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| | + | The '''Bible''' (a loanword from [[Koine Greek]] τὰ βιβλία, ''tà biblía'', "the books") is the central [[religious text]] of [[Christianity]]. It is a collection of [[scripture]]s written at different times by different authors in different locations. [[Jew]]s consider the [[Old Testament]] to contain the books of the bible, while [[Christian]]s consider both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[Old Testament]]'s to be books of the Bible. The bible is a [[Biblical inspiration|product of divine inspiration]] and is the only authoritative record of the relationship between [[God]] and humans. |
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| - | {| class="infobox" style="font-size:85%"
| + | Modern [[Judaism]] generally recognizes a single set of [[Development of the Jewish Bible canon|canonical books]] known as the ''[[Tanakh]]'', or [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew or Jewish Bible]]. It comprises three parts: the [[Torah]] ("Teaching", also known as the [[Pentateuch]] or "Five Books of [[Moses]]"), the [[Prophets]], and the [[Writings]]. It was primarily written in [[Hebrew (language)|Hebrew]] with some small portions in [[Aramaic]]. In Christianity, the Tanakh is known as the [[Old Testament]] comprising of 39 books. |
| - | | '''The Bible''' is
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| - | * '''Part of [[:Category:Judaism]] '''
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| - | : (see [[#Hebrew Bible|The Hebrew Bible]] below)
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| - | * '''Part of a series on [[Christianity]] '''
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| - | : (see [[#New Testament|The New Testament]] below)
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| - | |}
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| - | The '''Holy Bible''' is the central [[religious text]] of [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]].<ref>http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible Dictionary.com</ref>
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| - | Modern [[Judaism]] generally recognizes a single set of [[Development of the Jewish Bible canon|canonical books]] known as the ''[[Tanakh]]'', or [[Hebrew Bible|Hebrew or Jewish Bible]].<ref>See: McDonald and Sanders's ''The Canon Debate'', 2002.</ref> It comprises three parts: the [[Torah]] ("Teaching", also known as the [[Pentateuch]] or "Five Books of [[Moses]]"), the [[Prophets]], and the [[Writings]]. It was primarily written in [[Hebrew (language)|Hebrew]] with some small portions in [[Aramaic]]. In Christian religions, the Tanakh is known as the [[Old Testament]]. | + | |
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| - | Christians, including [[Roman Catholics]] and [[Greek Orthodox]], all have the same 27 books in the [[New Testament]] (originally written in [[Koine Greek|Greek]]) and the same 39 books in the Old Testament. The only difference are the [[Biblical apocrypha|apocrypha]], a collection of writings that originated during the [[intertestamental period]] (400 BC - 27 AD). The Greek Orthodox Bible contains 27 apocryphal books, while the Roman Catholic Bible contains only 23 of them.<ref>List of books in the Christian Bible, Roman Catholic Bible, Greek Orthodox Bible." http://www.bible.ca/b-canon-orthodox-catholic-christian-bible-books.htm</ref> [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches use all of the books that were incorporated into the [[Septuagint]], to which they add the earliest Greek translation of the [[Deuterocanonicals]].
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| - | == Etymology ==
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| - | [[File:Family-bible.jpg|thumb|upright|An American family Bible dating to 1859 A.D.]]
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| - | According to the [[Online Etymology Dictionary]], the word ''bible''<ref>[http://etymonline.com/?term=bible Online Etymology Dictionary entry for word "Bible"].</ref> is from Latin ''biblia'', traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin, as used in the phrase ''biblia sacra'' ("holy book" - "In the Latin of the Middle Ages, the neuter plural for Biblia (gen. bibliorum) gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun (biblia, gen. bibliae, in which singular form the word has passed into the languages of the Western world.").<ref>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm The Catholic Encyclopedia.</ref> This stemmed from the [[Greek language|Greek]] term ''{{polytonic|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}}'' (''ta biblia ta hagia''), "the holy books", which derived from ''βιβλίον'' (''biblion''),<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2319917 Biblion, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A'' Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus].</ref> "paper" or "scroll," the ordinary word for "[[book]]", which was originally a diminutive of ''βύβλος'' (''byblos'', "Egyptian papyrus"), possibly so called from the name of the [[Phoenicia]]n port [[Byblos]] from whence Egyptian [[papyrus]] was exported to Greece.
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| - | Biblical scholar Mark Hamilton states that the Greek phrase ''Ta biblia'' ("the books") was "an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books several centuries before the time of [[Jesus]],"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/scriptures.html "From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible" by Mark Hamilton] on PBS's site [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians].</ref> and would have referred to the [[Septuagint]].<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible Dictionary.com etymology of the word "Bible"].</ref> The Online Etymology Dictionary states, "The Christian scripture was referred to in [[Greek language|Greek]] as ''Ta Biblia'' as early as c.223."
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| - | == Jewish canon==
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| - | {{Judaism}}{{main|Tanakh}}
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| - | The Tanakh ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{hebrew|תנ"ך}}) consists of 24 books. Tanakh is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible: the [[Torah]] ("Teaching/Law" also known as the [[Pentateuch]]), [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets"), and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings," or [[Hagiographa]]), and is used commonly by Jews but unfamiliar to many English speakers and others {{ref_harvard|Alexander|Alexander 1999, p. 17|none}}.
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| - | (See [[Table of books of Judeo-Christian Scripture]]).
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| - | === Torah ===
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| - | {{main|Torah}}
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| - | The [[Torah]], or "Instruction," is also known as the "Five Books" of [[Moses]], thus [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]] from Hebrew meaning "fivesome," and [[Pentateuch]] from Greek meaning "five scroll-cases."
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| - | The Torah comprises the following five books:
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| - | * 1. [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], Ge—Bereshit (בראשית)
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| - | * 2. [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], Ex—Shemot (שמות)
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| - | * 3. [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], Le—Vayikra (ויקרא)
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| - | * 4. [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], Nu—Bamidbar (במדבר)
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| - | * 5. [[Deuteronomy]], Dt—Devarim (דברים)
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| - | The Hebrew book titles come from the first words in the respective texts. The Hebrew title for Numbers, however, comes from the fifth word of that text.
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| - | The Torah focuses on three moments in the changing relationship between God and people. The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the [[Creation according to Genesis|creation]] (or ordering) of the world, and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's covenant with the Hebrew [[patriarch]]s, [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (also called [[Israel]]), and Jacob's children (the "[[Children of Israel]]"), especially [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of [[Ur]], eventually to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of [[Moses]], who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. His story coincides with the story of the liberation of the Children of Israel from slavery in [[Ancient Egypt]], to the renewal of their covenant with God at [[Mount Sinai]], and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation would be ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.
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| - | The Torah contains the commandments, of God, revealed at Mount Sinai (although there is some debate amongst Jewish scholars, if this was written down completely in one moment, or if it was spread out during the 40 years in the wandering in the desert). These commandments provide the basis for [[Halakha]] (Jewish religious law). Tradition states that the number of these is equal to [[613 Mitzvot]] or 613 commandments. There is some dispute as to how to divide these up (mainly between the [[Ramban]] and [[Rambam]]).
