The Bible

The English word "Bible" comes from bíblia in Latin and bíblos (βίβλος) in Greek. The term means book or books. The Bible begins in Genesis with “ In the beginning God.” Elohim, the creator of the world, takes “the initiative , giving us information about himself and showing his purpose for us—his creation. … he tells us where we came from, our ultimate destiny, and the purpose of our lives."(Paul Little, Know What You Believe pp.15-16) The Bible divides into two sections: Old Testament and New Testament. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew while the New Testaments was written in Kione Greek with some Aramaic. Christians believe the Bible is inspired by God, “and authoritative for faith and practice. "It includes stories, laws, prophecies, poems, letters, and visions that reveal God's plan and purpose for humanity and the world. The Bible also presents the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the central figure of Christianity.” (https://www.learnreligions.com/) “The Bible writers wrote over a period of about 1500 years, comprising 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. The Bible books were written by about 40 authors on the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. “ (https://www.bibleinfo.com/) The Protestant Bible share the same Old Testament contents with Judaism, Protestant Christianity, and Roman Catholics. But only the Catholics and Protestants accept the New Testament. However, the Roman Catholics add 7 more books in the Old Testaments called Apocrypha (Protestant do acts these as canonical). “The books found in the Apocrypha were primarily written during the four-hundred-year period between the completion of the Old Testament writings and the beginning of the New Testament's events (they also include claimed additions to the Old Testament books of Esther and Daniel). These books include 1 Esdras, 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, the Letter of Jeremiah, Prayer of Manasseh, 1 Maccabees, and 2 Maccabees.­” https://www.compellingtruth.org/Apocrypha) The reason only the Catholics have these extra books is because of their teachings which Protestants do not accept. “… the Roman Catholic Church officially added the Apocrypha to their Bible at the Council of Trent in the mid 1500's A.D. … part of the reason for this is that the Apocrypha supports some of the traditions the Roman Catholic Church practices that are not taught in the Bible. For example, the Roman Catholic practices of praying for the dead, petitioning "saints" in heaven with their prayers, and "alms giving" to atone for sins (paying indulgences)…” (https://www.compellingtruth.org/Apocrypha) In addition, the Catholics practice Purgatory . Catholics believe that Purgatory is a step before Heaven where believers are cleaned up for the "wedding banquet" of the Lord in Heaven. Not all believers have to go through Purgatory (some go straight to Heaven) but all people in Purgatory eventually make it to Heaven. They are the elect. (catholicbridge.com) Therefore, the Protestant Bible of the Old Testament was made canonical in the year AD 90 at the Council of Jamnia. ( https://evidenceforchristianity.org/) while the New Testament became canonized in the council of Hippo in year 393. Later it affirmed in the council of Carthage in years 397 and 419.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_New_Testament_canon)