1. Introduction to the Bible

2. Questions that make sense
Why is the Bible such an important book?
Who wrote it and for whom?
Is the content of the Bible trustworthy?
Why should I read it?
Does the message tell me something that matters for me, today, in my life?

3. The Bible is the written Word of God and has two major parts:
the Old Testament and the New Testament
A ‘testament’ is an act by which a person determines the disposition of his property after death
The Old Testament refers to the ‘old covenant’, which God has established with His people, the Israelites.
The New Testament refers to the ‘new covenant’, which Jesus has established with all His followers.
A ‘covenant’ 约 is an agreement that brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people. A ‘contract’ between people can be broken, but a God given ‘covenant’ cannot be broken!
The Jewish faith is based on the Old Testament covenants that God made with Abraham, Moses, and David.
In the Christian faith the New Covenant is essential, which Jesus offered to all people.

4. The Bible’s composition The Old Testament has 39 parts, also called ‘books’. It was written between 1500 and 450 BC.
The New Testament has 27 ‘books’. It was written between 20 and 60 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
All together the Bible has 66 books, written by 40 authors, inspired by God, who lived during 40 generations in a time frame of 1500 years.
Were these books all written in the same language? No.
The authors wrote their books in three languages: 1. Hebrew , the language of the Israelites: most of the Old Testament
2. Aramaic, the common language of the Near East from the 6th through the 4th
centuries BC.: parts of the books of Daniel and Ezekiel and a few statements
in the New Testament.
3. Greek, the international language of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus:
almost all the New Testament.
Were these authors scientists or professional authors? No.
Moses was a political leader trained in Egypt, Peter was a
fisherman, Amos was a herdsman, David was a king, a
warrior and musician, Daniel was an exile and prime
minister, Luke was a medical doctor, Paul was a tentmaker and
teacher of the Jewish faith, etc.
Were these books all written in the same country? No.
The authors wrote their books in three continents (Asia, Africa, and
Europe) under different circumstances: in the desert, in the king’s
palace, during travel, in prison, etc.
Were these books all written in the same literary style? No.
The authors wrote their books in several styles: historical narrative, law, covenant, poetry, prophecy, song lyrics,
letters, biography, parables and allegory, etc.

5. Now we distribute Bibles
Bible content
The 39 books of the Old Testament contain the story of creation, the history of the people of Israel, and how God used them in His plan to redeem the human race.
The 27 books of the New Testament contain the life of Jesus and the story of the early church and teaching what God did to save us, how to become a Christian and how to live as God’s people.
Now we distribute Bibles

6. This is a bi-lingual Bible with two translations
side-by-side on each page:
Chinese - English

7. Old Testament content page New Testament content page

8. Watch this 3-minute video clip in Chinese about the Bible

9. The Old Testament can be divided into four groups
1. Books of Moses and the Law
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Δευτερονόμιον=second law)
2. History books
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings,
1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
3. Wisdom books
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
4. Prophets’ books
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

10. Promises All nations will be blessed in the descendants of Abraham.
A son of David, also son of God, will be king forever.
His reign will be over all nations, there will be SHALOM (peace).

11. The New Testament can be divided into five groups
1. Gospels (Good News; life of Jesus and the way of salvation)
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
2. History of the early church
Acts of the Apostles
3. Paul’s letters
Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews
4. Other letters
James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
5. Apocalypse
Revelation

12. Where took the events place?

13. Navigation through the Bible
books, chapters and verses
The original Bible books didn’t have chapters and verses.
Around 400 AD when the Bible was complete the canon was closed.
Canon of scripture is a list of books considered to be authoritative
as scripture in Judaism and Christianity. The canon is considered to be "closed" reflecting the belief that public revelation has ended and thus the inspired texts may be gathered into a complete and authoritative canon, where books cannot be added or removed.
Then the ‘publishers’ of the Bible added chapters and verses to the text, to make references and navigation easier. Also headings of paragraphs were added.
John 3:16 means: the book of John in the New Testament, chapter 3, and verse 16. Please, try to find this very important verse in your Bible. What does it say?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”
神爱世人，甚至把他的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信他的，不至灭亡，反得永生。
(John 3:16).

14. Bible translations
In the 4th century the first full Bible translation was in Latin. In the 13th century this version was renewed.
After the time that printing technique was invented Bible translations came out in the 16th century, such as the Luther Bible in German (New testament), the Dutch translation (Statenvertaling), and the King James Bible in English. The first Chinese translations came in the 19th century.
There are 6,900 known languages in the world. As off today translations of parts of the Bible have been completed in 2,479 languages. Translations of the full Bible have been completed in 451 languages.

15. The Bible claims to be the Word of God
Hundreds of times in the Bible we find “this is what the Lord says” or God is said to speak through the prophets.
Moses (political leader) was given the law by God (Exodus 19:25-20:17). Isaiah (prophet) says at least 40 times that his message comes from God (Isaiah 7:10); Ezekiel (prophet) 60 times (Ezekiel 27:1-2); Jeremiah (prophet) 100 times (Jeremiah 37:2).
The New Testament contains the words of Jesus, the Son of God, and Jesus says that all of the Old Testament is God’s word. The other books of the New Testament are claimed to be from God.

16. God used men to bring His Word
Example 1 2 Timothy 3:16 says “all scripture is inspired” or literally “God-breathed”. God “breathed out” the message of the Bible, inspiring those whom He chose to write down what God wanted us to have. Please, let someone read the verse in Chinese
Example 2 2 Peter 1: Those who wrote did not just write their own ideas or opinions. God revealed His truth to them and worked in them to write what God wanted written.
Please, let someone read the verses in Chinese

17. How-questions and Why-questions
As university students and scholars we study sciences
Science gives many answers on How-questions but seldom answers on Why-questions
God answers Why-questions in His Word, the Bible
And He can do so, because He is the Maker of everything and everyone for a reason.
And because He desires to build a relationship with each of us, based on His love and compassion

18. Is the Bible trustworthy?
The consistency and accuracy of the Bible are amazing.
People over the ages, also many scientists and inventors*, have been inspired by God’s Word and have put their trust, knowledge and faith in the Biblical message and Good News of Jesus
* Newton, Kepler, Galilei, Descartes, Copernicus, Linnaeus, Pascal, Lavoisier, Euler, Boyle, Pasteur, Planck, Maxwell, Faraday, Marconi, Mendel, Pavlov, Bacon, Boerhaave, Volta, Ampaire, Dalton, Joule, Herz, Stokes, Kelvin, Teilhard de Chardin, Egorov, Rutherford, Carver, Stark, Compton, von Braun, Boyd, von Weizaecker, Carson, Collins,

19. Why was the Bible written
and why should I read the Bible?
John, a follower of Jesus writes this in the Bible: . . these things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
但把这些事记下来，是要你们信耶稣是基督，是　神的儿子，并且使你们信了，可以因他的名得生命。(John 20:31)

20. Does the message of the Bible tell me something
that matters for me, today, in my life?
Jesus says this about us in His prayer to God the Father: “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
认识你是独一的真神，并且认识你所差来的耶稣基督，这就是永生。”
(John 17:3)

21. Is there anyone here who wants to tell why he/she reads the Bible?

22. Are you interested to explore the Bible and get to know Jesus, who loves you and who wants to lead you in your life?