What is the Bible?

The Bible is the word of God.

2nd Timothy 3:16 says that, "All scripture is breathed out by God."  Another translation says, "All Scripture is inspired by God."  What this means is that God is the ultimate author of the Bible.  But there's more.  2nd Peter 1:20-21 says, "knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.   For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  So basically, what we have in the Bible is a collection of writings that people wrote at the direction of God.  It would be like me telling you to write something.  You'd be the one writing it, but you'd be writing what I told you to.  Many of the people involved in writing the Bible speak of this process.  For example in Isaiah 30:8 the prophet Isaiah recorded God telling him, "And now, go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever."  Moses talks about how God spoke to him and showed him the designs for the tabernacle which he then wrote down.  Some prophets even talked about how they didn't want to write it, didn't want to speak it, but how they couldn't refuse God.  For instance, in Jeremiah 20:9 that prophet said, "If I say, I will not mention Him, or speak any more in His name," there is in my heart as it were a burning of fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot."  The Bible is spoken by God, written by people.

The Bible is primarily a book of history

People have a big problem.  They are really quick to forget what has just happened.  God apparently doesn't want to repeatedly have to do everything all over again just so we can relearn the point He's just made.  So God has had what He's done written down in a book.  As you read the Bible you'll be reading countless episodes of God interacting with mankind and you'll be relearning what He's done.  All this history is important.  You know people based on what they do.  God wants us to know Him so He wants us to remember what He's done.  For instance God is faithful so He wants us to see that He does what He says He'll do.  He's loving and merciful, so He wants us to see the loving things He's done and how He's extended mercy to those who did not deserve it.  God is also just, wise, powerful, and patient.  We learn all these things about Him when we read about the things He has done. As such the Bible is our primary means of knowing about God.

The organization of the Bible:

The Bible contains 66 books, many of which bear the writer's name.  These 66 books are split into two sections called the Old and the New Testament.  The Old Testament contains 39 books full of things that happened before Jesus was born.  The New Testament contains the 27 books following the birth of Jesus.  The books are further divided into different chapters (like most books are) and then still further into verses.  

These books are also arranged into basic groups.  The Genesis through Esther relate the history of Israel.  Job through Song of Solomon are considered wisdom literature.  Isaiah through Malachi are books about and written by various prophets.  Matthew through Acts relate the history of Jesus and the early church.  Romans through Jude are letters written to various churches and individuals.  And then the book of Revelation is a book containing prophecies about the end times.

The Bible you have is a translation

The Bible wasn't written in English.  The Bible was written in three languages called Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  Translating these languages into English isn't an easy task, and different translators might decide to translate the same sentence a couple of different ways.  For this reason we have a number of translations that people use today.  So if you were to pick up the ESV or the NKJV and read a verse, those two verses might not be worded quite the same.  Many would be, but even though others aren't, as you read them you'll discover that even though worded slightly different, the meaning is still the same.  The translation you have is also (hopefully!) written in a way that is easy for you to understand.  That is after all the whole purpose of translating something.  This is also one reason why translations differ.  The NIV, for instance, is written on a lower reading level than most others.  So naturally you'll find words in a higher reading level translation that you wouldn't in it.  Other Bibles are what's called a paraphrase, like The Message.  Paraphrases are basically the author saying it in their own words.  Though they have their own uses, you do lose a lot of accuracy with a paraphrase.

The Bible you have is trustworthy

As the written word of God you can count on the Bible being accurate.  Many archeologists have thought that their research didn't agree with the Bible only to later find out that the Bible's record of past events was indeed correct.  People have wondered about the prophecies recorded in the Bible, only to later see them come true precisely as God said they would.  People have wondered about the accuracy of the Bible manuscripts we have only to later come across a much earlier manuscript and find that it says the same thing.  People have thought that dates and names in the Bible were wrong only to late find that external evidence does indeed support what the Bible says.  If you are using a trustworthy modern translation you can trust that you are indeed reading the word of God and that it is trustworthy.

For further study check out “A General Introduction to The Bible” by David Ewert or “From God to Us” by Norman L. Geisler & William E. Nix