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| - | The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions which are read in turn in Jewish liturgy, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, each [[Shabbat|Sabbath]]. The cycle ends and recommences at the end of [[Sukkot]], which is called [[Simchat Torah]].
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| - | === Nevi'im ===
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| - | {{main|Nevi'im}}
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| - | The [[Nevi'im]], or "Prophets," tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy, its division into two kingdoms, and the prophets who, in God's name, warned the kings and the Children of Israel about the punishment of God. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians, and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Portions of the prophetic books are read by Jews on the Sabbath ([[Shabbat]]). The [[Book of Jonah]] is read on [[Yom Kippur]].
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| - | According to Jewish tradition, Nevi'im is divided into eight books. Contemporary translations subdivide these into seventeen books.
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| - | The Nevi'im comprise the following eight books:
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| - | * 6. [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]], Js—Yehoshua (יהושע)
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| - | * 7. [[Book of Judges|Judges]], Jg—Shoftim (שופטים)
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| - | * 8. [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]], includes First and Second, 1Sa–2Sa—Shemuel (שמואל)
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| - | * 9. [[Books of Kings|Kings]], includes First and Second, 1Ki–2Ki—Melakhim (מלכים)
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| - | * 10. [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], Is—Yeshayahu (ישעיהו)
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| - | * 11. [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], Je—Yirmiyahu (ירמיהו)
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| - | * 12. [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], Ez—Yekhezkel (יחזקאל)
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| - | * 13. Twelve, includes all [[Minor Prophets]]—Tre Asar (תרי עשר)
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| - | ** a. [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]], Ho—Hoshea (הושע)
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| - | ** b. [[Book of Joel|Joel]], Jl—Yoel (יואל)
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| - | ** c. [[Book of Amos|Amos]], Am—Amos (עמוס)
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| - | ** d. [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]], Ob—Ovadyah (עבדיה)
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| - | ** e. [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]], Jh—Yonah (יונה)
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| - | ** f. [[Book of Micah|Micah]], Mi—Mikhah (מיכה)
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| - | ** g. [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]], Na—Nahum (נחום)
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| - | ** h. [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]], Hb—Havakuk (חבקוק)
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| - | ** i. [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]], Zp—Tsefanya (צפניה)
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| - | ** j. [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], Hg—Khagay (חגי)
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| - | ** k. [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]], Zc—Zekharyah (זכריה)
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| - | ** l. [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], Ml—Malakhi (מלאכי)
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| - | === Ketuvim ===
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| - | {{main|Ketuvim}}
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| - | The [[Ketuvim]], or "Writings" or "Scriptures," may have been written during or after the [[Babylonian captivity|Babylonian Exile]] but no one can be sure. According to Rabbinic tradition, many of the psalms in the book of [[Psalms]] are attributed to [[David (biblical king)|David]]; [[King Solomon]] is believed to have written [[Song of Songs]] in his youth, [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]] at the prime of his life, and [[Ecclesiastes]] at old age; and the prophet [[Jeremiah]] is thought to have written [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]. The [[Book of Ruth]] is the only biblical book that centers entirely on a non-Jew. The book of Ruth tells the story of a non-Jew (specifically, a [[Moab]]ite) who married a Jew and, upon his death, [[Proselyte|followed in the ways of the Jews]]; according to the Bible, she was the great-grandmother of [[King David]]. Five of the books, called "The Five Scrolls" (Megilot), are read on Jewish holidays: Song of Songs on [[Passover]]; the [[Book of Ruth]] on [[Shavuot]]; [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]] on the [[Ninth of Av]]; Ecclesiastes on [[Sukkot]]; and the [[Book of Esther]] on [[Purim]]. Collectively, the Ketuvim contain lyrical poetry, philosophical reflections on life, and the stories of the prophets and other Jewish leaders during the Babylonian exile. It ends with the Persian decree allowing Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
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| - | The Ketuvim comprise the following eleven books:
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| - | * 14. [[Book of Psalms|Psalms]], Ps—Tehillim (תהלים)
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| - | * 15. [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], Pr—Mishlei (משלי)
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| - | * 16. [[Book of Job|Job]], Jb—Iyyov (איוב)
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| - | * 17. [[Song of Songs]], So—Shir ha-Shirim (שיר השירים)
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| - | * 18. [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]], Ru—Rut (רות)
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| - | * 19. [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]], La—Eikhah (איכה), also called Kinot (קינות)
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| - | * 20. [[Book of Ecclesiastes|Ecclesiastes]], Ec—Kohelet (קהלת)
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| - | * 21. [[Book of Esther|Esther]], Es—Ester (אסתר)
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| - | * 22. [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], Dn—Daniel (דניאל)
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| - | * 23. [[Book of Ezra|Ezra]], Ea, includes [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]], Ne—Ezra (עזרא), includes Nehemiah (נחמיה)
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| - | * 24. [[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]], includes First and Second, 1Ch–2Ch—Divrei ha-Yamim (דברי הימים), also called Divrei (דברי)
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| - | === Hebrew Bible translations and editions ===
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| - | {{main|Bible translations}}
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| - | The Tanakh was mainly written in [[Biblical Hebrew]], with some portions (notably in [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Ezra|Ezra]]) in [[Biblical Aramaic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csbbc.net/bible.html |title=Bible Study, Bible Facts |accessdate=2007-11-05 |format=HTML |work= }}</ref>
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| - | === The Oral Torah ===
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| - | According to some Jews during the [[Hellenistic period]], such as the [[Sadducees]] only a minimal oral tradition of interpreting the words of the Torah existed, which did not extend into extended biblical interpretation. According to the [[Pharisee]]s, however, God revealed both a Written Torah and an [[Oral Torah]] to Moses, the Oral Torah consisting of both stories and legal traditions. In Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah is essential for understanding the Written Torah literally (as it includes neither vowels nor punctuation) and [[exegesis|exegetically]]. The Oral Torah has different facets, principally [[Halacha]] (laws), the [[Aggadah]] (stories), and the [[Kabbalah]] (esoteric knowledge). Major portions of the Oral Law have been committed to writing, notably the [[Mishnah]]; the [[Tosefta]]; [[Midrash]], such as [[Midrash Rabbah]], the [[Sifre]], the [[Sifra]], and the [[Mechilta]]; and both the Babylonian and Jerusalem [[Talmud]]s as well.
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| - | [[Orthodox Judaism]] continues to accept the Oral Torah in its totality. [[Masorti]] and [[Conservative Judaism]] state that the Oral Tradition is to some degree divinely inspired, but disregard its legal elements in varying degrees. [[Reform Judaism]] also gives some credence to the Talmud containing the legal elements of the Oral Torah, but, as with the written Torah, asserts that both were inspired by, but not dictated by, God. [[Reconstructionist Judaism]] denies any connection of the Torah, Written or Oral, with God.
