THE WORD OF GOD

Our faith, hope, and salvation are based upon Jesus Christ. And we learn of Him and
come to believe in Him through the Bible. Therefore, we depend on the Bible as the only
source of divine truth. Since this is so, we should thoroughly examine the Book in which
we put so much trust.

THE BIBLE

Other designations of the Scripture are equally as important as the following three, but
these three are heard quite often.

1. Our word Bible comes from the Greek word biblia, which means books. Combined together these books make up the Book (Psalm 40:7; Hebrews 10:7). Therefore, the word Bible is a proper designation of the written, inspired Word of God. (See Daniel 7:10; Revelation 20:12.)

2. Scriptures is from a Latin word meaning the writings. God often told people to “write” (Exodus 17:14; 34:27; Luke 1:1-4; Revelation 1:11) as they were moved on by the Holy Ghost. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16).

3. God’s words have been preserved and delivered to humanity; therefore, the Bible is rightly called the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12). Books are readily available in our society, but the book that should hold preeminence in our lives is the Bible.

FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE

1. The Bible contains sixty-six books. Thirty-nine are in the Old Testament. Twenty-seven are in the New Testament.

2. There are 1,189 chapters, 31,173 verses, and 773,692 words in the Bible.

Old Testament New Testament
929 chapters 260 chapters
23,214 verses 7,959 verses
592,439 words 181,253 words

3. There are at least, and possibly more than, thirty-six different writers of the Scriptures, who wrote on three continents: Africa, Asia, Europe. Their writings span over 1,500 years.

4. The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew with a few small sections in Aramaic, while the New Testament was written in Greek.

5. When printing was invented in A.D. 1450, the Bible was the first book printed. It was previously copied by hand.

6. In A.D. 1250, Cardinal Hugo divided the Bible into chapters. In A.D. 1551, Sir Robert Stephens divided the Bible into verses.