BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BIBLE

THE WORD OF GOD

The Bible is the book by which God declared His will unto man, and it is where the ways of life and death is presented unto mankind. 

The Bible is just as perfect as all that God has done, and in therefore there is no falsehood.

It possesses the testimony that God is of the heavens, which cannot be moved by nonbelievers (infidel). The Bible contains sixty-six books combined in one book. The word Bible is taken from the Greek word "ta Biblia" which signifies the “book”, or the “book of books”. It is said to be "The Book," for it is the highest type of all books. But the use of the word “Bible” in the sixty-six books, it can be inferred in the last five hundred years of the present dispensation before this era, the word “scriptures” is applied to these carefully preserved writings as Holy Scriptures.

The writers of the bible

There are at least thirty-six different writers, writing in three continents and countries, over a period of fifteen hundred years. These writers are in varied stage of life, where in they discuss the different experiences of the human race. It was written in two languages, Hebrew and Greek, except for a few verses of the Old Testament written in Chaldean. These are Ezra 5: 8; 6:12; 7: 12-26, and verse 28, a verse in Jeremiah 10 and the rest of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew.

The ancient writings

At the present time, all the ancient writings of the original documents, of the Old Testament (Old Testament) now in existence are recorded in cooked clay parchment deposited in the museum of antiques. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many fascinating discoveries have been made that confirm the biblical history that has been carried out. The writings in mud was discovered at various times, the most significant of which was excavated in 1845 from the long burial in the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh, which was once the largest library in the world. 

In the ancient Greek New Testament (New Covenant) scriptures that sustainability exists today, one of these was found in Alexandria, Egypt as early as 1628. It was copied from the first manuscript, on the date A.D. 350, now in the British Museum. This one, like those found at different time intervals, is surprisingly united and agrees with all other manuscripts that now exist, showing how God in His eternal wisdom and mysterious way is watching and maintains His revelation to mankind.

ORIginal text and translation

The Old Testament was first written in Hebrew in long scroll of papyrus (paper), which is then translated into another language. The Septuagint is the oldest version (translation), that means "seventy". This is composed of the original Alexandrian records for the library of Alexandria, a group of seventy wise Jews, circa 285 B.C. A command was given by Alexander the Great, following his visit to Jerusalem during 332 B.C., which by that time he had become familiar with the prophecy of Daniel 8:21, pertaining to himself, concerning his career and fortune, which foretold what happened in his life, death and the division of his kingdom after his death. This was mentioned by Josephus in his book 11, chapter 8.

The Bible in the old times

Before the art of printing was discovered as a natural consequence, the scripts (scriptures) are very expensive, due to limited circulation, but very few people had the opportunity to read them for themselves, but was only to understand a small amount of its contents. Because of this, their enlightening and saving truth are masked and the erratic belief in the superstitions of the imaginative thinking of man is prevalent in the world. It requires a lot of effort and long tiring writing hours to translate new copies of the scriptures; but by the help of hundreds and hundreds of copyists, thousands of large volumes of the holy book was made and sold at high cost.

*Elder A.N. Dugger.