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| - | The article ''[[Jewish commentaries on the Bible]]'' discusses the Jewish understanding of the Bible, including bible commentaries from the ancient [[Targums]] to classical [[Rabbinic literature]], the [[midrash]] literature, the classical [[Meforshim|medieval commentators]], and modern day Jewish bible commentaries.
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| - | == Christian canons of the Bible==
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| - | {{Christianity}}
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| - | The Christian Bible consists of the Hebrew scriptures, which have been called the [[Old Testament]], and some later writings known as the [[New Testament]]. Some groups within Christianity include additional books as part of one or both of these "Testaments" of their sacred writings—most prominent among which are the [[biblical apocrypha]] or [[deuterocanonical books]].
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| - | Different versions of the English Christian Bible include the [[KJV]], the [[NKJV]], the [[NIV]], and the [[TNIV]]. To see a complete list, see [[List of English Bible translations]].
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| - | In Judaism, the term ''Christian Bible'' is commonly used to identify only those books like the New Testament which have been added by Christians to the [[Masoretic Text]], and excludes any reference to an ''Old Testament''.<ref>[http://www.aish.com/shavuottorah/shavuottorahdefault/Accuracy_of_Torah_Text.asp Accuracy of Torah Text].</ref>
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| - | === Old Testament ===
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| - | {{main|Old Testament}}
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| - | The Old Testament is the collection of books written prior to the life of [[Jesus]] but accepted by Christians as [[scripture]]. Broadly speaking, it is the same as the [[Hebrew Bible]], however it divides and orders them differently, and varies from Judaism in interpretation and emphasis (see for example [[Isaiah 7:14]]). Several Christian denominations also incorporate additional books into their [[Biblical canon|canons]] of the Old Testament. A few groups consider particular translations to be [[divine inspiration|divinely inspired]], notably the Greek [[Septuagint]], the Aramaic [[Peshitta]], and the English [[King James Version]].
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| - | ==== Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books ====
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| - | The [[Septuagint]] (Greek translation, from Alexandria in Egypt under the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]]) was generally abandoned in favour of the [[Masoretic]] text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into [[Western world|Western]] languages from St. Jerome's Bible (the [[Vulgate]]) to the present day. In [[Eastern Christianity]], translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. Some modern Western translations make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text. They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in other texts e.g. those discovered among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].
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| - | A number of books which are part of the Peshitta or Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible are often referred to as [[deuterocanonical books]] by Roman Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e. deutero) canon. Most Protestants term these books as [[apocrypha]]. [[Evangelicalism|Evangelicals]] and those of the Modern [[Protestantism|Protestant]] traditions do not accept the deuterocanonical books as canonical, although Protestant Bibles [[Biblical apocrypha|included them]] in Apocrypha sections until around the 1820s. However, the Roman [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]], and [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] Churches include these books as part of their Old Testament.
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| - | The Roman Catholic Church recognizes the following books:
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| - | * [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]
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| - | * [[Book of Judith|Judith]]
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| - | * [[1 Maccabees]]
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| - | * [[2 Maccabees]]
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| - | * [[Wisdom of Solomon]]
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| - | * [[Sirach]] also called ''Ecclesiasticus''
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| - | * [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]
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| - | * [[Book of Esther#Additions to Esther|Greek Additions to Esther]]
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| - | * [[Additions to Daniel|Greek Additions to Daniel]]
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| - | In addition to those, the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches recognize the following:
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| - | * [[3 Maccabees]]
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| - | * [[1 Esdras]] i.e. Greek Ezra paraphrase
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| - | * [[Prayer of Manasseh]]
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| - | * [[Psalm 151]] as part of the Psalter
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| - | Some other Eastern Orthodox Churches include a few others, typically:
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| - | * [[2 Esdras]] i.e. Latin Esdras in the Russian and Georgian Bibles
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| - | * [[Odes]]
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| - | The Syriac Orthodox Church also has:
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| - | * The Apocalypse of Baruch [[2 Baruch]]
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| - | * The [[Letter of Baruch]]
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| - | The Ethiopian Orthodox Church also has some others such as:
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| - | * [[Jubilees]]
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| - | * [[Enoch]]
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| - | The [[Anglican Church]] uses some of the [[Biblical apocrypha|Apocryphal books]] liturgically, but not to establish doctrine. Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Anglican Church include the Deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], which were in the Vulgate appendix.
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| - | There is also [[4 Maccabees]] which is only accepted as canonical in the Georgian Church, but was included by [[St. Jerome]] in an appendix to the [[Vulgate]], and is an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.
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| - | === New Testament ===
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| - | {{main|New Testament}}
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| - | The Bible as used by the majority of [[Christians]] includes the Rabbinic Hebrew Scripture and the [[New Testament]], which relates the life and teachings of [[Jesus]], the [[Epistles|letters]] of the [[Paul of Tarsus|Apostle Paul]] and other [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] to the [[early church]] and the [[Book of Revelation]].
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| - | The [[New Testament]] is a collection of 27 books, of 4 different [[genres]] of Christian literature ([[Gospels]], one account of the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[Epistles]] and an [[Apocalyptic literature|Apocalypse]]). [[Jesus]] is its central figure. The New Testament was written primarily in [[Koine Greek]] in the early Christian period, though a minority argue for [[Aramaic primacy]]. Nearly all Christians recognize the New Testament (as stated below) as canonical [[Sacred text|scripture]]. These books can be grouped into:
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| - | {{col-begin}}
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | [[Gospel|The Gospels]]
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| - | * '''[[Synoptic Gospels]]'''
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| - | ** [[Gospel of Matthew|Gospel According to Matthew]], Mt
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| - | ** [[Gospel of Mark|Gospel According to Mark]], Mk
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| - | ** [[Gospel of Luke|Gospel According to Luke]], Lk
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| - | * [[Gospel of John|Gospel According to John]], Jn
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| - | * [[Acts of the Apostles]], Ac (continues Luke)
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| - | '''[[Pauline Epistles]]'''
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| - | * [[Epistle to the Romans]], Ro
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| - | * [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]], 1Co
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | * [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]], 2Co
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| - | * [[Epistle to the Galatians]], Ga
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| - | * [[Epistle to the Ephesians]], Ep
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| - | * [[Epistle to the Philippians]], Pp
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| - | * [[Epistle to the Colossians]], Cl
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| - | * [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]], 1Th
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| - | * [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]], 2Th
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| - | * '''[[Pastoral Epistles]]'''
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| - | ** [[First Epistle to Timothy]], 1Ti
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| - | ** [[Second Epistle to Timothy]], 2Ti
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| - | ** [[Epistle to Titus]], Tt
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | * [[Epistle to Philemon]], Pm
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| - | * [[Epistle to the Hebrews]], He
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| - | '''[[General Epistles]]''', also called Jewish Epistles
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| - | * [[Epistle of James]], Jm
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| - | * [[First Epistle of Peter]], 1Pe
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| - | * [[Second Epistle of Peter]], 2Pe
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| - | * [[First Epistle of John]], 1Jn
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| - | * [[Second Epistle of John]], 2Jn
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| - | * [[Third Epistle of John]], 3Jn
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| - | * [[Epistle of Jude]], Jd
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| - | * [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]], or the Apocalypse Re
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| - | {{col-end}}
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| - | The order of these books varies according to Church tradition. The New Testament books are ordered differently in the Catholic/Protestant tradition, the Lutheran tradition, the Slavonic tradition, the Syriac tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.
