* Some General Statements About the Bible

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The word "Bible" is derived from a Greek word that is often transliterated as "biblia". That Greek word itself simply means "little books", and, as such, does not actually mean "Bible" as that word is used today.

Today, the word "bible" is often used to mean "any book, reference work, periodical, etc., accepted as authoritative, informative, or reliable."

However, this latter meaning is based on the earlier meaning that came to be attributed to the 66 books that we today call the "Holy Bible". Those books are viewed by Christians of many denominations as being the "authority" for religious instruction and doctrine. 

We join with these in the belief that the Bible is indeed the central "authority" to which every Christian should look for spiritual guidance. Many who do not understand the Bible or the message of the Bible often denigrate the Bible as being unscientific, full of contradictions and absurdities.

The Christian Bible is usually divided into 2 main sections: (1) the Old Testament and (2) the New Testament. Generally speaking, the Old Testament pertains to God's dealings man before Christ came and the New Testament pertains to Jesus and his church. Nevertheless, both sections are intertwined, so that there are things recorded in the Old Testament that do have an application to Christians, and things in the New Testament often reveal much about what is written in the Old Testament.

The word "Testament" means "covenant". The original usage of this terminology was to make the Hebrew Scriptures about the Old Covenant through Moses and the Greek Scriptures about the New Covenant. In reality, both the Hebrew and the Greek Scriptures have much to do with all the covenants, thus the terms "Old Testament" and "New Testament" could be viewed as a misnomer. 

The Jews often call the Old Testament, "The Tanach". The word (Tanach) was created by taking the initial letters of the names attributed to three sections of the Hebrew Scriptures: (1) Torah (Law); (2) Nebiim (Prophets); and (3) Kethubim (Writings). 

The Old Testament, however, is not wholly made up of "Hebrew" writings. Some parts are written in Aramaic. the Aramaic portions are as follows: Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:11-26; Daniel 2:4-7:28; Jeremiah 10:11, and two words in Genesis 31:47. More correctly the Old Testament could be called the Hebrew-Aramaic Scriptures.

Most of the Old Testament was originally written in ancient Hebrew, which had no written vowels. Likewise, the Aramaic portions originally had no written vowels. This does not mean that ancient Hebrew and Aramaic had no vowels; it just means that when orally spoken, the vowels were pronounced, although they were not written. 

Several centuries after the death of Christ, a group of Jews called the Masoretes began an endeavor to restore the Hebrew language and add what is often called vowel points. Most translations today are based on the Masoretic Hebrew text.

Some claim that the Bible is not in harmony with "science". We do not believe that the Bible was made to teach "science" as such. We believe, however, that the Bible, when properly understood and appreciated, will be found to be in harmony with the actual facts as found in God's creation, although the Bible may not be in harmony with the many hypotheses and theories that scientists often present, most of which are often presented as being fact.

We also believe that most, if not all, alleged contradictions that many claim are in the Bible are the result of (1) misunderstanding of what is being said, (2) mistranslations, or  (3) errors of copyists.

We know that the Bible contains a harmonious theme, beginning with the disobedience and fall of man in Genesis, and the promise of a deliverer who would restore man back to what was lost in the Garden of Eden.

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