S7E3 What is the Bible? - Bellator Christi

By: Brian G. Chilton, Ph.D., M.Div. | September 21, 2023

S7E3 What is the Bible on YouTube

Modern Christians place a lot of attention on the Bible. The Bible is the book that is used as the primary teaching tool for Christian worship services. It is the focus of study. Certain services in church settings are called “Bible studies” for good reason. Christians hold that the Bible is the revelation of God. That is, the Bible’s primary author is God as he inspired other individuals to reveal certain truths about himself. Or worded another way, the Bible is the means by which God has described who he is, who humanity is, and God’s plan to redeem humanity.

As much attention that Christians often place on the Bible, it is shocking how little attention is given to the structure, history, and characteristics of the Bible. As we begin our series on bibliology, let’s begin by discussing a few basic questions about the Bible itself. Such as: What is the Bible? How do we know the Bible is the Word of God? How long did it take for the Bible to be written? Who were the writers of the Bible? Is there a primary theme? What is Bibliology?

What is the Bible?

First, we must ask, what is the Bible? The term “Bible” comes from the Greek term biblios, which means “books.” The Bible is not a singular book. Rather, it is a collection of 66 books.

Divisions of the Bible

The Bible is separated into two major sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament contains 39 books, and the New Testament consists of 27 books. The Old Testament follows the encounters that the people of Israel had with God from the time of creation to their implementation as a nation, and it ends with their return from Babylonian exile.

The New Testament picks up the story in the first-century AD when Israel was under Roman rule. The New Testament follows the life of Jesus of Nazareth and his followers. Christians hold Jesus to be the Son of God and the fulfillment of messianic prophecies as found in the Old Testament. The New Testament largely consists of letters written by early church leaders to various churches across the region. It concludes with an apocalyptic look at what is yet to come with the book of Revelation.

7 Subdivisions of the Bible

We can break down the divisions of Scripture even further as we look at the Bible as a whole. These seven subdivisions consist of the law, history, poetry, prophecy, biographies, epistles, and apocalyptic literature. Let’s now look at these 7 subdivisions.

Law

The first five books of the Bible, often called the Pentateuch or the Torah, contain the law that God gave to the people of Israel. The law consists of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. However, it would be wrong to think that legal standards are all that is found in this section. The first portion of Genesis contains the creation story, where God is shown to be the source behind all that exists. The story continues with the narratives depicting the patriarchs of Israel, their lives, the lives of their children, and ends with their redemption from famine when they were welcomed to Egypt by Joseph who assumed a high position in the Egyptian court.

In Exodus, things grew worse for the Israelites. In Egypt, they grew in population which grew the ire of the Egyptian pharaoh. Seeking to keep the people in line, he then enslaved the Israelites. Afterward, God calls Moses, an Israelite saved by the Egyptian princess and adopted by the Egyptian royalty, to set his people free. After they are freed from the clutches of Egypt, God leads Moses to Mount Sinai where he gives him the law that is recorded in the remaining parts of Exodus, Leviticus, parts of Numbers, and retold in Deuteronomy.

Historical Narrative

The second subsection is called historical narrative. Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles all call this subsection home. As the name implies, historical narratives are the historical stories of early Israel. They tell the story of the early leaders and prophets who established Israel as a nation.

Joshua picks up the story after Moses’s death when Joshua led the people back to their homeland. It is a book full of courage, faith, and revitalization.

The book of Judges describes the unfortunate fall of the people into deep depravity after returning home. Each subsequent judge is more wicked than the one preceding them. Then, the other historical books tell of the rise of King Saul, King David, and King Solomon. They follow their lives and rule. The historians are very honest. They do not hide the sins and wrongdoings of their leaders, giving the books the thrills and chills of a novel. These stories, while true, are timeless and very spiritual, as the kings serve as both inspirations of what to do and examples of what not to do.

Poetry

The third subsection is called poetry. As the name suggests, this section comprises books of poetry, wisdom literature, and songs. Job—likely the oldest book of the Bible—along with Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon are all found in this section. The book of Proverbs tells of how life is supposed to go. If you live right and follow God, good things should come your way. However, Job serves as an example of a man who followed God and experienced great tragedy.