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| - | ==== Original language ====
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| - | The books of the [[New Testament]] were written in [[Koine Greek]], the language of the earliest extant manuscripts, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. See [[Greek primacy]]. Some scholars believe that some books of the Greek New Testament (in particular, the Gospel of Matthew) are actually translations of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Of these, a small number accept the Syriac Peshitta as representative of the original. See [[Aramaic primacy]].
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| - | ==== Historic editions ====
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| - | {{seealso|Biblical manuscript|Bible translations|Textual criticism}}
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| - | [[File:Devil codex Gigas.jpg|thumb|left|The '''[[Codex Gigas]]''' from the 13th century, held at the [[Swedish Royal Library|Royal Library]] in [[Sweden]].]]
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| - | When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they wrote notes on the margins of the page (''marginal glosses'') to correct their text—especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line—and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text. See [[textual criticism]]. Over time, different regions evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions.
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| - | The ''autographs'', the Greek [[biblical manuscript|manuscripts]] written by the original authors, have not survived. Scholars surmise the original Greek text from the versions that do survive. The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the [[Alexandrian text-type]] (generally minimalist), the [[Byzantine text-type]] (generally maximalist), and the [[Western text-type]] (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.
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| - | === Christian theology ===
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| - | {{main|Christian theology}}
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| - | While individual books within the Christian Bible present narratives set in certain historical periods, most [[Christian denomination]]s teach that the Bible itself has an overarching message.
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| - | There are among Christians wide differences of opinion as to how particular incidents as described in the Bible are to be interpreted and as to what meaning should be attached to various prophecies. However, Christians in general are in agreement as to the Bible's basic message. A general outline, as described by [[C. S. Lewis]], is as follows:<ref name= "cslewis">[http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=815 A Summary of the Bible] by Lewis, CS: Believer's Web.</ref><br clear = "left"/>
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| - | #At some point in the past, humanity chose to depart from God's will and began to [[sin]].
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| - | #Because no one is free from sin, people cannot deal with God directly, so God revealed Himself in ways people could understand.
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| - | #God called [[Abraham]] and his progeny to be the means for saving all of humanity.
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| - | #To this end, He gave the [[Halakha|Law]] to [[Moses]].
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| - | #The resulting nation of Israel went through cycles of sin and [[repentance]], yet the prophets show an increasing understanding of the Law as a moral, not just a ceremonial, force.
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| - | #Jesus brought a perfect understanding of the Mosaic Law, that of love and salvation.
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| - | #By His death and resurrection, all who believe are saved and reconciled to God.
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| - | Many [[Christians]], [[Muslims]], and [[Jews]] regard the Bible as inspired by [[God]] yet written by a variety of imperfect men over thousands of years. Many others, who identify themselves as [[Biblical literalism|Bible-believing Christians]], regard both the New and Old Testament as the [[Biblical inerrancy|undiluted Word of God]], spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans. Still others hold the [[Biblical infallibility]] perspective, that the Bible is free from error in spiritual but not scientific matters.
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| - | Belief in sacred texts is attested to in Jewish antiquity,<ref>Philo of Alexandria, ''De vita Moysis'' 3.23.</ref><ref name = "Josephus">Josephus, ''Contra Apion'' 1.8.</ref> and this belief can also be seen in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention Divine agency in relation to prophetic writings,<ref name="Original Source">{{
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| - | cite book
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| - | |url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%2023:2,2%20Tim%203:16,Luke%201:70,Heb%203:7,10:15-16,1%20Peter%201:11,Mark%2012:36,2%20Peter%201:20-21,Acts%201:16,Acts%203:18,Acts%2028:25;&version=50;
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| - | |publisher=Biblegateway
| + | |
| - | |title="Basis for belief of Inspiration"
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| - | }}</ref> the most explicit being {{bibleverse|2|Tm|3:16|ESV}}: "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."
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| - | In their book ''A General Introduction to the Bible'', [[Norman Geisler]] and William Nix wrote: "The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record."<ref>
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| - | {{cite book
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| - | |author=Norman L. Geisler, William E. Nix
| + | |
| - | |title=A General Introduction to the Bible
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| - | |page=86
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| - | |year=1986
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| - | |publisher=Moody Publishers
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| - | |isbn=0-8024-2916-5
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| - | }}
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| - | </ref>
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| - | Most evangelical biblical scholars<ref> for example, see{{cite book
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| - | |author=Leroy Zuck, Roy B. Zuck
| + | |
| - | |title=Basic Bible Interpretation
| + | |
| - | |page=68
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| - | |year=1991
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| - | |publisher=Chariot Victor Pub
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| - | |isbn=0-89693-819-0
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| - | }}</ref><ref>
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| - | {{cite book
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| - | |author=Roy B. Zuck, Donald Campbell
| + | |
| - | |title=Basic Bible Interpretation
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| - | |year=2002
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| - | |publisher=Victor
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| - | |isbn=0-7814-3877-2
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| - | }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| + | |
| - | |author=Norman L. Geisler
| + | |
| - | |title=Inerrancy
| + | |
| - | |page=294
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| - | |year=1979, 1980
| + | |
| - | |publisher=The Zondervan Corporation
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| - | |isbn=0-310-39281-0
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| - | }}</ref> associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 [[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]] which asserted that inspiration applied only to the [[autograph]]ic text of Scripture.<ref>
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| - | {{cite paper
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| - | |author=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy
| + | |
| - | |title=The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy
| + | |
| - | |publisher=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy
| + | |
| - | |year=1978
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| - | |url=http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A&D.pdf
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| - | |format=pdf}}</ref> However, some adherents to the [[King-James-Only Movement|King James Only]] view attribute inerrancy to a particular translation.
