Bible Basics

This section intends to provide a brief overview of the bible, intended to provide a brief orientation for newcomers

What is the "Bible"?

The first thing that needs to be understood is the difference between the Bible and so called "Scripture". In short, the Bible is a collection of certain books while the larger body of scripture contains far more books of similar nature. These other books are for now put aside, right now it is just important to understand that the Bible is not the complete body of scripture, but only a selection of books bound into a single book.

Secondly, we need to differentiate between Biblical text and Church doctrine, traditions and other teachings (in a Christian context) and the talmudic traditions and teachings (in a jewish context) and the Biblical old testament. Neither the Church, nor the Talmudic doctrine, traditions and other teachings equate to that of the old Testament. The old testament contains the ancient scripture, the true word of inspired by the Almighty and handed down to his servants the prophets, most notably Moses, while church and talmudic doctrine is purely the works of men. Neither the Church nor the Talmudic writings are of divine inspiration at all. It is therefore important to distinguish clearly the sources of whatever argument brought forth. Where does it originate from? Does it originate from the instruction of the Almighty or is it part of the works of men? For purposes of this writing, we will focus exclusively on the biblical text alone.

What information does the Bible contain?

Before anything else, I would say the Bible is a factual historic account, the intention of which is to inform the reader of events passed by before the lifetime of the reader. From this historic account, we learn about the existence of the Almighty, his position and function, aswell as his creation in general but more specifically of Man who was disobedient to the instructions and was cursed as a result thereof. The almighty however promised to restore Man and entered into a covenant with a certain people. The majority of the remaining text themes around these people, issuing them with instructions, chastising them, documenting accounts of their repentance from evil ways, then deviating again despite various warnings.

Eventually, the new testament documents the appearance of the promised saviour who appeared to release his elect from their bondage.