The Christian Bible is still the most sold book in the world.  The Bible states that the scriptures are the inspired Word of God, His eternal truth.  The Bible is like a manual, leading us to God, and supplying everything we need to know for an effective life. 

 The Bible is divided into the Old Testament, and the New Testament.  There are 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the New Testament.  These books were written by about 40 people including shepherds, fishermen, kings, a doctor, a tax collector, and a tentmaker.  God gave His Word for all people throughout the centuries, to show us how to live.

 In Scripture, God has revealed who He is, some of His eternal purposes, things to take place, and His relationship to us.  The Bible records life events from many people throughout history.  God is still active in the earth.  Some things in heaven are also mentioned. 

 The Bible has one main message.  That is, all have turned away from God, and must accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and Lord to be freed from sin and made right with God again.

 The canonical scriptures in total are generally considered to have been written over a 1500-1600 year period. Large numbers of early manuscripts exist, showing almost no change to the scriptures over the centuries.  Copies were painstakingly made by scribes with particular method to ensure accuracy.  The first copies from the original Old Testament and New Testament were made considerably sooner than other ancient writings.

 A significant part of the Bible is actually prophecy.  Often future events are stated hundreds of years ahead.  Many Bible prophecies have already been proven completely accurate in their fulfilment.  Only the Christian Bible displays this.  Certain scientific statements in the Bible preceded discoveries proven by people much later.  Also, archaeology is more and more proving the accuracy of names, places and events in the Bible.  Reputable research information given on various websites clearly supports such.  

 The Bible is true and accurate.  It is trustworthy.

 Different Bible Versions 

Many different Bible versions have been developed, particularly more recently.  Often teams of scholars have taken considerable time to do so.  Translating the scriptures into various languages from the original languages such as Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek is a complex endeavour.  But which Bible versions are best?  This can be a matter of opinion.

 Basically, Bible versions can be word-for-word, meaning-for-meaning, or paraphrases.  Meaning-for-meaning versions can be a bit easier for some readers to follow, and paraphrases may be even a little simpler in their language, but this is at the expense of varying degrees of less accuracy to the original languages.  There is also a bit of a push more recently, to render some scriptures in neutral language regarding male/female wording, which can actually alter scriptural statements/meaning sometimes from the original.

 My personal choice for more serious study of God’s Word is with word-for-word translations, which stay as close as possible to the original language wording, in reasonably readable English.  A few such good versions are the King James, the New American Standard, the English Standard Version, and the New King James.   

 Daily reading of God’s Word is very important. 

 Relevant Scripture: 

2 Peter 1:20-21

 2 Timothy 3:15-16

 Proverbs 30:5

 Hebrews 4:12