圣经基本介绍英文版.doc

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Part I  A General Introduction to the Bible介绍一般的《圣经》
1. What is the Bible about?圣经关于什么
Before we get to the Bible Stories, we should have an overall view of the knowledge of the Bible.
1.1. What kind of book is the Bible?什么书才是圣经
When mentioning the Bible, we often relate it to Christianity immediately. Of course, it’s a religious book. It’s the canon of Christianity. But it’s not only a religious book. By the way, it’s far from a collection of fairy tales as some people supposed it.
The Bible involves various subjects of religion, history, legislation, ethics, literature, philosophy, wisdom, management, public relationship, counseling, etc. There are some examples. Genesis（创世记---圣经旧约的第一卷书）, Exodus（出埃及记---圣经旧约的第二卷书） and Numbers（民数记---圣经旧约的第四卷书） in the Pentateuch（摩西五经---圣经旧约的首五卷书） and the Historical Books tell about a brief history of the Hebrews with a focus on the formation of their belief. In Exodus, the famous Ten Commands is proposed, which is believed the origin of the western legislation. Leviticus（利未记---圣经旧约的第三卷书）provides the standards for the Hebraic（希伯来的） religious life. Deuteronomy（申命记---圣经旧约的第五卷书）involves the ethics and management of a nation and standards for dealing with civil disputes. Song of Solomon（雅歌---圣经旧约的其中一卷书） in the Poetical Books（诗歌智慧书---圣经旧约的一部分书卷）is a wonderful poem about love affairs. Ecclesiastes（传道书---圣经旧约的其中一卷书） in the Poetical Books is a book of philosophy, discussing the true meaning of life. Proverbs（箴言---圣经旧约的其中一卷书） in the Poetical Books provides the wisdom for daily life. And the list can be going on.
The Bible is widely regarded as an important book. It’s also taken as an encyclopedia of life. It can be called as a classic of literature, too. It has a great influence on western culture. The following is a popularized introduction to the Bible.
“The Bible is often described as ‘the greatest book ever written.’ This is because of its unending significance and influence on people throughout the ages. No other book in history has impacted peoples and cultures like the Bible. So far, the Bible has been translated into 2,018 languages and every year more copies of the Bible are sold than any other single book.” (A Brief Introduction to the Bible)
1.2. What does the Bible tell? 圣经讲什么
The Bible itself contains a total of 66 books and is divided into two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament contains 39 books and the New Testament contains 27 books. This word, “testament”, means a declaration or contract. As used in the Bible, it means the contract or promise to which God has bound himself in his dealings with mankind.
Contract is a key word in the Bible. According to the Christian doctrines, the “contract” of salvation that God has given mankind is based upon the death of Jesus Christ on the cross; Christians believe that it is a promise that God has saved mankind through Jesus and made them heirs of his Kingdom of Heaven. Believers are confident that the sins of mankind have been taken away forever through the death of Jesus on the cross---that Jesus, the Son of God, who was born on this earth about 2000 years ago, took upon himself, in man’s place and as his substitute, the punishment deserved by sinful men. This means that their sins are forgiven, and that they can believe the promise of God, the news that they have received everlasting life from him. It is the heart of the Bible message. The contract written before Christ is called “The ntOld Testament” and the contract written after Christ is called “The New Testament”.
The Old Testament, centered on the Jewish nation, was authored by many writers between 1500 BC and 400 BC, and consists of 39 “books” containing their history, laws, prophesies, poetry and songs. The message of God’s new kingdom and of the coming Christ is repeated in many prophesies.
The New Testament explains the facts, how these prophesies of Christ were fulfilled in Jesus, and teaches about his salvation. It was written by Jesus’ disciples between 30 AD, and 90 AD, and begins with the four gospels---short histories of the life of Jesus---including also 21 letters to Christians, the Acts---a brief account of the disciples and a book of prophesy---Revelation, for a total of 27 “books”.
The Jewish people accept only the Old Testament as the Bible, the “Word of God”, which they call “the Law” or “the Prophets”. Christians, however, believe that both the Old and New Testaments are “the Word of God”.
The Bible covers a wide range of literary styles. Its content includes history, poetry, law, biography, prophecy, philosophy, science and inspirational reading. According to the literary styles and the content, the Bible is divided into the following categories: the Pentateuch(摩西五经), the Historical Books（历史书）, the Poetical Books（诗歌智慧书）, the Prophets（先知书）, the Gospel（福音书）, and the letters of the disciples（使徒书信）.
The Pentateuch (deemed to be written by Moses, a great leader of the Hebrews) includes Genesis(创世记), Exodus（出埃及记）, Leviticus（利未记）, Numbers（民数记） and Deuteronomy（申命记）. Genesis is a religious account of the origin of the Hebrew people, including the origin of the world and of man, the career of Abraham and his son Issac and the life of Jacob (son of Issac) and his son Joseph, who are the first and most respectable patriarchs（族长） of the Hebrews（希伯来人）. Exodus is a religious history of the Hebrews during their flight from Egypt, the period when they began to receive God’s Law. Leviticus is a collection of primitive laws. Numbers is a continuation of the account of the flight from Egypt with two censuses about the Exodus. Deuteronomy is the final words of Moses to his people, restating his orders and fifty years’ experiences as a leader.
