Facts about the bible

The Bible Is A Catholic Book – Did you ever wonder how the Bible came into being?  A little known, but easily documented fact is that the books of the Bible were compiled by the Catholic Church.  For many years after Christ ascended into Heaven, there was debate about which scriptural writings were inspired by God.  The canon of Scripture (the books of the Bible) was first formally decided at the Synod of Rome in 382.  This decision was upheld at the Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397).  At these Catholic Church councils, the same 46 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books that appear in today’s Catholic Bibles were declared to be inspired by God.  As a side note, approximately 1200 years after this decision was made, Martin Luther and the Protestant reformers removed 7 books from the Old Testament.  As a result, most Protestant Bibles are still missing these 7 books.

The Catholic Bible The Catholic Bible (including the Douay version, the Confraternity Version and the New American Bible) contains seven extra books: Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, First and Second Maccabees, plus additional parts in the books of Esther and Daniel.

The Bible was compiled over the course of some 1,500 years (from 1400 B.C to A.D. 100), spanning 40 generations, and includes the writings of over 40 different individual authors. In terms of exact numbers, the Bible represents the work at least 40 different authors, in about 20 occupations, living in 10 countries spanning about 6,000 miles.

When the Bible was first written, there were no chapters or verses as today. In fact, many of the early, handwritten manuscripts were written without spaces between the words! Stephen Langton divided the Bible into chapters about A.D. 1228. The Old Testament was divided into verses by R. Nathan in A.D. 1448, and Robert Stephanus divided the New Testament into verses in A.D. 1551. The first complete Bible with chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible of A.D. 1560.

The first section of the Old Testament is called the Pentateuch The first section of the Old Testament is called the Pentateuch. It contains the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). These books, written by Moses, cover the period of time from Creation to the death of Moses, just prior to the entrance of God's people into the promised land.

Old Testament Pentateuch : Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy Historical books : Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees Wisdom books : Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom, Sirach Prophetic books : Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah , Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

The New Testament contains four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), each telling the story of the life of Christ from different viewpoints. The New Testament has one book of history, the book of Acts, which tells of the establishment of the church and the growth of Christianity in the first century. It also has 21 epistles, the majority of which were written by the apostle Paul (Romans through Jude) and one book of prophecy (the Revelation), penned by John while on the isle of Patmos.

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew (with the exception of Daniel 2:4b- 7:28 and Ezra 4:8-6:18). The New Testament was written in Greek.

Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, was Catholic and the first book ever printed was the Catholic Bible in the year 1454 The Bible is the most translated book in the world. It has been translated into more different languages and dialects than any other book that has been written. The Bible is the worlds best seller ever, and the most widely distributed book in the world. Its influence on history and culture, including literature and the other arts, is incalculable

The estimated number of total Bibles ever sold equal 2 The estimated number of total Bibles ever sold equal 2.5 Billion to 6 Billion copies The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. The United Bible Societies (UBS) estimate they have distributed nearly 9 billion Bibles, whole or in part, since 1947. The Bible is not only the best selling book of all time but the best selling book each year. About 50 Bibles are sold every minute. The Bible is, some calculate, a $200 million-a-year retail market in the United States. According to a recent national survey concluded in US, the average American home had four bibles and almost all U.S. homes had at least one or more. Most Americans still prefer the King James Version (KJV) According to statistics gathered from Wycliffe International, the Society of Gideons, and the International Bible Society, the number of new Bibles that are sold, given away, or otherwise distributed in the United States is about 168,000 per day

It is the INSPIRED Word of God WHY? It is the INSPIRED Word of God

What Does the BIBLE TEACH US??

jesus

OURSELVES

OTHERS

LIFE

TRUTH