Bible

The Bible (sometimes The Book,Good Book, Word of God, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, "(the) books", plural of βιβλιον, biblion, "book", originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning "papyrus", from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material), is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity ("The Bible" therefore actually refers to at least two different Bibles). It is thus applied to sacred scriptures. Many Christian English speakers refer to the Christian Bible as "the good book". For many people, their Bible is the revealed word of God or an authoritative record of the relationship between God, the world, and humankind.

The Christian Bible

The Septuagint was generally abandoned in favour of the Masoretic text as the basis for translations into Western languages from Saint Jerome's 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 that seem to have suffered corruption in transcription. They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in texts discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. (For more information, see the entry on Bible translations).

Related Topics:
Septuagint - Western - Saint Jerome's - Vulgate - Eastern Christianity - Bible translations

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The Old Testament

The collection of books that the majority of Christians (including members of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches) call the Old Testament include not only the 24 books of the Jewish Tanakh, but also certain deuterocanonical books preserved in the Greek of the Septuagint. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven such books (Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch), as well as some passages in Esther and Daniel, that are not included in the Jewish Scriptures. Various Orthodox Churches include a few others, typically 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, 1 Esdras, Odes, Psalms of Solomon, and occasionally even 4 Maccabees. Protestants in general do not recognize these books as truly part of the Bible, though they may print them along with the books they do recognize.

Related Topics:
Christian - Roman Catholic - Eastern Orthodox - Oriental Orthodox - Old Testament - Tanakh - Deuterocanonical books - Greek - Septuagint - Tobit - Judith - 1 Maccabees - 2 Maccabees - Wisdom of Solomon - Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) - Baruch - Esther - Daniel - 3 Maccabees - Psalm 151 - 1 Esdras - Odes - Psalms of Solomon - 4 Maccabees - Protestants

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The New Testament

The New Testament is a collection of 27 books, written in Koine Greek in the early Christian period, that almost all Christians recognize as Scripture. These can be grouped into:

Related Topics:
New Testament - Koine Greek - Christian - Scripture

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• The Synoptic Gospels

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• The Gospel of Matthew - Matthew, a tax-collector and apostle.
• The Gospel of Mark - Mark, a follower of Peter and also of Paul.
• The Gospel of Luke - Luke, a follower of Paul.