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Bible

theological_term theological_term standard

The Bible is the collection of books God gave through human authors as Holy Scripture. It is the church’s final written authority for faith and life.

At a Glance

The Bible is the canonical collection of Old and New Testament books that God inspired and that function as the church’s final written authority.

Key Points

Description

The Bible is the written Word of God, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit through human authors and received by the people of God as Holy Scripture. In Protestant Christianity, it consists of the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments and serves as the final written authority for Christian faith, doctrine, and conduct. Scripture presents a unified redemptive story centered ultimately in Jesus Christ, while speaking through many genres, historical settings, and human writers. A careful evangelical definition affirms both divine authorship and genuine human authorship, the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Scripture in all that it teaches, and the need to interpret it according to literary form, historical context, and the analogy of faith.

Biblical Context

The Bible describes itself as God-breathed, profitable for teaching and correction, and enduring forever. It also treats earlier written revelation as authoritative and shows the later writings of the apostles continuing that same pattern of inspired Scripture.

Historical Context

The books of the Bible were written over many centuries and later recognized by God’s people as canonical Scripture. In the Christian church, the Old Testament and New Testament came to be received together as the standard written testimony to God’s revelation and saving work.

Jewish and Ancient Context

Jesus and the apostles worked within the Jewish Scriptures already received as authoritative. The New Testament writers cite, interpret, and fulfill those Scriptures while also giving apostolic testimony that would become part of the church’s canon.

Primary Key Texts

Secondary Key Texts

Original Language Note

In Scripture, terms such as the Greek graphē and the idea of theōpneustos (“God-breathed”) express the divine origin and authority of the written Scriptures.

Theological Significance

The Bible is the norming authority for Christian doctrine and practice. It testifies to God’s character, exposes sin, reveals salvation, and directs the church in truth.

Philosophical Explanation

The Bible claims both divine and human authorship, so it should be read as real literature rooted in history, language, and genre, while also being received as God’s authoritative speech. Its authority is derived from God, not from the church’s preference.

Interpretive Cautions

Do not flatten every passage into the same genre or level of explicitness. Distinguish observation, interpretation, and application. In Protestant usage, the Bible is not expanded to include later apocryphal or devotional writings as canonical Scripture.

Major Views

Christians generally agree that Scripture is authoritative, but traditions differ on canon scope and on how Scripture relates to church authority. Protestant evangelical usage normally limits the Bible to the 66-book canon.

Doctrinal Boundaries

The Bible is not merely a religious library, a record of human spirituality, or a secondary authority alongside the gospel. It is God’s written Word and therefore final in matters of faith and obedience, while not replacing the living work of the Holy Spirit.

Practical Significance

Believers are to read, hear, obey, preach, teach, memorize, and test all things by Scripture. The Bible shapes worship, discipleship, moral discernment, and hope.

Related Entries

See Also

Data

Machine-readable JSON for Bible

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