Bible

The Bible is a remarkable collection of ancient writings Christians believe to be God’s revelation to people. Some people say it’s actually like a library of books and letters all bound up in one. The Bible tells the story of God’s relationship with the masterpiece of his creation – people. The Bible says that its words are ‘God-breathed’. Although exactly how God ‘breathed’ the words remains a mystery, most Christians agree that God inspired the writers as they recorded his words. The Bible consists oftwo parts – the Old Testament (the time before Jesus) and the New Testament (during and after Jesus’ life). The list of books that make up the Bible is called the canon. However, the canon is different for different Christian churches. All Christian Bibles have the same 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament, but Catholics include seven more books in their Old Testament (commonly referred to as the Deuterocanonicals) plus some additional material in the books of Daniel and Esther. Orthodox Christians also recognise some other books in their canons. The 39 books of the Old Testament also form the Hebrew Bible of the Jewish people.