FAQs

The Bible is an anthology of texts that were authored, copied, and edited over a period of hundreds of years. Much later these texts were brought together as an authoritative collection—a process called ‘canonization.’ In fact, there is no “the Bible.” The Jewish Bible, which is known by most as the Tanakh, is a collection of 24 texts in three sections: Torah (Instruction or Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). In content it is basically equivalent to the 39 books of the Protestant Old Testament. However, the order of the books and naming of some books are different. 

The Protestant Bible is comprised of 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Books. Both the Catholic Bible and the various Orthodox Bibles have the same 27 New Testament books, and the same 39 Old Testament books, plus the addition of various texts known either as the Apocryphal or Deuterocanonical books. 
Many Jews and Christians consider the books of their Bible to be the word of God and hold to some view of inspiration. However, there are also many who do not believe that the texts are inerrant (that is, without error). So, the answer to “What is the Bible?” depends entirely upon whom you ask. For a chart that clearly shows the variety of Bibles that exist, see: https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Heb-Xn-Bibles.htm

My honest and, hopefully, clear (though not complete) response is this: I have chosen to believe that there are writings that are, in some sense, “God-breathed.” I prefer to use that phrase rather than the word “inspired.” I choose to believe that God breathed life into numerous human-authored texts that include most, and possibly all, of the 66 books of the Protestant Bible but could also include some other Second Temple Jewish and early Christian writings (that is, books of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigraha). While I’m not entirely clear what “God-breathed” means or involves, I am convinced that it doesn’t mean inerrancy, internal consistency or scientific and/or historical accuracy. That’s not to say that I see the biblical texts as filled to overflowing with errors, inconsistencies and/or contradictions. I believe there is much historical reality and, especially, spiritual wisdom (i.e., truth) from God to be found in these texts.

Internally and externally, for me, there is enough clear evidence that the biblical texts are not inerrant, as we have them now. To say, as the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy states, that the biblical texts are inerrant in their autographs is a statement of “blind” faith, since we do not possess any biblical text in its entirety that dates even close to when most autographs were supposedly written. The texts that we do have do show clear signs of being edited in various ways at various stages.

During the Second Temple period (ca. 515 BCE – 70 CE), many texts were authored, copied, distributed and considered by some sects of Judaism as authoritative. A number of these were translated from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek in 3^rd century BCE through the 1^st century CE. A few were probably originally penned in Greek. Once the books of the Bible were collected and circulated, not as individual scrolls, but in the form of a codex, many of these Second Temple Jewish writings were included. Catholic and Orthodox Christians retained some of these writings in their Old Testament collections. Later, but only gradually, Protestants leaders decided to return to only the books that were equivalent to those in the Hebrew Bible. The story of how we got the Bible, as we have it today, is a complicated story, parts of which are seldom told. That’s sad, because it is also an exciting story.

The word translated as “inspired by God” by numerous reputable English versions is, in my opinion, not a translation but an interpretation. In actuality, “inspired by God” is one word in all Greek manuscripts: θεόπνευστος (theopneustos). When a word appears only once in the Bible is it called a hapax legomena. θεόπνευστος is a hapax legomena and it literally translates best as “God-breathed.” Taking that into account, plus the immediate context of 2 Timothy 3:16–17, I do not read v. 16 as “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful…” but rather, “Every God-breathed scripture is useful…”. For a detailed explanation of the significance of what appears at first to be only a slightly different translation, see: http://brianfelushko.blogspot.com/2020/05/every-god-breathed-scripture-is-useful.html.

Without the New Testament writings, and especially the four books we call the Gospels, we would know almost nothing about Jesus, other than: (1) he lived, (2) he had a public ministry for a short period of time, (3) he was crucified, and (4) his followers claimed that he rose from the dead. There are only a few brief references to Jesus, or someone we think might be Jesus, from non-Christian authors, both Roman and Jewish. Probably the most famous, at least among Christians, is found in a work by the Jewish “historian” Josephus. In the latter third of the 1^st century CE, in Antiquities, he wrote: 

“About this time comes Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it is proper to call him a man.  For he was a worker of incredible deeds, a teacher of those who accept the truth with pleasure, and he attracted many Jews as well as many of the Greek [way].  This man was the Christ.  And when, in view of [his] denunciation by the leading men among us, Pilate had sentenced him to a cross, those who had loved him at the beginning did not cease [to do so].  He appeared to them on the third day alive again, for the divine prophets had announced these and countless other marvels concerning him.  And even now the tribe of the “Christians” – named after him – has not yet disappeared.” (18.63–64)

Only a small minority of scholars think that this is an untampered account by Josephus himself. The vast majority understand it to be either a totally Christian interpolation or, at best, a highly edited text. The italicized portions above were added later by Christian scribes—in my opinion and in agreement with many scholars.

Jesus was not a Christian. No, for real! Jesus was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, understood and used the Scriptures as a Jew and died a Jew. To understand his life and teachings of Jesus as set forth in the four canonical Gospels, as well as the other writings of the New Testament, it is vital that we understand the majority context of Jewish life in the 1^st century CE.

The Protestant Old Testament is essentially equivalent in content to the Jewish Tanakh. The books are named and ordered differently. The first seven books of each are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges. After that, the difference in order are significant. The Tanakh ends with the books of of Ezra-Nehemiah and then Chronicles, whereas the Protestant OT ends with the 12 books of the Minor Prophets.