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| - | == Canonization ==
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| - | {{main|Biblical Canon|Dating the Bible}}
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| - | The word "canon" etymologically means cane or reed. In early Christianity "canon" referred to a list of books approved for public reading. Books not on the list were referred to as "apocryphal" — meaning they were for private reading only. Under Latin usage from the fourth century on, canon came to stand for a closed and authoritative list in the sense of rule or norm.<ref name="Stagg">Stagg, Frank. ''New Testament Theology.'' Nashville: Broadman, 1962. ISBN 0-8054-1613-7.</ref>
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| - | === Hebrew Bible ===
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| - | {{main|Development of the Jewish Bible canon}}
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| - | The New Testament refers to the threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures: the law, the prophets, and the writings. {{bibleverse|Luke||24:44}} refers to the "law of Moses" ([[Pentateuch]]), the "prophets" which include certain historical books in addition to the books now called "prophets," and the psalms (the "writings" designated by its most prominent collection). The Hebrew Bible probably was canonized in these three stages: the law canonized before the Exile, the prophets by the time of the Syrian persecution of the Jews, and the writings shortly after AD 70 (the fall of Jerusalem). About that time, early Christian writings began being accepted by Christians as "scripture." These events, taken together, may have caused the Jews to close their "canon." They listed their own recognized Scriptures and also excluded both Christian and Jewish writings considered by them to be "apocryphal." In this canon the thirty-nine books found in the Old Testament of today's Christian Bibles were grouped together as twenty-two books, equaling the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. This canon of Jewish scripture is attested to by Philo, Josephus, the New Testament ({{bibleverse||Luke|11:51|NRSV}}, {{bibleverse||Luke|24:44|NRSV}}), and the Talmud.<ref name="Stagg"/>
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| - | | + | |
| - | The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in {{bibleverse|2|Timothy|3:16|TNIV}} which may be rendered "All Scripture is inspired of God" or "Every God-inspired Scripture is profitable for teaching." Both translations consider inspiration as a fact.<ref name="Stagg"/>
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| - | === Old and New Testaments ===
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| - | {{main|Development of the Old Testament canon|Development of the New Testament canon}}
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| - | The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the fourth century a series of [[synod]]s produced a list of texts equal to the 39-to-46-book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the [[Synod of Hippo]] in AD 393. Also ''c''. 400, [[Jerome]] produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (see [[Vulgate]]), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time. A definitive list did not come from an [[Ecumenical Council]] until the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–63).<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Canon of the New Testament]: "The idea of a complete and clear-cut canon of the New Testament existing from the beginning, that is from Apostolic times, has no foundation in history. The Canon of the New Testament, like that of the Old, is the result of a development, of a process at once stimulated by disputes with doubters, both within and without the Church, and retarded by certain obscurities and natural hesitations, and which did not reach its final term until the dogmatic definition of the Tridentine Council."</ref>
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| - | During the [[Protestant Reformation]], certain reformers proposed different canonical lists than what was currently in use. Though not without debate, see [[Antilegomena]], the list of New Testament books would come to remain the same; however, the Old Testament texts present in the Septuagint, but not included in the Jewish canon, fell out of favor. In time they would come to be removed from most Protestant canons. Hence, in a Catholic context these texts are referred to as deuterocanonical books, whereas in a Protestant context they are referred to as Apocrypha, the label applied to all texts excluded from the biblical canon which were in the Septuagint. It should also be noted, that Catholics and Protestants both describe certain other books, such as the [[Acts of Peter]], as [[New Testament apocrypha|apocryphal]].
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| - | Thus, the Protestant Old Testament of today has a 39-book canon—the number varies from that of the books in the Tanakh (though not in content) because of a different method of division—while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books as part of the canonical Old Testament. The term "Hebrew Scriptures" is only synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, not the Catholic, which contains the Hebrew Scriptures and additional texts. Both Catholics and Protestants have the same 27-book New Testament Canon.
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| - | ===Qumran Bible===
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| - | The Bible used at [[Qumran]] excluded [[Esther]] but included [[Tobit]]. Otherwise, it seems to have been basically the same as the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, albeit with many textual variants.
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| - | === Ethiopian Orthodox canon ===
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| - | The Canon of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] is wider than for most other Christian groups. The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the [[Septuagint]] accepted by other Orthodox Christians, in addition to [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] and [[Jubilees]] which are ancient Jewish books that only survived in Ge'ez but are quoted in the New Testament, also Greek Ezra [[1 Esdras|First]] and the [[Apocalypse of Ezra]], 3 books of [[Meqabyan]], and [[Psalm 151]] at the end of the Psalter. The three books of Meqabyan are not be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups', as well. The Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order.
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| - | === Marcionite Bible===
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| - | [[Marcion]], an early Christian [[heretic]], and his followers, had a Bible that excluded the [[Old Testament]]. It consisted of an edited [[Gospel of Luke]] (excluding what Marcion considered Jewish additions), and the [[Epistles of Paul]] (excluding [[Titus]], the two epistles to Timothy, the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]], and passages rejected as Jewish additions).<ref>Paula Fredriksen, ''Augustine and the Jews'', ISBN 978-0-385-50270-2 ([[2008]]), pp. 67-68, 391.</ref>
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| - | == Bible versions and translations ==
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| - | {{see|Bible translations}}
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| - | [[File:bible.malmesbury.arp.jpg|thumb|left|A Bible handwritten in [[Latin]], on display in [[Malmesbury Abbey]], [[Wiltshire, England]]. This Bible was transcribed in [[Belgium]] in 1407 for reading aloud in a monastery.]]
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| - | Bible versions are discussed below, while [[Bible translations]] can be found on a separate page.
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| - | The original texts of the Tanakh were in Hebrew, although some portions were in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and the [[Targum Onkelos]], an Aramaic version of the Bible. There are several different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew, mostly differing by spelling, and the traditional Jewish version is based on the version known as [[Aleppo Codex]]. Even in this version by itself, there are words which are traditionally read differently from written (sometimes one word is written and another is read), because the oral tradition is considered more fundamental than the written one, and presumably mistakes had been made in copying the text over the generations.
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| - | The primary biblical text for early Christians was the [[Septuagint|Septuagint or (LXX)]]. In addition they translated the Hebrew Bible into several other languages. Translations were made into Syriac, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] and Latin, among other languages. The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament.
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| - | The earliest Latin translation was the Old Latin text, or [[Vetus Latina]], which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible.
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| - | [[Pope Damasus I]] assembled the first list of books of the Bible at the [[Council of Rome]] in AD 382. He commissioned Saint [[Jerome]] to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the [[Vulgate|Latin Vulgate Bible]] and in 1546 at the [[Council of Trent]] was declared by the Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the [[Latin rite]].
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| - | [[Bible translations]] for many languages have been made through the various influences of Catholicism, Orthodox, Protestant, etc especially since the [[Protestant Reformation]]. The Bible has seen a notably large number of [[English translations of the Bible|English language translations]].
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| - | As of March 2008, translations of the full Bible are available for 438 languages, translations of one of the two testaments in 1,168 additional languages, and portions of the text exist in 848 additional languages. This means that partial or full translations of the Bible exist in a total of 2,454 languages.
