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About the Bible - What is the Bible?
Discover some basic facts about the Bible, its reliability and distribution.
Using the Bible
There are several views about the purpose of the Bible and how it should be used. These include seeing the Bible as:
- A way of getting the big picture on life.
- A way to having a direct experience of Jesus.
- A guide for living.
- A religious textbook.
- A prayer book.
- A means of comfort.
- A way of getting inspiration.
- A source of ethical guidance.
Many Christians use it as a source for developing religious beliefs. However, there are several ways in which they believe the Bible should be used:
- As the only authoritative sourcebook - Many Christians believe that if an idea is found within the Bible’s pages, then it’s a teaching from God.
- As a sourcebook that needs tweaking - Others believe that while the Bible is an important sourcebook, it needs to be tweaked in the light of scientific developments or broader changes in society.
- As a sourcebook twinned with Church tradition - For other Christians, the Bible is only properly understood when compared with the tradition of the Church and the writings of the early Christians.
Bible fact
The oldest person in the Bible was Methuselah. He died when he was 969 years old.
The Bible and society
People are increasingly seeing the Bible has having social as well as religious significance.
Some have used the Bible to support specific policy positions. Others look to the Bible for broad political principles.
On a social level, Christians often look to the Bible for wisdom on how they should respond to social issues such as fair trade, gun crime, third world debt, ethical business and an ageing society.