Bible Definition –
Bible Vocabulary and References On This Site
These pages provides simple Bible definition and explanations. They are here to help if the terms used on this site are new or fairly unfamiliar. As with the rest of the site, my views are not necessarily the views of Christianity, although they may be.
Contents List For These Pages: The Bible
The Old Testament
Ways In Which The Catholic Bible Differs From The Protestant Bible
The New Testament
The Gospels
Paul The Apostle Other Spiritual Definitions
My Definition of Spirituality and Definition of Religion
Definition of non duality.
(Christianity and non duality - how this teaching has deepened my experience of God's Love.)
The Bible The Bible consists of two main parts:
Bible Definition: 1. The Old Testament
The Old Testament is a collection of books written at different periods between 1900 and 4000 years ago.
There are 39 books in the Protestant version,
46 books in the Catholic version.
What Christians now call the Old Testament is a collection of Hebrew books. They were written by Jews for Jews. Jesus was Jewish. He quoted from these scriptures and maintained their importance. He often interpreted them differently than his Jewish brothers, but insisted that he had come to fulfil the scriptures not to destroy them. Christianity comes out of Judaism. The Books of The Old Testament:
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
First book of Samuel
Second book of Samuel
First book of Kings
Second book of Kings
First book of ChroniclesSecond Book of ChroniclesEzra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs (Song of Solomon, Canticles)
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi. Ways In Which The Catholic Bible Differs From The Protestant Bible: a) Additional Catholic texts not included in Protestant Bibles:
- Tobit
- Judith
- Additions to Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4-16:24[14])
- Wisdom
- Sirach, also called Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus
- Baruch, including the Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah in the Septuagint[15])
- Additions to Daniel: Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children (Vulgate Daniel 3:24-90), Susanna (Vulgate Daniel 13, Septuagint prologue), Bel and the Dragon (Vulgate Daniel 14, Septuagint epilogue)
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
The book of Wisdom is well worth reading. It is interesting that Wisdom (also in Proverbs) is refered to as "She" and is used as another name for God.
I don’t know much about the other texts in the list above. b) The Catholic Bible includes the original words used to name God - Yahweh and Elohim. These have been replaced in the Protestant Bibles with the word LORD - left in capitals to indicate that it is a replacement. c) The Jerusalem Bible (a Catholic Bible) is the only one I own that acknowledges the latest (it was first published in 1966) thought about who wrote the various Chapters of the Bible. Probably many others do the same. For some Protestant Evangelical Christians, though, it would be unusual to challenge the belief that parts of the Bible are written by someone other than the named author.
Bible Definition: 2. The New Testament
The New Testament was written after the time of Jesus.
It consists of 27 books, written in Greek, primarily by Jews; Luke the historian was a gentile (non-jew). The Books of The New Testament:
Bible Definition: The Gospels 4 Gospels, giving slightly differing versions of the life and ministry of Jesus. Gospel according to St. Matthew
Gospel according to St. Mark
Gospel according to St. Luke
Gospel according to St. John
The Acts of the Apostles
A fascinating account of the early church by Luke the Historian. Epistles by Paul
Letters written by Paul to encourage the early Church to persevere in following Christ and not split into factions and get distracted by frivolities and unncessary theological arguments. Encouragement was much needed as persecution of the early Christians was common. Epistle to the Romans
First Epistle to the Corinthians
Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Epistle to the Galatians
Epistle to the Ephesians
Epistle to the Philippians
Epistle to the Colossians
First Epistle to the Thessalonians
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
First Epistle to Timothy
Second Epistle to Timothy
Epistle to Titus
Epistle to Philemon
Epistle to the Hebrews
Epistles by other apostles Other apostles were also travelling about to spread the Good News. They also wrote to encourage the early Christians to continue in the faith. Epistle of James
First Epistle of Peter
Second Epistle of Peter
First Epistle of John
Second Epistle of John
Third Epistle of John
Epistle of Jude
Revelation aka Apocalypse I don't really feel qualified to give a bible definition of Revelation. It is quite a controversial book. It is the one most used by those who want to instill fear of the “Last Days” to encourage people to take up faith. Revelation, also known as Apocalypse, can be pretty grizzly at times. Most feel they don't really understand much of it. There is however much I find beautiful and poetic in Revelation and relate to. The name Apocalypse is now associated with disaster, but it means “unveiling”. Throughout the Bible and in many spiritual groups, there is reference to a veil between this world and the spiritual realm. In moments of revelation this veil is removed. Revelation, the book, gives account of when this veil is removed, not just on an individual level, but on a collective level.
The Bible is the best-selling book in history...by far.
Move from Bible Definition to
the next page - Bible Definition: Paul In The Bible
Pages including Bible Verses:
Scriptures on Healing
Christian Interfaith Bible Quotes
Abundance Bible Quotes
Non Duality Bible Verses
Move from Bible Definition to the home page - How To Deepen Our Spirituality
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