By Zhu Xiangjun

Bible

Unit 1 Bible

Christians believe the Bible is the inspired word of God.

The Protestant Christian Bible contains 66 books, from Genesis to Revelation. The Catholic Christian Bible contains the same 66 books and an extra 7 books. Those extra 7 books are mostly historical accounts of events that took place before the time of Jesus.

The Christian Bible is divided into two parts - the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The books of the Bible were written by about 40 different people, including prophets, poets and historians.

The Old Testament books of the Bible were composed  during a period of time that lasted about 1000 years. That period of time began with Moses, who lived about 3400 years ago. It ended about 2400 years ago, which is about the time that the prophet Malachi lived.

The New Testament books of the Bible were written sometime from about 50 AD to about 95 AD (that's about 1950 years ago to about 1900 years ago). Jesus was crucified by the Romans in about 30 AD.

The New Testament contains the "four Gospels," which refers to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It also contains "epistles" or "letters" that were written by Peter, Paul, James and other followers of Jesus. It also contains the book of Revelation.

1. Spare the rod and spoil the child. Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them. 

2. The leopard cannot change his spots.  Can Ethiopian change their skin or leopards their spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil. 

3. As you sow, so shall you reap. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

4. Cast not the first stone. "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

5. It is better to give than to take. In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive.“

6. The love of money is the root of all evil. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

7. Cast pearls before swine "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you".

8. a wolf in sheep's clothing "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves"

9. separate the sheep from the goats "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides  his sheep from the goats" 

10. The Salt of the Earth “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? ”

More idioms from the More idioms from the BibleBible

Adam’s apple Sell One's birthright for a mess of pottages Thirty pieces of silver The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak ， Labour of love bear one’s cross Garden of Eden A prophet is not without honor in his own

country

beating the air rule with rod of iron Whosoever Smiteth thee on thy right

cheek ， turn to him the other also Let the dead bury their dead Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we

shall die thorn in the flesh built the house upon the Sand A fly in the ointment  go through fire and water   Eye for eye, tooth for tooth  drop in the bucket

The Bible is the account of God's action in the world and his purpose with all creation. The writing of the Bible took place over sixteen centuries and is the work of over forty human authors. It is a quite amazing collection of 66 books with very different styles all containing the message God desired us to have.

This compilation of booklets contains an astonishing variety of literary styles. It provides many stories about the lives of good and bad people, about battles and journeys, about the life of Jesus along with letters written to groups of Christians that met in homes. It comes to us in narratives and dialogues, in proverbs and parables, in songs and allegories, in history and prophecy.

The accounts in the Bible were not generally written down as they occurred. Rather they were told over and over again and handed down through the years before someone finally wrote them down. Yet the same themes may be found throughout the book.

So along with the diversity there is also a remarkable unity. So what is the Bible? Well, in addition to all the above, the Bible is this:

It is a guide for living life to the full. It gives us a road map for the perilous journey of life. Or to put it another way, on our voyage through life's ocean, we find our anchor right here.

It is a storehouse of wonderful stories for children and grownups. Remember Noah and the ark? Joseph's coat of many colors? Daniel in the lion's den? Jonah and the fish? The parables of Jesus? In these stories we recognize the triumphs and failures of ordinary people - and we may even see ourselves!

It is a refuge in trouble. People in pain, in suffering, in prison, in mourning, tell how they turned to the Bible and found strength there in their desperate hours.

It is a treasury of insight as to who we are. We are not meaningless robots, but we are magnificent creatures of a God who loves us and gives us a purpose and a destiny.

It is a sourcebook for everyday living. We find standards for our conduct, guidelines for knowing right from wrong, principles to help us in a confused society where so often "anything goes."

The Influence of the Bible Today it seems that there are forces in the world

that are trying to remove Christianity from our society in the name of Pluralism, saying it's not constitutional or not fair to those who hold to another faith. When one truly studies the history of our nation one will find that the good things that made our nation safe, secure and free had its roots in Christianity.

During the time of American Revolution, French philosopher, Voltaire, once said that Christianity will become a thing of the past before he died. He has been dead now for over 200 years and Christianity is still around.

If you were to remove everything that has been influenced by the Bible from our society, here are a few of the many things you would have to get rid of.

Time          Since Creationist's and Evolutionists both believe that

our planet is over 2000 years old, why is our dating system marking us in the 21st century? Because it marks the birth of the Savior of mankind who was born in a manger in Bethlehem. If our time starts somewhere, why not start it at a time when the Creator of the universe took the form of man.

