What is the Judeo-Christian Bible?
The Judeo-Christian Bible is the only written “word” of God.
The Holy Bible has been completely spoken by God
through His Holy Spirit to those He has for-chosen to carry His word to all Humankind!
The Holy Bible is inerrant; there are no mistakes or misrepresentations within it, and therefore the Bible remains preserved throughout history intact and complete.
(Psalm 33: 4, Proverbs 30: 5)
This statement is very challenging to human beings, and almost impossible to accept for secular people. The Holy Bible is “foolishness” to the “natural man”. (1 Corinthians 2: 14)
The Bible has been translated into many languages (accounts range between 350 & 500 different languages; this does not include various dialects or partial translations such as New Testament only versions) the essential meaning of the scriptures is intact and complete.
The Guinness Book of World Records agrees; “Although it is impossible to obtain exact figures, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, but more recent estimates put the number at more than 5 billion.
By the end of 1995, combined global sales of Today’s English Version (Good News) New Testament and Bible (copyright for which is held by the Bible Societies) exceeded 17.75 million copies, and the whole Bible had been translated into 349 languages; 2123 languages have at least one book of the Bible in that language.”
An additional stumbling block that can complicate this serious matter, is that many theologians consider certain versions (particularly in English) to be the only correct or authorized written word of God. My own experience has caused me to believe the opposite to be true; I have found through more than eight English translations a profound consistency that affirms the promises God has made both within and about His “word”. The differences between various translations of the Bible rarely pose any substantive difference in meaning at all, and even when a variation does arise, it is up to the reader to decided whether they believe the meaning of the teaching or not. There are however a few Bible versions that are weaker in their language and therefore less effectual; they tend to show themselves to be in error where critical God proclaimed truth(s) instruct about human behavior and sin. These often have names added to their titles that should revel to the (potential) reader the nature of a humanist bias that dilutes the power of Gods’ inspired word. The important fact for the person whose heart is drawn to God is that the Bible is a powerful affirmation of the truth of God. Only God Himself could bring about such an infallible and far reaching document into world history. When reading Gods’ word we may choose our own fate. Do I default to believe God who has proven Himself to be faithful and true, or do I continue to wrestle with Gods’ sovereignty to my own harm?
There are no other books or documents used by God to speak to humans, and therefore everything which is not the Judeo-Christian Bible that claims to speak truth into people’s lives is either commentary or deception. The articles on this website are commentary, and without the Bible as the only authority they are of no value at all… it is Gods’ word that allows one person to give guidance to another; and the Bible is Gods’ light into the very soul of all people.
The Holy Bible testifies to and about itself.
There is no book or document that has the effectual power of Gods’ Bible. (Hebrews 4: 12)
The teaching of Gods’ Holy Bible is primarily to reveal to us the source, nature and solution of our sin against God. Many would offer other primary subjects as the first priority of the Bible; after much consideration (and prayer) it has been revealed to me that had man not sinned against God the need for the Bible would all but not exist.
Had man not sinned, the teaching about the source of all sin would never have been called for… God would have no need to show us of our rebellion against Him. Had sin never been brought in between God and ourselves there would be no separation; God would have us to be the people He created us to be, and no written teaching of this type would be required.
People would be walking with, living with, and (most importantly) glorifying the God who created them (in His image).
The Bible has been written to instruct us in the righteous ways of God. Without sin there would be no breaking of Gods’ law, and therefore no law would be needed to instruct us in the way to go. The very laws that we have in secular society are mere images of the law of God. A major difference between our laws and Gods’ law is that we have to speak to foolish behaviors in greater and greater detail. The more we break various unwritten laws that should be obvious to us; the more our leaders have to write new laws to govern transgressions between one another. Gods’ law is perfect! Jesus Christ taught the ultimate short-form legal lesson; Mathew 22: 36 ~ 40 NRSV: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” With these simple words Christ summed-up the entire instruction of the Bible as to righteous life… obey these and you will not break any other commandment (law). The Bible also teaches us about Gods’ provision for saving us from the sin we chose to commit. With proper and reverent study of this amazing gift, we learn that God is just in all His ways, then we are faced with a simple decision; Do we accept what God has told us about ourselves, or do we continue to rebel to our own detriment? When considering that which is important in our lives, we are faced with a simple question… it is “the” question. Does God exist, is He real? If God “is”, then the next question is why did he create us? The Bible clearly shows that human beings were made to bring “glory to God”. Our sin has deprived God of His intended result, and being God, He has the ability to gain back that which was His in the beginning. The only thing that remains is; are you one of the people that will be glorifying to the God who loves you? The Bible is the instruction manual about how God is going to restore all things to Himself.
An acronym that I once heard is rather simple, however it is correct:
Basic
Instruction
Before
Leaving
Earth
It is generally held that the Holy Bible was written over a span of One Thousand-Five Hundred years by Forty or more authors (All used of God).
The first Five Books in the Bible are referred to as The Torah (Teaching). These books were penned by Moses. The “Old Testament” is also named The Tanakh. The Tanakh contains the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim. The “New Testament” contains the Gospels, Acts, Epistles (Letters), and the Apocalypse.
The order of the Biblical Books is different between the Jewish Bible and the Modern Christian Bible… The writings however are all but identical!
As time has progressed the accuracy of the Holy Bible has been affirmed in its’ truth and origin. The more archeological findings, writings and historical documents that have been found, the more there is confirmation about the durability, historical accuracy, and Godly inspiration of the Judeo-Christian Bible. This amazing gift from Yahweh has only been superseded by the earthly visitation, death and resurrection of His only son Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha’Mashiach).
(May 15, 2016)