" The Word of God is like a Lion" -- Charles Spurgeon

The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” – Charles Spurgeon

Study The Scripture Like The Bereans


Anyone can make a claim about God or the Bible, but that does not mean they spoke the truth! As Christians, we need to learn how to study the Bible from the Bereans and become students of the Bible, searching and investigating the various claims that are spoken of concerning God’s holy, perfect Word.

Who were the Bereans?
Acts 17:11 – “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

The Bible has opposition from many different angles. Some criticize the Bible saying that there are all kinds of contradictions and errors in it, while others misinterpret or twist the words therein. Consider Paul’s counsel to Timothy…“Be diligent to present yourselves approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” – 2 Tim. 2:15

“The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” – Charles Spurgeon

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What Is The Holy Bible?
It is God’s written revelation to man.
The Bible is 66 books, made up of The Old Testament (39) and The New Testament (27). The Old Testament (Covenant) – A promise God made with Abraham – Israel – Jews, which included Moses and the giving of the Law. The New Testament – A promise God made with the Church, believing Jews and Gentiles, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.



So Where Did The Holy Bible Get Its Name From?
The English word “Bible” seems to have first been used by Chrysostom.
He was the bishop of Constantinople from 397 to 407, when he wrote the phrase “the books” of the two testaments together. In Greek, the word is “biblios”, but when it was transferred into Latin, it was put into a singular form as a title, Biblia, “The Bible”. The word “Bible” seemed to come from “byblos”, which was a writing material made from the sun-dried papyrus plant. Since this holy book was recognized as the written revelation of God, it became known as “The Holy Bible”.



The Who, When, Where Of The Bible
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by 40+ different authors in a time span of over 1500 years. Each human author was inspired by the one divine author – GOD.

When was the Bible written?
The Old Testament was written from about 1400 B.C. to 400 B.C. The New Testament was written from about A.D. 40 to A.D. 90-100.

Where was the Bible written?
The Bible was written over three different continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. The writings of Ezekiel were composed in Babylon (Asia). Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible is Sinai (Africa). Apostle Paul wrote letter to Philippi while in Rome (Europe).



How Was The Bible Written?
The Bible was written on various objects and materials as God moved men to write:
Clay Tablets: These were popular in the ancient Middle East for the straight lines of cuneiform script with its curved lines. It is possible that some of the early books of the Bible were written upon clay tablets. (Jer. 17:13, Ezek. 4:1) Stone: one of the most ancient writing sources. (Deut. 5:22, Ex. 24:12, 34:1, Job 19:23-24) Wooden Tablets: Like clay tablets, the writing must be short in length. (Hab. 2:2, Isa. 30:8) Papyrus: One of the most ancient writing materials known to man, used in Egypt three thousand years before Christ. The surface was made from the papyrus plant which grew in swampy areas in the delta of the Nile River. (Job 8:11, 2 John 12, Rev. 5:1) Leather, Parchment, Vellum: The skins of animals were used to receive writing and these scrolls had an advantage in that they did not wear us out as quickly. Parchment was the main surface used for books from the fourth century A.D. until the Middle Ages. (2 Tim. 4:13) Paper: Paper began to come to use during the Middle Ages. It had been invented in the first century A.D. in China and the knowledge of it came to Europe during the eighth century.

The scroll was the common book format for writings of antiquity.
Gluing sheets of papyrus together and winding the strips around a stick made scrolls. After the scroll was read, the reader would then re-roll it. Codex is the word used to describe when the papyrus sheets were written on both sides and assembled in leaf form. It is believed with good evidence that Christians invented the codex in the first century A.D. to arrange the different biblical books into one volume and make the passages easier to find.



What Language Was The Bible Written In?
The Bible was written in three languages. [Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek]:
Hebrew, the language of most of the Old Testament (in 2 Kings 18:26-28 called “the language of Judah,” in Isaiah 19:18 called “the language of Canaan”). Aramaic, the “common language” of the Near East until the time of Alexander the Great (6th century B.C. – 4th century B.C.). It is an offshoot of the Hebrew language. (Dan. 2:4-7:28) Koine Greek, the New Testament language, and the Koine “common” Greek language, which was the international language and an advanced written language at the time of Christ.



Bible Chapter And Verse Divisions
The chapter and verse divisions were not in any of the original manuscripts.
They were added later to make it easier to find specific passages and find certain Scriptural statements. The Bible was divided into chapters in 1227 by Stephen Langton, a professor at the University of Paris and later Archbishop of Canterbury. Verse division was done by the French printer Robert Stephanus in 1551 and 1555.

Interestingly, Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter and Psalm 119 is the longest chapter. But Psalm 118 is the exact middle chapter of the Bible, having 594 chapters before it and 594 chapters after it. The exact center verse of the Bible is: Psa. 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in man.