          Within the last 50 years, there has been such hatred towards Christianity that scholars have changed our time system from BC (Before Christ) to BCE (Before Common Era), and AD (Anno Domini = The year of our Lord) to CE (Common Era). One article reported that, "Not all the world is Christian, so it makes no sense for a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu, a Witch, a Druid, or an atheist to refer to the date as being in the year of "their Lord" when they don't follow him". How amazing that up until this last generation most people who were not Christian did not have a problem with it.

Science and Astronomy          Even though today’s public school students have

been devoid of the how the Bible played a key part in Science, here are just a few things that show how God and the Bible played a part in this subject.

Names of Stars and Constellations - The naming of the stars and constellations, like Orion, were named by God. We find this in the oldest book in the Scriptures, Job. 

The Earth ? For many years the earth was thought to be flat until explorers proved otherwise. Around 600 BC the Prophet Isaiah recorded in Isaiah 40:22 that the earth was round.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics - Originated in the Garden of Eden from in the Book of Genesis.

Meteorology ? Some of the principals used in this field have their origin in the Book of Job.

Zoology - The Classification of Animals are by kinds which have their origins from the account of Creation found in the book of Genesis.

The Structure of Authority  Marriage - No matter what faith you practice,

since the beginning of time, there has always been the understanding of a relationship of a man and a woman and them becoming as one flesh. The very institution of marriage originated from the Book of Genesis. How sad that our government has to write a constitutional amendment to remind America what a family is.

          A generation ago if a man cheated on his wife or divorced her, he had a really good chance of losing his job or being passed over for promotion.  Corporate leaders believed that how a man ran his home determined his success which originated from the Bible.

In regard to relationships the meaning of love has been replaced with lust. True love can wait, while lust is now and is never satisfied. In the book of Genesis Jacob loved Rachel and worked a total of 14 years for her. To him it seemed but a few weeks.

Civil Government ? The United States three Branch Government originated from Isaiah 33:22 as well as other laws that are found in our Constitution. Maybe that is why the Constitution is the longest lasting in world history. Did you know the Declaration of Independence mentions God four times (Creator, Nature's God, Supreme Judge, and Divine Providence)

Law            Before the influence of Darwin, law students were

taught from Blackstone's Commentaries of the Law which used the Law of Moses as it's foundation. The ideal that was taught was that the Law was universal and unchanging and that it kept a society in check.

Swearing in of a witness ? For hundreds of years people who were giving testimony at a trial had to put their hand on a Bible and swear that they would tell the truth so help them God. Now that is considered unconstitutional.

          When I re-enlisted in the Navy, I was informed that the statement "the year of our Lord" would no longer be repeated and the phrase "So help me God" would not be required any longer.

Capital Punishment ? When human government was established in Genesis 9 one of the commands of the Lord was if a man killed another his life would be required (9:6). For many years when Capital punishment was the law of the land our crime rate was low because the law was a deterrent to not commit murder. When Capital punishment was removed, there was no accountability for evil men.

Prior to Roe vs Wade in 1973, an unborn child was considered a human being and those who would abort would be guilty of murder. Now there is no accountability and millions are aborted every year. If a woman is murdered during her pregnancy her killer is charged with two murders. What is the difference if the child still dies?

      Our society has dehumanized the name of the unborn child to fetus (from the Latin meaning young one). When the influence of the Bible is removed, a society can justify the meaningless murder of millions of children.

Adultery, Sodomy, and Fornication ? These crimes were at one time against the law and were enforced. Now those laws have been removed and allowed.

          In the area of Sodomy, the father of our country George Washington remarked that this type of lifestyle destroyed the moral fabric of any civilized society.

Language Origin of Language ? Before Darwin's

publication of the Origin of Mankind, linguistics held that the origins of language have their root in Hebrew. Over 22,000 English words have their root in Hebrew. That?s more than the roots of Greek, Latin, and French.

        The earliest Chinese language (2000 BC) used picture words or picture grams. Many of the symbols used were influenced by the early events of Genesis. One example:

禁 Prohibition

To Prohibit= Tree+ (Divine) Command

Education           Before the ninetieth century nearly

every college and university used the Bible as the foundation of their education. Many of our founding fathers believed and promoted that the Bible needed to be the foundation of all learning. See what the founders of Harvard said concerning education.

         "Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, and therefore to lay Christ at the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning."

Conclusion It does not matter what's next in life, what

does matter is who you will follow? Who you follow will determine where you will go.

         What will it be? Man’s philosophies that will always change and lead one to destruction or will you follow an all loving Creator who loves you and gave his life so you and I could spent eternally in heaven?