The Bible is a great book that forms the basis of several world religions - Christianity, Judaism, Islam. It is interesting that the term "Bible" in the texts of the book does not occur even once. It was originally called the Word of God, the scriptures, or simply the scriptures.
Instruction manual
1
By its structure, the Bible is a collection of religious, philosophical and historical texts written by different people, at different times and in different languages for 1600 years. It is believed that the oldest texts date from 1513 BC. In total, the Bible includes 77 books, but their number in different editions may be different, since not all of them are recognized as canonical, i.e. sacred and inspired. 11 books recognized as apocryphal, some religious denominations reject and do not include the Bible in their editions.
2
The Bible is divided into 2 parts - the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first part is the Old Testament, also called the Holy History of the pre-Christian era, includes 50 books, 38 of which are recognized as canonical. It is believed that the texts of the Old Testament were written from 1513 to 443 BC. by the people on whom God's Grace has descended. The Old Testament books tells about the creation of the world, about the beliefs of the Jews, about the participation of God in their lives, about the laws transmitted to people through the prophet Moses on Mount Sinai, etc. The sacred texts of this part of the Bible are written in different languages and are conditionally divided into legislative, historical, teaching and prophetic.
3
The New Testament is also called the Sacred History of Early Christianity. It includes 27 books, which makes up about a quarter of the total volume of the Bible. All books of the New Testament are written in ancient Greek, and tell of the life, martyrdom and resurrection of Christ, his teachings, disciples, and their deeds after the ascension of the Son of God. It is believed that the New Testament, which became the basis of Christianity, was written during the 1st century A.D.
4
The New Testament includes 4 canonical gospels. Translated from Greek, the "Gospel" means "good news", "good news." Until recently, the authors of these books were the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first three texts are similar in content. Fourth, the Gospel of John is very different from them. It is assumed that John, who wrote it later than others, sought to tell about events that had not been mentioned before. There are several dozen apocryphal gospels, each of which interprets the events of life and the preaching of Jesus Christ in its own way. Such a discrepancy and an abundance of interpretations led to the compelled minimization of canonical texts. They did not enter the Bible.
5
To date, the authorship of the Gospels is considered unproven. Matthew and John are the disciples of Christ, and Mark and Luke are the disciples of the apostles. Evangelists could not be eyewitnesses of the events described, since they lived in the 1st century AD, and the earliest manuscripts of these texts date from the 2nd-3rd centuries. It is possible that the gospel is a record of the oral creation of unknown people. In any case, now some priests prefer to tell parishioners that the authors of these books are unknown.
6
Thus: 1. The gospel is part of the Bible, one of the books included in it.
2. The Bible was written for more than one and a half thousand years, starting from the 15th century BC. The gospel dates back to the 1st century A.D.
3. The Bible describes many aspects of people's lives, starting with the creation of the world.
The Gospel speaks of the birth, earthly life of Jesus Christ, his resurrection and ascension, the commandments and laws brought to them by people, observing that a person will achieve spiritual purity, the happiness of union with God and salvation.
4. The gospel is written in ancient Greek, the texts of the Bible in different languages.
5. Books of the Bible are written by people according to God's special inspiration. The authorship of the Gospel is attributed to Matthew and John, the disciples of Christ, and Mark and Luke, the disciples of the apostles, although today this is considered unproven.
