by Stephen Rodgers
Before we get into a more specific examination of the Bible by breaking it into parts (which we will later do along the lines of books, genres, and testaments), we should probably begin with an explanation of how those particular collections came to be. And before we do that, we should probably begin with an even broader subject: Scripture as a whole.
You may already know this, but the Bible is actually a collection of 66 documents (typically called “books”). It is divided into two sections: the Old Testament (which contains 39 books), and the New Testament (which contains 27 books). Those books are further divided into chapters, and those chapters are further sub-divided into verses. (It is worth saying at this point that the chapters and verses are not part of the original text; they were added later to make it easier to find things. While that is very convenient, it also means that sometimes people treat the Bible as if it were nothing more than a collection of quotes, which is an enormous mistake).
The Old Testament (OT) primarily concerns itself with a people (ancient Israel), was written over the course of approximately 1,000 years, and was predominantly written in the language of that people (Hebrew, although two sections are in Aramaic).
The New Testament (NT) primarily concerns itself with a person (Jesus Christ), was written over the course of approximately 50 years, and was predominantly written in the common trade language of that time (Greek, although several quotes were translated from Hebrew by the authors).
Despite these differences, the Bible has remarkable unity, unsurpassed by any other literary work written by such disparate men over approximately 1,500 years. When one considers the differences in language, culture, history, education, background, and profession of the various authors, it is easy to see why the two most-proposed explanations are a conspiracy of brilliant con-men and editors on one hand and the personal interference of a sovereign God on the other.
This unity can be expressed in several different ways. For the sake of time, we’ll only look at three of them briefly.
John MacArthur in the MacArthur Study Bible notes that the Bible has a single unifying theme (the story of God redeeming His chosen people for the praise of His glory) with five recurring motifs. They are:
- the character of God
- the judgment for sin and disobedience
- the blessing for faith and obedience
- the Lord Savior and Sacrifice for sin
- the coming kingdom and glory
And for what it’s worth, any of those motifs would be fertile ground for further study…Stephen Charnock’s works on the attributes of God alone runs over 500 pages…Vaughn Roberts has an entire book devoted to the theme of the kingdom (God’s Big Picture), which is nonetheless downright introductory compared to Dr. Alva J. McClain’s seminal work on the subject (The Greatness of the Kingdom). (And if you need something online, there’s always Dane Ortlund’s overview of The Grace of God in the Bible).
On the other hand, in his miniscule but masterful book How We Got Our Bible, W.H. Griffith Thomas notes the Christocentric theme of Scripture, and suggests that the sections of the Bible can be understood progressively:
- Genesis to Deuteronomy – Revelation
- Joshua to Esther – Preparation
- Job to Song of Solomon – Aspiration
- Isaiah to Malachi – Expectation
- Matthew to John – Manifestation
- Acts to Epistles – Realization
- Revelation – Culmination
He also notes that the unity of Scripture can be seen in the symmetry of it structure as well:
- The OT begins with revelation (the Pentateuch), and proceeds to realization (the remainder of the OT). This realization is seen in outward expression (the historical books), inward experience (the poetical books), and onward expectation (prophetical books).
- The NT begins with revelation (the Gospels), and proceeds to realization (the remainder of the NT). This realization is seen in outward expression (History/Acts), inward experience (Doctrine/epistles), and onward expectation (Prophecy/Revelation).
Please note that while the thematic, progressive, and structural unity of the Bible are three different ways to examine it as a whole, they are certainly not the only ways to look at it. We could come up with many other views, or delve into much greater detail on any of the views described above (for example, for a Christocentric examination of the OT, I would recommend Vern Polythress’ “Overview of the Bible: A Survey of the History of Salvation”). I just wanted to take a moment to state the obvious, especially since it’s a point that could easily get lost as we proceed to break the Bible into smaller and smaller units to examine it more closely:
As previously stated, the Bible is a collection of 66 different documents. However, at it’s core it is a singular entity, with a single Author, and a central message.
Don’t forget that.
Next week, we’ll take a brief look into the subject of the OT canon. Between now and then, if anyone wanted to do some further reading on the Word of God, I would suggest that Garrett’s seven articles on “The Doctrine of the Word of God” would be an excellent start.
Other Works Referenced:
- ESV Study Bible
- MacArthur Study Bible
- Sumner, How Did We Get The Bible?
- Thomas, How We Got Our Bible