Understanding the Bible

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Understanding the Bible

• Some definitions

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The canon of scripture

• Those books that are recognized as officially a
  part of the bible, that constitute the word of
  God.

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Apocrypha

• from the Greek word for hidden
• A group of books that are not part of the canon
  of Jewish scripture but are found in early
  Christian versions of the Old Testament
• Catholics hold them to be canonical
• deuterocanonical

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Septuagint

• The Greek translation of the Jewish scripture
• Done after the time of Alexander the Great
• Includes the extra books that became the Apocrypha

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The Tanak and the Christian Old Testament What
are the differences?
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In studying the bible, we need to remember

• We are reading translations of texts that were
  originally mostly in Hebrew and Greek
• The bible has a history
• Jewish scriptures evolved over many centuries
• Christian scriptures also took shape over time

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To understand a scriptural text, we need to know
something about

• Its literary sources
• Its historical setting (e.g., audience) and
  context
• Its literary form (myth, poetry, etc.)
• Its religious message
• To refuse to do this homework is to refuse to
  accept the bible on its own terms.

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Understanding the Quran

• Muslims consider the Quran to be the literal
  word of God, revealed to the prophet Muhammad
• dictated vs. inspired
• Muhammads illiteracy seen as one proof of the
  Qurans divine origin
• Muhammad claimed that the only miracle he
  participated in was the revelation of the Quran
• No text of the revelations was compiled during
  Muhammads lifetime.

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Compilation of the text

• Distinction between theology and history
• Zayd ibn Thabit, a companion of Muhammad, is
  generally believed to be the compiler of an early
  written edition the pages of text were entrusted
  to Hafsa, one of Muhammads wives
• The major collection of the text as we now have
  it took place under Uthman, the third ruler of
  the empire after the Prophets death

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Compilation of the text

• Theologically, it is held that this texts form
  was an image of the heavenly tablet, i.e., its
  form and content are precisely as God wanted it.
• This skeleton text indicated only the
  consonants of the Arabic script in rudimentary
  form. The final written text was developed over
  the next two centuries.
• The oral tradition was thus the primary mode of
  transmission.