Ecclesiastes is a profound book that is quite depressing unless you read it under the lens of the last few verses. The Qoheleth, or Teacher, highlights the meaninglessness of life without a transcendent anchor found in God. The Song of Songs serves as a vivid example of the beauty of love between a couple, also serving as a beautiful example of God’s love for us. All these books connect together to show that life is designed to function a certain way. But these books are very honest in that life does not always go according to plan. In the end, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps” (Prov. 16:9, NIV).

Prophecy

The fourth subsection is prophecy. This section holds the writings of various prophets who lived after the split of Israel, which morphed into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea. The prophet served as God’s mouthpiece. They often gave messages of warning, exhorting people to change their ways before they faced an inevitable time of hardship. These judgments could be avoided if they sought the protection and holiness of God. Regrettably, the people rarely listened. The prophets were not only foretellers—predicting the future—but they were primarily forthtellers—preaching about the woes of the current generation. The prophets are divided into two further subdivisions: the Major Prophets, which are larger books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Lamentations), and smaller books called the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).

Biographies

For the last subsections, we turn to the New Testament. The fifth subsection is called biographies. Some could hold that the first five books are biographical. However, the Book of Acts could also be considered historical. Nonetheless, I digress. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are four biographical accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

Traditionally, Matthew is held to be written by Levi Matthew, a former tax collector and then-turned disciple of Jesus. His primary audience is Jewish believers and those interested in Jewish beliefs. Matthew links Jesus’s life back to the prophets of old, often showing Jesus as the fulfillment of the messianic expectations. In the Gospel of Matthew, you can find a lot of classic teachings of Jesus, including the Sermon on the Mount, several classic parables, and the Olivet Discourse. Matthew is often believed to have been written around AD 50–70 and likely came about in stages.

The Gospel of Mark was written by a man known as John Mark. John Mark was the cousin of Barnabas and a traveling companion of Paul, until a mysterious disruption caused Paul to part ways with Mark. John Mark gives a treatise primarily with a Roman audience in mind. Mark does not give a lot of lengthy messages. He is quick and to the point, often using phrases like “And immediately they went.” Mark’s Gospel is neither overly concerned with chronological accuracy nor fine-tuned details. Rather, he seeks to preserve the teachings of Simon Peter and does so with quickness. Mark’s Gospel often reads like an action movie as he moves from one scene to the next. Mark wrote his Gospel sometime in the AD 50s.

The Gospel of Luke is the exact opposite of the Gospel of Mark. Luke the physician wrote the Gospel of Luke. Luke was a colleague of Paul the Apostle. With great precision and detail, Luke writes an orderly account of Jesus’s life. While not an eyewitness of Jesus himself, he set forth to interview various individuals who were eyewitnesses and detailed their stories in the exquisite fashion of a historian.

The Gospel of Luke was likely written in the late AD 50s or early AD 60s, although some argue that the Gospel was written in the 70s. The Gospel of Luke was written with an intellectual Greek audience in mind. His Gospel contains some of the classic parables of Jesus, including the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The last Gospel is the most unique of all the four Gospels. It is the Gospel of John. John the Apostle likely wrote the Fourth Gospel later in life and likely while he was the pastor of the Church of Ephesus. It is one of the last New Testament books to be written. Most likely, the Gospel was penned in the mid-to-late 80s. John’s audience included all future generations of Christians. For that reason, his Gospel is the most spiritual and theological in nature.

In contrast with the first three Gospels, John focuses on the Judean ministry of Jesus and Jesus’s theological impact. Because of the later time of his writing and different focus, John provides some stories and teachings that do not appear in the other Gospels. In John, you will find the “I am” teachings, the story of the raising of Lazarus, and various other post-resurrection stories not found anywhere else. If you are new to the Bible, John is an excellent starting point. In my opinion, the apostle likely had that in mind when writing this glorious book.