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| - | <ref>{{Citation |last=United Bible Society |author-link = United Bible Society |title=Statistical Summary of languages with the Scriptures |year=2008 |url=http://www.ubs-translations.org/about_us/#c165 |accessdate=2008-03-22 }}</ref>
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| - | The work of Bible translation continues, including by Christian organisations such as [[Wycliffe Bible Translators]] ([http://wycliffe.net wycliffe.net]), [[New Tribes Mission]]s ([http://ntm.org ntm.org]) and the [[Bible society|Bible Societies]] ([http://www.biblesociety.org/ biblesociety.org]). Of the world's 6,900 [[Language family|languages]], 2,400 have some or all of the Bible, 1,600 (spoken by more than a billion people) have translation underway, and some 2,500 (spoken by 270 million people) are judged as needing translation to begin.<ref>http://www.vision2025.org www.vision2025.org</ref>
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| - | == Biblical criticism ==
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| - | {{main|Biblical criticism|criticism of the Bible}}
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| - | [[Biblical criticism]] refers to the investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention. It is not the same as [[criticism of the Bible]], which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance.
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| - | === Higher criticism ===
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| - | {{main|Higher criticism|Lower criticism}}
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| - | The traditional view of the Mosaic authorship of the Torah came under sporadic criticism from medieval scholars including Isaac ibn Yashush, [[Abraham ibn Ezra]], Bonfils of Damascus and bishop [[Tostatus]] of Avila, who pointed to passages such as the description of the death of Moses in Deuteronomy as evidence that some portions, at least, could not have been written by Moses.
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| - | In the 17th century [[Thomas Hobbes]] collected the current evidence and became the first scholar to conclude outright that Moses could not have written the bulk of the Torah. Shortly afterwards the philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]] published a unified critical analysis, demonstrating that the problematic passages were not isolated cases that could be explained away one by one, but pervasive throughout the five books, concluding that it was "clearer than the sun at noon that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses…." Despite determined opposition from the Church, both Catholic and Protestant, the views of Hobbes and Spinoza gained increasing acceptance amongst scholars.
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| - | === Documentary hypothesis ===
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| - | {{main|Documentary hypothesis}}
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| - | Scholars intrigued by the hypothesis that Moses had not written the Pentateuch considered other authors. Independent but nearly simultaneous proposals by H. B. Witter, [[Jean Astruc]], and [[Johann Gottfried Eichhorn]] separated the Pentateuch into two original documentary components, both dating from after the time of Moses. Others hypothesized the presence of two additional sources. The four documents were given working titles: J (or [[Yahwist]]), E ([[Elohist]]), P ([[Priestly source|Priestly]]), and D ([[Deuteronomist]]), each was discernible by its own characteristic language, and each, when read in isolation, presented a unified, coherent narrative.
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| - | Subsequent [[Higher criticism|scholars]], notably Eduard Reuss, [[Karl Heinrich Graf]] and Wilhelm Vatke, turned their attention to the order in which the documents had been composed (which they deduced from internal clues) and placed them in the context of a theory of the development of ancient Israelite religion, suggesting that much of the Laws and the narrative of the Pentateuch were unknown to the Israelites in the time of Moses. These were synthesized by [[Julius Wellhausen]] (1844-1918), who suggested a historical framework for the composition of the documents and their redaction (combination) into the final document known as the Pentateuch. This hypothesis was challenged by [[William Henry Green]] in his ''The Mosaic Origins of the Pentateuchal Codes'' ([http://www.biblicaltheology.org/mop.html available online]). Nonetheless, according to contemporary Torah scholar [[Richard Elliott Friedman]], Wellhausen's model of the [[documentary hypothesis]] continues to dominate the field of biblical scholarship: "To this day, if you want to disagree, you disagree with Wellhausen. If you want to pose a new model, you compare its merits with those of Wellhausen's model."<ref>Richard Elliott Friedman, "Who Wrote the Bible?," HarperSanFrancisco, 1997 (2nd edition).</ref>
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| - | The documentary hypothesis is important in the field of biblical studies not only because it claims that the Torah was written by different people at different times—generally long after the events it describes—<ref>Joel Rosenberg, 1984 "The Bible: Biblical Narrative" in Barry Holtz, ed ''Back to the Sources'' New York: Summit Books p. 36; Nahum Sarna, 1986 ''Understanding Genesis'' New York:Schocken Books pp. xxi-xxiii.</ref> but it also proposed what was at the time a radically new way of reading the Bible. Many proponents of the documentary hypothesis view the Bible more as a body of literature than a work of history, believing that the historical value of the text lies not in its account of the events that it describes, but in what critics can infer about the times in which the authors lived (as critics may read ''[[Hamlet]]'' to learn about seventeenth-century England, but will not read it to learn about seventh-century Denmark).
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| - | === Modern developments ===
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| - | The critical analysis of authorship now encompasses every book of the Bible. In some cases the traditional view on authorship has been overturned; in others, additional support, at least in part has been found.
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| - | The development of the hypothesis has not stopped with Wellhausen. Wellhausen's hypothesis, for example, proposed that the four documents were composed in the order J-E-D-P, with P, containing the bulk of the Jewish law, dating from the post-Exilic [[Second Temple]] period (i.e., after 515 BC);<ref>Wellhausen adopted the idea of a post-Exilic date for P from [[Edouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss|Eduard Reuss]].</ref> but the contemporary view is that P is earlier than D, and that all four books date from the [[First Temple]] period (i.e., prior to 587 BC).<ref>Although the ''bulk'' of all four documents date from before 587 BC, the strand of D known as Dtr2 dates from the following Exilic period.</ref> The documentary hypothesis has more recently been refined by later scholars such as [[Martin Noth]] (who in 1943 provided evidence that Deuteronomy plus the following six books make a unified history from the hand of a single editor), [[Harold Bloom]], [[Frank Moore Cross]] and [[Richard Elliot Friedman]].
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| - | The documentary hypothesis, at least in the four-document version advanced by Wellhausen, has been controversial since its formulation. The direction of this criticism is to question the existence of separate, identifiable documents, positing instead that the biblical text is made up of almost innumerable strands so interwoven as to be hardly untangleable—the J document, in particular, has been subjected to such intense dissection that it seems in danger of disappearing.
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| - | Although [[biblical archaeology]] has confirmed the existence of many people, places, and events mentioned in the Bible, many critical scholars have argued that the Bible be read not as an accurate historical document, but rather as a work of literature and theology that often draws on historical events—as well as upon non-Hebrew mythology—as primary source material (see [[The Bible and history]]). For these scholars, the Bible reveals much about the lives and times of its authors and compilers. The relevance of these ideas to contemporary religious life is left to clerics and adherents of contemporary religions to decide.
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| - | == Archaeological and historical research ==
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| - | {{main|Biblical archaeology school}}
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| - | {{main|The Bible and history}}
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| - | Biblical archaeology is the [[archaeology]] that relates to, and sheds light upon, the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. It is also used to help clarify the consistency between historical evidence and scripture.
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| - | There are a wide range of interpretations of the existing Biblical archaeology. One broad division includes [[Biblical maximalism]] that generally take the view that most of the [[Old Testament]] or [[Hebrew Bible]] is essentially based on history although presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered the opposite of [[Biblical Minimalism]] which is strictly secular and does not allow any consideration of the Bible as documentary evidence or as a framework of history.
