What Is The Bible Comprised Of?
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. - 2 Timothy 2:15
The Bible is a book of books---66 of them in fact. Actually the word Bible comes from a plural word meaning books. And yet the 66 books form one single book. So it is a book of books! This is a very remarkable thing when you remember that about 40 different men wrote those 66 books over a period of 1600 years. Obviously they could not all have been alive at the same time, and therefore could not have consulted with one another about the things they were writing. Yet they all agreed perfectly in all the things they wrote over this long period of time. Think of how often you say one thing one day and the very opposite the next day. But this is not so with the writers of the Bible. Though each writer wrote from his own point of view and used his own particular expressions, they all agree in everything the wrote.
Not only were there about 40 different authors of the Bible, but among them were many different kinds of men. Few were scholars in the modern sense of the word, so you don't have to be fearful that what they wrote is going to be too difficult for us to understand! Men like Amos come to mind when I think about average, everyday people who God chose to reveal His dealings with mankind to. As an example, the Bible tells us that Amos was a shepherd from Tekoa. Ruth, a young widow, was a Moabite and daughter-in-law of Naomi who would marry Boaz the "near kinsman" who could legally redeem her. Interestingly, hundreds of years later we would read in the book of Matthew of how Ruth would be mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ! God used the martial problems of Hosea to teach him about God's love for Israel. Indeed there were many classes of people from all areas of society including others such as: Moses, David, Solomon, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah.
Among the writers and recorders of the New Testament included the despised IRS agent Matthew; Peter, James and John-----fishermen by trade. The apostle Paul went from a maniacal, murdering, rabbi to being ordained by Jesus Christ as the revelator of the mystery; a distinct and unique message of grace and hope to Gentiles....and he was a tentmaker in his spare time!
Many men, with many differing backgrounds in between many years have one thing in common----all of their writings agree. The Bible is truly a book like no other book! There must be something behind such remarkable unity friends. Indeed there is and it is not something or someone, it is God Himself. Though there were indeed many men who wrote the bible, in a sense there is really only One Author and that is God friends. God wrote and planned the bible and he knows everything past, present and future as well. he guided human authors through the Holy Spirit to assure that each book would not contradict the other. Only God could make 1 book out of 66 books!
There is another reason why there is incredible unity of these 66 books. It's because there is one outstanding theme of which its foundation rests upon and that theme is Jesus Christ!