The book of Acts continues the story of the New Testament church from Jesus’s ascension to the imprisonment of Paul. Acts is the sequel to the Gospel of Luke. Therefore, Luke the physician also wrote this book. Acts continues the story of the church by primarily looking at the lives and ministries of Peter and Paul. The book of Acts was likely written before AD 64, the year that Paul and Peter were executed in Rome.

Epistles

The sixth subsection is the Epistles. Rather than letters written to one specific person, epistles are circular letters written to a church, group of people, or a group of churches. The apostle Paul was the main author of these letters. However, the Catholic Epistles make up another subsection within this group. They contain letters ascribed to James, Jude, Peter, and John.

Apocalyptic

The seventh subsection of the Bible is apocalyptic. Apocalyptic literature focuses on the end times and the eventual victory of God in the ultimate culmination of history. While apocalyptic literature can often be frightening due to its imagery, when the symbols used by apocalyptic writers are correctly interpreted, the message of apocalyptic literature is often very optimistic. The book of Revelation, parts of Ezekiel, and parts of Daniel are all part of the apocalyptic genre of Scripture.

How Do We Know the Bible is the Word of God?

While a full treatment of this issue cannot be offered at this time, we have numerous reasons for believing that the Scripture is the Word, or revelation, of God.

First, consider the inspiration of Scripture. Simon Peter regards the nature of Scripture as one that comes from the Holy Spirit. He writes, “First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God^” (2 Pet. 1:20-21, NRSV). Thus, if Peter is correct, and Scripture flowed from the prompting and communication of the Holy Spirit, then it stands to reason that the Scripture is God’s divine revelation.

Furthermore, even though God used human agents to bring about the books of the Bible, the human authors are under the instruction of the ultimate Author—and that Author is God. God said to Moses in the book of Deuteronomy concerning his prophets, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him” (Deut. 18:18, NIV). God has been in the practice of using human agents to reveal his truth.

Second, consider the instruction of Scripture. Paul writes that Scripture is theopneustos, that is, God-breathed. Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16, NIV). The Bible is the primer, the primary manual for Christians. Thus, if the Bible is God’s written revelation, then we know about God through the truths he provided about himself in Scripture.

Secondly, the Bible is used to rebuke. In our time, we like to mold the Bible to say things that we want. When I say this, most people think of a liberalization of Scripture in some sense. However, the opposite is also true. Often, denominations have added things to the revelation of God to oppress and legislate certain criteria that are not found in Scripture. Therefore, Scripture convicts people from both sides of the aisle when properly understood.

Finally, Scripture corrects and trains a person to live a life of righteousness. When the Bible is allowed to speak what the ultimate Author intended, it is shown to be factual and inspired. The problem comes when we place more emphasis on our interpretations than attempting to understand the actual teachings of Scripture. In other words, we should allow God to mold us in his image through the Word, rather than trying to mold God in our image.

How Long Did It Take for the Bible to be Written?

The Bible spans a timeframe of over 2,000 years. Most likely, the Book of Job is the oldest book of the Bible. Though many scholars believe that it may have been written much later, Roy B. Zuck in the Bible Knowledge Commentary offers a compelling case that Job was likely a contemporary of Abraham (Zuck, BKC, 717). If true, that would place him and the story around 2100—1900 BC. Some contend that the story may have been passed along as an oral tradition until the time of Moses, when he ultimately recorded the story in a book.

Revelation is the last book of the Bible to have been written. John the Apostle likely penned the book around AD 95. If we are to accept both dates, Job being the more controversial of the two, then the Bible spans a remarkable 2,195 years.

Who Were the Writers of Scripture?

It is important to remember that the Bible traverses a vast number of societies and civilizations. The first individuals recorded in Scripture were the patriarchs who were Semites living as Sumerian nomads. Then, the people developed into communities, then city-states, until they finally formed a nation. At certain times, the people lived as slaves in Egypt, and at other times they lived as prosperous citizens of a mighty kingdom. Eventually, the Bible ends with the Jewish followers of Jesus who lived under the auspicious rule of the Roman Empire.

