The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew, with small portions in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek. Unless a reader knows these ancient languages, the words on the page have already passed through a process of translation before they are read. Therefore, almost all Christians today read the Bible in translation.
6.7 Bible Translations and Why Christian Bibles Differ Read More »
Christians believe that God communicates with human beings. The Bible describes God communicating through prophets, dreams, visions, wisdom, conscience, the Holy Spirit, the teachings of Jesus, and human speech and writing. Christians commonly use the word inspiration when discussing the relationship between God’s Spirit and human expression, but what does it actually mean for something to be inspired by God?
6.6 Divine Inspiration: How Christians Understand God Communicating Through Human Beings Read More »
The collection of books recognized as Scripture is known as the biblical canon. The word canon comes from a Greek word meaning “rule,” “measuring rod,” or “standard.” In Christianity, the term refers to the collection of writings that a religious community recognizes as authoritative Scripture.
6.5 Canon: How the Books of the Bible Were Chosen Read More »
The New Testament is the second major section of the Christian Bible. It focuses on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the growth of the early Christian movement, and the beliefs that shaped the first Christian communities.
6.4 The New Testament: Jesus, the Apostles, the Church, and the End of the Age Read More »
The Old Testament is the first major section of the Christian Bible. It contains the writings that Christians inherited from ancient Israel and shares much of its content with the sacred Scriptures of Judaism.
6.3 The Old Testament: Israel, Covenant, Law, Prophets, and Wisdom Read More »
The Old Testament contains writings associated with ancient Israel and is traditionally organized into several major categories. The first five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—are often called the Five Books of Moses, the Law, the Torah, or the Pentateuch.
6.2 The Structure of the Bible: Books, Genres, and Testaments Read More »
The Bible is the central sacred text of Christianity. Christians believe the Bible contains writings that reveal God’s character, God’s relationship with humanity, and God’s purposes for the world. It serves as the primary source for Christian beliefs about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, morality, worship, and the history of God’s interaction with humanity.
6.1 What Is the Bible? Read More »
See all of the sections in Module 6.
6.0 Christianity Module 6: The Bible Read More »
What happens when spiritual ideas are used in harmful ways? Throughout history, religious beliefs have inspired acts of compassion, courage, sacrifice, service, and personal transformation. At the same time, religious beliefs have often been used to manipulate, control, intimidate, shame, exploit, isolate, or harm others.
5.14 Spiritual Abuse Read More »
How can a person know what is true? Throughout Christian history, believers have claimed to receive guidance from God. Others have claimed prophetic insight, visions, miracles, spiritual gifts, divine revelation, or special knowledge. Christians have also encountered deception, false teachings, corrupt leaders, counterfeit spirituality, and competing interpretations of Scripture.