The Historical Books includes these books: Book of Joshua（约书亚记）, Book of Judges（士师记）, Books of Samuel (І and П)（撒母耳记上下）, Books of Kings (І and П)（列王纪上下）, Books of Chronicles (І and П)（历代志上下）, Book of Exra（以斯拉记）, Book of Nehemiah（尼希米记），and Book of Esther(以斯帖记). These works were written sometime between 800 BC and 500 BC, dealing with history of the Hebrew people from their entry into Palestine around 1200 BC till the fall of Palestine into hands of Assyrians（叙利亚人） and Chaldeans（迦勒底人） in 586 BC. This period of Hebrew history covers the settlement in the Highlands by the Hebrews, the development of system of landed nobles, the development of monarchy（君主制）, the age of great prosperity under Saul, David and Solomon, and the establishment of the two Kingdoms.
The Poetical Books are some literature works describing the authors’ religious feelings and experiences in forms of ballads（民歌）, hymns（颂歌）, dramatic poetry, prophecies（预言）, diaries, love lyrics（抒情诗）, short stories as well.
For more than a thousand years in the Middle East there had been a class of people known as “prophets”（先知） or the spokesmen of God. The Prophets（先知书） are a collection of books written by the prophets to declare the messages from God, mostly to summon the Jews to repent their sins according to the laws mentioned in the Pentateuch.
The Gospel is made up of four accounts, which tells the beginning of Christianity. The four accounts were believed to have been written by Matthew（马太）, Mark（马可）, Luke（路加）, and John（约翰）, four of Jesus’ early followers. They tell of the birth, teaching, death and Resurrection of Jesus.
The Acts of the Apostles（使徒行传） tells a history of the early Christian movement, which is included in the Historical Books.
The Epistles（使徒书信）, letters of the disciples, are written by the disciples about the Christian teaching to the church groups around the Mediterranean.
Lastly the book of Revelation（启示录） is a visionary account of the life in heaven and the final triumph of God’s purpose, which is included in the Prophets.
Christians think that the major theme of the Bible, however, is God's relationship with man. In their eyes, God expresses Himself to mankind through acts of protection, provision, love and judgment throughout the Bible. The Bible also answers many important questions that men of all ages have asked such as, "Where do I come from?" "Where am I going?" "Why do I exist?" "What is truth?"
1.3. How is it formed? 圣经从何而来？
The entire Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years from about 1450 BC to 100 AD. The Bible states that it was written through the divine inspiration of God. (“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” –NIV–)
However, what books should be included in the Bible? It takes a long time to canonize（正典化） the books in the Bible. The canon（真经）, or officially accepted list of books in the Hebrew Bible, consists of 24 books according to Jewish reckoning and is divided into three parts: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Law, often called the Pentateuch, comprises five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy. The Prophets are divided into three parts: the earlier prophets (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings); the later prophets (Isaiah（以赛亚书）, Jeremiah（耶利米书）, and Ezekiel（撒加利亚书）); and twelve books called the Minor Prophets because of their brevity. The 11 Writings include three poetic books (Psalms（诗篇）, Proverbs（箴言）, and Job（约伯记）); the five scrolls（书卷） (Song of Solomon（雅歌）, Ruth（路得记）, Lamentation（耶利米哀歌）, Ecclesiastes（传道书）, and Esther（以斯帖记）); an apocalyptic work（启示文学）, Daniel（但以理书）; and Ezra/Nehemiah（以斯拉-尼希米记） and 1 and 2 Chronicles（历代志）.
Christian Bibles arrange the books differently. The Law, or Pentateuch, comes first, then all the historical books. These are followed by the poetical, or wisdom, books and finally the prophetic books. Thus Ruth, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther appear in the second group and Daniel and Lamentations in the fourth.
The process by which the canon of the New Testament was formed began in the 2d century, probably with a collection of ten letters of Paul. Toward the end of that century, Irenaeus argued for the unique authority of the portion of the Canon called the Gospels. Acceptance of the other books came gradually. The church in Egypt used more than the present 27 books, and the Syriac speaking（叙利亚语的） churches fewer. The question of an official canon became urgent during the 4th century. It was mainly through the influence of Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and because Jerome included the 27 books in his Latin version of the Bible called the Vulgate（拉丁文圣经）, that the present canon came to be accepted.
Its authors include more than 25 men from a variety of backgrounds including prophets, priests, fishermen, kings, tax collectors, and doctors.
Even though it was written more than 2,000 years ago, the Bible continues to influence people today. The Bible has been read and studied by many different kinds of people from national leaders to famous sports figures to scientists.

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