God used at least 40 individuals to write the Bible. Here are a few of the more prominent writers of Scripture. Moses wrote the majority of the first five books of the Bible, along with Psalm 90. It is likely that he collected stories of his people while living in Egypt. As he encountered the living God and the redemption of the people of Israel from the enslavement of Egypt, he likely documented their theological history in addition to the law that God gave him. Moses would have been a highly educated, sophisticated gentlemen, having been granted the best education that Egypt could offer.

King David is one of the most prolific writers of the Bible. He collected the majority of the psalms in the Book of Psalms. He penned at least 73 of them himself.

King Solomon was the son of David. He was one of the wisest kings of Israel. Solomon collected and likely wrote most of what is found in the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Unsurprisingly, the name identified as the wisest man in Israel was known for his wisdom literature.

God used many individuals as writing prophets. The prophet Samuel was an early prophet. He likely wrote the vast majority of what is found in 1 and 2 Samuel. The chief of them was Isaiah. Isaiah wrote a large masterpiece that spoke of the upcoming Messiah and the restoration of Israel. Many believe that he may have been executed by being sawn in two.

Jeremiah, often called the weeping prophet, wrote the book ascribed to him along with the Book of Lamentations. Many Jewish and Christian scholars alike believe that Jeremiah may have penned 1 and 2 Kings as well. Baruch, Jeremiah’s assistant, likely helped him pen these documents. Like Isaiah, he wrote a large book that often spoke of the pending judgment that was to come to the people and about the ultimate restoration that would eventually come.

Additionally, God used Ezekiel to write a compelling, yet bizarre prophecy that included a futuristic look at the third Temple in Jerusalem. Other prophets include Daniel, Amos, Hosea, Habakkuk, and the other Minor Prophets.

Like Moses, the prophet Daniel would have been a man of great education and sophistication. He likely penned most, if not all, of the book that bears his name.

In addition to writing the book that holds his name, some also hold the prophet Ezra to be behind the writing of 1 and 2 Chronicles. He may have authored other books or portions of them.

In the New Testament, God used Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Simon Peter, James, and Jude to write the books in this collection. Additionally, if one of Paul’s companions wrote Hebrews, such as Barnabas or Apollos, then there would be another person to add to the list of writers.

What is the Primary Theme of the Bible?

As complicated and expansive as the Bible is, its message is relatively simple. The Bible’s main message is one of redemption. The narrative thread that connects the 66 books of Scripture tells the story of God’s loving creation, of humanity’s sinful fall, and of God’s ongoing effort to redeem mankind from sin and themselves. The story of the Bible reaches its climax with Jesus of Nazareth, who was the Son of God and the Savior of humanity, the horror of his crucifixion, and the glory of his marvelous resurrection. The story culminates with God’s restoration of humanity and creation in the New Heaven and the New Earth. As my dad used to say, “The Bible is about love. If you take love out of the Bible, then you have removed the message of the Bible.” Dad was and is absolutely right!

What is Bibliology?

Of all our questions tonight, this one is the easiest to answer. Bibliology is the study of the Bible. Biblios means “books,” and logos means the “study of something.” Thus, bibliology is the study of the Bible. Bibliology includes hermeneutical studies—that is, how we can best interpret the Bible—along with canonical issues, or how the early collectors of Scripture identify which books were inspired from those that were not.

One of our first explorations of bibliology will peer into the nature of revelation. How has God revealed himself through history? That will be our topic of conversation next week. We will also be joined by Curtis Evelo for the first episode of the Question Zone. We hope that you will join us for this fascinating study. Until then, we thank you for joining us on the Bellator Christi Podcast. May God bless, and we’ll see you back the next time that we step into the arena of ideas.

About the Author

Brian G. Chilton is the founder of Bellator Christi Ministries and the co-host of the Bellator Christi Podcast. Dr. Chilton earned a Ph.D. in the Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University (with high distinction), a M.Div. in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his B.S. in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); earned a Certificate in Christian Apologetics from Biola University, and completed Unit 1 of Clinical Pastoral Education at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine. Dr. Chilton is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Evangelical Philosophical Society. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, working out in his home gym, and watching football. He has served in pastoral ministry for over 20 years and serves as a clinical chaplain.