The Protestant Christian Bible

Knowing the historical aspects of the Bible, the people and cultures involved, and the geographical locations can be very helpful in gaining a better understanding of what the Bible says.

The Bible is a collection of 66 separate "books", authored by God and written by at least 40 different people (all inspired by God), and in 3 different languages: Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek.

These books are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus... etc.. to Revelation.

All of the Bible records different aspects of the history of Israel, God's messages to, and interactions with humans, and His plan of salvation for us.

The Bible is separated into 2 Testaments: Old and New. There is a roughly 400 year gap between the last prophet of the Old Testament and the emergence of Christ in the New Testament called "The 400 Years of Silence". This period has major historical significance and is worth doing some research on.

Each Book is separated into Chapters and Verses, which make it easier to find specific verses or passages. For example if you see Genesis 1:6, that is referring to the book of Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 6.

The entire Bible is the story of Christ. You can find a representation of Him in each book in some way, even though He may not be mentioned by name. For example, you can see Him in Genesis in the creation. In Exodus He's the Passover Lamb. In Daniel He's (probably) the 4th figure in the fiery furnace.

The Old Testament is divided down further into segments:

• Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Law (known as the Torah)
• Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther: History
• Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (also called Song of Songs): Poetry
• Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel: Major Prophets
• Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: Minor Prophets

The New Testament also has divisions:

• Matthew, Mark, Luke, John: Gospels (Good News!)
• Acts: History
• Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon: Letters from Paul
• Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1,2 & 3 John, Jude: General Letters
• Revelation: Prophecy

The Bible has been translated into many different languages, and there are a lot of different versions of the Bible. Most people are familiar with the King James Version (KJV). Some other versions are: NIV- New International Version, HCSB or CSB- (Holman) Christian Standard Bible, ESV- English Standard Version, etc. There are also some paraphrases of the Bible, the most popular one being the MSG- The Message.

Some denominations, for example Catholicism, have different books than the Protestant Bible, and while these books may have interesting historical value, they are not considered to be inspired by God and are not "canonized" (researching this is pretty interesting. It's good to know how and why we have the Bible as it is today).

You can use a Parallel Bible to see different versions side by side. One of the best ways to do this is to use YouVersion, which has a lot of different languages and versions available. You can take this with you with the YouVersion App on your mobile device. It also has a lot of really great devotions and reading plans.

Another great resource is The Bible Project. They have a lot of really good information and videos explaining different things about the Bible and the people and history behind it. For example, check out How to Read The Bible.