The Bible is probably the most printed and most distributed book in the whole world. Am sure it ranks high among those books that have been translated into many languages internationally. History reveals again that the Bible is the only book, which has been persecuted but survived many organized and intended attacks. For this reason, the Bible has attracted a particular reputation. The Bible, however, is not a mystical book and as its ink and papers, it has no power whatsoever.
The Bible has played a role in the process of human civilization, it has reported from its first chapters the origin of man, the problem of man, man’s endeavour to overcome his problem, the solutions offered by his creator and all that follows. In history, the Bible has benefited many great men.
It also has a profound influence on mankind’s science, education, literature, law, economy, and so on at least as a stepping stone. There are many words of wisdom about human life in the Bible, which tells what the meaningful life is like and shows people the direction of life. The Bible is not a mystical book, it did not fall from Heaven as other religious books claim, but rather it is a product of human experiences between man and his creator and man and his environment.
The Bible, therefore, as ink and paper has no magical powers and it is occultism to use this book in deliverance and healing procedures. You are practicing sorcery if you place this book under the pillow, if you sprinkle water on it and drink it, if you place it in your Business counter, etc. You cannot place anything on the Quran but it okay to place things on the Bible and that doesn’t take away its truth or its holiness.
The Bible (ink and paper) is not a supernatural book and neither does it have mystical powers that can cause magic. Christ Hume wrote:
“The Bible is not to be approached as some sort of Magic Eight Ball that will give you a specific answer for your problem. The Bible is to be studied and read to understand what it means.
God the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible to write in a specific time, usually to a very specific group of people. We cannot expect to understand the author’s intent without grappling with the historical and grammatical context of any given portion of Scripture.
This is not to say that one must be a Greek scholar to be a Christian, but Christians must understand how to grow in the knowledge of God as they study His Word. Countless people are stunted in growth because they approach the Bible in all the wrong ways.”
I have heard people say that; “if it is in the Bible I believe it” but what exactly does this phrase mean, does it mean that they believe whatever is in the Bible as it without interpretation and meaning or they intend the meaning of whatever is in the Bible?
How we answer those two questions helps to saves us from some sort of madness exercised by many religious cults and believers around this book. When we say that the Bible is Holy we do not intend that the ink and paper of this book are sacred we, however, intend that the word of God communicated through the words of men in the record of the Bible is set apart for particular purposes of living. It very important that we do not abuse the Bible in any form of ink and paper worship.
We are, therefore, not reading mystical or magical ink on mystical papers but we are receiving the revelation of God through human means.
Historical Background
According to Halley’s Bible Handbook: “The history of the Bible starts with a phenomenal account of history! It’s not one book like the majority of us always thought. It’s an ancient collection of writings, comprised of 66 separate books, written over approximately 1,600 years, by at least 40 distinct authors.
The Old Testament contains 39 books written from approximately 1500 to 400 BC, and the New Testament contains 27 books written from approximately 40 to 90 AD. The Jewish Bible (Tanakh) is the same as the Christian Old Testament, except for its book arrangement. The original Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some Aramaic, while the original New Testament was written in common Greek.
The history of the “Bible” begins with the Jewish Scriptures.” The historical record of the Jews was written down on leather scrolls and tablets over centuries, and the authors included kings, shepherds, prophets and other influential community people. The first five books are called the LAW, which was in their raw-form written and/or edited primarily by Moses in the early 1400’s BC.” Many senior men in Israel and prophets wrote and documented the history of their nation with their God.
The Jewish tradition is documented by the elders of the community, the Hakamims (wise men), and the prophets and it is in the latter category that Moses is placed. Thereafter, other scriptural texts were written and collected by the Jewish scribes/scholars known as the Massorets during the next 1,000 years and that was in the exile and after the exile. And that is how we end up with the Bible in a scroll form that we read in the New Testament times (before what we know today as the New Testament).
About 450 BC, the Law and the other Jewish Scriptures were arranged by councils of rabbis (Jewish teachers), who then recognized the complete set as the inspired and sacred authority of God (Elohim). At some time during this period, the books of the Hebrew Bible were arranged by topic, including The Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (Ketuvim). The first letters of these Hebrew words – T, N and K — form the name of the Hebrew Bible – the Tanakh.
Bible: Words, Facts, Figures, Statistics, and Numbers according to specific English Bibles.
- Chapters:1,189
- Verses: 31,071
- Words: 783,137
- Letters: 3,566,480
- Longest Book: Psalms (150 chapters)
- Longest Chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses)
- Longest Verse: Esther 8:9 (78 words)
- Shortest Book: 2 John
- Shortest Chapter (by number of words): Psalm 117 (by number of words)
- Shortest Verse: John 11:35 is 2 words- ‘Jesus wept’
- Middle Books: Micah and Nahum
- Middle Chapter: Psalm 117
- Middle Verse: Psalm 118:8
- The word ‘God’: appears 3,358 times
- The word ‘LORD’: appears: 7,736 times
These Statistics can be relative given versions and various translations in various languages. The English translation of the Bible contains around 3,566,480 letters, 773,746 words, 31,102 verses 1,189 chapters, and 66 books.
God bless you, I invoke Truth, Wisdom and Faith
Priest M.I.T White
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
Questioning to Believe, Believing to Live
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 