Holy Bible — LLMpedia

Holy Bible
NYC Wanderer (Kevin Eng) · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Name	Holy Bible
Author	Multiple
Country	Ancient Near East
Language	Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek
Genre	Religious scripture
Release date	Various (c. 12th–1st century BCE; New Testament c. 1st century CE)

Contents

Holy Bible

The Holy Bible is a collection of ancient texts central to Judaism and Christianity, comprising diverse genres including law, history, wisdom literature, prophecy, gospel, epistle, and apocalypse. It has been transmitted, translated, debated, and canonized across institutions such as the Second Temple, the Council of Nicaea, the Council of Trent, and the Westminster Assembly, shaping doctrines defended in contexts like the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed. Its manuscript traditions— exemplified by the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Codex Sinaiticus, the Codex Vaticanus, and the Masoretic Text—have informed scholarship from figures like Origen, Jerome, Martin Luther, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, and John Calvin.

Overview

The Bible is traditionally divided into the Tanakh—the Jewish canon containing the Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim—and the Christian Bible, which adds the New Testament containing the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Pauline epistles, and Revelation. Various Christian traditions recognize different canons, such as the Septuagint used by Eastern Orthodox Church and the deuterocanonical books acknowledged by the Roman Catholic Church and disputed by Protestant Reformation leaders like Martin Luther. Textual witnesses like the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Vulgate demonstrate the range of ancient textual transmission preserved in monastic centers such as Mount Athos and Saint Catherine's Monastery.

Authorship is traditionally ascribed to figures including Moses, David, and Solomon for portions of the Hebrew corpus, and to apostles such as Paul and evangelists like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for New Testament writings. Modern critical scholarship engages sources and redaction involving schools associated with the Deuteronomistic history, the Priestly source, and the Q source hypothesis. Major manuscript discoveries—Aleppo Codex, Leningrad Codex, Chester Beatty Papyri—and finds in locations like Qumran Caves have informed textual criticism methodologies developed by scholars such as Westcott and Hort, Emanuel Tov, and Bruce Metzger. Translation efforts reflect ancient multilingual contexts including Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Aramaic, and were shaped by councils like Synod of Hippo and individuals like Jerome producing the Latin Vulgate.

Canonical decisions varied in councils and synods such as Council of Hippo, Council of Carthage, and the Council of Trent, with Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant traditions adopting differing canons reflected in editions like the King James Version, the New International Version, and the Revised Standard Version. Translator-scholars from Erasmus of Rotterdam to William Tyndale influenced vernacular access, while liturgical uses developed in rites like the Byzantine Rite and Roman Rite. Modern critical editions—Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia—are used alongside digital projects such as the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library and collaborative initiatives at institutions like Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press.

Recurring theological themes include covenant motifs illustrated by Abrahamic covenant narratives, sacrificial systems developed in Leviticus and typology fulfilled in Christology debates, eschatological visions found in Daniel and Revelation, and ethical instructions propagated in the Sermon on the Mount and Epistles of Paul. Doctrinal formulations have been articulated in creeds and confessions such as the Nicene Creed, the Chalcedonian Definition, and the Westminster Confession of Faith, influencing theological movements like Patristics, Scholasticism, Reformation, Evangelicalism, and Liberation theology. Interpretive methods span allegorical interpretation in Origen and Augustine, literalist readings in Fundamentalism, historical-critical approaches in the Tübingen School, and canonical criticism advanced by scholars at institutions like Yale Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary.

The Bible has profoundly affected literature, law, art, and politics, inspiring works by authors such as John Milton, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, and influencing legal documents like the Magna Carta and cultural movements including the Abolitionism campaign and the Civil Rights Movement led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr.. Artistic expressions appear in masterpieces at Sistine Chapel, in compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, and in visual arts by Caravaggio and Rembrandt. Nations and institutions—Ottoman Empire, British Empire, United States Constitution, Vatican City—have engaged scripture in governance, education, and diplomacy, while controversies over interpretation surface in debates about secularism, science and religion disputes such as those involving Charles Darwin and responses from theologians like Friedrich Schleiermacher. Contemporary scholarship and public discourse continue at universities and seminaries including Harvard Divinity School, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Oxford, and think tanks influencing media platforms and movements worldwide.

Category:Religious texts