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| - | One example of the dispute involves Biblical accounts of [[Exodus#Bondage in Egypt|Israelite bondage in Egypt]], wandering in the desert, and conquest the [[Land of Israel]] in a military campaign, the accounts of the [[Land of Israel|land]] being passed on to the [[Israelites|12 tribes of Israel]], and [[King David|David]]'s and [[King Solomon|Solomon]]'s conquests, and other key elements described in the Biblical narratives as occurring in the 10th century BC or before. So far, there is a lack of archaeological evidence to independently support this, which has led some archaeologists, such as [[Israel Finkelstein]], [[Neil Silberman]],<ref>{{cite book
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| - | | last = Finkelstein
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| - | | first = Israel
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| - | | authorlink = Israel Finkelstein
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| - | | title = The Bible Unearthed
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| - | | coauthors = Neil Silberman
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| - | | publisher =
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| - | | series =
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| - | | year =
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| - | | doi =
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| - | | isbn = }}</ref> and [[William Dever]]<ref>{{cite book
| + | |
| - | | last = Dever
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| - | | first = William
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| - | | authorlink = William Dever
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| - | | title = Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?
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| - | | publisher =
| + | |
| - | | series =
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| - | | year =
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| - | | doi =
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| - | | isbn = }}</ref> to believe that these events never happened, and that the ancestors of the [[Hebrews]] and the [[Jews]] are either nomads who have become sedentary, or people from the plains of [[Canaan]], who fled to the highlands to escape the control of the cities. Others disagree sharply.<ref>{{cite web
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| - | | url = http://www.hebrewhistory.info/factpapers/fp014_nomadic.htm
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| - | | title = Nomadic Jews, Never
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| - | | accessdate = | accessmonthday = | accessyear =
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| - | | author = | last = Kurinsky | first = Samuel
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| - | | authorlink =
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| - | | coauthors =
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| - | | date = | year = 2008 | month = August
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| - | | work = | publisher = Hebrew History Foundation
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| - | | pages = | format = | language = | quote =
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| - | | archiveurl = | archivedate =
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| - | }}</ref>
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| - | Another example involves the story of [[Noah's Ark]]. [[Biblical literalism|Biblical literalists]] support a theory of a worldwide flood as described in the story and are looking for archaeological evidence in the region of the [[mountains of Ararat]] in north-east [[Turkey]] where Genesis says Noah's Ark came to rest. Mainstream scientists (and many Christians and Jews) discount a literal interpretation of the Ark story, on the basis of [[history of geology|geology]] and other sciences.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3524676.stm Did Noah really build an ark?, BBC].</ref>
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| - | According to recent theories, linguistic as well as archaeological, the global structure of the texts in the [[Hebrew Bible]] were compiled during the reign of King [[Josiah]] in the 7th century BC. Even though the components are derived from more ancient writings, the final form of the books is believed to have been set somewhere between the 1st century BC and the 4th century AD.
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| - | == See also ==
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| - | {{col-begin}}
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| - | {{col-break}}
| + | |
| - | === Biblical scholarship and analysis ===
| + | |
| - | * [[Dating the Bible]]
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| - | * [[Textual criticism]]
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| - | * [[Historical criticism]]
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| - | * [[Documentary hypothesis]]
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| - | * [[Synoptic problem]]
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| - | * [[Biblical manuscripts]]
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| - | * [[Internal consistency and the Bible]]
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| - | * [[Mosaic authorship]]
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| - | * [[Authorship of the Johannine works]]
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| - | * [[Authorship of the Pauline epistles]]
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| - | * [[Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible]]
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| - | * [[Apocrypha]]
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| - | * [[Dead sea scrolls]]
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| - | * [[Nag hammadi library]]
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| - | * [[Biblical archaeology]]
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | {{Bibleportal}}
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| - | {{sisterlinks}}
| + | |
| - | === Perspectives on the Bible ===
| + | |
| - | * [[Bibliolatry]]
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| - | * [[Calvin's view of Scripture]]
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| - | * [[Jewish Biblical exegesis]]
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| - | * [[Islamic view of the Bible]]
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| - | * [[Biblical narratives and the Qur'an]]
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| - | * [[Criticism of the Bible]]
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| - | * [[Gnosticism and the New Testament]]
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| - | * [[Good news (Christianity)]], concerning the content of the Bible's message about [[Jesus]]
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| - | * [[Christianity and Judaism]]
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| - | * [[Biblical law in Christianity]]
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| - | * [[Bible prophecy]]
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| - | * [[Biblical inerrancy]]
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| - | * [[New Testament view on Jesus' life]]
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| - | * [[Ten Commandments]]
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| - | * [[Parsha]]
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| - | * [[Ritual Decalogue]]
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| - | * [[Jewish messianism]]
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| - | * [[Summary of Christian eschatological differences]]
| + | |
| - | * [[Bibliomancy]] is the use of random readings from a book for divination. When practiced in Jewish and Christian cultures, the Bible is often used.
| + | |
| - | * [[Bible conspiracy theory]]
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| - | * [[Bible code]]
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| - | * [[The Skeptic's Annotated Bible]]
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| - | {{col-end}}
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| - | {{col-begin}}
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | === Interpretation ===
| + | |
| - | * [[Biblical literalism]]
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| - | * [[Biblical hermeneutics]]
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| - | * [[Midrash]]
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| - | * [[Pardes|Pardes (Jewish exegesis)]]
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | | + | |
| - | === History and the Bible ===
| + | |
| - | * [[The Bible and history]]
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| - | * [[Bible chronology]]
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| - | * [[Hebrew Bible: Timeline]]
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| - | * [[History of the English Bible]]
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| - | * [[Code of Hammurabi]]
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| - | * [[Study Bible]]
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| - | * [[List of burial places of biblical figures]]
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| - | * [[List of artifacts significant to the Bible]]
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | === Biblical topics ===
| + | |
| - | * [[Alcohol in the Bible|Alcohol]]
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| - | * [[Circumcision in the Bible|Circumcision]]
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| - | * [[Crime and punishment in the Bible|Crime and punishment]]
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| - | * [[Ethics in the Bible|Ethics]]
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| - | * [[The Bible and homosexuality|Homosexuality]]
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| - | * [[Murder in the Bible|Murder]]
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| - | * [[Slavery in the Bible|Slavery]]
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| - | * [[Women in the Bible|Women]]
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| - | {{col-end}}
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| - | | + | |
| - | {{col-begin}}
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| - | {{col-break}}
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| - | | + | |
| - | === Bible societies ===
| + | |
| - | * See [[Bible society]] for a list.
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| - | | + | |
| - | {{col-break}}
| + | |
| - | === Commentaries ===
| + | |
| - | See [[Biblical exegesis]].
