Bible

Bible
NYC Wanderer (Kevin Eng) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Bible
Caption	A page from the Codex Vaticanus, a 4th-century Greek manuscript.
Religion	Christianity, Judaism
Language	Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Koine Greek
Period	c. 8th century BCE – 2nd century CE

Bible. The collection of sacred texts and scriptures central to the religious practices of Judaism and Christianity. It is divided into two primary sections: the Old Testament, which is largely congruent with the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament, which documents the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the early Christian Church. These writings encompass a diverse range of literary genres, including law, history, poetry, prophecy, gospels, and epistles, forming a foundational corpus for Western civilization.

Composition and structure

The text is organized into two major covenantal collections. The first, the Old Testament, is traditionally divided by Judaism into the Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings), a grouping known as the Tanakh. Christianity often orders these books differently, categorizing them as Historical Books, Wisdom Books, and Prophetic Books. The second collection, the New Testament, opens with the four Canonical gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—which narrate the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. These are followed by the Acts of the Apostles, a series of Pauline epistles and General epistles addressed to early Christian communities like those in Corinth and Rome, and concludes with the Book of Revelation, an apocalyptic work. The exact number of books varies between denominations; for instance, the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church include deuterocanonical books like Tobit and Maccabees, which are not found in the Protestant or Hebrew Bible canons.

Historical context and development

The writings were composed, compiled, and edited over a millennium within the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world. The earliest materials, such as parts of the Pentateuch, have roots in the traditions of Ancient Israel and Judah, influenced by surrounding cultures like Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Major historical events, including the Babylonian captivity, the reign of King David, and the Maccabean Revolt, form the backdrop for many texts. The New Testament emerged in the 1st century CE within the Roman Empire, following the death of Jesus and the subsequent missionary work of figures like Paul the Apostle across regions such as Asia Minor and Macedonia. The process of canonization was complex and protracted; key councils, including the Council of Jamnia for Jewish texts and the Council of Carthage for Christian scriptures, helped define authoritative lists, though debates, such as those surrounding the Antilegomena, persisted for centuries.

Religious significance and interpretation

It serves as the ultimate source of theology, ethics, and religious law for believers. In Judaism, the Hebrew Bible, especially the Torah, provides the basis for Halakha (Jewish law) and is central to rituals in the Synagogue. For Christianity, the text is viewed as divine revelation, with the New Testament fulfilling the promises of the Old Testament through the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. Interpretive methods vary widely: literalism, historical-critical analysis, and allegorical readings, as practiced by theologians like Origen and Augustine of Hippo, have all been employed. Major doctrinal positions, from the Protestant Reformation principle of sola scriptura to Catholic teachings affirmed at the Council of Trent, are grounded in its authority. Different Christian denominations, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Lutheran Church, maintain distinct hermeneutic traditions.

Cultural and literary influence

Its impact extends far beyond religion, profoundly shaping Western art, music, literature, philosophy, and law. It has inspired countless works of art, from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes to Handel's Messiah. In literature, its narratives and themes are echoed in the works of John Milton (Paradise Lost), William Blake, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Its phrases and stories have entered common parlance and idiom across languages, influencing legal concepts and moral philosophy in thinkers from Thomas Aquinas to Martin Luther King Jr.. The text has been a pivotal force in historical linguistics, driving translation projects like the Septuagint into Koine Greek and Jerome's Vulgate into Latin, and later monumental efforts such as the King James Version, which significantly affected the development of the English language.

Manuscripts and textual history

The original autographs have been lost, and the modern text is reconstructed from a vast array of ancient copies. For the Old Testament, the most significant witnesses are the Masoretic Text, preserved by Jewish scribes known as the Masoretes, and the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran provided manuscripts centuries older than previously known, such as the Great Isaiah Scroll. For the New Testament, there is an unparalleled wealth of early evidence, including major Greek uncial codices like the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, as well as thousands of papyrus fragments, such as those in the Rylands Library. The scholarly field of textual criticism, practiced by figures like Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort, compares these variant manuscript readings to establish the most likely original text, documenting a complex transmission history through centuries of copying by scribes in centers like Alexandria and Caesarea Maritima.

Category:Religious texts Category:Christianity Category:Judaism