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The
Bible is inspired by God. Inspiration means that God, through the Holy
Spirit, caused the writers of the Bible to write the accurate and
authoritative revelation of God. It is God breathed through the
instrumentation of the apostles and prophets.
The
Bible is somewhat like a library because it is actually a collection of
books. Those books were written over many centuries, and they were
gradually brought together to form one book.
The
first "collection" was probably the first five books of the
Bible (often called the "Torah," which is the Hebrew word for
God's Law). As time went on, other books were added, including some that
told about God's dealings with His people, as well as the prophets and
other writings. The whole Old Testament was finished about four centuries
before the time of Jesus. Only a few decades after His ministry, the
books of the New Testament were written and then accepted by Christians.
The
most important fact about the Bible, however, is that God watched over
its writing and He has preserved it down to the present time. The Bible
isn't just another ancient book of human wisdom—it is God's Word, given
to us to tell us how we can know God. The Bible says, "For prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).
As
Christian’s we treat the words of the Bible as God’s perfect and
error-free words. He uses it continually to speak to us and we study it
to become better listeners. Most of all, He wants you to come to know Him
by discovering Jesus Christ, who is the Bible's center.
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