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A young, black, professional, Spelman College and UNC Law grad, and new mommy who practices law in the Chicago suburbs.

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The Bible

November 2nd, 2006 • Related • Filed Under

If you were born in a Christian household, you most likely received a Bible when you were christened, baptized, or dedicated to the church. What you did with that Bible after that point was most likely up to you, with encouragement from your family and your church. The Bible is a tool that Christians must use in order to grow closer to God and understand His Word. The Bible is not a systematic treatise on theology, history, science, or any other topic. It is the direct revelation from God concerning His plan and purpose for the earth and the human race. The Bible is about faith, obedience and God providing for His people.

The Bible is comprised of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Both of these passages are the foundation to scores of centuries-old theological works. They convey to us the power and importance of what is important in life—why we do things, how we can do things right, and what we can do to be the best we can be.
The Old Testament
There are 39 books in the Old Testament. Genesis, the first book, starts off with the words, “In the beginning, God…” and describes the creation of the world, the uniqueness and role of man and the naming of the animals.
From there it describes how man was tempted (by Satan, the devil) and sinned (or fell short of God’s perfect ideal). Even way back then this pointed to the eventual need for salvation, or someone to pay for or cleanse us from our sin.
The New Testament
The New Testament then describes how God sent His Son Jesus to fulfill the covenants that God made with the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph) and the Old Testament prophesies concerning Jesus. The four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the biography of Jesus of Nazarath. While they don’t redundantly cover all of the same information, the four gospels tell essentially the same story: Jesus was born of a virgin; he was born in Bethleham and lived in Nazarath; he was baptized by John the Baptist; he performed miracles of healing and walked on water; he fed five thousand people withfive loaves and two fish; he taught the common people and spent time with social outcasts; he argued with the religious elite and they plotted to kill him; they handed Jesus over to the Romans who flogged and crucified him; he was buried in a tomb; and then he rose from the dead and appeared to his followers. Two of the gospels were written by the apostles Matthew and John, men who knew Jesus personally and traveled with him for over three years. The other two books were written by Mark and Luke, close associates of the apostles.

There are many new resources to encourage people of all ages to get to know the Bible. The Message and The Message Remix are versions of the Bible in contemporary language. The Message is directly translated from the Greek and Hebrew texts and is intentionally designed to be a reading Bible rather than a study Bible. Each of the 66 books has an introduction by author Eugene Peterson, and there are no verse numbers to interrupt the flow of the passages. In The Message Remix, there are new verse-numbered paragraphs that will help you study and find favorite passages. Or, you can just read it like a book and let the narrative speak to you.

There are also many online Bible resources. You can subsribe to receive daily scriptures, search for passages, or even enroll in an online Bible Study course.
The Bible also has many audio versions for people who may want to enjoy the Bible that way. My personal favorite is “Inspired By…The Bible Experience.” This Audio Bible is a sophisticated layering of sound and music to create a complete audio environment that provides listeners a tangible perspective on the biblical characters and circumstances. The cast is comprised of celebrated performers from the fields of film, television, music, and theater while the underscore reflects a broad spectrum of indigenous musical genres. Blair Underwood plays the voice of Jesus, Kirk Franklin the voice of Peter, Cuba Gooding, Jr. the voice of Judas, and Samuel Jackson is the voice of God.
“I encourage you to read the Bible…”
If you are a Christian YBP, I encourage you to grow closer to God by reading His Word daily. Even just a few passages a day will make you feel better spiritually. If you are about to read the Bible for the first time and don’t know what to read first, start by reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) so you can familiarize yourself with Christ life and ministry. After that, read through some of the Epistles (Romans, Ephesians, Philippians). They teach us how to live our lives in a way that is honoring to God. When you start reading the Old Testament, read the book of Genesis. It tells us about how God created the world, and about how mankind fell into sin, and the impact it had on the world.
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