moved His holy men to write the Bible. 5. The Bible contains many _different books,_ written at different times.
George Mezger, Lessons in the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther For the Senior Department of Lutheran Sunday-Schools and for General Use
Names Bible several times; states what Bible is.
Fifty and three years after this Aquila, the Bible was also translated by Theodosius. In the three-and-thirtieth year after Theodosius, it was translated by Symmachus, under the Emperor Severus. Eight years after Symmachus, the Bible was also translated by one whose name is unknown, and the same is called the Fifth Translation.
Martin Luther, Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther
States what Bible is; names Bible several times.
Philosophers who discussed Bible
- Keiji Nishitani
- Max Stirner
- René Girard
- Immanuel Kant
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- Augustine of Hippo
- Philo
- Thomas Aquinas
- Noam Chomsky
- Aleksey Khomyakov
- Roger Bacon
- John Philoponus
- Johann Gottfried Herder
- Buddhism
- Baruch Spinoza
- Moses Hess
- Moses Mendelssohn
- Paul Ricœur
- Montesquieu
- Frithjof Schuon
- Islam
- Gersonides
- Friedrich Schiller
- Bruno Bauer
Related ideas
- Guinness World Records
- Rabbinic Judaism
- Yale University Press
- Washington, D.C.
- Jesus
- God in Christianity
- Genesis creation narrative
- Hellenistic Judaism
- First Epistle to the Corinthians
- Greek language
- Greece
- Anglicanism
- Gospel of Luke
- Gospel of Matthew
- Gospel of John
- Gospel
- Book of Genesis
- Hebrew language
- Homer
- Hadith
- Halakha
- Abrahamic religions
- Abraham
- Council of Florence
Opposing perspectives
Place in the tradition
Part of Agnosticism.