BIBLE HISTORY SURVEY 3 | UNITY OF THE BIBLE

1. What is the Bible?

a) The Bible is the sacred Book, or collection of books, accepted by the Christian Church as uniquely inspired by God, and thus authoritative, providing guidelines for belief and behavior.

b) Many verses throughout the Bible attest to its divine origin (Genesis 6:9-13, Exodus 20:1-17, 2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Revelation 1:1-2, etc.) 

c) But the Bible was not simply dictated word-for-word by God; it is also the work of its many different human authors. The different writing skills, writing styles, personalities, world views, and cultural backgrounds of the human authors can be seen in their works. 

d) Many of the New Testament books were originally written as letters rather than as Scripture. Some Bible writings include the authors' own research and recollection of historical events (Luke 1:1-4) and their own opinions (1 Corinthians 7:12).

2. Unity of the Bible 

a) Despite the diversity of the Bible books and their separation in time, there are several unifying themes that run through both the Old and New Testaments:

i) There is only one true God. He created all that is the universe and takes an active, ongoing and loving role in its maintenance.

ii) God loves His people of all races, nationalities and religions, and seeks their love in return.

iii) God created men and women with the power to choose between good and evil. We are called to do good by serving God and respecting our fellow human beings of the world. Evil is a constant temptation that we must do our best to resist.

iv) God seeks the salvation of all people, individually and collectively, from the power of sin and evil. God has intervened directly in human affairs and has also sent the prophets and, finally, His Son Jesus, the Messiah or Christ, to help us with that salvation.