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| - | | + | |
| - | {{col-break}}
| + | |
| - | === Religious texts ===
| + | |
| - | * [[Religious text|List of Religious texts]]
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| - | {{col-end}}
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| - | | + | |
| - | == Notes ==
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| - | {{reflist|2}}
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| - | | + | |
| - | == References and further reading ==
| + | |
| - | {{refbegin}}
| + | |
| - | * [[Bernhard Anderson|Anderson, Bernhard W.]] ''Understanding the Old Testament''. ISBN 0-13-948399-3.
| + | |
| - | * Berlin, Adele, Marc Zvi Brettler and Michael Fishbane. [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/0195297512/ ''The Jewish Study Bible'']. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-529751-2.
| + | |
| - | * [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''Asimov's Guide to the Bible''. New York, NY: Avenel Books, 1981. ISBN 0-517-34582-X.
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| - | * {{ Harvard reference |last=Dever| first = William G. | authorlink = William G. Dever | title = Losing Faith: Who Did and Who Didn’t, How Scholarship Affects Scholars | journal = Biblical Archaeology Review | month=March/April | year = 2007 | volume = 33 | issue = 2 | pages = 54 | url = http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/other/5106losingfaith.pdf }}
| + | |
| - | * [[William G. Dever|Dever, William G.]] ''Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did they Come from?'' Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003. ISBN 0-8028-0975-8.
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| - | * [[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] ''Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why'' New York, NY: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. ISBN 0-06-073817-0.
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| - | * {{ Harvard reference | last = Finkelstein | first = Israel | authorlink = Israel Finkelstein | last2 = Silberman | first2 = Neil Asher | authorlink2 = Neil Asher Silberman | title = [[The Bible Unearthed|The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts]] | publisher = Simon and Schuster | location = New York | year = 2001 | id = ISBN 0-7432-2338-1 | url = http://books.google.com/books?lr=&q=Finkelstein+Bible+Unearthed+Exodus+unoccupied&btnG=Search+Books }}.
| + | |
| - | * {{ Harvard reference | last = Finkelstein | first = Israel | last2 = Silberman | first2 = Neil Asher | authorlink = Israel Finkelstein | authorlink2 = Neil Asher Silberman | title = Review: "The Bible Unearthed": A Rejoinder | journal = Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research | volume = 327 | date = August 2002 | pages = 63–73 | year = 2002 | url = http://www.jstor.org/stable/1357859?seq=1 }}
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| - | * Geisler, Norman (editor). ''Inerrancy''. Sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy. Zondervan Publishing House, 1980, ISBN 0-310-39281-0.
| + | |
| - | * Head, Tom. ''The Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible''. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing, 2005. ISBN 0-7897-3419-2
| + | |
| - | * {{ Harvard reference | last = Herzog | first = Ze'ev | authorlink = Ze'ev Herzog | title = Deconstructing the walls of Jericho | publisher = [[Ha'aretz]] | year = 1999 | date = October 29, 1999 | url = http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34}}
| + | |
| - | * Hoffman, Joel M. [http://www.newjewishbooks.org/ITB/ ''In the Beginning'']. New York University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8147-3690-4
| + | |
| - | * Lindsell, Harold. ''The Battle for the Bible''. Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. ISBN 0-310-27681-0
| + | |
| - | * Lienhard, Joseph T. ''The Bible, The Church, and Authority''. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995.
| + | |
| - | * Masalha, Nur, ''The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel''. London, Zed Books, 2007.
| + | |
| - | * Miller, John W. ''The Origins of the Bible: Rethinking Canon History'' Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1994. ISBN 0-8091-3522-1.
| + | |
| - | * McDonald, Lee M. and Sanders, James A., eds. ''The Canon Debate''. Hendrickson Publishers (January 1, 2002). 662p. ISBN 1565635175 ISBN 978-1565635173
| + | |
| - | * Riches, John. ''The Bible: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-285343-0
| + | |
| - | * [[Siku (comics)|Siku]]. ''The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation''. Galilee Trade (January 15, 2008). 224p. ISBN 0385524315 ISBN 978-0385524315
| + | |
| - | * Taylor, Hawley O. "Mathematics and Prophecy." ''Modern Science and Christian Faith''. Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1948, pp. 175–83.
| + | |
| - | * The Brick Testament http://www.thebricktestament.com/
| + | |
| - | * ''Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia'', [[wiktionary:sv#English|s.vv.]] "Book of Ezekiel," p. 580 and "prophecy," p. 1410. Chicago: Moody Bible Press, 1986.
| + | |
| - | {{refend}}
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| - | | + | |
| - | == External links ==
| + | |
| | | | |
| - | <!--===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})===============================-->
| + | The [[New Testament]] is a collection of infallible writings by early Christians, consisting of narratives, [[epistle|letters]] and [[Apocalyptic literature|apocalyptic writings]]. It comprises of 27 books. Among certain cults, there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily in the [[Apocrypha]], a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. But all genuine Christians believe in the 66 books of the bible. Many textual critics may disagree as to the contents within those 66 books, and cause many to doubt God's words, but they generally agree that scripture comprises of 66 books. [[James White]] of Alpha and Omega Ministries would agree to which books comprise the canon, but he places doubt on 237 verses of scripture as read in the [[Textus Receptus]] and in some sections half a chapter in length is discredited by him. Such pseudo scholars are enemies of the scriptures. |
| - | <!--| DO NOT ADD MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A COLLECTION OF |-->
| + | |
| - | <!--| LINKS. If you think that your link might be useful, do not add it here, |-->
| + | |
| - | <!--| but put it on this article's discussion page first or submit your link |-->
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| - | <!--| to the appropriate category at the Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.org)|-->
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| - | <!--| and link back to that category using the {{dmoz}} template. |-->
| + | |
| - | <!--| |-->
| + | |
| - | <!--| Links that have not been verified WILL BE DELETED. |-->
| + | |
| - | <!--| See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details |-->
| + | |
| - | <!--===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})===============================-->
| + | |
| - | * [http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ King James Bible]
| + | |
| - | * [http://bible.thelineberrys.com/BIBLE.HTM New Revised Standard Version]
| + | |
| - | <!--Please do not add more links to this section without first discussing them on the talk page. Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate repository of links.-->
| + | |
| | | | |
| - | {{Books of the Bible}}
| + | Cults such as the [[Roman Catholics]] and [[Greek Orthodox]], all have the same 27 books in the [[New Testament]] (originally written in [[Koine Greek|Greek]]) and the same 39 books in the [[Old Testament]]. The only difference are the [[Biblical apocrypha|apocrypha]], a collection of writings that originated during the [[intertestamental period]] ([[400 BC]] - [[27 AD]]). The Greek Orthodox Bible contains 27 apocryphal books, while the Roman Catholic Bible contains only 23 of them. |
| - | {{Christianityfooter}}
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| - | {{Jews and Judaism}}
| + | |
| | | | |
| - | [[Category:Bible| ]]
| + | {{Donate}} |
| - | [[Category:Judeo-Christian topics]]
| + | |
| - | [[Category:Greek loanwords]]
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