The Bible

We took a look through our Bibles. Among our observations:

--It is a "book of books," one of our class members said.

--66 books in all, containing the stories of God and God's people.

--The catalogue is separated into two sections or testaments.

--The Hebrew Scriptures, comprising 39 of the books, are often referred to as 'The Old Testament."

--The Christian Scriptures, comprising 27 books, are often referred to as "The New Testament."

--Much of the Bible was first shared orally: the stories and teachings were told and learned and passed from generation to generation.

--The Bible is a story book, with rich narratives and an overarching story.

--Although Genesis is the first book in our Bibles, it was not the first one in written form (the Book of Amos was).

--Exodus is a freedom story.

--The Psalms (150 in all) are hymns, poems, and liturgies used in worship.

--The Prophets are people sent by God to u at different times to speak God's word clearly to God's people.  Prophets help God's people when we have lost our way, although much of what they say is not easy to hear at first!

--The New Testament begins with four books about Jesus and his ministry that we call gospels:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Mark was the first one composed.

--The Acts of the Apostles contains the stories of the church's birth in the wake of Jesus' resurrection.
The church was first called "The Way" and was a movement that changed people's lives while facing difficult challenges.

That's just a little bit!  Your homework was to read the first tow chapters in your book and complete the exercises.  What else have you learned about the Bible?